BEA
405
B EC
sobre had strong sense, with profound erudition, and was one ofthe best writers' among the Reformed : lie preached as he wrote,with warmth and spirit. .
BEAUTY, in its literal signification, is ^ term applied to ob-jects of sight, but often figuratively, though improperly, used toexpress the efteet produced by the perception of other senses,sucli as beautiful music, &c. Plato gives but an obscure definition ofbeauty, when he says, that there are four characteristics of the trulybeautiful ; namely, universality, supremacy, sameness, and im-mutability : his supreme beauty, therefore, ought to possesstruth, power, and goodness. Hogarth, who was both an artist anda philosopher, lays down the following principles which constituteelegance and beauty : fitness, variety, uniformity (as corres-ponding to a certain end, or purpose), simplicity, intricacy, andquantity. According to Burke, beauty is not the creature oireason,’but a merely sensible quality, acting mechanically uponthe human mind, by sensation. Ilis beauties, consequently, mintpossess; 1. Comparative smallness; 2. Smoothness; 3. Varietyin the conformation of parts: 4. These parts mint not be angular,but melted, as it were, into each other ; 5. A delicate frame, with anappearance of agility, rather than strength : 0. Colours cleared andbright, but not very strong and glaring ; or, 7. If the latter be thepredominant colours, they ought to be diversified with others. Prof.Kant ’s definition is perhaps more satisfactory, though it can onlybe clearly understood by apposite comparative illustrations: hesays, “ Beauty is the regular conformation of an object of natureor art, in which the mind, intuitively, perceives this conforma-tion; without reflecting upon its ultimate design or purpose.”
_The beautiful as well as the sublime, produces a pleasing
effect, but in a very different manner : thus, a view of mountains,with their summits’ covered with snow, or enveloped in clouds;a description of a violent storm, or Milton’s picture of the infernalregions, affords a satisfaction mingled with terror: on the otherhand, a prospect of tlowery meadows, valleys intersected w ithserpentine rivulets, and enlivened by flocks; the description ofElysium by Virgil, or of the enchanting Cestus by Homer,affords both satisfaction and pleasure. But, in order to feel theimpression in its full extent, we must first he susceptible of thesublime, before we can enjoy the beautiful.—Lofty oaks, andthe solitary shades of the grove, are sublime ; flowers, younghedges, aiid trees in a flourishing state, are beautiful ; the starryheavens and the obscurity of night, are sublime; the brightnessor serenitv of day, is beautiful. Personal beauty may be reducedto four heads: colour, form, expression, and grace. Coloursplease by opposition, and it is in the face that they are more diver-sified and exposed. The reason why they please, arises less fromtheir natural liveliness, and their being properly blended, thanfrom the idea they present to the mind, of the perfect health ofthe object. The beauty of form includes the symmetry of thewhole body, even to the turn of the eye-brow, or graceful flowof the hair. Ilence, an union and harmonv of all parts of thebody, is the general cause of beauty; amf, while the peculiarbeauty of tire female form is delicacy and softness, that of themale is apparent strength, or agility. ’ Expression is the effect ofthe passions on the muscles of the human countenance, andthe different gestures. The finest union of passions, is a justmixture of modesty and sensibility. Indeed, all the benignaffections, such as love, hope, joy, and pity, add to beauty,while the'predominance of haired, fear, or envy in the mind,deforms the visage. Grace is tin: noblest part of beauty.The mouth is the chief seat of grace, as the expressive beauty ofthe passions is principally in the eyes. There is no grace withoutmotion, nor can Impropriety be united with grace. Lord Bacon says: “ In beauty, that ot favor is more than that of colour;and that of gracious and decent motion, more than that offavour.” With regard to the final cause of beauty, our tastefor regularity, order, and simplicity, contributes io our happi-ness; and. as beauty is frequently connected with utility, it ishighly conducive to improvements in agriculture, architecture,and manufactures. It also concurs in an eminent degree witlimental qualifications, in promoting social intercourse, and form-ing connections among individuals in society. Moral beautymay be defined to consist in that uniform conduct, which, inde-pendently of personal interest or advantages, is influenced by noother consideration but that of conscious rectitude. Ilence itcannot be applied to a man who acts virtuously, because he isVO I.. I.-NO. 2b.
rewarded, and finds no inducement to vice :—nor to personswho are deterred from the commission of crimes, by Ike .appre-hension of punishment whether temporal or eternal.
