B

Becker, William Adolphe, an archæologist, born at Dresden; was professor at Leipzig; wrote books in reproductive representation of ancient Greek and Roman life; author of "Manual of Roman Antiquities" (1796-1846).

Becket, Thomas a, archbishop of Canterbury, born in London, of Norman parentage; studied at Oxford and Bologna; entered the Church; was made Lord Chancellor; had a large and splendid retinue, but on becoming archbishop, cast all pomp aside and became an ascetic, and devoted himself to the vigorous discharge of the duties of his high office; declared for the independence of the Church, and refused to sign the Constitutions of Clarendon (q. v.); King Henry II. grew restive under his assumption of authority, and got rid of him by the hands of four knights who, to please the king, shed his blood on the steps of the altar of Canterbury Cathedral, for which outrage the king did penance four years afterwards at his tomb. The struggle was one affecting the relative rights of Church and king, and the chief combatants in the fray were both high-minded men, each inflexible in the assertion of his claims (1119-1170).

Beckford, William, author of "Vathek," son of a rich alderman of London, who bequeathed him property to the value of £100,000 per annum; kept spending his fortune on extravagancies and vagaries; wrote "Vathek," an Arabian tale, when a youth of twenty-two, at a sitting of three days and two nights, a work which established his reputation as one of the first of the imaginative writers of his country. He wrote two volumes of travels in Italy, but his fame rests on his "Vathek" alone (1759-1844).

Beckmann, a professor at Göttingen; wrote "History of Discoveries and Inventions" (1738-1811).

Beckx, Peter John, general of the Jesuits, born in Belgium (1790-1887).

Becquerel, Antoine Cæsar, a French physicist; served as engineer in the French army in 1808-14, but retired in 1815, devoting himself to science, and obtained high distinction in electro-chemistry, working with Ampère, Biot, and other eminent scientists (1788-1878).

Bed of Justice, a formal session of the Parlement of Paris, under the presidency of the king, for the compulsory registration of the royal edicts, the last session being in 1787, under Louis XVI., at Versailles, whither the whole body, now "refractory, rolled out, in wheeled vehicles, to receive the order of the king."

Bedchamber, Lords or Ladies of, officers or ladies of the royal household whose duty it is to wait upon the sovereign—the chief of the former called Groom of the Stole, and of the latter, Mistress of the Robes.

Beddoes, Thomas Lovell, born at Clifton, son of Thomas Beddoes; an enthusiastic student of science; a dramatic poet, author of "Bride's Tragedy"; got into trouble for his Radical opinions; his principal work, "Death's Jest-Book, or the Fool's Tragedy," highly esteemed by Barry Cornwall (1803-1849).

Bede, or Beda, surnamed "The Venerable," an English monk and ecclesiastical historian, born at Monkwearmouth, in the abbey of which, together with that of Jarrow, he spent his life, devoted to quiet study and learning; his writings numerous, in the shape of commentaries, biographies, and philosophical treatises; his most important work, the "Ecclesiastical History" of England, written in Latin, and translated by Alfred the Great; completed a translation of John's Gospel the day he died. An old monk, it is said, wrote this epitaph over his grave, Hac sunt in fossâ Bedæ ... ossa, "In this pit are the bones ... of Beda," and then fell asleep; but when he awoke he found some invisible hand had inserted venerabilis in the blank which he had failed to fill up, whence Bede's epinomen it is alleged.

Bedell, bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh, born in Essex; studied at Cambridge; superintended the translation of the Old Testament into Irish; though his virtues saved him and his family for a time from outrage by the rebels in 1641, he was imprisoned at the age of 70, and though released, died soon after (1571-1642).

Bedford (160), a midland agricultural county of England, generally level, with some flat fen-land; also the county town (28), on the Great Ouse, clean and well paved, with excellent educational institutions, famous in connection with the life of John Bunyan, where relics of him are preserved, and where a bronze statue of him by Boehm has been erected to his memory by the Duke of Bedford in 1871; manufactures agricultural implements, lace, and straw plaiting; Elstow, Bunyan's birthplace, is not far off.

Bedford, John, Duke of, brother of Henry V., protector of the kingdom and regent of France during the minority of Henry VI., whom, on the death of the French king, he proclaimed King of France, taking up arms thereafter and fighting for a time victoriously on his behalf, till the enthusiasm created by Joan of Arc turned the tide against him and hastened his death, previous to which, however, though he prevailed over the dauphin, and burnt Joan at the stake, his power had gone (1389-1435).

