The monthe vnto this signe ordeigned

Is Februar, which is bereigned,
And with londflodes in his rage

At fordes letteth the passage.-Gower. Con. A. b. vii.
And with this thought, the bloud forsakes the face,
The teares berayne my chekes of deadly hewe,
The whyche as sone as sobbing sighes, alas,
Upsupped have, thus I my plaint renewe.

Surrey. Complaint of a dying Louer.

Till at the last recouering his voice,
Supping the teares that all his brest berain'd,
On cruell fortune weeping thus he plain'd.

Mirror for Magistrates, p. 271.

Ye sighes make true report of teares,
that so beraine my brest,
As Helens husbands neuer were
for treason of his guest.

Turberville. Complaint of Absence. BE-RATE. We use to tar, and to rate, metaphorically, in a similar manner. To tax a man with a crime, is to lay it to his charge, to charge him with it, to accuse him of it. To rate a man for his offences, to tax, to charge him with them, to repeat the charge, to reproach him with, scold him for them. See RATE.

So is the veritie of the Gospell berated and laughed to skorne of the miscreantes.-Udal. Marke, c. 15.

But when Antonie afterwards came to the knowledge thereof, and that this fraud and cousenage was bewraied and detected by the language and speech of the boies, he fell into a furious fit of choler, and all to berated the foresaid Toranius.-Holland. Plinie, b. vii. c. 12.

BE-RATTLE. Rattle is the dim. of Rate. See BERATE.

To scold vociferously; to make the noise or clamour of a scold.

As thus: He did all berattle him. Wherin appeareth that a sillable is added to this word (rattle.)

Wilson. Arte of Rhetorique, p. 180.

Now whether have I a siker hond or non?
Quod he, is all my might and minde agon?
Hath win bereved me mine eyen sight?

Chaucer. The Sompnoures Tale, v. 7651.

But age, alas! that all wol envenime,
Hath me beraft my beautee and my pith.

Id. The Wif of Balhes Prologue, v. 6056.

The patrimonie, and the richesse,
Whiche to Siluester in pure almesse,
The first Constantinus lefte,

Fro holy churche thei berefte.-Gower. Con. A. Prol.

The duke beynge thereof aduertised sent woorde to the Frenche kynge, declarynge to him that in the time of truce in the which, he as his allye and vassal was cōprehendyd he was spoyled and beraued of his towne of Fongiers: besechynge the Frenche kynge, in that cause to see a recompense and amendemente.-Hall. Hen. VI. an. 26.

Pleasure is felt, opinion but conceiv'd,

Honour, a thing without us, not our own:
Whereof we see how many are bereav'd,

Which should have reap'd the glory they had sown:
And many have it, yet unworthy known.

Daniel. The Complaint of Rosamond.

Thou trait'rous bed, when first thou didst receive me,
Not single to thy rest I then ascended.
Double I came, why should I single leave thee?
Why of my better part dost thou bereave me?

P. Fletcher. Eliza. An Elegy.

Yet hast thou lost at once all these, and he thine only bereaver.-Speed. Hist. of Gl. Britaine. The Danes, an. 787.

Still one was left, in whom was all my hope,
My age's comfort, and his country's prop;
Hector, my darling, and my last defence,
Whose life alone their deaths could recompense;
And, to complete my store of countless woe,
Him you have slain-of him bereav'd me too.

Let us here leave him to the conviction he will one day find, that there is no end to his labour,-that his eyes will never be satisfied with riches, or will say,-For whom do I labour and bereave myself of rest?-Sterne, Ser. 1.

And so as Tertullian objects to the heathen, expostulatin with them why they did not deifie Themistocles and Cat as well as Jove and Hercules, Quot potiores viros apu inferos reliquistis? they leave many an honester man hell, than some of those whom their favour or faction ha

BE RHYME. To write rhymes about, to besainted.-Hammond. Works, vol. iv. Ser. 9. praise, to flatter in rhyme or song.

Ros. I was seuen of the nine daies out of the wonder, before you came: for looke heere what I found on a palme tree; I was neuer so be rimd since Pythagoras time. Shakespeare. As you Like It, Act iii. sc. 2.

I sought no homage from the race that write ;
I kept, like Asian monarchs, from their sight.
Poems I heeded, now berhym'd so long,
No more than thou, great George! a birthday song.
Pope. Prologue to Satires.
BE-ROBBED. To take away, to deprive of,
to plunder, to despoil, to bereave.

Tho when her well of teares she wasted had,
Shee said, Ah dearest Lord! what euil starre
On you hath frownd, and pourd his influence bad,
That of your selfe ye thus be robbed arre,
And this misseeming hew your manly lookes doth marre?
Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. i. c. 8.

BERRY, v. A. S. Beria, Berga; Ger. Ber; BE'RRY, n. Sw. Bær. From the A. S. Baran, to bear, to bring forth. Winbarian, which occurs in Matt. vii. 16, is rendered by Somner, vine-berries, grapes.

