Berridge, John, one of the Methodist reformers of the Church of England, was 1 orn at Kingston 1716, and entered at Clare Hall 1734, and in 1755 became vicar of Everton. In 1758 he invited Wesley to visit his parish, and a widespread reformation broke out, attended by some irregularities r.nd excesses, Ber- ridge soon began to itinerate, and Everton was for some years the centre of a wide sphere of evangelical labors. He preached ten or twelve sermons a week, often in the open air. His theological opinions allied him with Whitefield. and he became a notable cham- pion of Calvinistic Methodism. He was rich, but lib- eral to excess, and rented preaching-houses, supported lay preachers, and aided poor societies with an unspar- ing hand. He was a laborious student, and nearly as familiar with the classical languages as with his native tongue. Like most good men whose temperament renders them zealous, he had a rich vein of humor, and his ready wit played freely but harmlessly through both his public and private discourse. He died 1793. His Christian World Unmasked, with his Life, Letters, etc., was reprinted in 1824 (Lond. 8vo). — Stever.s, History of Methodism, i, 3*2 ; Wesley, Works, iv, 25.
Berrirnan, William, D.D., an English divine, was lorn in London 1688, and educated at Oriel Col- lege, Oxford. He. became rector of St. Andrew-Cn- dershaftand Fellow of Eton 1729. His studies were ex- tensive, especially in the Oriental languages. He died 1749. His principal writings are, Eight Sermons on the Trinity (Lond. 1726, 8vo) :— Gradual Bcvtlatkn of the Gospel's (Boyle Lectures for 1730. 1731, 1732) :— Ser- mons on Christian Doctrines and Duties (Lond, 1751, 2 vols. 8vo).— Hook, Eccl. Biog. ii, 330.
Berniyer, Joseph Isaac, born November 7th, 1681, at Rouen ; became a Jesuit, and died at Paris in 1758, after having made much stir in the world by his \IIistoire d% Peuple de Dim. The first part, the O. T., app3ared in 1728 (7 vols. 4to). The work is shocking, not only from its almost infidelity, but from its style, the 0. T. history being, in fact, turned into a romance, in many cases irreconcilable with decency and pro- priety. The general of the order commanded the. writ-
er to put forth a new edition, which appeared in 1733 (8 vols. 4to), but it was still very far from satisfactory. | The second part, containing the N. T., or, at least, part | of it, in style and matter even worse than the first, ap- peared in 1753 (4 vols. 4to). The superiors of the three Jesuit establishments at Paris, seeing the storm which the book had raised, immediately put forth a declara- tion to the effect that the work had appeared without their knowledge, and compelled the author to sign an act of submission to the episcopal mandate. A- formal censure on the part of the faculty of theology, and then a papal brief, and, lastly, a bull of Benedict XIV, pro- scribing the book in whatever language it might ap- pear, followed. The third part appeared in 1758 at Lyons, containing a paraphrase of the epistles, filled with absurdities, and even outraging the doctrine of the Trinity. Clement XIII condemned it in 1758. The publication of this work produced a violent com- motion among the Jesuits. Father Tourneminc, the head of the opposition parly, denounced the work to the superiors in a very forcible tract; the opposite party replied ; the dispute waxed hott t and hotter, but ulti- mately, by the death of Tournemine, the party of Ber- niyer gained the upper hand, and his infamous book is still reprinted. — Landon, Eccl. Diet, ii, 204.
Berry, LuciEN W., D.D., an eminent Methodist Episcopal minister, was born at Alburg,Vt,, in 1815. He began to preach in 1833, and by his diligence as preacher, pastor, and student, he gradually acquired wide reputation and influence. lie entered the travel- ling ministry in the Ohio Conference, and succeeded I>r. Simpson in the presidency of the Indiana Asbury University in 1848. After remaining for about six years in charge of this institution, he accepted the presidency of the Iowa Wesleyan University at Mount
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Pleasant. He remained in connection with this insti- tution for about three years. In the summer of 1857 he resigned his place at Mount Pleasant, and took charge of the university of Missouri at Jefferson City. He labored with great zeal and energy to build up the university; but in November, 1857, he was attacked with erysipelas, which was subsequently followed by paralysis, and he died in peace, after great suffering, July 23, 1858, at Cincinnati, Ohio, lie was "a pro- found divine, a critical scholar, an orator of uncom- mon power, and an eminently holy man." — Minutes of Conferences, 1859, p. 126.
Berthier, Guillaume Francois, a Jesuit writer, born April 7th, 1704. He was first professor of the Humanities at Blois, and afterward of theology at Paris. The talent which he displayed caused him to be appointed to succeed Brumoy in 1742 as continuator of the history of the Gallican Church (Histoire de Veglise Gallicane), of which he published six volumes, carry- ing the history to A.D. 1520. In 1745 his superiors intrusted him with the direction of the Journal de Trevouz, which he edited until the suppression of the company. While thus employed he was necessarily brought into collision with Voltaire, whose works he freely criticised and stigmatized. In 1764 the ex- Jesuits were banished from court, whereupon he re- tired beyond the Rhine, and died at Bourges Decem- ber loth, 1782. After his death appeared his (Euvres Spirituelles (5 vols. 12mo, best ed. Paris, 1811) : — Psaumes et Esaie, trad, avec reflexions et Notes (Paris, 1788, 5 vols. 12mo).— Hoefer, Biog. Generate, v, 507.