Bedford Level, a flat marshy district, comprising part of six counties, to the S. and W. of the Wash, about 40 m. in extent each way, caused originally by incursions of the sea and the overflowing of rivers; received its name from the Earl of Bedford, who, in the 17th century, undertook to drain it.

Bedlam, originally a lunatic asylum in London, so named from the priory "Bethlehem" in Bishopsgate, first appropriated to the purpose, Bedlam being a corruption of the name Bethlehem.

Bedmar, Marquis de, cardinal and bishop of Oviedo, and a Spanish diplomatist, notorious for a part he played in a daring conspiracy in 1618 aimed at the destruction of Venice, but which, being betrayed, was defeated, for concern in which several people were executed, though the arch-delinquent got off; he is the subject of Otway's "Venice Preserved"; it was after this he was made cardinal, and governor of the Netherlands, where he was detested and obliged to retire (1572-1655).

Bedouins, Arabs who lead a nomadic life in the desert and subsist by the pasture of cattle and the rearing of horses, the one element that binds them into a unity being community of language, the Arabic namely, which they all speak with great purity and without variation of dialect; they are generally of small stature, of wiry constitution, and dark complexion, and are divided into tribes, each under an independent chief.

Bee, The, a periodical started by Goldsmith, in which some of his best essays appeared, and his "Citizen of the World."

Beecher, Henry Ward, a celebrated American preacher, born at Litchfield, Connecticut; pastor of a large Congregational church, Brooklyn; a vigorous thinker and eloquent orator, a liberal man both in theology and politics; wrote "Life Thoughts"; denied the eternity of punishment, considered a great heresy by some then, and which led to his secession from the Congregational body (1813-1887).

Beecher-Stowe, Harriet Elizabeth, sister of the above, authoress of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," of which probably over a million copies have been sold. Born at Litchfield, Connecticut, U.S.A., in 1812; d. 1896.

Beechy, Rear-Admiral, born in London, son of the following; accompanied Franklin in 1818 and Parry in 1819 to the Arctic regions; commanded the Blossom in the third expedition of 1825-1828 to the same regions; published "Voyage of Discovery towards the North Pole" (1796-1856).

Beechy, Sir William, portrait-painter, born in Oxfordshire; among his portraits were those of Lord Nelson, John Kemble, and Mrs. Siddons (1753-1839).

Beef-eaters, yeomen of the royal guard, whose institution dates from the reign of Henry VII., and whose office it is to wait upon royalty on high occasions; the name is also given to the warders of the Tower, though they are a separate body and of more recent origin; the name simply means (royal) dependant, a corruption of the French word buffetier, one who attends the sideboard.

Beehive houses, small stone structures, of ancient date, remains of which are found (sometimes in clusters) in Ireland and the W. of Scotland, with a conical roof formed of stones overlapping one another, undressed and without mortar; some of them appear to have been monks' cells.

Beel`zebub, the god of flies, protector against them, worshipped by the Phoenicians; as being a heathen deity, transformed by the Jews into a chief of the devils; sometimes identified with Satan, and sometimes his aide-de-camp.

Beerbohm Tree, Herbert, actor, born in London, son of a grain merchant; his first appearance was as the timid curate in the "Private Secretary," and then as the spy Macari in "Called Back"; is lessee of the Haymarket Theatre, London, and has had many notable successes; he is accompanied by his wife, who is a refined actress; b. 1852.

Beer`sheba, a village in the S. of Canaan, and the most southerly, 27 m. from Hebron; associated with Dan, in the N., to denote the limit of the land and what lies between; lies in a pastoral country abounding in wells, and is frequently mentioned in patriarchal history; means "the Well of the Oath."

Beeswing, a gauze-like film which forms on the sides of a bottle of good port.

Beethoven, Ludwig von, one of the greatest musical composers, born in Bonn, of Dutch extraction; the author of symphonies and sonatas that are known over all the world; showed early a most precocious genius for music, commenced his education at five as a musician; trained at first by a companion named Pfeiffer, to whom he confessed he owed more than all his teachers; trained at length under the tuition of the most illustrious of his predecessors, Bach and Händel; revealed the most wonderful musical talent; quitted Bonn and settled in Vienna; attracted the attention of Mozart; at the age of 40 was attacked with deafness that became total and lasted for life; continued to compose all the same, to the admiration of thousands; during his last days was a prey to melancholy; during a thunderstorm he died. Goethe pronounced him at his best "an utterly untamed character, not indeed wrong in finding the world detestable, though his finding it so did not," he added, "make it more enjoyable to himself or to others" (1770-1827).