Applied to such small fruits, as those of the laurel, myrtle, thorn, the goose-berry, currantberry, &c.

Gaillard he was, as goldfinch in the shawe,
Broune as a bery, a propre short felawe.
Chaucer. The Cokes Tale, v. 4365.

One of hem was a tre
That beareth a fruit of sauour wicke
Full croked was that foule sticke,
And knottie here and there also

And blacke as berry, or any slo.-Id. Rom. of the Rose.

I mean the louer loued now

By thy pretenced folye,

Which will proue like, thou shalt find how,

Unto a tree of holly,

That barke and bery bears alwaies,

The one, birdes fedes, the other slayes.

BE-SCATTER. To separate, to sever put apart, to shed or spread abroad, to disperse. Her goodly locks adowne her back did flowe Vnto her waste, with flowres bescattered, The which ambrosiall odours forth did throwe To all about, and all her shoulders spred

As a new spring.-Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. iv. c. 11. BE-SCORN. To treat with scorn, derisio

contempt.

in alle thinges and of alle thinges. Than was he bescorned, that only shuld have been honour

BE-SCRATCH.

only Scrachin.

Chaucer. The Persones Ta

In some editions of Chauce

To tear asunder the surface with sharp point thorns, nails, &c.

Nor she had nothing slow ybe
For to bescrachin of hir face
And for to rent in many place
Hir clothes.

Chaucer. Rom. of the Rose.
Of whom he asked, whence he lately came,
And whither now he trauelled so fast,
For, sore he swat, and running through that same
Thick forest, was bescratcht, and both his feet nigh lan
Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. iii. c.
To make bad letters, to wr
See BESCRIBBLE.

BE-SCRAWL. carelessly, foolishly.

Jul. What man art thou, that thus bescreen'd in nig So stumblest on my counsell?

Shakespeare. Romeo & Juliet, Act ii. so BE-SCRIBBLE. To bescrawl, (qv.)

And that power which Christ never took from the ma

Vncertaine Auctors. The Louer Accusing, &c. of the family, but rectified only to a right and wary use

Was not I planted of thine owne hand,
To be the primrose of all thy land,
With flowring blossoms, to furnish the prime,
And skarlet berries in sommer time?

Spenser. Shepherd's Calendar. Februarie.
Yet that's the proper time, to thrash the wood,
For mast of oak, your father's homely food,
To gather laurel-berries and the spoil
Of bloody myrtles, and to press your oil.

Dryden. Virgil, Geor. b. i. And berry-bearing thorns, That feed the thrush, (whatever some suppose) Afford the smaller minstrels no supply.

Cowper. Task, b. v. BERYL. Lat. Beryllus; Gr. Bnpuλλos, a precious stone; which, says Vossius, we have received from the East. See the quotation from Holland.

And I amused a long while
Upon this wall of berile
That shone lighter than a glas
And made well more then it was.

His hair grew stiff with dust and mingled gore,
While streams of sweat distil from every pore;
His eyes, bereft of wonted sleep, display
A sanguine hue, and sicken at the day.

Lewis. The Thebaid of Statius, b. iii.

custom of conferring the title of "Saint."

And as absurd, no doubt, is many men's canonizing, securing and besainting themselves in this life, upon every slight præmature perswasion that they are in Christ. Hammond. Works, vol. iv. Ser. 8.

home; that power the undiscerning canonist hath im perly usurpt in his court-leet, and bescribbled with a th sand trifling impertinencies, which yet have fill'd the lif man with serious trouble and calamity.

Milton. Doctrine of Divorce, b. ii. c BE-SCUMBER. To do any dirty act; dirty; to scatter dirt or filth.

Our muse is in mind for th' untrussing a poet;
I slip by his name; for most men doe know it:
A critick, that all the world bescumbers
With satʼrycall humours, and lyrical numbers.

B. Jonson. Poeta Whose kirtle was't, you gnaw'd too? Mistresse Band And Waxe's stockings? Who? Did Blocke bescumbe Statutes white suite, wi' the parchment lace there?

BE-SCUTCHEON.

Id. The Staple of Ne From the Gr. ZKUTO hide, or skin, i. e. the material of which sh were first made.

To deck or array with a scutcheon.

The last grave fop of the last age,
In a superb feather'd hearse,

Bescutcheon'd and betagged with verse.

Churchill. The Ghost, The BE-SEE. To see, to look at.

BESE'EN. part. Beseye or Beseen, seem have been used as the Lat. Spectatus, obser examined, chosen; decked or adorned for si to be looked at.

