Sr., the first abbot of Clairvaux, was the third son of Tescelin of Fontaine in Burgundy, where he was born in 1091. He acquired so great a reputation by his zeal and abilities, that all the affairs of the church appeared to rest upon his shoulders, and kings and princes seemed to have chosen him as general arbitrator of their differences. It was owing to him that Innocent II. was acknowledged sovereign pontiff; and that, after the death of Peter Louis the anti-pope, Victor, who had been named his successor, voluntarily abdicated the dignity. Bernard convicted Abelard at the council of Sens, in the year 1140; he opposed the monk Raoul; he persecuted the followers of Arnold of Brescia; and, in 1148, he caused Gilbert de la Porvèce, bishop of Poitiers, and Eonde l'Etoile, to be condemned in the council of Rheims. By such zealous behaviour he verified, according to Bayle, the interpretation of his mother's dream. She had dreamed, when with child of him, that she should bring forth a white dog, whose barking should be very loud. Astonished at this dream, which she was unable to unriddle, she consulted a monk, who said to her, "Be of good courage; you shall have a son who shall guard the house of God, and bark loudly against the enemies of the faith." But St Bernard went far beyond the prediction; for he barked sometimes against chimerical enemies, and was more successful in exterminating the heterodox than in putting down infidels, although he attacked the latter, not only with the ordinary arms of his eloquence, but also with the extraordinary weapon of prophecy. He preached the crusade under Louis the Younger, and added greatly to the troops of the crusaders. But all the splendid visions with which he had flattered the people were disappointed by the event; and when it was alleged that he had hurried a vast number of Christians to slaughter without sharing the dangers himself, the saint alleged in his defence that the sins of the crusaders had destroyed the efficacy of his prophecies. He is said to have founded 160 monasteries, and to have wrought a prodigious number of miracles. He died August 20, 1153, aged sixty-three. Of the numerous editions of his works, the best is that of Father Mabillon, printed at Paris in 1690, in 2 vols. folio, which also contains the biography of St Bernard written by his secretary and disciple Geoffrey.

Dr Edward, a learned astronomer, linguist, and critic, was born at Perry St Paul, near Towcester, May 2, 1638, and educated at Merchant-Tailors' school, and St John's College, Oxford. On entering the university, he was already master of all the elegancies of the Greek and Latin tongues, and not unacquainted with the Hebrew. He there applied to the study of history, philology, and philosophy, and mastered the Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, and Coptic languages; after which he studied mathematics under Dr Wallis. Having taken the degrees of bachelor and master of arts, and afterwards that of bachelor of divinity, he went to Leyden to consult several Oriental manuscripts left to that university by Joseph Scaliger and Levinus Warnerus. On his return to Oxford he collated and examined the most valuable manuscripts in the Bodleian library, and became engaged in a very extensive correspondence with the learned of most countries. In 1669, when the celebrated Christopher Wren, Savilian professor of astronomy at Oxford, was appointed surveyor-general of His Majesty's works, and obliged to spend much of his time in London, he obtained leave to name Bernard as his deputy at Oxford. In 1676 he went to France as tutor to the dukes of Grafton and Northumberland, sons of Charles II.; by the duchess of Cleveland, and then living with their mother at Paris; but the simplicity of his manners not suiting the gaiety of the duchess's family, he returned about a year after to Oxford. He composed tables of the longitudes, latitudes, right ascensions, and declinations of the fixed stars; Observations in Latin on the Obliquity of the Ecliptic; and several other pieces inserted in the Philosophical Transactions. He also wrote, 1. A Treatise on Ancient Weights and Measures; 2. Chronologia Samaritanae Synopsis, in two tables; 3. Testimonies of the Ancients concerning the Greek Version of the Old Testament by the Seventy; and several other learned works. This learned and pious man died January 12, 1696, in the fifty-eighth year of his age, leaving behind him a number of manuscripts which are now deposited in the Bodleian library. His biography has been written by Dr Smith.

James, professor of philosophy and mathematics, and minister of the Walloon church at Leyden, was born at Nions, in Dauphiné, September 1, 1658. Having studied at Geneva, he returned to France in 1679, and was chosen minister of Venterol, in Dauphiné, whence he was removed to the church of Vinsobres. The persecution against the Protestants obliging him to abandon his native country, he retired to Holland, where he was well received, and appointed one of the pensionary ministers of Gauda. In July 1686 he commenced his *Histoire Abrégée de l'Europe*, which he continued monthly till December 1688. In 1692 he began his *Lettres Historiques*, containing an account of the most important transactions in Europe; and he carried on this work till the end of 1698. It was afterwards continued by other hands, and consists of a great number of volumes. When Le Clerc discontinued his *Bibliothèque Universelle* in 1691, Bernard wrote the greater part of the twentieth volume, and the five following volumes. In 1698 he collected and published *Actes et Négociations de la Paix de Ryswick*, in four volumes 12mo. In 1699 he began the *Nouvelles de la République des Lettres*, which continued till December 1710. Having acquired great reputation by his works, as well as by his sermons at Gauda and the Hague, he was unanimously elected in 1705 one of the ministers of the Walloon church at Leyden. About the same time he succeeded M.de Valder in the chair of philosophy and mathematics at Leyden; and the university presented him with the degrees of doctor in philosophy and master of arts. In 1716 he published a supplement to Moreri's Dictionary, in two volumes folio. The same year he resumed his *Nouvelles de la République des Lettres*, and continued it till his death, which happened on the 27th of April 1718. Besides the works above mentioned, he was the author of two excellent treatises, one on a late repentance, the other on the excellency of religion.

Simon, a celebrated French general of engineers, and aide-de-camp to Napoleon, was born at Dôle in 1779. Subsequently to the emperor's fall he emigrated to the United States, where he executed a variety of works, unequalled for magnitude, consisting of vast canals, numerous forts, and 1400 leagues of frontier fortifications. He returned to France, and in 1836 was secretary at war. He died in 1839.

The Great St., a celebrated mountain pass of the Pennine Alps, upwards of 8000 feet in height, between the Swiss canton of Valais and the valley of Aosta. Near the summit is the famous hospice, said to have been founded by St Bernard of Menton in Savoy in 962, for the succour of travellers crossing the mountain. In their philanthropic labours the monks inhabiting the hospice have valuable assistants in their dogs, which are known as the St Bernard breed, and are noted for their extraordinary size and sagacity. In 1800 Napoleon crossed the Alps here at the head of an army of 30,000 men, with cavalry and artillery.