capital. It contains three other small towns, and many villages. Lon. 3° 6 W.; lat. 47° 18′ N. Pop., 5,569.

BELLE-ISLE, or BELLISLE; an island N. E. of the gulf of St. Lawrence, about 21 miles in circuit; on the north-west side has a small harbor, fit for small craft, called Lark harbor, within a little island which lies close to the shore. At the east point, it has another small harbor or cove, that will only admit fishing shallops; from whence it is about 16 miles to the coast of Labrador. The narrow channel between Newfoundland and the coast of Labrador is called the straits of Bellisle; 15 miles N. Newfoundland. Lon. 55° 15′ W.; lat. 52° N.

BELLEGARDE, Count, born at Chamberry, in Savoy, in the year 1760, of one of the oldest Savoyard families, early entered the Austrian service, and distinguished himself during the campaigns of 1793-96 in such a manner as to become a member of the archduke Charles's counsel of war, and, in 1796, field-marshal lieutenant. In this capacity, he concluded, in 1797, an armistice, at Leoben, with Bonaparte, and, in 1799, commanded the corps that was to maintain the connexion between Suwaroff and the archduke Charles. After the campaign in Italy, in 1800, he was made privy counsellor of the archduke Frederic, who commanded the army of Italy. In July, 1805, the chief command in the territories of Venice was committed to him. In 1806, he was created fieldmarshal, and appointed civil and military governor of both the Galicias. In the campaign of 1809, he distinguished himself at Aspern. B. afterwards became president of the council of war at Vienna, acted in Italy against Murat, was appointed governor of Lombardy, and lives now retired from the service on account of a disorder in his eyes.

BELLEGARDE, Gabriel du Pac de born at the palace of Bellegarde, in the year 1717; one of the most indefatigable compilers of history, who has thrown much light on the historical events of the 17th

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Fleury reposed confidence in him; Louis XV made him governor of Metz and the three bishoprics of Lorraine, which office he held until his death. Before the breaking out of the war, in 1741, he visited the principal courts of Germany with the design of disposing them, after the death of Charles VI, to choose the elector of Bavaria emperor of Germany; and he displayed so much address, on this occasion, as to excite the admiration of Frederic II. After his return, he placed himself, together with Broglio, at the head of the French forces, to oppose those of Maria Theresa. He took Prague by assault; but, the king of Prussia having made a separate peace, he was compelled to a retreat, which he performed with admirable skill. In Dec., 1744, when on a diplomatic journey to Berlin, he was arrested at Elbingerode, a Hanoverian post, and sent to England, where he was exchanged, however, in 1746. In the following year, he forced general Browne, who had entered the south of France from Italy, to raise the siege of Antibes, and to retreat over the Var. In 1748, the king made him a duke and peer of France and the department of war was committed to his charge. He reformed the army by abolishing many abuses, enlarged the military academy, and caused an order of merit to be established. The city of Metz is indebted to him for an academy. He died in 1761.

BELLENDEN, William; a Scottish writer of the 17th century, distinguished for the elegance of his Latin style. He was educated at Paris, where he was professor of belles-lettres in 1602, and, though he was made master of requests by James I, he still continued to reside in the French metropolis. In 1608, he published a work entitled Cicero Princeps, containing a selection from the works of Cicero, consisting of passages relating to the duties of a prince, &c. He afterwards republished this work, with some other treatises, in his Bellendenus de Statu. This work was published again, in 1787, by an anonymous editor, since known to have been doctor Samuel Parr, who added a Latin preface on the politics of that time.

BELLEROPHON. (See Hipponous.) BELLES-LETTRES (French) signifies the same with polite literature. It is impossible to give a satisfactory explanation of what is or has been called belles-lettres : in fact, the vaguest definition would be the best, as almost every branch of knowl edge has, at one time, been included in, at another, excluded from, this denomina