& muche of is owe folc bigan vor to fle. Sire, quoth tho knigt, thou most the bi se. R. Gloucester, P And seide, I have synned bitraiynge rightful blood thei seiden what to us, besee thee.-Wiclif. Matt. c. 21

A good sister yet I preie,

Tell me why ye be so heseye,

And with these halters thus begone.-Gower. Con. A

But Arrous was so wo besein

With thoughtes, which vpon him ronne,

That he all by the brode sonne

To bedde goth, not for rest,

But for to thinke vpon the beste.-Id. Ib. b. vii.

On the 3d day of May she made her entry into Lōdō riding on a white palfreye (which ye Quene of England had sent for her) behynde Syr Thomas Par richly besene, & wt great olgary of lordes & ladyes.-Hall. Hen. VIII. an. 8.

Al ladyes and damoselles were fresshely besene accordyng te their degrees, except Alys, Countesse of Salisbury, for she went as simply as she myght, to the intent that the Kyng shale not sette his regarde on her.

Berners. Froissart. Cronycle, vol. i. c. 89.

BE-SEECH,. BESEECH,. BESEECHING, R. BESE ECHER. BESTECHMENT.

To seek (be-seek) or search after, to inquire, to require, to ask, to sue, to petition for, to beg, to solicit.

Ther var yeh bysethe the, haue half my lond myd me,
And ych, as thy partyner, half Engelond myd the.

R. Gloucester, p. 309.
Waan kyng R. herde, the Cristen had suilk pyn,
Palie soft he him ansuerd, wepand with his ine,
"To Crist for me biseke, that he gyue me that grace,
The Cristendom to eke, the Sarazins to chace."

R. Brunne, p. 176.
Edmunde sent his messengers, of pes tham bisouht,
Jaguar sent bede ageyn, that pes wild he nouht.-Id. p. 22.

For while fortune is thy frend. freres wollen the lovye
And fastne the in here fraternite, and for the by seche

To here pour provincial-Piers Ploukman, p. 201.

And yut wolde he hem no wo. that wroght hymal that tenne Bote myldeliche wt mouthe. mercy he by soughte To have pyte on that puple. that paynede hymn to dethe. Id. p. 21. Therefore britheren I biseche ghou bi the merci of God, that ghe ghyue ghoure bodies a lyuyng sacrafice hooli pleyage to God and ghoure seruyse resonable. Wiclif. Romaynes, c. 12. Ibeeche you therefore bretheren, by the mercifulness of God, that ye make your bodys a quycke sacryfice, holy and acceptable vnto God.-Bible, 1551. Ib.

Bi al prefer and bisechyng preie ghe al tyme in spyryt.
Wiclif. Effesies, c. 6.

Thou art so wise, it nedeth thee nought teche,
Go, save our lives, and that I thee beseche.

Chaucer. The Millers Tale, v. 3599.

She sayde; lord, to whom fortune hath yeven,

Victarie, and as a conquerour to liven.

Nought greveth us your glorie and your honour:

But we bereke you of mercie and socour
Have mercie on our woe and our distresse.

Id. The Knightes Tale, v. 917.

But tell me, if I wist what she were

For whom that the al misauenture aileth Durst thou that I told it in her eere Thy we sith thou darst mot thyselfe for feere And her besought, on the to han some routh.

I wote not fadre what ye meane.

But this I wolde you besecke, That ye me by some wey teche

At this she shriek'd aloud; the mournful train Echo'd her grief, and groveling on the plain, With groans, and hands upheld, to move his mind, Besought his pity to their helpless kind! Dryden. Palamon & Arcite. Thou art the Prince of Peace, breathe upon us brotherly love. Thou art the God, have pity on thy humble beseechers. The Whole Duty of Man. Private Devotions. Whence this unwonted patience? this weak doubt? This tame beseeching of rejected peace? This meek forbearance? this unnative fear, To generous Britons never known before?

Id. Troilus, b. i.

What is to ben an hypocrite.-Gower. Con. A. b. i.

How thei for every membre hadden

A sondry god, to whom thei spradden

Her armes, and of helpe besoughten.-Id. Ib. b. v.

Thomson. Britannia.

Observe now I beseech you, the implacable spirit of this fellow, who was not ashamed thus to confess himself capable of insulting the unfortunate.-Melmoth. Pliny, b. i. Let. 5.

"The servant therefore fell down and worshipped him," prostrated himself at his master's feet, and in the most moving terms besought him, saying, "have patience with me, and I will pay thee all."-Porteus, vol. ii. Lect. 16. BE-SEEM. To look, to appear; (sc.) like BESE'EMING, N. itself, as it ought to appear; BESE EMLY. i. e. apt, fit, becoming, convenient, suitable, proper, decent.

At Pallas' hands.

So faire with his respons, so faithfulle thei bisemed Bothe erles & barons, his wordes all thei quemed. R. Brunne, p. 307. & if he wille thorgh bataile, ther to wille I stand, & bataile bituene vs wille not be semand.-Id. p. 51.