Beets, Nicolas, a Dutch theologian and poet, born at Haarlem; came, as a poet, under the influence of Byronism; b. 1814.

Befa`na, an Italian female Santa Claus, who on Twelfth Night fills the stockings of good children with good things, and those of bad with ashes.

Begg, James, Scotch ecclesiastic, born at New Monkland, Lanark; was a stalwart champion of old Scottish orthodoxy, and the last (1808-1883).

Beghards, a religious order that arose in Belgium in the 13th century, connected with the Beguins, a mystic and socialistic sect.

Beguins, a sisterhood confined now to France and Germany, who, without taking any monastic vow, devote themselves to works of piety and benevolence.

Begum, name given in the E. Indies to a princess, mother, sister, or wife of a native ruler.

Behaim, Martin, a geographer and chartographer, born in Nüremberg; accompanied Diego Cam on a voyage of discovery along W. coast of Africa; constructed and left behind him a famous terrestrial globe; some would make him out to be the discoverer of America (1459-1507).

Behar (24,393), a province of Bengal, in the valley of the Ganges, which divides it into two; densely peopled; cradle of Buddhism.

Behe`moth, a large animal mentioned in Job, understood to be the hippopotamus.

Behis`tun, a mountain in Irak-Ajemi, a prov. of Persia, on which there are rocks covered with inscriptions, the principal relating to Darius Hystaspes, of date about 515 B.C., bearing on his genealogy, domains, and victories.

Behm, Ernst, a German geographer, born in Gotha (1830-1884).

Behn, Afra, a licentious writer, born in Kent, for whom, for her free and easy ways, Charles II. took a liking; sent by him as a spy to Holland, and through her discovered the intention of the Dutch to burn the shipping in the Thames. She wrote plays and novels (1640-1689).

Behring Strait, a strait about 50 m. wide between Asia and N. America, which connects the Arctic Ocean with the Pacific; discovered by the Danish navigator Vitus Behring in 1728, sent out on a voyage of discovery by Peter the Great.

Beira (1,377), a central province of Portugal, mountainous and pastoral; gives title to the heir-apparent to the Portuguese throne.

Beke, Dr., traveller, born in London; travelled in Abyssinia and Palestine; author of "Origines Biblicæ," or researches into primeval history as shown not to be in keeping with the orthodox belief.

Bekker, Immanuel, philologist, born in Berlin, and professor in Halle; classical textual critic; issued recensions of the Greek and Latin classics (1780-1871).

Bel and the Dragon, History of, one of the books of the Apocrypha, a spurious addition to the book of Daniel, relates how Daniel persuaded Cyrus of the vanity of idol-worship, and is intended to show its absurdity.

Bela I., king of Hungary from 1061 to 1063; an able ruler; introduced a great many measures for the permanent benefit of the country, affecting both religion and social organisation.

Bela IV., king of Hungary, son of Andreas II., who had in 1222 been compelled to sign the Golden Bull, the Magna Charta of Hungarian liberty; faithfully respected the provisions of this charter, and incurred the enmity of the nobles by his strenuous efforts to subdue them to the royal power.

Belch, Sir Toby, a reckless, jolly, swaggering character in "Twelfth Night."

Belcher, Sir Edward, admiral, was engaged in several exploring and surveying expeditions; sailed round the world, and took part in the operations in China (1812-1877).

Belfast (256), county town of Antrim, and largest and most flourishing city in the N. of Ireland; stands on the Lagan, at the head of Belfast Lough, 100 m. N. of Dublin; is a bright and pleasant city, with some fine streets and handsome buildings, Presbyterian, Catholic, and Methodist colleges. It is the centre of the Irish linen and cotton manufactures, the most important shipbuilding centre, and has also rope-making, whisky, and aerated-water industries. Its foreign trade is larger than even Dublin's. It is the capital of Ulster, and head-quarters of Presbyterianism in Ireland.

Belfort (83), a fortified town in dep. of Haut-Rhin, and is its capital, 35 m. W. by N. of Basel; capitulated to the Germans in 1870; restored to France; its fortifications now greatly strengthened. The citadel was by Vauban.

Belgæ, Cæsar's name for the tribes of the Celtic family in Gaul N. of the Seine and Marne; mistakenly rated as Germans by Cæsar.

