liam B., Lord Mayor of London, the associate and supporter of John
Wilkes, inherited at the age of 9 an enormous fortune. In these
circumstances he grew up wayward and extravagant, showing, however, a
strong bent towards literature. His education was entrusted to a private
tutor, with whom he travelled extensively on the Continent. At the age of
22 he produced his oriental romance, _Vathek_ (_c._ 1781), written
originally in French and, as he was accustomed to boast, at a single
sitting of three days and two nights. There is reason, however, to
believe that this was a flight of imagination. It is an impressive work,
full of fantastic and magnificent conceptions, rising occasionally to
sublimity. His other principal writings are _Memoirs of Extraordinary
Painters_ (1780), a satirical work, and _Letters from Italy with Sketches
of Spain and Portugal_ (1835), full of brilliant descriptions of scenes
and manners. B.'s fame, however, rests nearly as much upon his eccentric
extravagances as a builder and collector as upon his literary efforts. In
carrying out these he managed to dissipate his fortune of L100,000 a
year, only L80,000 of his capital remaining at his death. He sat in
parliament for various constituencies, and one of his two _dau._ became
Duchess of Hamilton.

BEDDOES, THOMAS LOVELL (1803-1849).--Dramatic poet and physiologist, _s._
of Dr. Thos. B., an eminent physician, and nephew of Maria Edgeworth.
_Ed._ at the Charterhouse and Oxford, he _pub._ in 1821 _The
Improvisatore_, which he afterwards endeavoured to suppress. His next
venture was _The Bride's Tragedy_ (1822), which had considerable success,
and won for him the friendship of "Barry Cornwall." Thereafter he went to
Goettingen and studied medicine. He then wandered about practising his
profession, and expounding democratic theories which got him into
trouble. He _d._ at Bale in mysterious circumstances. For some time
before his death he had been engaged upon a drama, _Death's Jest Book_,
which was published in 1850 with a memoir by his friend, T.F. Kelsall. B.
had not the true dramatic instinct, but his poetry is full of thought and
richness of diction. Some of his short pieces, _e.g._: "If there were
dreams to sell," and "If thou wilt ease thine heart," are masterpieces of
intense feeling exquisitely expressed.

BEDE or BAEDA (673-735).--Historian and scholar. B., who is sometimes
referred to as "the father of English history," was in his youth plac