A bachelor other a beaupere. best hym by semeth
And for the cloth that kevereth hym. cald his here a frere.
Piers Plouhman, p. 160.
Bisemeth it a womman, not hilid on the head to preie to
God?-Wiclif. Corynth. c. 2.

Of right be present must pain & eke torment
The pale death besemeth not to be absent.

Chaucer. Romaunt of Love.

That other was nothing to seke
But vnderneath suche a iape
He hath so for hym selfe shape,
That howe as euer it hym beseme,
The miter, with the diademe

He hath through supplantation.-Gower. Con. A. b. ii.

So said, her richest snake, which to her wrist

For a beseeming bracelet she had ty'd,

(A special worm it was as ever kiss'd

The foamy lips of Cerberus) she apply'd

To the king's heart.-Crashaw. Steps to the Temple.

Bere hit to the bishop. and bide hym of hus grace
To by setten hit hym selve. as best be for thy soule.
Piers Ploukman, p. 105.

For the roote of alle yuelis is couetise whiche summen coueitynge erriden fro the feith and bisettiden hem with manie sorewis.-Wiclif. Tymo. c. 6.

A worthy matter, sayth one, Syr Thomas Elyot is become

Therefore the love of every thing that is not beset in God, ne don principally for Goddes sake, although that a man love it lesse than God, yet is it venial sinne. Chaucer. The Persones Tale.

a phisition, and wryteth in phisik, which beseemeth not a knyght, he mought haue ben moch better occupyed.

Elyot. Castel of Health. The Proheme.

The dales and lower grounds have some little banks lying
to the sunne, and rivers withall, neere unto the woods, yea
and places more meet and beseeming for men to inhabit.
Holland. Livivs, p. 414.
What thoughts he had, beseems not me to say,
Though some surmise he went to fast and pray.
Dryden. Sigismunda & Guiscardo.
There, where the field

Was deepest stain'd with gore, on Hochstet's plain,
The theatre of thy glory, once was rais'd
A meaner trophy, by the imperial hand;
Extorted gratitude! which now the rage
Of malice impotent, beseeming ill

A regal breast, has levell'd to the ground.

Lyttelton. Blenheim.

See to their seats they hye with merry glee,
And in beseemly order sitten there.
Shenstone. Schoolmistress.
She gave him but a tear; his manly form,
His virtues, ev'n the courage that preserv'd
Her life, beseem'd no sentiment to wake
Warmer than gratitude.-Mason. English Garden, b. xiv.

BE-SET. Dut. Besetten; Ger. Besetzen; Sw.

The rest, that saw with fear the ill success
Of single fight, durst not like fortune try;
But round beset her with their numerous press:
Before, beside, behind, they on her fly.

P. Fletcher. The Purple Island, c. 2

And kill him [L. Siccius] they did, but to their own cost: for whiles he fought in his owne defence, some of those that laid for his mischiefe, died for it, and lay along about him for companie: for being a right stout and strong man of his hands, he stood it courageously: and notwithstanding he was beset round about, he defended himselfe very manfully. Holland. Livivs, p. 116.

The one was Aurora with fingers of roses, and her feet dewy, attir'd in grey: the other was Vesper in a robe of azure beset with drops of gold.-Spectator, No. 425.

No man lives too long, who lives to do with spirit, and suffer with resignation, what Providence pleases to command or inflict; but indeed they are sharp incommodities which beset old age.-Burke. A Letter to a Noble Lord.

BE-SEW. To join together by the intersertion of string, thread, &c.

And whan he sawe, and redie fonde
This coffre made, and well englued,
The dead bodie was besewed

In cloth of golde, and leide therin.-Gower. Con. A. b. viii. BE-SHADE. To distinguish, to disjoin, to divide or sever. A shade, is (something, any thing,) secluded, separated, retired; that by which we are separated from weather, sun, &c.

For he is with the grounde beshaded,

So that the moone is somdele faded,

And maie not fully shine clere.-Gower. Con. A. b. vi. To give light or brightness to,

BE-SHINE.

to enlighten.

He had a wyi,

That he lovid as hertlich as his own lyf;
[She] was as faire a creature as sun might beshine.
Chaucer. History of Beryn.

When the sun is set, it beshineth not the world.
Golden Boke, c, 36.

BE-SHREW. A. S. Syrwan, Syrewan, Syrewian, to sorrow, to vex, to molest, to cause mischief to. Beshrew thee! Besyrew, the imperative of Besyrewian; i. e. be thou, syrwe,

elled by God's appointment.

vexed, or mayest thou be sorrowed, vexed, molested, mischieved, aggrieved in some manner. (See Tooke): and hence

To imprecate sorrow, &c.; to curse.

Ford. The Broken Heart, Act iii. sc. 5.

Descend; so help me Jove as you shall find
That Reynard comes of no dissembling kind.
"Nay," quoth the cock," but I beshrew us both,
If I believe a saint upon his oath."