Belgium (6,136), a small European State bordering on the North Sea, with Holland to the N., France to the S., and Rhenish Prussia and Luxemburg on the E.; is less than a third the size of Ireland, but it is the most densely populated country on the Continent. The people are of mixed stock, comprising Flemings, of Teutonic origin; Walloons, of Celtic origin; Germans, Dutch, and French. Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion. Education is excellent; there are universities at Ghent, Liège, Brussels, and Louvain. French is the language of educated circles and of the State; but the prevalence of dialects hinders the growth of a national literature. The land is low and level and fertile in the N. and W., undulating in the middle, rocky and hilly in the S. and E. The Meuse and Scheldt are the chief rivers, the basin of the latter embracing most of the country. Climate is similar to the English, with greater extremes. Rye, wheat, oats, beet, and flax are the principal crops. Agriculture is the most painstaking and productive of the world. The hilly country is rich in coal, iron, zinc, and lead. After mining, the chief industries are textile manufactures and making of machinery: the former at Antwerp, Ghent, Brussels, and Liège; the latter at Liège, Mons, and Charleroi. The trade is enormous; France, Germany, and Britain are the best customers. Exports are coal to France; farm products, eggs, &c., to England; and raw material imported from across seas, to France and the basin of the Rhine. It is a small country of large cities. The capital is Brussels (480), in the centre of the kingdom, but communicating with the ocean by a ship canal. The railways, canals, and river navigation are very highly developed. The government is a limited monarchy; the king, senate, and house of representatives form the constitution. There is a conscript army of 50,000 men, but no navy. Transferred from Spain to Austria in 1713. Belgium was under French sway from 1794 till 1814, when it was united with Holland, but established its independence in 1830.

Belgrade (54), the capital of Servia, on the confluence of the Save and Danube; a fortified city in an important strategical position, and the centre of many conflicts; a commercial centre; once Turkish in appearance, now European more and more.

Belgra`via, a fashionable quarter in the southern part of the West End of London.

Belial, properly a good-for-nothing, a child of worthlessness; an incarnation of iniquity and son of perdition, and the name in the Bible for the children of such.

Belief, a word of various application, but properly definable as that which lies at the heart of a man or a nation's convictions, or is the heart and soul of all their thoughts and actions, "the thing a man does practically lay to heart, and know for certain concerning his vital relations to this mysterious universe, and his duty and destiny there."

Belinda, Arabella Fermor, the heroine in Pope's "Rape of the Lock."

Belisa`rius, a general under the Emperor Justinian, born in Illyria; defeated the Persians, the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths; was falsely accused of conspiracy, but acquitted, and restored to his dignities by the emperor; though another tradition, now discredited, alleges that for the crimes charged against him he had his eyes put out, and was reduced to beggary (505-565).

Belize, British Honduras, a fertile district, and its capital (6); exports mahogany, rosewood, sugar, india-rubber, &c.

Bell, Acton. See Brontë.

Bell, Andrew, LL.D., educationist, born at St. Andrews; founder of the Monitorial system of education, which he had adopted, for want of qualified assistants, when in India as superintendent of an orphanage in Madras, so that his system was called "the Madras system"; returned from India with a large fortune, added to it by lucrative preferments, and bequeathed a large portion of it, some £120,000, for the endowment of education in Scotland, and the establishment of schools, such as the Madras College in his native city (1753-1832).

Bell, Bessy, and Mary Gray, the "twa bonnie lassies" of a Scotch ballad, daughters of two Perthshire gentlemen, who in 1666 built themselves a bower in a spot retired from a plague then raging; supplied with food by a lad in love with both of them, who caught the plague and gave it to them, of which they all sickened and died.

Bell, Book, and Candle, a ceremony at one time attending the greater excommunication in the Romish Church, when after sentence was read from the "book," a "bell" was rung, and the "candle" extinguished.

Bell, Currer. See Brontë.

Bell, Ellis. See Brontë.

Bell, George Joseph, a brother of Sir Charles, distinguished in law; author of "Principles of the Law of Scotland" (1770-1843).

Bell, Henry, bred a millwright, born in Linlithgowshire; the first who applied steam to navigation in Europe, applying it in a small steamboat called the Comet, driven by a three horse-power engine (1767-1830).

Bell, Henry Glassford, born in Glasgow, a lawyer and literary man, sheriff of Lanarkshire; wrote a vindication of Mary, Queen of Scots, and some volumes of poetry (1803-1874).

