An agitation in the East India Company’s regiments in 1795-6 for the assimilation of the conditions of pay and pensions to those established by Lord Cornwallis in the Civil Service. The Company handled the matter with very little discretion, promoting one of the leading malcontents to an important post, but Lord Wellesley on his arrival took stern measures, and the embryo mutiny quickly subsided. Bergara, Convention of. The surrender of the Carlists under General Maroto in 1839, which ended the great Carlist war. Berlin Congress. A congress held at Berlin in 1878, after the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish war. The outcome of the Congress was a Treaty, which modified the terms of the Treaty of San Stefano. By its provisions Roumania, Servia and Montenegro were made independent States, the latter also obtaining a port on the Adriatic. The northern portion of Bulgaria was made a self-governing State, under the suzerainty of the Porte, and the southern portion, known as Eastern Roumelia, remained Turkish territory, but under a Christian governor. Austria was to administer Bosnia and Herzegovina, Roumania returned a portion of Bessarabia to Russia, while in Asia Turkey ceded Ardalian, Kars, and Batoum to Russia. It is of this treaty that Lord Beaconsfield used the famous phrase “We have brought back Peace with Honour.” Berlin Decree. A decree issued by Napoleon in 1806, proclaiming the Continental Blockade. Berserker. The bravest champions of the Vikings were so called, perhaps because they fought in their shirts, without coats of mail. They seem in battle to have worked themselves into a kind of frenzy, known as the Berserk rage, somewhat resembling that of the Mohammedan “Ghazi.” Berwick, Treaty of. A treaty between Charles I and the Scotch in 1639, following Charles’ abortive attempt to invade Scotland, by which it was agreed that a free Scottish Parliament should be held, in return for which concession the royal castles were to be returned, and the army of the Covenanters disbanded. Bessborough Commission. A commission, under the chairmanship of the Earl of Bessborough, appointed to report on the Irish Land Laws. Following on its report, Mr. Gladstone introduced the Irish Land Bill of 1891. Betterment. The increase in the value of property in a certain limited area, owing to municipal improvements, such as roads and bridges. Certain municipal reformers advocate the levying of a special rate from persons thus benefiting, instead of throwing the whole cost of the improvements upon the ratepayers as a body. Betting Act. _See_ Cockburn’s Act. Bezaaygeld. A tax levied in Holland about the middle of the eighteenth century on seed put into the ground. Bianchi.