Dryden. The Cock and the Fox. Beshrew the sombre pencil! said I, vauntingly, for I envy not its power, which paints the evil of life with so hard and deadly a colouring.-Sterne. Sentimental Journey.

Truly I wene, that all gladnesse, all ioye & all merthe is beshet vnder locks, and the keie throwe in soche place that it maie not be founde.-Id. Test. of Loue, b.i.

BE-SIDE. By the side; distinguished from BESIDES. behind and before; and thus, not directly opposite or contrary to, but declining, bending, deviating from, to the right hand or the left, from the straightforward course.-Placed or added to the side; and thus in addition to.Put or placed to the side, out of the direct straightforward course; out of the right line. "Talketh like a man besides himself," (sc.) out of the right course of himself, of his mind; out of his mind.

Fyftene thousant hors y wrye ther were ageyn hym, & mo,
Of the lond of France, and of other londes bi syde.
R. Gloucester, p. 92.
And mette hem after mydsomer, the feste of Seyn Jon,
And a gret batayle smyte bysyde the toun of Sserston.
Id. p. 302.

Of werkes that ich wel dude. witnesse ich take
And syggen to such. that sytten me by syde.

Piers Plouhman, p. 89. In that day Jhesus ghede out of the hous and saat bisidis the see. Wiclif. Matth. c. 13.

The same daye went Jesus out of the house and satte by the sea side.-Bible, 1551. Ib.

Of Norfolk was this reve, of which I tell
Beside a town, men clepen Baldeswell.
Chaucer. Prologue, v. 621

There bene also somme (as men saie)

That followen Simon at heles,

Whose cart goth vpon wheles

Of couetise and worldes pride,

And holy churche goth beside.-Gower. Con. A. Prol.

But this Varro, even before he stood for the consulship, and all the whiles he was a suiter therefore, and now likewise, that he is consull, before that he seeth campe or enemie in the field, is hornemad, and talketh like a man besides himselfe.-Holland. Livivs, p. 456.

We ought not to suffer any of those many days (vouchsafed by his goodness) to flow beside us, void of the signal expressions of our dutiful thankfulness to him.

Barrow, vol. i. Ser. 19.

That man that doth not know those things which are of use and necessity for him to know is but an ignorant man, whatever he may know besides.-Tillotson, vol. i. Ser. 1.

These, and a thousand things beside,
Did we consult a poet's pride,

Some gay, some serious, might be said,
But ten to one they'd not be read.

Churchill. The Ghost, b. iii.
Where full in view Augusta's spires are seen
With flow'ry lawns, and waving woods between,
An humble habitation rose, beside
Where Thames meandring rolls his ample tide.
Falconer. Shipwreck, c. 1.

Our example may induce many others to exert a similar generosity; and besides this there are persons in certain situations who are expected to be charitable, and who should give proofs to the world that they are so. Porteus, vol. i. Lect. 7. Fr. Siéger, Assiéger; It. Assediare; Sp. Sitiar.

BE-SIEGE, v. BESIEGE, n. BESIEGEMENT. To sit down; (sc.) before BESIEGER. a town, a fortress, or any BESI'EGING, n. thing we wish to take, or capture; to beset; to set, place, or station, (sc.) an armed force before, around; to surround with an armed force.

The ost withoute of France bi segede hem a non,
And bi lai hem so faste, that neg to gronde hem brogte.
R. Gloucester, p. 19.
How that she was beseged, and ytake
Let him unto my maister Petrark go,
That writeth ynough of this, I undertake.

Chaucer. The Monkes Tale, v. 14,330.

Where hee tooke a pray of inestimable riches and cattle, which might have suffised him for the besiege of Sagitta, whereof he ment to impart liberally to the king, and his companie.-Hackluyt. Voyages, vol. ii. p. 15.

Eche person setting before their eies besiegement, hungar, and the arrogant enemy hauing them in his had to worke hys plesure vpon the.-Goldyng. Justine, p. 31.

The Frenchmen, their approaches that espy,
By countermines do meet with them below;
And as opposed in the works they lie,
Up the besieged the besiegers blow.

Drayton. Battle of Agincourt.

They within had broken through the east wall, and made a plaine passage by an iron gate to the sea, which greatly relieved the besieged, and abased the besiegers; for then they saw that they could not stop them of victuals.

Knox. History of Reformation, p. 73.

Those of the Castle I brideled with an hard besieging, and forced the periured earle to exile, neither yet permitted I him in all this life to returne to that which hee hadde lost. Stowe. William the Conqueror, an. 1087.

But there is one gentleman who besieges me as close as the French did Bouchain. His gravity makes him work cautious, and his regular approaches denote a good engineer.-Spectator, No. 534.

The moment a nobleman returns from his travels, a Creolian arrives from Jamaica, or a dowager from her country seat, I strike for a subscription. I first besiege their hearts with flattery, and then pour in my proposals at the breach.--Goldsmith. Vicar of Wakefield.