Bell, John, of Antermony, a physician, born at Campsie; accompanied Russian embassies to Persia and China; wrote "Travels in Asia," which were much appreciated for their excellency of style (1690-1780).

Bell, Peter, Wordsworth's simple rustic, to whom the primrose was but a yellow flower and nothing more.

Bell, Robert, journalist and miscellaneous writer, born at Cork; edited "British Poets, from Chaucer to Cowper," his best-known work, which he annotated, and accompanied with careful memoirs of each (1800-1867).

Bell, Sir Charles, an eminent surgeon and anatomist, born in Edinburgh, where he became professor of Surgery; distinguished chiefly for his discoveries in connection with the nervous system, which he published in his "Anatomy of the Brain" and his "Nervous System," and which gained him European fame; edited, along with Lord Brougham, Paley's "Evidences of Natural Religion" (1774-1842).

Bell, Thomas, a naturalist, born at Poole; professor of Zoology in King's College, London; author of "British Quadrupeds" and "British Reptiles," "British Stalk-eyed Crustacea," and editor of "White's Natural History of Selborne" (1792-1880).

Bell Rock, or Inchcape Rock, a dangerous reef of sandstone rocks in the German Ocean, 12 m. SE. of Arbroath, on which a lighthouse 120 ft. high was erected in 1807-10; so called from a bell rung by the sway of the waves, which the abbot of Arbroath erected on it at one time as a warning to seamen.

Bell-the-Cat, Archibald Douglas, Earl of Arran, so called from his offer to dispose by main force of an obnoxious favourite of the king, James III.

Bella, Stephano della, a Florentine engraver of great merit, engraved over 1000 plates; was patronised by Richelieu in France, and the Medici in Florence (1610-1664).

Bell`amy, Jacob, a Dutch poet, born at Flushing; his poems highly esteemed by his countrymen (1752-1821).

Bellange, a celebrated painter of battle-pieces, born at Paris (1800-1866).

Bellar`mine, Robert, cardinal, born in Tuscany; a learned Jesuit, controversial theologian, and in his writings, which are numerous, a valiant defender at all points of Roman Catholic dogma; the greatest champion of the Church in his time, and regarded as such by the Protestant theologians; he was at once a learned man and a doughty polemic (1542-1621).

Bellay, Joachim du, French poet; author of sonnets entitled "Regrets," full of vigour and poetry; wrote the "Antiquités de Rome"; was called the Apollo of the Pléiade, the best poet and the best prose-writer among them (1524-1560).

Belle France, (i. e. Beautiful France), a name of endearment applied to France, like that of "Merry" applied to England.

Belle-Isle (60), a fortified island on the W. coast of France, near which Sir Edward Hawke gained a brilliant naval victory over the French, under M. de Conflans, in 1759.

Belleisle, Charles Louis Auguste Fouquet, Count of, marshal of France; distinguished in the war of the Spanish Succession; an ambitious man, mainly to blame for the Austrian Succession war; had grand schemes in his head, no less than the supremacy in Europe and the world of France, warranting the risk; expounded them to Frederick the Great; concluded a fast and loose treaty with him, which could bind no one; found himself blocked up in Prague with his forces; had to force his way out and retreat, but it was a retreat the French boast comparable only to the retreat of the Ten Thousand; was made War Minister after, and wrought important reforms in the army (1684-1761). See Carlyle's "Frederick" for a graphic account of him and his schemes, specially in Bk. xii. chap. ix.

Bellenden, John, of Moray, a Scottish writer in the 16th century; translated, at the request of James V., Hector Boece's "History of Scotland," and the first five books of Livy, which remain the earliest extant specimens of Scottish prose, and remarkable specimens they are, for the execution of which he was well rewarded, being made archdeacon of Moray for one thing, though he died in exile; d. 1550.

Bellenden, William, a Scottish writer, distinguished for diplomatic services to Queen Mary, and for the purity of his Latin composition; a professor of belles-lettres in Paris University (1550-1613).

Beller`ophon, a mythical hero, son of Glaucus and grandson of Sisyphus; having unwittingly caused the death of his brother, withdrew from his country and sought retreat with Proetus, king of Argos, who, becoming jealous of his guest, but not willing to violate the laws of hospitality, had him sent to Iobates, his son-in-law, king of Lycia, with instructions to put him to death. Iobates, in consequence, imposed upon him the task of slaying the Chimæra, persuaded that this monster would be the death of him. Bellerophon, mounted on Pegasus, the winged horse given him by Pallas, slew the monster, and on his return received the daughter of Iobates to wife.

