648 BERANGER BERARD against the Bourbons, and he was not conspic- uous for his opposition to the Napoleonic dy- nasty. The first volume of B6ranger's songs was published in 1815. It contained few polit- ical pieces, but its popularity excited suspicion in the administrative department in which Beranger was employed, and a recommendation to stop such publications for the future was addressed to him by his chief. But Beranger was now fairly launched on his new course and paid no attention to this notice. He went on to produce new pieces, which, like their predecessors, were at first extensively circu- lated by singing. They were published in book form in 1821, Beranger having resigned his office before issuing the volume. The sale was immense, and the songs resounded all over the country. Judicial proceedings directed against the poet only added to his popularity and promoted the diffusion of the volume. Brought before the courts, he was sentenced to three months' imprisonment and a fine of 500 francs. This gave a powerful impetus to his inspiration ; new songs issued from the jail, and were re- peated from one end of France to the other. Beranger had become a political power. A third volume, which appeared in 1825, though scarcely less bold than the preceding, was treated with more forbearance by the govern- ment; but the fourth, published in 1828, was severely dealt with, the author being impris- oned nine months and fined 10,000 francs. This was the most brilliant period of his career. Beranger had secured great influence among the chiefs of the opposition party ; his advice was sought for and respected ; his known dis- interestedness, his freedom of speech, which was always united with the utmost courtesy, his want of personal ambition, his generous disposition, and his marked sympathy for young men, endeared him to all, and peculiarly to the inferior classes. He aided, through his songs, in bringing about the revolution of 1830, and took an active part with his friends Lafitte and Lafayette in placing Louis Philippe upon the throne, but refused all the appointments proffered by the king and his ministers. He desired to live as a philosopher, contented with the little income secured by the sale of his songs, and preserving his personal indepen- dence. His fifth volume was published in 1833. Although he acted as if willing to be forgotten, there was no abatement in his popularity dur- ing the reign of Louis Philippe ; and when the revolution of February, 1848, broke out, the name of Beranger was still among the brightest in the eyes of the people. He was returned by the votes of more than 200,000 electors to the constituent assembly. In acknowledgment of the honor, he took his seat, and then sent in his resignation. His last years were passed in retirement, amid his intimate friends ; but the admiration which he inspired drew around him numerous visitors, whom he tried to avoid by living as privately as possible in various vil- lages or provincial towns. On the news of his last illness, the street in which he lived, at Passy, was filled by a multitude of persons anxious to show their sympathy for him. His death threw a veil of sorrow not only over Paris, but over all France; and his funeral was attended by a host of mourners. His songs have been reprinted under every possible form, and millions of copies have been circu- lated among all classes of Frenchmen. They are familiar even to those who are unable to read. Besides the songs published by Beran- ger himself, he left 92 songs written from 1 834 to 1851, and a memoir of himself, which were published a few months after his death. The autobiography is admirable, and furnishes con- vincing evidence that in him simplicity, hon- esty, and goodness of heart were united to genius. See Beranger et son temps, by Jules Janin (Paris, 1806). BEBAR, or Nagpore, one of the Central Prov- inces of British India, bounded N. by theNer- bndda territory, E. by the presidency of Ma- dras, and S. and W. by the dominions of the Nizam, extending from lat. 17 48' to 22 43' N., and from Ion. 75 24' to 82 48' E. ; area, 76,474, sq. m. ; pop. 4,650,000, of whom 4,000,- 000 are Brahmanical Hindoos, 100,000 Mo- hammedans, and 550,000 Gondees. It consists mainly of an elevated tract, adjoining the Vin- dhya and Sautpoora ranges. It is watered by the Wurda, Wynegunga, Khahan, Taptee, and Mahanuddy. The soil of the extensive tract along the left bank of the Wurda is very fertile, and well suited to grain, tobacco, sugar, and especially cotton, of which it sent 233,000 bales to England in 1869. The wheat is considered the best in India. The ancient country of Berar was one of the five original independent kingdoms of the Deccan. In the 17th century it was part of the Mogul empire, and on the fall of that empire it was overrun by the Mah- rattas and divided between the Peishwa and the rajah of Nagpore. The latter prince, hav- ing joined with Dowlat Row Sindia against the British in 1803, was forced to cede to them the province of Cuttack, together with Sumbul- poor and Patna, and to the Nizam some prov- inces on the frontier of Hyderabad. On the extinction of the male line of succession in 1853, the country was seized by the British and placed under the direct control of the gover- nor general until the organization of the Cen- tral Provinces in 1861. Chief city, Nagpore. BEBABD. I. Joseph Frederic, a French phy- sician, born in Montpellier, Nov. 8, 1789, died there, April 16, 1828. He was educated at Montpellier, and distinguished himself as a champion of the theories of the medical school of that city against the materialism of the school of Paris. He spent some years at the capital, where he assisted in editing the Dictionnaire des sciences medicates, analyzed the experiments of Le Gallois on the vital principle, and op- posed the phrenological theories of Gall. Re- turning to Montpellier, he became professor of therapeutics there, and afterward of hygiene.