BE-SLAVE. To subject, or as we now say, enslave himself to a bewitching beauty.

He that hath once fixed his heart upon the face of an harlot, and hath beslaved himself to a bewitching beauty, casts off at once, all feare of God, respect to lawes, shame of the world, regard of his estate, care of wife, children, friends, reputation, patrimony, body, soul.

Bp. Hall. Cont. John Baptist beheaded. BE-SLA/VER. To cover, to defile, with slabber or slaver.

Ing. 40 shillings? a fit reward for one of your reumatick poets, that beslavers all the paper he comes by, and furnishes the chaundlers with wast papers to wrap candles in. The Returne from Pernassus, Act i. sc. 3. To cover with slime; to daub,

BE-SLIME.

to dirty.

BE-SLUBBER. See BESLAVER.

Tho cam Sleuthe al by slobered. wit to slymed eyen. Piers Plouhman, p. 110. Bard. Yea, and to tickle our noses with speargrasse. to make them bleed, and then to beslubber our garments with it, and sweare that it was the blood of true men. Shakespeare. 1 Part Hen. IV. Act ii. se. 4. BE-SLURRY. To smear, to soil, to defile. And being in this piteous case, And all beslurried head and face, On runs he in this wildgoose chase.

As here and there he rambles.-Drayton. Nymphidia. BE-SMEAR. To cover with any greasy

slimy, dirty matter.

To soil, to daub.

If torments rise and pleasure rare,
If face besmear with often streames.

Turberville. The Louer confesseth, &
They also brought of misaduenture sad
Tokens and signes, seem'd too apparent true,
Rinaldoes armour frusht and hackt they had,
Oft pierced through, with bloud besmeared new.
Fairefax. Godfrey of Boulogne, b. viii. s. 4
The diuelish hag by changes of my cheare
Perceiu'd my thought; and drown'd in sleepy night,
With wicked herbes and oyntments did besmeare
My body all, through charmes and magick might;
That all my senses were bereaued quight.
Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. i. c.

Not marble, nor gilded monuments

Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme;
But you shall shine more bright in these contents
Than unswept stone, besmear'd with sluttish time.
Shakespeare, Son. 5

Before them stalk'd,
Far seen, the demon of devouring flame;
Rapine, and murther, all with blood besmear'd,
Without or ear, or eye, or feeling heart.

Thomson. Liberty, pt.

Came superstition, fierce and fell,
An imp detested, e'en in hell;
Her eye inflam'd, her face all o'er
Foully besmear'd with human gore,
O'er heaps of mingled saints she rode.

Churchill. The Ghost, b. BE-SMIRCH. To Smirch, Mr. Steevens sa

is to soil, to obscure.

And as fair Helen's face,

Did Grecian dames besmirche,

So did my dear exceed in sight,
All virgins in the church."

The Bride's Burial. Percy, vol.
Perhaps he loues you now,
And now no soyle nor cautell doth besmerch
The vertue of his feare.-Shakes. Hamlet, Act. i. sc.
Tell the constable,
We are but warriors for the working day:
Our gaynesse and our gilt are all besmyrcht
With rainie marching in a painfulle field.

BE-SMOOTHE.

even.

And hath

Id. Hen. V. Act. iv.

To make smooth, plain

An altar there, at which the graces bathe, And with immortal balms besmooth her skin; Fit for the blisse, Immortals solace in.

BE-SMUT.

Chapman. Homer. Odyssey, b To smear or stain with di

To cover, to sprinkle, to mark with spots, any thing small as, foul as, spots, or matter spitten. See BESPET.

Bespotted all with shields of red and black,
It sweepeth all the land behind him farre,
And of three furlongs does but little lack.

Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. i. c. 11.

Thy blameful lines, bespotted so with sin,
Mine eye would cleanse, ere they to read begin :
But I to wash an Indian go about,
For ill so hard set on is hard got out.

Drayton. Matilda to K. John.

BE-SPREAD. To extend or stretch out, to expand or lay open, to expose, to diffuse.

But in her temple's last recess enclos'd
On Dulness' lap th' anointed head repos'd,
Him close she curtains round with vapours blue,
And soft besprinkles with Cimmerian dew.

Pope. The Dunciad, b. iii.
And thou, sweet moon! canst tell a softer tale;
To thee the maid, thy likeness, fair and pale,
In pensive contemplation oft applies,

When parted from her lov'd and loving swain,
And looks on you with tear-besprinkled eyes.-Jenyns. Ode.
BE-SPURT. To spurt or sprout; to shoot or
cast forth.

Now haply he had a fling at the Lacedæmonians and gave them a blur with his pen, because in the train and consequence of the story, they came so just under it, but the city of the Corinthians, which was clean out of his way, he hath notwithstanding taken it with him and bespurted and dashed as he passed by, with a most grievous slander and heavy Chaucer. The Floure and the Leafe. imputation.-Holland. Plutarch, p. 1004.

