Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 7).djvu/40

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BEAUSOLEIL
BELASCO


(Albany, 1865) ; " Spiritual Struggles of a Roman Catholic" (New York, 187.5; Glli Canadian ed., Toronto, 1883; French translation, Montreal, 1883; Spanish translation, 1884).

BEAUSOLEIL, Cléophas, Canadian lawyer, b. in St. Felix du Valois. Canada East, 19 June, 1845. After receiving his education at Joliette college, he studied law in Montreal, and was admitted to the bar in 1880. For years he has been a member of the city council of Montreal, and has held other local offices. He was elected to the house of com- mons of Canada in January, 1887, and since 1896 has been chairman of the standing committee on expiring laws. From 1866 till 1875 he was con- nected with the " Press," and subsequently with "L'Ordre" of Montreal and " L'Evenement " of Quebec. Fie was chief editor of " Le Nouveau Monde" in 1870-'4, and in the latter year estab- lished " Le Bien Public." In 1881 lie entered into partnership with Honore Mercier, premier of Quebec, and he now practises in Montreal as a member of the firm of Beausoleil, Choquet & Girard. Mr. Beausoleil has published " Reforme du tarif Canadien," a i)lea for protection to home industries (Montreal, 1872). — His younger brother, Joseph Maxime, is a prominent physician, and has been editor of " Le Journal d'Hygiene Popu- laire " and " La Gazette Medieale de Montreal."

BEAVEN, Thomas Daniel, R. C. bishop, b. at Springfield, Mass., in 1849. He received his edu- cation in the Jesuit college of the holy cross, at Worcester, where he was graduated in 1870, and was for two years afterward a professor in the Col- lege of Loyola, at Baltimore. In order to complete his ecclesiastical course of studies he went to the College of Montreal, in 1872, and was then or- dained in the priesthood in 1875. He then served as assistant pastor at St. Mary'schurch, at Spejieer, Mass., and in 1879 he became its pastor. In May, 1882, he laid the foundations of the Church of St. Mary's, at Spencer, which he brought to successful completion, and which was dedicated by Bishop O'Reilly. Here he performed missionary work for thirteen years, when, in 1889, he was called to take charge of the Church of the holy rosary, at Hol- yoke, Mass. At the centenary celebration of George- town university, in 1889, he received the degree of D. D. While thus engaged at Holyoke he was appointed to succeed Bishop O'Reilly' as bishop of Springfield, and was consecrated in 1892.

BEE, Hamilton Priolean, soldier, b. in Charleston, S. C. 22 Julv, 1822 ; d. at San Antonio, Tex., 3 Oct., 1897. In 1839 he was appointed secre- tary on the part of Texas to the commission to run the boundary line between Texas and the United States from the mouth of Sabine bay to Red river. Gens. George G. Meade and Joseph E. Johnston were the army engineers engaged in the work. In March, 1863, he was sent by President Houston of Texas as a member of a commission to treat with the Comanche Indians. The Comanches at first refused to recognize their flag, and made them prisoners, but eventually treated with and released them. He was secretary of the Texas senate in 1846, but after hostilities commenced with Mexico he resigned and joined Gen. Ben McCuUoch's Texas cavalry. He was engaged in the battle of Monterey, and was promoted 1st lieutenant under the command of Gen. Mirabeau 15. Lamar. Early in 1861 he was appointed brigadier-general of the Provisional army of Texas, and was appointed rigadier-generai in the Confederate army, 4 March, 1862. lie was a brother of Gen. Bernard Elliott Bee, of the Confederacy (q. v.), who was killed at the battle of Bull Run in July, 1861.

BEERS, William George, Canadian dentist, b. in Montreal, 5 May, 1846. He was educated at McGill college, studied dentistry, and was secre- tary of examiners from 1868 till 1879, and also served as president and vice-president. In 1868 he founded the Canadian " Journal of Dental Sci- ence," which he edited, and he has contributed ex- tensively to journals of dentistry in the Unite<I States. He was the first to make laws for the In- dian game of lacrosse, and had it adopted as the national field-game of Canada in 1864. His la- crosse team, of which he is captain, visited the British isles in 1876 and 1883, and was one of the founders in 1893 of the Canadian national league. Dr. Beers has published many magazine articles on Canada and its sports, and is the author of "Lacrosse, the National Game of Canada" (1869), and '• Over the Snow " (1883).

BEGBIE, Sir Matthew Baillie, Canadian ju- rist, b. in the island of Mauritius, 13 Sept.. 1819; d. in "Victoria, British Columbia, 2 June, 1894. He was graduated at Cambridge, England, in 1841, and became a fellow there in 1846. He was called to the English bar, and subsequently came to Canada. la 1858 he was made judge of British Columbia, and also judge of the vice-admiralty court in the same province. He became acting chief justice of Van- couver's island in 1871, and in the same year chief justice of the united colonies of British Columbia. In 1875 he received the honor of knighthood.

BEGIN, Louis-Nazaire, R. C. archbishop, b. at Levis, Canada, 10 Jan., 1840. In 1857 he was sent to the Seminary of Quebec, where he re- mained until 1862, receiving the Laval degree and winning the Prince of Wales medal. He after- ward entered the Grand seminary of Quebec to pursue his theological studies, going to Rome to continue them in 1863. In Italy he was ordained a priest in 1865. He also while abroad travelled in the Holy Land, pursuing special biblical and historical studies, and subsequently studied his- tory and languages at the Catholic university of Innspruck. Returning to Quebec in 1868, he be- came professor of dogmatic theology and ecclesias- tical history in Laval university, and was also pre- fect of studies in the Little seminary. In 1884 he accompanied Archbishop Taschereau to Rome to defend the rights of Laval university, was ap- pointed bishop of Chicoutimi, and was consecrated at Quebec cathedral titular archbishop of Cyrene, which he still holds. He became coadjutor to Cardinal Taschereau, and since his death has ad- ministered the archdiocese of Quebec as adminis- trator. The works of Dr. Begin, some of which have received English translations, are as follows: " La primaute et rinfaillibilite des Souvereins Pontifes" (Quebec. 1873); " La Sainte Ecriture et la Rfegle do Foi " (Quebec. 1874) ; "Le Culte Catholique, etc." (Quebec, 1875) ; " The Bjble and the Rule of Faith," translated from the French by G. M. Ward (1875); "Chronologic de I'Histoire du Canada" (Quebec, 1895); " Chronologic de I'His- toire des Etats-LInis d'Amerique" (Quebec, 1895); and many published discourses.

BELASCO, David, dramatist, b. in San Francisco, Cal., 25 July, 1858. He was graduated at Lincoln high-school, San Francisco, in 1876, and from an early age has frequently appeared on the stage. He was stage manager in 1879-'81 of the Baldwin theatre, the Grand opera-house, and the California theatre in San Francisco, in 1881 of the Madison square theatre. New York, and in 1886 became manager of the Ijvceuni theatre in that city. Mr. Belasco's principal plays are " Hearts of Oak," " La Belle Russe," " May Blossom,"" Vale-