BEAUVAIS, a city of France , in the late province of the Isleof France , 42 miles N. of Baris. Lon. 2.. 15. E. I.at. 49. 2b. N.
Beauvais, a town of France, in the department of UpperGaronne . Lon. ). 43. E. Eat. 44. 2. N.
BEAUV1N, a city of France in the department of Cote d’Or Eon. 4. 50. li. Lai. 47. 5. N.
BEAUVOIR SUR MER, a maritime town of France , 25 milc-
BEBELINGUEN, a town of Germany , in the duchy of Wirtem-berg, 10 miles N. W. ot Slutgard. Log." 9 . 8. E.j Lat. 48. 45. N.
BEBRYC1A, in ancient geography, the name ot Bilhynia, socalled from the Bebryces its'inhabitants.
BEC, a town of France , in the department of Lower Seine.
BECAH, or BEKAH, a Jewish coin, being half a shekel. InDr. Arbuthnot’s table of reductions, the bekab amounts to 1 3-tid.in Dr. Prideaux’s computation to Is. Od. Every Israelite paid100 bekahs a head annually for the support of thp temple.
To BECALM, in sea language, a ship is said to be becalmed,.when there is not a breath ot w.md to fill the sails.
BEC11ER, John Joachim, a celebrated chemist, born atSpire--, in 1645, and connected with the most learned men, inEurope. 'Flic Emperor, the Electors of Meulz and Bavaria ,and other persons of high rank, furnished him with the means ofmaking experiments in mathematics, natural philosophy, medicine,and chemistry, lie resided for some time at Vienna , and assistedin a variety of. manufactures. We next find him at JIaerlem,where he invented a machine for throwing .silk. lie died at.London in 1685. IF- w rote many works ; the principal of whichare, l. Physica Subterranea, which was reprinted at Leipsic in1703, and in 1739, in Svo. with a smail treatise, by E. Stahl,, in-titled, Specimen Bechcriauum. 2. Experimcntiun chvmicumnovum, Svo. 3. Character pro Nolitia Linguarum un’iversali.
4. Jnstituliones Ghymicaq seu Manuductio ad PhilosophiamHermeticam, 4lo. 5. Instituliones Chymica* Prodroma-, 12mo.
6. Expcrimentum novum ac curiosum de Minera arenaria per-petua, &c.
BEC HERA, a genus of the digvnia order, and pentandriaclass. Calyx live-deft; corolla tive-petaled ; capsule two-celled,two-valved. One species.
BECH1N, a circle and town of Bohemia .
BECK, or BEKE, a work w hich imports a small stream of wa-ter issuing from some bourn or spring.
BliCKET, Thomas, lord chancellor of England, and arch-bishop of Canterbury, was born in London in 11 19, and educatedat Oxford and Paris. Henry II . appointed him, in 1158, chan-chcllor and preceptor to the prince. In 1160 lie was sent toParis to negociate a nukriage between prince Henry , and the kingof France ’s eldest daughter, with whom he returned to England.
1 n 1162 he was elected archbishop of Canterbury , on which he re-signed the chancellorship, and assuming the arrogance of a sove-reign pontiff, came to hostilities with the king, who endeavouredto effect a reform among the clergy. The archbishop being sen-tenced to forfeit all his goods to the king, left the kingdom, andHenry seized upon the revenues of his see. Becket resigned at 1Sens his archbishopric into the hands of the pope, who returned itto him with assurances of support. The prelate now fulminatedhis anathemas against several bishops and noblemen, which so ir-ritated the king, that he banished all his relations. At last, after7 years, by the intercession of the French king and the pope, hereturned ; but refused to absolve these bishops and others he hadexcommunicated: whereupon the king grew enraged; and is re-ported to have dropped these expressions: “ That lie was an un-
happy prince, who maintained a great number of lazy insignificantpersons about him, none of whom had gratitude, or spirit enough,to revenge him on a single insolent prelate w ho gave him so muchdisturbance.” On this, four knights set out tor Canterbury , andassassinated the archbishop at the altar of his cathedral. Dec. 29,1171. For this the king was obliged by the pope to do penanceat Beckct’s tomb, where lie was scourged by the monks, andpassed the whole day and night tasting upon the bare stones. Themurderers were sent on penance to the Holy Land,where tliev died.Becket was canonized two years after, and his pretended miracleswere so numerous, that his shrine became the richest in Europe . •
5 L BEC KEFS,