There came of armed knights such a rout That they besprad the large field about.

For he hir kirtell fonde also,
And eke her mantell both two
Bespred vpon the bed alofte.-Gower. Con. A. b. v.

At peep of day, when, in her crimson pride,
The morn bespreads with roses all the way,
Where Phoebus' couch, with radiant course must glide,
The hermit bends his humble knees to pray.

Thomas Lodge. Ellis, vol. ii.

But oh what terrors must distract the soul
Convicted of that mortal crime, a hole;
Or should one pound of powder less bespread
Those monkey-tails that wag behind their head!
Pope. Imit. of Donne, Sat. 4.

-The chief

In perturbation of indignant wrath
Was striding o'er the carpet, which bespread
His rich pavilion's floor. Glover. Athenaid, b. xxi.

BE-SPRENT. To besprinkle, (qv.)

The enchanteres seide, that me a childe sogte, That were y gete with oute fader, & that me yt thider brogte,

And slow yt, and mid the blode bisprenge wel here ston. R. Gloucester, p. 128. [He] bispreynde bothe thilke book and al the peple & seide this is the blood of the testament that God commaundide to ghou. Also he spreynde with blood the tabernacle and alle the vessels of the seruyse in lyk maner.-1 -Wiclif. Ebrew. c. 9.

To pity ran I all bespreint with teares,
To prayen her on cruelty me awreake,
But or I might with any word out breake,
Or tell her any of my pains smart,

I found her dead, and buried in an herte.

Chaucer. The Floure of Courtesie.

His eyes were red, and all forwacht;

I suppose, and more than suppose, it will be nothing disagreeing from Christian meekness, to handle such a one in a rougher accent and to send home his haughtiness well bespurted with his own holy water. Milton. Animad. upon Remonst. Defence.

BEST, adj. Goth. Batista; A. S. Bet-est, BEST, ad. Best, the best, the choicest, the BE'STNESS. chiefest. From A. S. Beterian, Betrian, to excel, to surpass; and Beterian, from Betan, to beat, to make better, to correct, repair, amend. Dut. Beste; Ger. Best; Sw. Betste. Used as the superlative of good.

Most good; having the greatest, the highest degree of goodness; that has nothing better; exceeding or excelling all.

And he nom with hym tuelue men the beste that with
hym were.-R. Gloucester, p. 14.

He byhet hem the best lawes, that euere were yfounde.
Id. p. 386.
To gider gan thei mete,
A kyng & a soudan of alle the world the beste.

R. Brunne, p. 190.
Have here my trouth, to-morwe I will not faille,
Withouten weting of any wight,
That here I wol be founden as a knight,
And bringen harneis right ynough for thee;
And chese the beste, and leve the werste for me.
Chaucer. The Knightes Tale, v. 1612.
Gret chere made oure hoste us everich on,
And to the souper sette he us anon;
And served us with vitaille of the beste.
Strong was the win, and wel to drinke us leste.

Id. Prologue to the Knightes Tale, v. 749. Either he shall blind the eyes of your enemies and diminish theyr tyrannous power, or else when he hath suffred them to do their best, he shall cause euen the very earth to open hir Vncertaine Auctors. Complaint of Phylida. mouth, and swalow them up.-Frith. Workes, p. 82.

His face besprent with teares : It seemed unhap had him long hatcht, In middes of his dispaires.

And first within the porch and iawes of hell
Sate deep remorse of conscience, all besprent
With teares.

Mirrour for Magistrates, p. 26.

So fairest Phosphor, the bright morning star,
But newly wash'd in the green element,
Before the drowsey night is half aware,
Shooting his flaming locks with dew besprent,
Springs lively up into the orient.

G. Fletcher. Christ's Triumph after Death.

But who is he, in closet close y pent,
Of sober face, with learned dust besprent?
Right well mine eyes arede the myster wight,
On parchment scraps y-fed, and Wormius hight.
Pope. The Dunciad, b. iii.

They ceas'd when on the tuneful stage
Advanc'd a bard, of aspect sage;
His silver tresses, thin besprent,
To age a graceful reverence lent.

Warton. The Grave of King Arthur.

BE-SPRINKLE. To scatter, to asperse.

He with his handes straue to vnloose the knottes;
Whose sacred fillettes all besprinkled were
With filth of gory blod, and venim rank.

Surrey. Virgile. Enæis, b. ii.

This victorious horse man hath vpon his white vesture besprinckled with bloud, which is his innocent māhood crucified.-Bale. Image, pt. iii.

Besides them both, vpon the soiled grass
The dead corse of an armed knight was spred,
Whose armour all with bloud besprinkled was.
Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. i. c. 1.

