■■'<. 124. His life was written by Bandini i Rome, K77. lto). Among his published writings is a treatise, Contra Calumniatorem Platonis (Rome,1469),
against George of Trebis 1. who bad attacked Plato.
His treatise />< Sacramento Eucharistice is given in
ca Patrum, vol. xvi. In this he asserts that
tl"' bread and wine become tie' body and bl 1 of
Christ, nol through the prayer of the priest, but by virtue ofthe words ofChrist. Other theological work's Of Bessarion may be found in the acts ofthe Council
of Constance by Labbeand Hardouin.- Landon, Eccks. Dictionary, ii. 222; Hook, Eccks. Biography, ii, 346.
Bessel, Gottfried von, a learned Benedictine, was born Sept. 5, 1062, at Buehheim, in the archbish- opric of Mayence. In 1G92 he entered the Benedic- tine convent of Gottweich, near Vienna. Being called to the court of Lother Franz, elector of Mainz, he was employed for diplomatic missions to Vienna, Rome, and Wblfenbuttel. He prevailed in 1710 upon the old and vain Duke Anton Ulrich, of Brunswick, to go over to the Church of Pome, the latter having previously urged his granddaughter Elizabeth to take the same step in order to become the wife ofthe Emperor Charles VI. On this occasion Bessel compiled the work Quin- quaginta Romanocatholicam fidem omnibus aliis prafe-
\ rendi motiva ; also, in German, Funfzig Bedenkin, etc. (Mayence, 1708). The work purports to be written by a former Protestant, and has, therefore, been wrong- ly ascribed — for instance, by Augustin Theiner — to
■ Duke Anton Ulrich himself. H.e also began the publi- cation of the Chroniccn Godicicense, a work of great importance for the early church history of Austria ; but he finished only the 1st vol. of it (Tegernsee, 1732,
j fol.). — Herzog, Eeal-Encyklop. ii, 114.
Bessin, Guillaume, a French Romanist theolo- gian, was born at Glos-la-Fcrtc, in the diocese of Ev- reux, March 27, 1654. In 1074 he entered the order of Benedictines, and afterward taught philosophy and theology in the abbeys of Bee, Seez, and Fecamp. He was also made syndic ofthe monasteries of Normandy. He died at Rouen, October 18, 1736. He wrote Re- flexions sur le nouveau systeme du R. P. Lami, who maintained that our Lord did not celebrate the Jewish Passover on the eve of his death. "He is, however, chiefly known by the Concilia Rotomagensis 1'roiint iw, 1717, fol. It was first printed in 1677, and was the work of Dom Pommeraye. Dom Julien Bellaise un- dertook a new edition, which he greatly enlarged, but died before its completion, and Bessin finished it, add- ed the preface, and published it under his own name."
\ He was one of the editors of the works of Gregory the
J Great (1705, 4 vols. fol.). — Landon, Ecclesiastical Dic- tionary, ii, 224 ; Hoefer, Nouvelle Biographle Generate,
j v, 819.
Besson, Joseph, a French Jesuit missionary, was born at Carpcntras in 1607, and entered the Society of
I Jesus in 1623. He became professor of philosophy, and rector of the college at Nismes ; but finally offered himself as a missionary, and was sent to Syria, where he spent many years. He died at Aleppo, March 17, 1691, leaving La Syrie Sainte, ou des Missions des J 'ires
i de la Compagnie de Jesus en Syrie (Paris, 1660, 8vo). — Hoefer, Nouv. Bug. Ginirale, v, 821.
i Best, David, a Methodist Episcopal minister, born in Ireland, who emigrated to America at the age of ' 22, and joined the Philadelphia Conference ofthe Mcth- 1 odist Episcopal Church in 1801. He filled various ap- pointments, with honor to himself and profit to his peo- ple, until in the spring of 1835 he took a supernumera- ry relation. He was a man of strong mind, sound judgment, and unflinching firmness, and, as a preach- er, his talents were more than ordinary. He died in Dec, 1841, in the 41st year of his ministry and C7th of his age. — Minutes of Conferences, iii, 250.
Bestead, an old English word, signifying to place in certain circumstances good or ill, and used once in the Auth. Vers. (" hardly bestead," Isa. viii, 21) for the Hcb. flttJp, kasliah' , to oppress.
Be'tah (Heb. Be'tach, n^3 ; Sept. Bard\ v. r. Mr- TtficiK [quasi rastt], and M«o-/3«y, Vulg. Bete), a, city belonging to Hadadezer, king of Zobah, mentioned with Berothai as having yielded much spoil of brass to David (2 Sam. viii, 8). In the parallel account (1 Chr. xviii, 8) the name is called, by an inverson of let- ters, Tibhath (q. v.). Ewald (Gesch. ii, 195) pro- nounces the latter to be the correct reading, and com- pares it with Tebaii (Gen. xxii, 24). — Smith, s. v.
BETANE
771
BETHANY
Bet/and (Btrdvi) v. r. BXiratRf, i. c. prob. B«(r«- vi); Vulg. omits), a place apparently south of Jerusa- lem (Judith i, 9), and, according to Keland (Palast. p. C25), identical with the AlN (q. v.) of Josh, xxi, 10', and the Bethanin (BnOaviv) of Eusebius (Onom. 'Apt, A in), two miles from the Terebinth of Abraham and four from Hebron. Others, with less probability, com- pare it with Betex (q. v.). See under Chellus.
Be'ten (Heb. id. "122, belly, i. e. hollow; Sept. B:-fi' v. r. BuiOuk and Barv't), one of the cities on the border of the tribe of Asher (Josh, xix, 25, only). By Eusebius (Onom. s. v. Barvcu) it is said to have been then called Bebetin (\iif3triv'), and to have lain eight miles east of Ptolemais ; but this distance is too little, as the place appears to be the " Ecbatana of Syria" (Cellar. Not it. iii, 3, 13, 74), placed by Pliny (v, 17) on Carmel ; apparently the present village with ruins called el-Bahnch, live hours east of Akka (Van de Velde, Narrat. i, 285).