tion in Lablache s great character of Don Pasquale. A farewell benefit was given him at the Queen's Theatre, 18 May 1868, when he played for the last time the Kinchin Cove in a selection from 'Flowers of the Forest.' He had then been above fifty years on the stage. He died of a dropsical complication about 10 P.M. Wednesday, 11 Jan. 1871, at Lindsey Place, Chelsea, and was buried in Norwood Cemetery.
[Genest's Account of the English Stage; Recollections and Wanderings of Paul Bedford, 1864; Era newspaper, 15 Jan. 1871; The Drama, vols. iii. and vii.]
BEDFORD, THOMAS (fl. 1650), theologian, was prominent in religious controversy between 1620 and 1650, but little is known of his personal history. He was educated at Queens' College, Cambridge, took degrees in arts, and afterwards proceeded B.D. In a letter to Baxter (1650) he says that 'he sat at the feet of Bishop Davenant,' who was Margaret professor of divinity from 1609 to 1621, and master of Queens from 1614 to 1621. Davenant's successor in the professorship was Dr. Samuel Ward, and from these two divines Bedford affirms that his own theology was mainly derived. A Latin letter from Davenant to Ward on baptismal regeneration was copied by Bedford, and afterwards published by him, at Ussher's suggestion, as a preface to his thesis for the degree of B.D. held before Dr. Ward.
In the above-mentioned letter to Baxter Bedford explains that he was convinced of 'the efficacy of the sacrament to the elect' by reading a book of Dr. Burges. This letter was written because Baxter had appended to his 'Plain Scripture Proof of Infants' Church Membership' a refutation of what he considered Bedford's erroneous view of baptism, and Bedford's object was to show that their tenets were fundamentally the same. This Baxter admitted in a reply called 'A friendly Accommodation with Mr. Bedford' (1656).
In 1647 Bedford published an examination of antinomianism, the substance of which was taken from lectures he had given in the chapel of St. Antholine's parish, London. He received the rectorship of St. Martin Outwich in the city of London some short time before 1649, for in that year he dedicated his 'Sacramental Instructions' to the congregation as his 'first-fruits' to them; and Thomas Pierce, the former rector, had been sequestrated a little before (Walker, Sufferings of the Clergy). How long Bedford continued as rector is not certain, but Matthew Smalwood was appointed previously to the Restoration (v. Newcourt, Rep. i. 420).
The only political sentiment Bedford shows is when, in his 'Examination of the Compassionate Samaritan,' he urges the right and duty of the civil power to punish for heretical opinions. His theological writings are marked by a temperance alien to his time, and show an extensive reading, especially in the fathers of the church and in the continental theology of his time.
His works are:
- 'The Sinne unto Death,' 1621.
- 'A Treatise of the Sacrament,' 1638.
- 'Examination of some of the Chief Points of Antinomianism,' and appended to it 'An Examination of a Pamphlet entitled "The Compassionate Samaritan,"' 1647.
- 'Some Sacramental Instructions,' 1649.
- 'Vindiciæ Gratiæ Sacramentalis,' 1650.
[Davenant's Baptismal Regeneration, preface to Eng. trans.; Baxter's Works; Watt's Bibl. Brit.; Brit. Mus. Cat.]
BEDFORD, THOMAS (d. 1773), nonjuror and church historian, was the second son of Hilkiah Bedford [q. v.], the nonjuror. He was educated at Westminster School, and proceeded to St. John's College, Cambridge, as sizar to Dr. Jenkin the master, matriculating in December 1730. In consequence of nonjuring principles he did not take a degree, nor did he enter the established church. He was admitted into orders by the nonjurors, and became chaplain in the family of Sir John Cotton, with whom he afterwards resided at Angers. His next home was in the county of Durham, where his sister was married to George Smith, son of Dr. John Smith, the learned editor of Bede. Here Bedford prepared an edition of Symeon of Durham's 'De Exordio atque Procursu Dunhelmensis Ecclesiæ libellus,' from what he supposed to be an original or contemporary manuscript in the cathedral library; from the same manuscript he added 'a continuation to the year 1164, and an account of the hard usage Bishop William received from Rufus,' and he prefaced the work with a dissertation by Thomas Rudd (Gough, Brit. Topography, i. 329). This book was published by subscription in 1732.
From Durham Bedford went to live in Derbyshire, at Compton,near Ashbourne, and officiated as minister to the nonjurors in the neighbourhood. He wrote an historical catechism in 1742. The first edition was taken from the Abbé Fleury's 'Catéchisme Historique,' but the second was so much altered that he omitted the abbé's name from the title-page. Bedford was a friend of Ellis Farneworth, the translator, and is