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tion. The most correct definition, therefore, would be, perhaps, such as embraced all knowledge and every science, not merely abstract, nor simply useful. In the division of the departments at the lyceum of arts, established at Paris in 1792, the belles-lettres comprehended general grammar, languages, rhetoric, geography, history, antiquities and numismatics; whilst philosophy, mathematics, &c., were called, in contradistinction, sciences. If the name of belles-lettres ought to be retained at all, it would seem proper to include under it poetry, rhetoric, and all prose which has pretensions to elegance. A historical work, therefore, would fall within the definition of belles-lettres, only if its style was distinguished for elegance. The same would be the case with books of travels, &c. It is, however, to be hoped that this vague, unnecessary name will soon be abandoned, in imitation of the example of the Germans, who, having investigated the philosophy of the arts and sciences more thoroughly than any other nation, and critically analyzed their principles, have rejected the term; so that it is known in Germany only as matter of history. They class poetry with the fine arts, and its history, like the history of any other art, science, nation or thing, with the sciences. Rhetoric, too, is called a fine art. It was formerly said, that the difference of belles-lettres and beaux-arts consisted in the difference of the means employed by each respectively. The former, it was said, used arbitrary signs, by which was meant language; the latter, natural signs, i. e., sounds and visible forms. It is easy to see how untenable this division is.

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BELLEVUE (Fr. fine prospect). This name is given to several villas and palaces, but particularly to a beautiful country palace in the neighborhood of Paris, situated on the ridge of those mountains which stretch from St. Cloud towards Meudon. Mad. de Pompadour (q. v.) built it. The building was commenced in July, 1748, and finished in November, 1750. After the death of Louis XV, the use of it was granted to the aunts of Louis XVI, mesdames de France. The first French artists of the time, Coustou, Adam, Salu, Pigalle, Gragenard, Laprenue, had exerted all their talents in embellishing Bellevue; so that this palace, at the period when it was built, was considered the most charming in all Europe. After After the revolution, the convention decreed that Bellevue should be kept in repair at the expense of the nation, and that it

should be devoted to public amusements. Nevertheless, it was publicly sold, during the highest pitch of revolutionary excitement, and the purchaser, M. Lenchère, a post-master in Paris, had it demolished, quite in the spirit of the Bande noire. (q. v.) Its ruins are frequently visited, on account of the beautiful view of Paris from this spot.

BELLINI, James, and his two sons, Gentile and Giovanni (who surpassed their father); celebrated painters, who made a new epoch in the Venetian school. Of James's works nothing has been left; but several of Gentile's (e. g., a St. Mark) have reached our times. In the year 1479, Gentile went to Constantinople, Mohammed II having sent to Venice for a skilful painter. He is said to have there copied the bass-reliefs of the column of Theodosius, and to have died at Venice, in the year 1501. The most distinguished of the family was Giovanni B., who was born at Venice, about 1424, and died about 1516. He studied nature diligently, and his drawing was good. He contributed much to make oil painting popular, and has left many excellent pictures, of which one, the Savior pronouncing his Benediction, is to be found in the gallery of Dresden. His own reputation was much increased by that of his celebrated disciples, namely, Titian and Giorgione. As their instructer, he is sometimes called the founder of the Venetian school.

BELLISLE. (See Belle-Isle.)

The

BELLMANN, Charles Michael, the most original among the Swedish poets, was born at Stockholm, in 1741, and grew up in the quietude of domestic life. first proofs which he gave of his poetic talents were religious and pious effusions. The dissipated life of young men, at Stockholm, devoted to pleasure, was afterwards the subject of his poems. By these his name was spread over all Sweden. Even the attention of Gustavus III was attracted to him, and he received from the king an appointment, which enabled him to devote himself almost entirely to poetical pursuits, in an easy independence, until his death, in 1795. His songs are truly national, principally describing scenes of revelry.

BELLONA; the goddess of war; daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. She was called by the Greeks Enyo, and is often confounded with Minerva. She was anciently called Duelliona, and was the sister of Mars, or, according to some, his daughter or his wife. She prepared his chariot when he was going to war, and drove his

steeds through the tumult of the battle with a bloody scourge, her hair dishevelled, and a torch in her hand. The Romans paid great adoration to her; but she was held in the highest veneration by the Cappadocians, chiefly at Comana, where she had above 3000 priests. Her temple at Rome was near the Porta Carmentalis. In it the senators gave audience to foreign ambassadors and to generals returned from war. At the gate was a small column, called the column of war, against which they threw a spear, whenever war was declared. The priests of this goddess consecrated themselves by making great incisions in their bodies, and particularly in the thigh, from which they received the blood in their hands to offer as a sacrifice to the goddess. In their wild enthusiasm, they often predicted bloodshed and wars, the defeat of enemies, or the besieging of towns.