Bellerophon, Letters of, name given to letters fraught with mischief to the bearer. See supra.

Belles-lettres, that department of literature which implies literary culture and belongs to the domain of art, whatever the subject may be or the special form; it includes poetry, the drama, fiction, and criticism.

Belleville, a low suburb of Paris, included in it since 1860; the scene of one of the outrages of the Communists.

Belliard, Comte de, a French general and diplomatist; fought in most of the Napoleonic wars, but served under the Bourbons on Napoleon's abdication; was serviceable to Louis Philippe in Belgium by his diplomacy (1769-1832).

Belli`ni, the name of an illustrious family of Venetian painters.

Bellini, Gentile, the son of Jacopo Bellini, was distinguished as a portrait-painter; decorated along with his brother the council-chamber of the ducal palace; his finest picture the "Preaching of St. Mark" (1421-1508).

Bellini, Giovanni, brother of the preceding, produced a great many works; the subjects religious, all nobly treated; had Giorgione and Titian for pupils; among his best works, the "Circumcision," "Feast of the Gods," "Blood of the Redeemer"; did much to promote painting in oil (1426-1516).

Bellini, Jacopo, a painter from Florence who settled in Venice, the father and founder of the family; d. 1470.

Bellini, Vincenzo, a musical composer, born at Catania, Sicily; his works operas, more distinguished for their melody than their dramatic power; the best are "Il Pirati," "La Somnambula," "Norma," and "Il Puritani" (1802-1835).

Bellmann, the poet of Sweden, a man of true genius, called the "Anacreon of Sweden," patronised by Gustavus Adolphus (1741-1795).

Bello`na, the goddess of fury in war among the Romans, related by the poets to Mars as sister, wife, or daughter; inspirer of the war-spirit, and represented as armed with a bloody scourge in one hand and a torch in the other.

Bellot, Joseph René, a naval officer, born in Paris, distinguished in the expedition of 1845 to Madagascar, and one of those who went in quest of Sir John Franklin; drowned while crossing the ice (1826-1853).

Belloy, a French poet, born at St. Flour; author of "Le Siège du Calais" and numerous other dramatic works (1727-1775).

Belon, Pierre, a French naturalist, one of the founders of natural history, and one of the precursors of Cuvier; wrote in different departments of natural history, the chief, "Natural History of Birds"; murdered by robbers while gathering plants in the Bois de Boulogne (1518-1564).

Bel`phegor, a Moabite divinity.

Belphoebe (i. e. Beautiful Diana), a huntress in the "Faërie Queene," the impersonation of Queen Elizabeth, conceived of, however, as a pure, high-spirited maiden, rather than a queen.

Belsham, Thomas, a Unitarian divine, originally Calvinist, born at Bedford; successor to the celebrated Priestley at Hackney, London; wrote an elementary work on psychology (1750-1829).

Belshazzar, the last Chaldean king of Babylon, slain, according to the Scripture account, at the capture of the city by Cyrus in 538 B.C.

Belt, Great and Little, gateways of the Baltic: the Great between Zealand and Fünen, 15 m. broad; the Little, between Fünen and Jutland, half as broad; both 70 m. long, the former of great depth.

Belt of Calms, the region in the Atlantic and Pacific, 4° or 5° latitude broad, where the trade-winds meet and neutralise each other, in which, however, torrents of rain and thunder-storms occur almost daily.

Beltane, or Beltein, an ancient Celtic festival connected with the sun-worship, observed about the 1st of May and the 1st of November, during which fires were kindled on the tops of hills, and various ceremonies gone through.

Belted Will, name given to Lord William Howard, warden in the 16th and 17th centuries of the Western Marches of England.

Belu`chistan (200 to 400), a desert plateau lying between Persia and India, Afghanistan and the Arabian Sea; is crossed by many mountain ranges, the Suliman, in the N., rising to 12,000 ft. Rivers in the NE. are subject to great floods. The centre and W. is a sandy desert exposed to bitter winds in winter and sand-storms in summer. Fierce extremes of temperature prevail. There are few cattle, but sheep are numerous; the camel is the draught animal. Where there is water the soil is fertile, and crops of rice, cotton, indigo, sugar, and tobacco are raised; in the higher parts, wheat, maize, and pulse. Both precious and useful metals are found; petroleum wells were discovered in the N. in 1887. The population comprises Beluchis, robber nomads of Aryan stock, in the E. and W., and Mongolian Brahuis in the centre. All are Mohammedan. Kelat is the capital; its position commands all the caravan routes. Quetta, in the N., is a British stronghold and health resort. The Khan of Kelat is the ruler of the country and a vassal of the Queen.

