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BEDE 464 BEDOUINS BEDE or B^DA, the greatest figure in ancient English literature, was born near Monkwearmouth, Durham, about 673. Left an orphan at the age of six, he was educated in the Benedictine Abbey at Monkwearmouth,, and entered the monastery of Jarrow, where he was ordained priest in his 30th year. His industry was enormous. Bede wrote homilies, lives of saints, hymns, epi- grams, works on grammar and chron- ologjs and the great "Ecclesiastical His- tory of England," in five books, gleaned from native chronicles and oral tradition. This was translated from Latin into Anglo-Saxon by King Alfred. The first editions were issued from Strassburg in the 15th century. He died in the mon- astery of Jarrow, May 26, 735. BEDFOB,D, a parliamentary and muni- cipal borough of England, the county town of Bedfordshire, on the Ouse. The chief buildings are the law courts, a range of public schools, a large infir- mary, County Jail, etc., and the churches. The town is rich in charities and educational institutions, the most prom- inent being the Bedford Charity, embracing grammar and other schools, and richly endowed. There is an ex- tensive manufactory of agricultural implements; lace is also made, and there is a good trad^. John Bunyan was born at Elstow, a village near the town, and it was at Bedford that he lived, preached,, and was imprisoned. Pop. (1917) 37,663. BEDFORD, a city of Indiana, the county-seat of Lawrence co. It is on the Chicago, Indianapolis, and Louis- ville, the Baltimore and Ohio South- western, and the Terre Haute and South- eastern railroads. The chief industry is the quarrying of stone. There are also railroad shops, roundhouses, cement works, etc. The public buildings are especially notable, being constructed chiefly of stone. Pop. (1910) 8,716; (1920) 9,076. BEDFORD, JOHN PLANTAGENET, DUKE OF, Regent of France, third son of Henry IV. of England, was born June 20, 1389. He was created Con- stable of England in 1403; and sent to succor Harfleur in 1416. In 1422, Charles VI. of France died, and long years of war followed between the rival claimants for tiie crown, Charles VII. and Henry VI. Bedford secured the alliance of the Dukes of Burgundy and Brittany, and obtained a long series of military successes. The tide turned at the siege of Orleans, which was raised by Joan of Arc. The Duke of Brittany had previously abandoned the English cause; the Duke of Burgundy did the same in 1435; and Bedford died at Rouen, Sept. 19, 1435. BEDFORD LEVEL, an eastern dis- trict of England, comprising about 450,000 acres of what is called the "Fen" country, in the counties of Cam- bridge (including the whole of the Isle of Ely), Suffolk, Norfolk, Huntingdon, Northampton, and Lincoln. It was a mere waste of fen and marsh, until the time of Charles I., when, in 1634, a charter was granted to Francis,, Earl of Bed- ford, who undertook to drain the level, on condition of being allowed 95,000 acres of the reclaimed land. It now forms one of the most fertile and grain- productive districts in the kingdom. BEDFORDSHIRE, a county of Eng- land, in the midland group. It has an area of 466 square miles, the greater part of which is meadow and pasture land. The chief industries are stock raising, dairying, and agricultural pursuits. The industries include the manufacture of agricultural implements, lace, and straw goods. The chief towns are Bedford, the capital, Dunstable, and Luton. Pop. about 200,000. BEDLAM, a contraction from Beth- lehem, and the name of an English hos- pital for lunatics. The Hospital of St. Mary Bethlehem was first a priory, founded in 1247, by an ex-sheriff, Simon Fitz Mary. Its original site was in Bish- opsgate. The Priory of St. Mary Beth- lehem, like the other English monastic establishments, was dissolved at the Reformation, Henry VIII., in 1547, granting its revenues to the mayor, the commonalty and the citizens of London. They made it a hospital for lunatics. In 1676 the original buildings were super- seded by those of the New Hospital of Bethlehem, erected near London Wall. Finally, in 1815, the hospital was trans- ferred to Lambeth. BEDLOE'S ISLAND, an island in New York harbor; ceded to the United States Government in 1800; the site of Fort Wood, erected in 1841 and mounted with 77 guns; now the location of Bartholdi's colossal statue of "Liberty Enlightening the World." BEDOUINS' (bed-o-enz'), Mohamme- dan people of Arab race, inhabiting chiefly the deserts of Arabia, Syria, Egypt, and North Africa. They lead a nomadic existence in tents, huts, caverns and ruins, associating in families under sheiks or in tribes under emirs. In respect of occupation they are only shepherds,