580 BERNSTORFF in the chair once filled by Galileo, and was afterward professor first of logic and then of law at Basel. He was a member of the Berlin academy, of the royal society of London, and of the institute of Bologna. IX. Jerome, of the same family, born in Basel in 1745, died in 1829. He "was distinguished as a naturalist and a mineralogist, and was for a time presi- dent of the council of his native canton. X. Christopher, a technologist, of the same family, born in Basel, March 15, 1782, died there, Feb. 6, 1863. He studied at Neufchatel and afterward at Gottingen, where he devoted himself chiefly to the natural sciences. In 1802 he became professor at Halle, where he remained two years. He then spent some time in travelling, and in 1800 opened a private school at Basel, which he gave up in 1817 and became professor of natural history in the uni- versity, retiring in 1861. He published a num- ber of works upon subjects connected with rational technology, among which are: Ueber den nachtheiligen Einfluss der Zunftverfassung auf die Industrie (Basel, 1822) ; Handbuch der Technologie (2 vols., 1833-'4 ; 2d ed., 1840) ; Handbuch, der indwtriellen Physik, Meckanik und Hydraulik (2 vols., Stuttgart, 1834-'5). BERNSTORFF. I. Johann Hartwig Ernst, count, a Danish statesman, born in Hanover, May 13, 1712, died in Hamburg, Feb. 19, 1772. He was educated in Germany, represented the Danish government in 1737 at the diet of Ratisbon, and in 1744 was appointed minister to Paris. In 1750 he became secretary and councillor of state, and in 1751 member of the privy council, with the portfolio of foreign af- fairs. A war with Russia on the Holstein-Got- torp question was averted by his prudence, and he was ennobled by Christian VII. (1767), and called by Frederick the Great the " oracle of Denmark." He promoted industry, art, and let- ters, and liberated his serfs. After having been ousted from office by Struensee in 1770, he was recalled in 1772 in the most flattering manner after the latter's downfall, and died when about returning to Copenhagen from Hamburg, where he had lived in the interval. II. Andreas Peter, count, a Danish statesman, cousin of the preceding, born at Gartow, near Luneburg, Aug. 28, 1735, died in Copenhagen, June 21, 1797. He studied at German univer- sities, travelled extensively, entered the Danish service in 1755, became a privy councillor in 1769, and in 1772 minister of foreign affairs. He reestablished friendly relations with Great Britain, and in 1778 was the first to propose armed neutrality to Sweden. His views con- flicting with those of the dowager queen Juli- ana and other influential parties, he left office in 1780. After the death of his first wife in 1782, he married in 1783 her sister the coun- tess Augusta Stolberg, whose brothers were the famous German poets. Rejoining the cab- inet in 1784, he prepared for the abolition of serfdom in Schleswig and Holstein ; and by re- moving all trammels from liberty of the press, BERQUIN ho enabled German thinkers to express ideas in Denmark which they were not permitted to utter in their own country. See Eggers, Denkwurdigkeiten cms dem Leben des Staats- ministers von Bernstorff (Copenhagen, 1800). i:i K<! , I. An ancient town of Macedonia, on a tributary of the Haliacmon, in which St. Paul preached the gospel. (See VEEIA.) II. One of the ancient names of Aleppo. BEROSUS, a priest of Belus at Babylon, who probably lived about 250 B. C., although some place him 30 and even 70 years earlier. He wrote in Greek a history of Chaldea or Baby- lonia, professing to derive the materials from the archives of the temple. It embraced the myths and traditions of the early ages, a de- scription of Babylonia, and a chronological list of its kings down to Cyrus. He starts with a mythical period of 34,080 years, during which there were 86 kings, two of 'whom reigned more than 2,000 years each. His earliest his- torical date is placed by Rawlinson about 2458 B. C., and he speaks of 132 kings who reigned between that time and 538 B. C. His work itself is lost, there being extant only fragments preserved in citations by Josephus, Eusebius, Polyhistor, Syncellus, and some of the Greek fathers. The historical chronology of Berosns is to a degree confirmed by the inscriptions which have been discovered in Babylonia and Assyria, and, as far as they touch upon each other, by the Hebrew records. It is generally accepted as tolerably authentic by scholars, who dis- credit the statements of Ctesias. The existing fragments of Berosus, with the inscriptions, fill a space otherwise vacant in ancient history. They were partially collected by Sealiger in De Emendutione Temporvm (Leyden, 1583), and more fully by Fabricius in the Billiotheea Oraca (Hamburg, 3d ed., 1718-'28) ; the best collection is by Richter, Beroii Chaldceorum Histories que mpersunt (Leipsic, 1825 ; Paris, 1848). A work ascribed to Berosus, Antiqui- tatum libri quinque, cvm Commentariis Joan- nis Annii, which appeared at Rome in 1498, and has been several times reprinted, is spu- rious, being a forgery by Annius of Yiterbo. KMtQMY Ai'iiiuid, a French author, born in Bordeaux in 1749, died in Paris, Dec. 21, 1791. His idyls and ballads, and especially Gene- vieve de Urabant, became very popular, and still more his numerous writings for children, including brief stories and plays. His principal work of the kind, VAmi des enfants (24 vols. 12mo, 1782-'3), obtained a prize from the French academy in 1784, and has been trans- lated into German. Many of the stories were taken from Christian Felix "Weisse's Kinder- freund (1776-'82), but adapted so admirably to the French as to convey an impression of their originality. He also published a free trans- lation of Mrs. Trimmer's " Easy Introduction to the Knowledge of Nature," wrote novels, edited for some time the Mtmitew, and, in conjunction with other journalists, Lafertille villageoise. Complete editions of his writings
