York, 1888). and T. J. Ellinwood, his private stenographer for thirty years, to whom we owe the reports of Mr. Beecher's sermons and prayers and speeches), Autobiographical Reminiscences of Henry Ward Beecher (New York, 1898). Mr. Beecher married, 1837, Eunice White Bullard, born West Sutton, Mass., August 20, 1812, and author of From Dawn to Daylight (1859), etc., who died in Stamford, Conn., March 8, 1897.
BEECHER, Lyman. (1775-1863). An Ameri-
can theologian. He was born in New Haven,
Conn., October 12, 1775; died in Brooklyn, N. Y.,
January 10, 1863; descended from one of
the New Haven Colony of 1638. He lost his
mother when an infant, and was adopted by an
uncle, Lot Benton; graduated from Yale in
1797, and next year became pastor of the Pres-
byterian Church at East Hampton, Long Island,
where his first wife, Roxana Foote, increased
their slender means by teaching a private school.
Mr. Beecher's sermon on the death of Alexander
Hamilton (killed in a duel with Aaron Burr in
1804) gave him immediate fame, which rapidly
increased until he was recognized as one of the
foremost preachers in the country. In 1810 he
went to Litchfield, Conn., where he was pastor
of the Congregational Church sixteen years. In
1814 he delivered and printed a series of six
sermons against intemperance, which added
greatly to his reputation for eloquence and
power. He was also foremost in the Unitarian
controversy which pervaded eastern New Eng-
land. In 1826 he became pastor of the Hanover
Street Congregational Church, Boston. In 1832
he became president of Lane Theological Semi-
nary, a new institution near Cincinnati, Ohio,
and held the office for twenty years, during the
first ten of which he was pastor of the Second
Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati. In 1835 he
was tried by his Presbytery for teaching false
doctrines, but was acquitted then, and again
on appeal to the Synod. When the Presbyterian
Church separated, he went with the New School
branch (1838). In 1852 he returned to Boston,
intending to revise and publish his writings, but
his mental powers failed, and not very long after-
wards he retired from public work, removing to
Brooklyn, where he lived with his son, Henry
Ward Beecher. He was married three times, and
had thirteen children. All his sons, seven in
number, became clergymen. Dr. Beecher's ser-
mon's and speeches, though usually delivered
extemporaneously, were the result of careful
study, and were marked by boldness, convincing
arginuent, shrewd common sense, and irresistible
wit. Consult: his Collected Works (3 vols., Bos-
ton, 1852); Autobiography and Correspondence,
edited by his son, Charles Beecher (New York,
1865); also James C. White, Personal Reminis-
cences of Lyman Beecher (New York, 1882).
BEECHER, Thomas Kinnicut (1824-1900). An American Congregational clergyman, born at Litchfield, Conn. He graduated at Illinois College, 1843, and from 1854 until his death was pastor of a church in Elmira, N. Y., where he died. The son of Lyman Beecher, he shared the family genius, and was noted for eccentricity and practical philanthropy. His publications embrace Our Seven Churches (1870), in which is a series of observations upon seven denominations in Elmira, and a posthumous work. In Tune With the Stars, stories for children, edited by Clara J. Farson (1901).
BEECHER, Willis Judson (1838—). An
American educator and author, born in Hamp-
den, Ohio. He graduated at Hamilton College in
1858, studied at the Auburn Theological Semi-
nary, and in 1865 was appointed professor of
moral science and belles-lettres at Knox College.
He was pastor of the First Congregational
Church in Galesburg, Ill., from 1869 to 1871. In
1871 he was appointed professor of the Hebrew
language and literature in Auburn (N.Y.) Theological Seminary. He has contributed frequently to periodicals, and has published Farmer Tompkins and His Bibles (1874), Drill Lessons in Hebrew (1883), and Old Testament Notes (1897).
BEECHEY, be'chi, Frederick William
(1796-1856). An English rear-admiral and geographer, son of Sir William Beechey. He entered the navy in 1806, and in 1814 was appointed to the Tonnant, and in 1815 participated in the battle of New Orleans. In 1818 he accompanied, in the Trent, the Arctic expedition under Franklin, and in 1819 served on the Hecla during Lieutenant Parry's voyage. In 1822 he was promoted to be commander, and from 1825 to 1829 commanded the Blossom, which sought to coöperate by way of Bering Strait with Arctic expeditions approaching from the eastward. Having been promoted to be captain, he in 1835-36 explored a part of the South American coast, and from 1837 to 1847 was employed on the Irish coast survey. In 1855 he was elected president of the Royal Geographical Society. He was the discoverer of Ports Clarence and Grantley, and published A Voyage of Discovery Towards the North Pole (1843).
BEECHEY, Sir William (1753-1830). An English portrait-painter. He was born at Burford, in Oxfordshire, December 12, 1753. He is said to have been a house-painter before becoming a student at the Royal Academy. His portraits were the fashion of his time, but they were pronounced stiff and lacking in dignity, though correct in likeness. He was made portrait-painter to Queen Charlotte, and won the patronage of the Court and of the fashionable class. He was knighted by George III. for his picture, now at Hampton Court, which represents the King reviewing troops. This also brought him the rank of R.A. His earlier drawings exhibit more care and finish than are shown in his later works when his popularity was assured. As a mark of his industry, it may be noted that in 64 years he exhibited 362 portraits at the exhibitions of the Royal Academy. Among the famous people whom he painted were Lord Nelson, Lord Cornwallis, John Kemble, and Mrs. Siddons. He died at Hampstead, January 28, 1839. Two examples of his portraits are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Consult Wilmot-Buxton and Koehler, English and American Painters (New York, 1883).
BEE'DER. See Bidar.
BEE'-EAT'ER. A bird of the picarian family Meropidæ, specifically Merops apiaster, very common in the Mediterranean region and occasionally farther north. The remaining 30 species of the family are mainly African or Oriental. They have rather long beaks, and long swallow-like wings, giving them great grace and speed in flight, and enabling them to capture insects on the wing. All wear a gorgeous plumage, green being the prevailing tint, and all the spe-
