BEZIEBS 14 BEZIQUE went, in 1539, to Paris, where he spent nine years. He was appointed Professor of Greek at Lausanne, a post which he held for 10 years. In 1558, he was sent to ask the intercession of several Ger- man princes in behalf of the persecuted Huguenots in France. The next year THEODORE DE BEZA he settled at Geneva, and was thence- forth the associate of Calvin till his death, and his successor as Professor of Theology and head of the Protestant party. Beza undertook a mission to the King of Navarre, and succeeded in win- ning him to the side of the reformers. He took a leading part at the celebrated Colloquy of Poissy, and was allowed to preach in Paris. He attended the Prince of Cond6 during the Civil War, and was at the battle of Dreux. His energy and activity of mind, like his bodily health, continued unabated. He only ceased preaching in 1600. Among his works are a Latin translation of the New Testament and "History of the Re- formed Churches in France." He died in 1605. BEZIERS (bez-yar'), a town in south- ern France, department of Herault, beautifully situated on a height and sur- rounded by old walls, its chief edifice being the cathedral, a Gothic structure, crowning the height on which the town stands; manufactures: woolens, hosiery, liquors, chemicals, etc., with a good trade in spirits, wool, grain, oil, verdigris, and fruits. In 1209 Beziers was the soene of a horrible massacre of the Albigensea. It suffered also in the religious wars of the 16th century. Pop. about 52,000. BEZIQUE (bez-ek'), or BESIQITE, a popular game of cards of French origin in which a double pack containing the aces, tens, kings, queens, knaves, nines, eights, and sevens are used, valued in the order given. The game is played by two persons, to whom eight cards are dealt. Trumps may be determined either by turning up the first card of the stack or by the suit of the first mar- riage. The non-dealer leads for the first trick, and the winner of each trick has the succeeding lead. After each trick, each player draws one card from the top of the stack, the winner of the trick taking the top card. The playing is as in whist, the leader taking the trick un- less his opponent plays a higher card of the same suit or a trump. It is not necessary to follow suit until the stack is exhausted, when one must do so and take each trick, if possible. Counting is done by means of the values of the cards; each ace or ten-spot taken in a trick counts 10, the winner of the last trick of each hand scores 10, and if trump is turned, both sevens count 10 for the turner, and if one exchanges from his hand a seven of trumps for an- other turned trump or if one declares the other seven of trumps 10 more is scored. The game is won by the player who first makes 1,000 points, and if his opponent has not made 500 the game covuits double. There are certain com- binations of cards other than the above, which, when declared, count as follows: Double bezique (both queens of spades and both knaves^ of diamonds), 500; se- quence of five highest trumps, 250; and 4 aces, 100; any 4 kings, 80; any 4 queens, 60; any 4 knaves, 40; bezique (queen of spades and knave of dia- monds), 40; royal marriage (king and queen of trumps), 40; marriage (king and queen of same suit) , 20. A declara- tion is made by placing the declared cards face up on the table where they remain till played or the stack is ex- hausted, except in the case of the seven of trumps. To score, a declaration can only be made after winning a trick and before drawing, and but one declaration can be made at a time. After a card has been used in one combination it may be used to form another, excepting when used to form an equal or inferior com- bination in the same class as before. A player need not declare a combination which he holds and only before the stack has been exhausted can a declaration be made.
