Hutchinson as chief justice, instead of Col. Otis, of Barnstable, to whom the office had been pledged. This breach of faith drew on him the hostility of James Otis, the son of Col. Otis, who soon became a popular leader. Gov. Bernard also gave special offence by refusing to confirm the nomination of several members of the council. He seemed to have no talent for conciliation, and, failing in his preliminary measures of attempted coercion to his views, he made such representations to the government that troops were ordered to Boston. He intended to overawe the people, and the act greatly excited the entire population of Massachusetts Bay, and gave an enormous impetus to the growing disaffection. The assembly requested the removal of the king's ships and troops, but Bernard refused, and business was brought to a stand-still. His conduct drew on him the indignation of the province, but procured him. in 1769, a baronetcy in England as a reward for his "firmness and administrative ability." He had little command of his temper, could not conceal his resentments, nor restrain his censures. One of his last public measures was to prorogue the general court in July, in consequence of their refusal to make provision for the support of the king's troops. But before his decree had gone into effect the general court had drafted resolutions and petitioned the king for his removal. The English government deemed it wise to recall him, although claiming that it was only on the plea of consulting him in reference to the general condition of the province. He continued nominally governor for two years longer, but never returned to America. He published " Letters to the Ministry" (1769); "Letters to the Earl of Hillsborough" (1769); and "Select Letters on the Trade and Government of America, and the Principles of Law and Polity applied to the American Colonies" (2d ed., 1774). He also edited "Antonii Alsopi Ædis Christi olim Alumni Odarum libri duo" (1752). His "Letter Books" were bought by Dr. Jared Sparks in 1848, and by his will bequeathed to the library of Harvard.—His son. Sir John, bart., was b. in England in 1744; d. in the West Indies in 1809. At the close of the war of independence, his sympathies having been with the colonists in their struggle with the mother country, he did not return to England. After suffering the extremes of poverty for some time, the legislature of Massachusetts, in consideration of his conduct during the war, restored to him half of the island of Mount Desert, part of his father's property, which had been confiscated. Little is known of his subsequent career in the United States. Afterward he held offices under the British government at Barbadoes and St. Vincent. At the death of his father, in 1779, he succeeded to the title.—Sir Thomas, bart., third son of Sir Francis Bernard, was b. in England about 1746; d. there in 1818. When his father was appointed governor of New Jersey, he accompanied the family to America, and was graduated at Harvard in 1767. Subsequently he went to England and married a lady of fortune. On the death of his brother. Sir John, he succeeded to the title. He was the author of several essays, written to improve the condition of the humbler classes, and was noted for his benevolence.
BERNARD, John, actor, b. in Portsmouth, England, in 1756; d. m London, 29 Nov., 1828.
He was educated at Chichester. His father, a lieutenant in the navy, tried to check his son's aspirations for the stage by placing him in a solicitor's
office ; but at the age of seventeen he ran away
from home, joined a travelling company, and made
his first professional appearance as Jatfier at Chew
Magna, Somerset co., in a theatre improvised in a
malt-house. He was married in the following year,
and, after various experiences common to strolling
actors, in 1787 he made his first appearance in
London at Covent Garden, playing Archer in "The Beaux Stratagem" to the Mrs. Sullen of his wife. One reason of his success was his extreme conviviality. He lost his wife in 1792, and in 1797 came
to the United States. He made his American debut
4 June, 1797, as Goldfinch in "The Road to Ruin"
at the Greenwich street theatre, New York. The
following winter he went to Philadelphia, and in
1803 to Boston. In 1806 he was associated with
Powers in the management of the Federal street
theatre, Boston, and went to England for a company. He remained in the United States as actor and manager of various theatres for about twenty years, and took final leave of the stage in 1820 at Boston in his favorite character of Lord Agleby,
when he returned to England, and died in poverty.
A selection from his voluminous "Retrospections
of the Stage " appeared two years after his death
(2 vols., 1830), and a further selection, edited by
his son, appeared in 1850-'1.—His son, William Bayle, dramatist, was b. in Boston, 27 Nov., 1807; d. in London, England, 5 Aug., 1875. At the age of thirteen he went with his father to England, and studied at Uxbridge. In 1826 he was appointed to a clerkship in the army accounts office, which
he retained until 1830, when the office was abolished. In 1827 he produced a nautical drama, "The Pilot," for which he received £3, and, as an incentive "to prompt him to further exertions," he was presented with £2 more when the play reached its hundredth night. At the age of twenty-one he
wrote "The Freebooter's Bride" (5 vols., 1828). The following year he compiled "Retrospections of the Stage," from memoranda found among his father's papers. At the age of twenty-three he entered fully on the career of a professional dramatist, and produced plays and farces with an unexampled rapidity. The total number of them is
114, not half of which have been printed. The
best known are "Rip Van Winkle," "The Nervous
Man, and the Man of Nerve," "The Man About Town," "Marie Ducange," "His Last Legs," "Dumb Belle," "The Boarding-School," "The Middy Ashore," "The Round of Wrong," "A
Life's Trials," and "A Splendid Investment." His last play was "The Doge of Venice." He also published a life of Samuel Lover (London, 1874).
BERNARD, Simon, baron, French soldier, b. in Dole, France, 28 April, 1779; d. in Paris, 5 Nov., 1839. He was educated by charity in his native town, and was appointed to the polytechnic school of Paris, whither he went on foot and would have died of cold in the streets but for the kindness of an humble woman who sheltered him and took him to his destination. His instructors were Laplace, Haüy, Berthollet, Pourcroy, and Monge, and he obtained the second position in the class of engineering. He was appointed in the corps de génie, and first served in the army of the Rhine and led the assault upon Ivrea in 1800. In 1805 he was sent on a secret service to Germany, and on his return was promoted chief of battalion. When a lieutenant-colonel he was engaged in fortifying Antwerp in 1810-'12, and was promoted colonel of
engineers and aide-de-camp to Napoleon. 21 Jan., 1813. His leg was shattered in the retreat of the grand army from the field of Leipsic in 1813. The same year he threw himself into Torgau with 8,000 men, superintending the defence of that place for
three months during a terrible siege. Napoleon conferred on him the title of brigadier-general of
