as an incarnation of the
national spirit, and contributed not a little to the elevation of his
nephew to the throne, though he declined all patronage at his hands,
refusing all honours and appointments; has been compared to Burns, but he
lacked both the fire and the humour of the Scottish poet. "His poetical
works," says Professor Saintsbury, "consist entirely of chansons
political, amatory, bacchanalian, satirical, philosophical after a
fashion, and of almost every other complexion that the song can possibly
take" (1780-1859).

BERAR` (896), one of the central provinces of India, E. of Bombay;
it occupies a fertile, well-watered valley, and yields large quantities
of grain, and especially cotton.

BERAT, FREDERIC, a French poet and composer, author of a great
number of popular songs (1800-1853).

BERBER, native language spoken in the mountainous parts of Barbary.

BERBER (8), a town in Nubia, on the Nile, occupied by the English;
starting-point of caravans for the Red Sea; railway was begun to Suakim,
but abandoned.

BER`BERAH, the seaport of Somaliland, under Britain, with an annual
fair that brings together at times as many as 30,000 people.

BERBERS (3,000), a race aboriginal to Barbary and N. Africa, of a
proud and unruly temper; though different from the Arab race, are of the
same religion.

BERBICE, the eastern division of British Guiana; produces sugar,
cocoa, and timber.

BERBRUGGER, a French archaeologist and philologist; wrote on Algiers,
its history and monuments (1801-1869).

BERCHTA, a German Hulda, but of severer type. See BERTHA.

BERCY, a commune on the right bank of the Seine, outside Paris,
included in it since 1860; is the great mart for wines and brandies.

BERE`ANS, a sect formed by John Barclay in 1778, who regard the
Bible as the one exclusive revelation of God.

BERENGER, or BERENGA`RIUS, OF TOURS, a distinguished
theologian, born at Tours; held an ecclesiastical office there, and was
made afterwards archdeacon of Angers; ventured to deny the doctrine of
transubstantiation, a denial for which he was condemned by successive
councils of the Church, and which he was compelled more than once
publicly to retract, though he so often and openly recalled his
retractation that the pope, notwithstanding the opposition of the
orthodox, deemed it prudent at length to let him alone. After this he
ceased to trouble the Church, and retired to an island on the Loire,
wher