Be`lus, another name for Baal (q. v.), or the legendary god of Assyria and Chaldea.

Bel`vedere, name given a gallery of the Vatican at Rome, especially that containing the famous statue of Apollo, and applied to picture-galleries elsewhere.

Belzo`ni, Giovanni Battista, a famous traveller and explorer in Egypt, born at Padua, of poor parents; a man of great stature; figured as an athlete in Astley's Circus, London, and elsewhere, first of all in London streets; applied himself to the study of mechanics; visited Egypt as a mechanician and engineer at the instance of Mehemet Ali; commenced explorations among its antiquities, sent to the British Museum trophies of his achievements; published a narrative of his operations; opened an exhibition of his collection of antiquities in London and Paris; undertook a journey to Timbuctoo, was attacked with dysentery, and died at Gato (1778-1823).

Bem, Joseph, a Polish general, born in Galicia; served in the French army against Russia in 1812; took part in the insurrection of 1830; joined the Hungarians in 1848; gained several successes against Austria and Russia, but was defeated at Temesvar; turned Mussulman, and was made pasha; died at Aleppo, where he had gone to suppress an Arab insurrection; he was a good soldier and a brave man (1791-1850).

Bemba, a lake in Africa, the highest feeder of the Congo, of an oval shape, 150 m. long and over 70 m. broad, 3000 ft. above the sea-level.

Bembo, Pietro, cardinal, an erudite man of letters and patron of literature and the arts, born at Venice; secretary to Pope Leo X.; historiographer of Venice, and librarian of St. Mark's; made cardinal by Paul III., and bishop of Bergamo; a fastidious stylist and a stickler for purity in language (1470-1547).

Ben Lawers, a mountain in Perthshire, 3984 ft. high, on the W. of Loch Tay.

Ben Ledi, a mountain in Perthshire, 2873 ft. high, 4½ m. NW. of Callander.

Ben Lomond, a mountain in Stirlingshire, 3192 ft. high, on the E. of Loch Lomond.

Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Great Britain, in SW. Inverness-shire, 4406 ft. high, and a sheer precipice on the NE. 1500 ft. high, and with an observatory on the summit supported by the Scottish Meteorological Society.

Ben Rhydding, a village in the West Riding of Yorkshire, 15 m. NW. of Leeds, with a thoroughly equipped hydropathic establishment, much resorted to.

Benares (219), the most sacred city of the Hindus, and an important town in the NW. Provinces; is on the Ganges, 420 m. by rail NW. of Calcutta. It presents an amazing array of 1700 temples and mosques with towers and domes and minarets innumerable. The bank of the river is laid with continuous flights of steps whence the pilgrims bathe; but the city itself is narrow, crocked, crowded, and dirty. Many thousand pilgrims visit it annually. It is a seat of Hindu learning; there is also a government college. The river is spanned here by a magnificent railway bridge. There is a large trade in country produce, English goods, jewellery, and gems; while its brass-work, "Benares ware," is famous.

Benbow, John, admiral, born at Shrewsbury; distinguished himself in an action with a Barbary pirate; rose rapidly to the highest post in the navy; distinguished himself well in an engagement with a French fleet in the W. Indies; he lost a leg, and at this crisis some of his captains proved refractory, so that the enemy escaped, were tried by court-martial, and two of them shot; the wound he received and his vexation caused his death. He was a British tar to the backbone, and of a class extinct now (1653-1702).

Bencoolen, a town and a Dutch residency in SW. of Sumatra; exports pepper and camphor.

Bender, a town in Bessarabia, remarkable for the siege which Charles XII. of Sweden sustained there after his defeat at Pultowa.

Benedek, Ludwig von, an Austrian general, born in Hungary; distinguished himself in the campaigns of 1848-1849; was defeated by the Prussians at Sadowa; superseded and tried, but got off; retired to Grätz, where he died (1804-1871).

Benedetti, Count Vincent, French diplomatist, born at Bastia, in Corsica; is remembered for his draft of a treaty between France and Prussia, published in 1870, and for his repudiation of all responsibility for the Franco-German war; b. 1817.

