BETROITT, or BEIRUT, the Berothai or 13erothah of the Old Testament (2 Samuel viii. 8, and Ezekiel xlvii. 10); and the l3erytus of the Romans. It was besieged and captured by Baldwin 1., king of Jerusalem, iu 1111; recaptured from the Christians in 1187. In 1197, it again came into the hands of the Christians, and then successively tinder the Saracen, Seljukian, and Turkish sultana. In course of the operations to sup port the Turkish claims against the assumed power of the pasha of Egypt, II., in 184U ,11,w-its bombarded by the English fleet under sir C. Napier, taken, and delivered over to the Turks. There are three castles still standing out in the sea, whose battered walls bear witness to the efficacy of the British caution. There are no ancient monu ments worth visiting.
B. is a flourishing commercial town, situated in a most picturesque position on the CORSt of Syria, and at the foot of Lebanon, 55 m. from Damascus, and 147 from Jerusalem. It is the chief seaport, market-town, and emporium of all the trade with the shores of Syria, Palestine, and ellicia; and has a pop, of about 70,000 (the majority of whom are Christians) against 12,000 in 1835. A considerable increase in poptilation is due to the settlement, iu 1860. of numbers of the Christian refugees from Damascus. Several British merchants are established in 13., and there is a branch here of an English hank (the Ottoman). 13. supplies the Lebanon, Damascus, and the n. of Syria to Antioch, and .Toppa, with European manufactures and goods. French steamers, carry ing mails, leave 13. every week for Marseilles. steamers ply regularlybetween England and 13. every fortnight, Manchester manufactures, prints, chintzes, Birmingham and Sdeflield cutlery, etc., arid returning to England with madder roots, wool, silk, and bite Tien. Since 1859, a direct trade has been carried on betWeen B. and the United States of America, the articles sent to the United States being wool and olive oil : and since the opening of the Suez canal, a direct eastern trade in spices, indigo, and :Mocha coffee has sprung up. There is good anchorage in the roadstead, with shelter during stormy weather in the Beyrout river, about 3 m. front the town; and in 1874, ?-!10;000 was allotted by the authorities for the construction of a harbor. About 850 merchant. vessels of different nations visit and leave B. every year. The: commerce is steadily increasing. In 1848, the imports were only R546266; in 1873, they were .4:1.323,152. The exports in 1848 amounted to £253,648; in 1873. they were £668,568. In 1853, the imports into 13. from Great Britain were'.,22.5,875; in 1871, had increased to £676.900. A commercial tribunal, composed of European and native mer chants, to adjudicate all mercantile disputes and bankrupteies, has latelybeen estab lished; and consuls from all nations reside at Beyrout. Ship-building has. begun to attract the attention of the natives, who had built and launched at B. several vessels of 50 to 80 tons within the last few years. There are extensive factories in the neighlior hood, producing " Syrian silk," which is much esteemed in the London and Lyon markets. In 18.59. a line of omnibuses, the first ever seen in Syria, was establishea nt 13eyrout. The natives at first regarded them with great astonishment, and crowded from all sides to see them pass. A French company' completed in 1862 a good road from II. to Damascus. In 1875, an English company completed an extensive system of water-works. bringing. a supply of excellent water from the Nahr-el-kelb, or Dog river, a distance of 9 miles. The town has lately been improved by the removal of the walls which formerly surrounded it. From its proximity to the mountains of Lebanon. on which the climate is most agreeable and salubrious, B. is an attractive place of resi dence; and it might rise into importance but for its odious Turkish custom-house arrangements and system of government.
BEZA, (properly, De Wm), next to Calvin the most energetic and influen tial of the Genevese reformers, was born of a noble family at Vezelai, in Burgundy. 24t11 June, 1519. He received an admirable education in Orleans, from Melchior IN olmar, a German, who was especially learned in the Greek language, and also imbued with the principles of the reformation. which he communicated to his pupil. As early as
1539, B. became known as a writer of witty and elegant but indecent verses, the pub lication of which (1548) caused him many bitter rearets in after-days, when his heart was purer. In his 20th year. he obtained his degree as licentiate of civil law, and went to,live in Paris,. where. ,he appears to Mayo spent several-Sears in a kind of fashionable dissipation; though he does not accuse himself of any gross profligacy, B. possessed a handsome figure, which, together with his fine talents and good birth, opened to him the most brilliant prospects. Although not a priest, he pocketed thu revenues of two benefices, while his income was largely increased by the death of an elder brother. It was the desire of relatives that he should enter the church, but a private marriage which B. 'had contracted, rendered this impossible. A'severe illness now attacked him, during the lapse of which, the folly and sinfulness of his career vividly presented themselves to his conscience; he repented. and on his recovery, in order to avoid the perils and perplexities of his position, he went to Geneva along with his wife, Oct., 1546., Shortly after, Ire was appointed Greek professor at Lausanne, an office which he held for ten years. In 1550, he published with success a melodrama, entitled The Saerifire of Abraham. and delivered lectures on the epistle to the Romans and the epistles of Peter to crowded audiences. Out of these lectures ultimately sprang. his translation of the New Testament into Latin. In 1559. he went to Geneva, where ha became Calvin's ablest coadjutor, and was appointed a theological professor and presi dent of the college. He had already signalized himself by his work De Ilthirticis a Civili Magi,ytrato. in which, like many othergood but mistaken men, he approved of the burning of Servetus. His diplomatic tact was particularly good. He induced the king of Navarre to exert his influence on behalf of the persecuted French Protestants, and was persuaded by the latter to attend the conference of Catholic and Protestant divines, held at Poissy in 1561. Here his courage, presence of mind, and dexterity made a very favorable impression on the French. court. Catharine de Nedicis entertained so 1 igh an opinion of his abilities, that she desired him to remain in France. While in Pans, he often preached before the king of Navarre and Conde. On the outbreak of the civil war, he accompanied the latter as a kind of military chaplain, and after his capture attached himself to Colony. In 1563, he once more -returned to Geneva. In the fol lowing year, Calvin died and the care of the Genovese church now fell principally upon his shoulders. Ile presided over the synods of French reformers, held at Rochelle in 1571, and at Nimes in 1572. In 1574, he was deputed by Conde to transact important business at the court of the Palatinate; and in 1586 measured himself with the IN trtem berg divines, especially Jacob Andre 1, at the religious conference held at 3Iontbeliard. In 1588. his first wife died, and although on 70, he married another—an awk ward circumstance, it must be confessed, and one which his enemies, the Jesuits, tried to make- a handle of; but B., who still retained complete mastery over his faculties, retorted with his accustomed liveliness and skill. In 1597, his calumniators spread the extremely foolish report that B. was dead; and at the last hour had returned to the bosom of the church. The witty patriarch replied in a.pceni full of sparkling vigor. Ile died 13th Oct., 1605, at the ripe age of 86.
B. was thproughly grounded in the principles of his master, Calvin, in whose spirit .he vigorously ruled the Genevan church for forty years, exercising the influence of a patriarch: To secure its unity, strength, and _permanence. he spared no pains, saeri Aicing even his personal_ By his abundant_ learning, his persevering zeal, his acute intellect, his fine'eloquence, and his impressive character, he rendered it important services: His numerous theological writings, however, be said to have proved attractive to posterity. They have almost ceased to be read. The works by which he is beat known are his translation of the Nciv _Testament into Latin, and his Ilistory of the FrencA Protestants from 1521 to 1563.