And hauing cast herselfe about his necke embrued with blood, kept still the blood, and her apparell besprinkled with it, remaining a widow, drown'd in continuall griefe. Grenewey. Tacitus, p. 249.

We tell the also that al the best that the best man may do, is yet no more tha his duety, for euerye man is of his duetye bounden to labour for heauen, and to serue & please God as muche as he maye.-Sir T. More. Workes, p. 363.

Many from Harfleur carry'd sick and lame,
Fitter for spitals and the surgeons care,
Than with their swords on us to win them fame.
Unshod and without stockings are the best,
And those by winter miserably opprest.

Drayton. The Battle of Agincourt.

Generally the bestness of a thing (that we may so call it) is best discerned by the necessary use.

Bp. Morton. Episcopacy Asserted, s. 4.

I argue thus: the world agrees
That he writes well, who writes with ease:
Then he, by sequel logical,
Writes best, who never thinks at all.

Prior. Epist. to F. Shephard, Esq. Eucrates is the best natur'd of all men; but that natural softness has effects quite contrary to itself; and for want of due bounds to his benevolence, while he has a will to be a friend to all, he has the power of being such to none. Taller, No. 176. The lingering disorder of a friend of mine gave me occasion lately to reflect, that we are always in the best moral disposition, when afflicted with sickness. Melmoth. Pliny, b. vii. Let. 26.

Now goes the nightly thief prowling abroad For plunder; much solicitous how best He may compensate for a day of sloth By works of darkness and nocturnal wrong. Cowper. Task, b. iv. BE-STAIN. To tinge, to dye; to sully. See DISTAIN.

And what maner of men were the Romans? in good faith no better but a sort of ragged shepherdes, which being not

able to get the wiues for the dishonesty of theyr beginning, were fain to rauish them by open force, and, to be short, which builded their city with most cruel and vnaturall murder, and bestained the foundations of theyr walles with brothers bloud.-Golding. Justine, p. 117.

The cause why thus I lead him in my hand,
His skin with blood and teares so sore bestain'd,
Is that thou maist the better vnderstand,
How hardly fortune hath for vs ordain'd,
In whom her loue and hate be whole contain'd.
Mirrour for Magistrates, p. 360,

Which made him rend his milk-white locks,
And tresses from his head,
And all with blood bestain his cheeks,
With age and honour spread.

BE-STEAD.

King Lear, &c. Percy, vol. i To be in stead; to be place

to be placed, disposed, situated, circumstanced well or ill. To put or stand in stead, good or bad to support, to assist, to serve.

The thrid eschele [division] fulle hard was bisted,
The templers ilk a dele failed & thien fled.

For were a manne for her bestadde She would ben right sore adradde.

R. Brunne, p. 19

Chaucer. Rom. of the Re

Have ye not seen somtime a pale face
(Among a prees) of him that hath ben lad
Toward his deth, wher as he geteth no grace,
And swiche a colour in his face hath had,
Then mighten know him that was so bestad.
Id. The Man of Lawes Tale, v. 50
She saith, that she shall not be glad,
Till that she se hym so bestad,
That he no more make auaunt.-Gower. Con. A. b. i.
For though I be my seluen strange,
Enuie maketh myn hert change,
That I am sorrowfully bestadde

Of that I see another gladde.-Id, Ib. b. ii.
Rowland, for shame, awake thy drowsy Muse,
Time plays the hunt's-up to thy sleepy head;
Why ly'st thou here, whilst we are ill bested,
Foul idle swain?
Drayton, Ecl. 3.

In this ship was great store of dry Newland fish, comm called with us Poore John, whereof afterwards (being found a lawfull prize) there was distribution made int the ships of the fleet, the same being so new and good did very greatly bestead us in the whole course of voyage. Sir Francis Drake. West India Voyage.

He who looks so deformedly and dismally, who to out sight is so ill bestead, and so pitifully accoutred, hath li in him much of admirable beauty and glory.

BESTIALIZE. BESTIAL, adj. BE'STIAL, n. BESTIALLY. BESTIALITY.

Barrow, vol. i. Se

To bring or reduce to state or condition of a b See BEAST.

These liues be thorow names departed in three m kinds as bestialliche, manlyche and reasonabliche, of two beene vsed by fleshly body, and the thirde by hi Bestial among reasonables is forboden in euery lay euery sect, both in Christen and other.

Id. The Testament of Lou This kinde of folk is so far falle not only fro all charitye, but also fro all humanitie & feling of a affecció natural, and so chāged into a wild fierce cru tite more tha brutish & bestial, that they first wou or cause take theyr frendes for their foes hatig ye deadly, because it willeth their weale & laboureth the. Sir T. More. Workes, p. 314.

Espiyng well the beastiality of the Fleminges hi bours, how litle they understood the great weakning countrye by the losse of Calice, and that there was prouision made for the defence thereof more than wa

Grafton. Queen Mar