BEDFORD. A town of Missisquoi County, Quebec, Canada, on the Canadian Pacific Railway, seven miles north of Lake Champlain. It has manufactures of agricultural implements, needles, gloves, and color-works. Population, in 1891, 1571; in 1901, 1364. Upper Bedford, an eastern suburb, has a population of 600.
BEDFORD. A city and the county-seat of
Lawrence County, Ind., 75 miles northwest
of Louisville, Ky.; on the Baltimore and Ohio
Southwestern, the Evansville and Richmond, and
the Chicago, Indianapolis, and Louisville rail-
roads (Map: Indiana, C 4). It is noted for its
extensive quarrying interests, the building-stone
being shipped in considerable quantity over a
wide field. There are also railroad shops and
roundhouses, large veneering-mills, etc. The
city has a public library of 5000 volumes, and
many of its buildings, both public and private,
are fine stone structures. Population, in 1890,
3351; in 1900, 6115.
BEDFORD. A borough and the county-seat of Bedford County, Pa., 94 miles west by south of Harrisburg, on the Pennsylvania Railroad (Map: Pennsylvania, C 4). Bedford has manufactures of some importance, and contains features of scenic and historic interest, notably Washington's headquarters, the old courthouse, the soldiers' monument, and the picturesquely located Bedford Springs, a popular summer resort. Bedford, originally called Raystown, was settled about 1756, and was laid out in 1766. For many years it was an important frontier military post, and for a time in 1758 was occupied by a large force under General Bouquet; while in 1794, during the Whisky Rebellion, it was the headquarters of the troops under Gen. Henry Lee, sent against the insurgents. Bedford was incorporated in 1817; its charter of that date, still in operation, provides for a mayor, elected every three years, and a borough council. The waterworks are owned and operated by the municipality. Population, in 1890, 2242; in 1900, 2167. Consult History of Bedford, Somerset and Fulton Counties (Chicago, 1884).
BEDFORD CIT'Y. A town and the county seat of Bedford County, Va.; 25 miles southwest of Lynchburg, on the Norfolk and Western Railroad (Map: Virginia, E 4). It has a picturesque location, at an elevation of nearly 1000 feet, and is the seat of several educational institutions, prominent among which are Randolph-Macon Academy (Methodist Episcopal, South) and Belmont Female Institute (Presbyterian). The town lies in a productive region, and has an important tobacco trade, with a number of tobacco factories, woolen and flouring mills, foundry, etc. Population, in 1890, 2897; in 1900, 2416.
BEDFORD, Gunning S. (1806-70). An American physician. He was born in Baltimore and graduated at Mount Saint Mary's College, in 1825. He then studied at Rutgers Medical College and in Europe. He returned in 1833, and in 1836 settled in New York, where his practice in obstetrics rapidly became extensive. With Dr. Valentine Mott he founded, in 1840, the New York University Medical College, where he occupied the chair of obstetrics until 1862. His Diseases of Women and Children and his Principles and Practice of Obstetrics were republished in England, and translated into French and German.
BEDFORD, John Plantagenet, Duke of
(1390-1435). Regent of France, and third son
of Henry IV. of England. During his father's
lifetime, he was Governor of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
and Warden of the Scottish marches. In 1414,
the second year of the reign of his brother, Henry
V., he was created Duke of Bedford. He was com-
mander-in-chief of the forces in England while
Henry was carrying on the war in France. After
the death of Henry V. (1422), Bedford, in ac-
cordance with the dying wish of the King, left
the affairs of England in the hands of his brother,
Gloucester, and went to France to look after the
interests of the infant prince, Henry VI., his
nephew. In compliance with the request of his
deceased brother, he offered the regency of France
to the Duke of Burgimdy, who refused it; he
then assumed it himself, but not without con-
sulting the Duke of Burgundy as to the, best
method of carrying out the Treaty of Troyes, by
which Charles VI. had declared Henry V. next
heir to the French crown. On the death of
Charles VI., a few months after Henry V., Bed-
ford had his nephew proclaimed King of France
and England as Henry VI. In the wars with
Charles VII. which followed, Bedford displayed
great generalship, and defeated the French in
several battles — most disastrously at Verneuil, in
1424. But, in consequence of the parsimonious
way in which men and money were doled out to
him from England, and the withdrawal of the
forces of the Duke of Burgundy, he was unable
to take full advantage of his victories. The
appearance of Joan of Arc was followed by dis-
aster to the English arms, notwithstanding the
utmost energy of Bedford; and in 1435 he was
mortified by the treaty of peace negotiated at
Rouen between Charles VII. and the Duke of
Burgundy, which effectually ruined English in-
terests in France. The death of the Regent,
which took place September 19, 1435, may have
been occasioned by his anxiety and vexation
on account of the union thus formed. Bed-
ford, who was a patron of letters, purchased and
removed to London the Royal Library of Paris,
consisting of 900 volumes. In 1469 George
Neville was made Duke of Bedford; later the
Count of Pembroke, Jasper Tudor, who died in
1495, had this title. For the present family
of Bedford, see Russell, House of.
BEDFORD LEV'EL. A tract of low land on
the cast coast of England, extending from the
North Sea to Milton, in Cambridgeshire, Toyn-
ton in Lincolnshire, Peterborough in Northamp-
tonshire, and Brandon in Suffolk. It embraces
the Isle of Ely and nearly the whole of the Fen
District; it is 60 miles long by about 40 miles
broad, comprises nearly 450,000 acres, and is in-
tersected by artificial channels and the rivers
Nene, Cam, Ouse, Welland, Glen, Lark, and
Stoke, receiving the waters of nine counties. It
is named after Francis, Earl of Bedford, who,
in 1634, undertook to reclaim it — an operation
partially effected by Sir Cornelius Vermuyden.
In 1862 a strong sea burst the embankments and
submerged 10,000 acres of land. Extensive drain-
age operations have since reclaimed and greatly
improved the district, which is rich in grain and
meadow land. It was the site of a great forest,
which, as a British stronghold and refuge, the Ro-
mans cut down. They built an immense embank-