Benedict, the name of fourteen popes: B. I., from 574 to 575; B. II., from 684 to 685; B. III., from 855 to 858; B. IV., from 900 to 907; B. V., from 964 to 965; B. VI., from 972 to 974; B. VII., from 975 to 984; B. VIII., from 1012 to 1024; extended the territory of the Church by conquest, and effected certain clerical reforms; B. IX., from 1033 to 1048, a licentious man, and deposed; B. X., from 1058 to 1059; B. XI., from 1303 to 1304; B. XII., from 1334 to 1342; B. XIII., from 1724 to 1730; B. XIV., from 1740 to 1758. Of all the popes of this name it would seem there is only one worthy of special mention.

Benedict XIV., a native of Bologna, a man of marked scholarship and ability; a patron of science and literature, who did much to purify the morals and elevate the character of the clergy, and reform abuses in the Church.

Benedict, Biscop, an Anglo-Saxon monk, born in Northumbria; made two pilgrimages to Rome; assumed the tonsure as a Benedictine monk in Provence; returned to England and founded two monasteries on the Tyne, one at Wearmouth and another at Jarrow, making them seats of learning; b. 628.

Benedict, St., the founder of Western monachism, born near Spoleto; left home at 14; passed three years as a hermit, in a cavern near Subiaco, to prepare himself for God's service; attracted many to his retreat; appointed to an abbey, but left it; founded 12 monasteries of his own; though possessed of no scholarship, composed his "Regula Monachorum," which formed the rule of his order; represented in art as accompanied by a raven with sometimes a loaf in his bill, or surrounded by thorns or by howling demons (480-543). See Benedictines.

Benedict, Sir Julius, musician and composer, native of Stuttgart; removed to London in 1835; author of, among other pieces, the "Gipsy's Warning," the "Brides of Venice," and the "Crusaders"; conducted the performance of "Elijah" in which Jenny Lind made her first appearance before a London audience, and accompanied her as pianist to America in 1850 (1806-1885).

Benedictines, the order of monks founded by St. Benedict and following his rule, the cradle of which was the celebrated monastery of Monte Casino, near Naples, an institution which reckoned among its members a large body of eminent men, who in their day rendered immense service to both literature and science, and were, in fact, the only learned class of the Middle Ages; spent their time in diligently transcribing manuscripts, and thus preserving for posterity the classic literature of Greece and Rome.

Benedictus, part of the musical service at Mass in the Roman Catholic Church; has been introduced into the morning service of the English Church.

Benefit of Clergy, exemption of the persons of clergymen from criminal process before a secular judge.

Be`neke, Friedrich Eduard, a German philosopher and professor in Berlin of the so-called empirical school, that is, the Baconian; an opponent of the methods and systems of Kant and Hegel; confined his studies to psychology and the phenomena of consciousness; was more a British thinker than a German (1798-1854).

Benenge`li, an imaginary Moorish author, whom Cervantes credits with the story of "Don Quixote."

Bénetier, the vessel for holding the holy water in Roman Catholic churches.

Benevento (20), a town 33 m. NE. of Naples, built out of and amid the ruins of an ancient one; also the province, of which Talleyrand was made prince by Napoleon.

Benevolence, the name of a forced tax exacted from the people by certain kings of England, and which, under Charles I., became so obnoxious as to occasion the demand of the Petition of Rights (q. v.), that no tax should be levied without consent of Parliament; first enforced in 1473, declared illegal in 1689.

Benfey, Theodor, Orientalist, born near Göttingen, of Jewish birth; a great Sanskrit scholar, and professor of Sanskrit and Comparative Philology at his native place; author of "Lexicon of Greek Roots," "Sanskrit Grammar," &c. (1809-1881).

Bengal (76,643), one of the three Indian presidencies, but more particularly a province lying in the plain of the Lower Ganges and the delta of the Ganges-Brahmaputra, with the Himalayas on the N. At the base of the mountains are great forests; along the seaboard dense jungles. The climate is hot and humid, drier at Behar, and passing through every gradation up to the snow-line. The people are engaged in agriculture, raising indigo, jute, opium, rice, tea, cotton, sugar, &c. Coal, iron, and copper mines are worked in Burdwân. The manufactures are of cotton and jute. The population is mixed in blood and speech, but Hindus speaking Bengali predominate. Education is further advanced than elsewhere; there are fine colleges affiliated to Calcutta University, and many other scholastic institutions. The capital, Calcutta, is the capital of India; the next town in size is Patna (165).