_Sal._ Disturb him not; let him pass peaceably. _King._ Peace to his soul, if God's good pleasure be! Lord cardinal, if thou think'st on heaven's bliss, Hold up thy hand, make signal of thy hope. He dies, and makes no sign. O God, forgive him! _War._ So bad a death argues a monstrous life. _King._ Forbear to judge, for we are sinners all. Close up his eyes and draw the curtain close; And let us all to meditation. _Exeunt. --King Henry VI, Part II, Act iii._ BECKET (Thomas a, first Saxon archbishop of Canterbury after the Norman conquest), 1117-1170. "_For the name of Jesus and the defense of the church I am willing to die._" He was assassinated by four barons, servants of Henry II. The Roman Catholic Church regarded him as a martyr; and in 1172 he was canonized. BEDE (surnamed "The Venerable;" an English monk, and the author of "_Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum_"), 673-735. "_Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost._" It is related that on the night of his death he continued dictating to his amanuensis a translation of some work, probably of the gospel of St. John, into Anglo-Saxon. He asked the scribe how many chapters remained. "Only one," he replied; "but you are too weak to dictate." "No," said Bede, "take your pen and write quickly." After some time the scribe said, "Master, it is finished;" to which Bede replied, "Thou hast said truly, _consummatum est_," and shortly after expired. _Lippincott._ BEECHER (Henry Ward, distinguished American clergyman, for many years pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church, Brooklyn, N. Y.), 1813-1887. "_Now comes the mystery._" BEETHOVEN (Ludwig van), 1770-1827. "_I shall hear in heaven._" When about thirty-five years old, while at work upon his opera of "Leonora," known in English as "Fidelio," he was attacked with deafness. The malady began gradually, but after a year made more rapid progress, and soon his hearing was entirely destroyed. Some authorities give his last words thus: "Is it not true, dear Hammel, that I have some talent after all?" Hammel was an old friend with whom he had once quarrelled, and who, after being separated from him for a long time, came to him when he was upon his death bed.