efforts before leaving his native city for his last voyage to Europe was an address delivered at the great mass meeting in Union square, New York, 20 April, 1861, in which with extraordinary fire and eloquence he urged the duty of patriotism in the trying crisis that then threatened the nation. A memoir by A. R. Van Nest, D. D., was published in 1867. Dr. Bethune was an accomplished student of English literature, and distinguished himself as a writer and editor. He published an excellent edition of the "British Female Poets, with Biographical and Critical Notices" (Philadelphia, 1848); and Izaak Walton's "Complete Angler," for which last he was peculiarly qualified by his fondness for fishing. Among his original works are "Lays of Love and Faith" (Philadelphia, 1847); "Orations and Discourses" (1850); "Memoirs of Joanna Bethune " (New York, 1863); "Fruits of the Spirit," a volume of sermons; and two smaller works, "Early Lost, Early Saved," and "The History of a Penitent."
BETHUNE, James, Canadian lawyer, b. in Glengarry, Ontario, 7 July, 1840 ; d. 18 Dec, 1884.
He was descended from two old Scottish families,
and was the great-grandson of Angus Bethune, a
loyalist, who removed from the United States and
settled in Glengarry in 1778. James Bethune entered Queen's college, Kingston, and, after a two
years' course there, attended University college,
Toronto, where he was graduated in 1861. Concurrently with his university pursuits, he studied
law, first in Cornwall and afterward in the office
of Edward Blake, Toronto, and was called to the
bar of Upper Canada in 1862, and to the bar of
Quebec in 1869. He began practice at Cornwall,
and in 1872 was elected to represent the county of
Stormont in the legislature of Ontario; was reelected at the general elections of 1875, and represented this constituency until June, 1879, when he declined to become a candidate. In November, 1870, he removed to Toronto, and, in conjunction
with Edward Blake, S. H. Blake, and J. K. Kerr,
established the firm of Blake, Kerr & Bethune.
Subsequently he joined Messrs. P. Osier and
Charles Moss, and formed the firm of Bethune,
Osier & Moss. On the elevation of Mr. Osier to
the bench, the firm was known as Bethune, Moss,
Palconbridge & Hayles, and as such became one
of the most successful legal firms in Canada. Mr.
Bethune was elected a bencher of the law society
of Ontario in 1875, and was for some years lecturer
for that body.
BETTS, Samuel Rossiter, jurist, b. in Richmond, Berkshire co., Mass., in 1787; d. in New Haven, Conn., 3 Nov., 1868. He was the son of a farmer, and was graduated at Williams in 1806. He studied law in Hudson, N. Y., was admitted to the bar, and began practice in Sullivan co.,
where he was earning a fair reputation at the outbreak of the war of 1812. After a term of service in the army, he was appointed judge-advocate by Gov. Tompkins. In 1815 he was elected to congress for the district comprising Orange and Sullivan cos., N. Y. At the close of the term he declined a re-election, and returned to the study and practice of his profession. He was for several years district attorney of Orange co. At
that time the bar of the state of New York contained a somewhat notable array of eminent lawyers. Martin Van Buren, Elisha Williams, Thomas J. Oakley, George Griffin, Ogden Hoffman,
Prescott Hall, and Thomas Addis Emmet were in active practice, and with all of them Mr. Belts was constantly associated, and, though of a younger generation than most of them, was soon recognized as their peer in the profession. In 1823 Mr.
Belts was appointed judge of the U. S. district court, which office he held for forty-four years, and throughout the whole term presided with such
dignity, courtesy, profundity of legal knowledge,
and patience of investigation, that he came to be
regarded as almost infallible in his decisions. To
him belongs the high honor of having in a great
degree formulated and codified the maritime laws
of the United States. The complicated rules of
salvage, general average, wages of seamen, freighting contracts, charters, insurance, and prizes owe
their present well-ordered system to Judge Betts.
During the first twenty years of his connection
with the district court there was never an appeal
from his decisions, and his opinions in his own
court on maritime questions, and in the circuit
court on patents, have been uniformly upheld.
Criminal causes of all kinds amenable to U. S. laws
were decided by him. The civil war brought before him an entirely new class of questions, affecting national and international rights; but, although beyond the age of three-score-years-and-ten, Judge Betts applied himself to the study of the new conditions, and his decisions regarding the neutrality
laws and the slave-trade are notable instances of constitutional reasoning and argument. He received the degree of LL. D. from Williams in 1830, In 1838 he published a standard work on admiralty practice. In May, 1867, having entered upon his
eighty-first year. Judge Betts retired from the bench and spent the remainder of his life at his home in New Haven.
BETTS, Thaddeus, lawyer, b. in Norwalk, Conn.; d. in Washington, D. C., 8 April, 1840.
He was graduated at Yale in 1807, as was his father in 1745, was admitted to the bar. and began practice in Norwalk. He was a whig in politics, and after holding many places of public trust, including the lieut.-governorship of the state, he was
elected U. S. senator on the nomination of the
whig party, to serve for six years, beginning 4
March, 1839. Notwithstanding failing health, he
creditably fulfilled his duties as senator until a few
days before his death.
BETTS, William, lawyer, b. in Bechsgrove, St. Croix, West Indies, 28 Jan., 1802; d. in Jamaica,
Long Island, N. Y., 5 July, 1884. His early education was received in Jamaica ; thence he went to Union college, N. Y., where he stayed a year, and then, entering Columbia, was graduated in 1820. He studied law with David B. Ogden, and subsequently entered the office of his father-in-law, Beverley Robinson. Mr. Betts was counsel to several old and large corporations in New York, was a trustee of Columbia and of the college of physicians and surgeons, and from 1848 till 1854
was professor of law in Columbia. He received the degree of LL. D. from Columbia in 1850.—His son, Beverley Robinson, b. in New York citv, 3 Aug., 1827; d.'in Jamaica, Long Island, 21 May, 1899. He was graduated at Columbia and at the seminary of the Protestant Episcopal church in 1850. The
same year he was ordained deacon, and in 1851 took orders as a priest. He was successively rector of several churches until 1865, when he was appointed librarian of Columbia. Of the large library of that college he prepared a full catalogue (1874), and in 1883 he resigned his post as librarian. He has been
a frequent contributor to the church journals, and for many years one of the editors of the "New York Genealogical and Biographical Record."
BEVERIDGE, John, poet, b. in Scotland. He taught school in Edinburgh for a time, having among his pupils the blind poet Thomas Black-