BELLOWS; a machine so formed as to expire and inspire air by turns, by the enlargement and contraction of the capacity. As soon as men began to make use of fire, the importance of bellows was felt, since the natural bellows, if we may give this name to the lungs, could not be applied to any great extent. The invention of bellows is ascribed to Anacharsis the Scythian. Probably, this invention, like so many others, took place in different countries, since the want which occasioned it is universal. The first deviation from the ancient, and still common form of the bellows, was made by the Germans, about 100 years ago, and the forms at present are very various, as many attempts have been made for the improvement of this highly important machine, which becomes necessary wherever a powerful flame is required in the arts. As mining is carried on extensively in Germany, and great heat is required in smelting the ores, and working the metals, many new kinds of bellows have been invented in that country, of which we only mention that of Mr. von Baader, in Munich (known as the inventor of a new kind of rail-roads). It consists of an empty box, which moves up and down in another, partially filled with water. Between the bottom of the empty box and surface of the water is a space filled with air, which is driven out by the descent of the enclosed box. Bellows of very great power are generally called blowingmachines. One of the largest is that recently erected in England, at the smithery in the king's dock-yard, at Woolwich. It is adequate to the supply of air for 40

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forge fires, amongst which are several for the forging of anchors, iron knees, and many other heavy pieces of smithery. The common Chinese bellows consist of a box of wood about two feet long, and one foot square, in which a thick, square piece of board, which exactly fits the internal cavity of the box, is pushed backwards and forwards. In the bottom of the box, at each end, there is a small conical or plug valve to admit the air, and valves above to discharge it.

BELLOY, Pierre Laurent Buirette de, the first French dramatist who successfully introduced native heroes upon the French stage, instead of those of Greece and Rome, or the great men of other nations, was born at St. Flour, in Auvergne, in 1727. He went to Paris when a child, lost his father soon after, and was supported by his uncle, a distinguished advocate in the parliament of Paris, who designed him for the same profession. He applied himself to this profession with reluctance, while he showed much genius for the drama. His uncle opposed this taste, and the young man secretly left his house. He now made his appearance at several northern courts, as an actor, under the name of Dormont de Belloy. Every where his character gained him love and esteem. He spent several years in Petersburg, where the empress Elisabeth showed him much kindness. In 1758, he returned to France, with the intention of having his tragedy Titus represented. His uncle obtained a warrant of imprisonment against him, in case he should appear on the stage. B. had hoped to reconcile his family to him by the success of Titus, but this hope was disappointed by the failure of the piece; and the author went once more to Petersburg. Shortly after, his uncle died, and B. returned again to France, where he brought out his tragedy Zelmire, which was acted with the most complete success. In 1765 followed his Siège de Calais, a tragedy which produced a great sensation, and is still esteemed, though it owes the applause bestowed on it rather to its subject than to its poetical merit. He received the medal promised by the king to those poets who should produce three successful pieces, and which has been awarded only on this occasion. On account of the great applause with which the Siege of Calais was received, it was counted as two, it being, in fact, only the second successful piece of B. The city of Calais sent him the freedom of the city, in a gold box, with the inscription Lauream

tulit, cvicam recipit. B. has written sundry other dramatic pieces, of which Gaston et Bayard procured his reception into the Académie Française. Upon the whole, he was not happy in the expression of tragical pathos. He died in 1775.

BELL-ROCK. (See BELL-Rock.) BELOOCHISTAN. (See Belujistan.) BELT, the Great and Little; two straits of Denmark, connecting the Baltic with the Cattegat. The former runs between the islands of Zealand and Funen, and is about 15 miles in width, where it is crossed from Nyborg, in Funen, to Corsoer, in Zealand. The greatest breadth of the strait is 20 miles. The navigation is very dangerous, on account of the many small islands and sand-banks, by which the channel is impeded. Vessels sailing through this strait pay tribute at Nyborg. The Little Belt is between the island of Funen and the coast of Jutland, and the narrowest part of the strait is not more than a mile in width. At this place stands the fortress Fredericia, where the tolls are paid. The fortress commands completely the entrance from the Cattegat. The sound between Zealand and the Swedish coast is preferred for all large vessels.

BELUJISTAN, OF BELUCHISTAN; a country in Asia, situated on the north-west of the peninsula of Hindostan, formerly belonging to Persia; now connected with Cabulistan. It comprehends, in its most extensive acceptation, all the space between lon. 58° and 67° E.; lat. 24° and 30° N. It extends from the country of the Afghans on the north to the Indian ocean, and from the provinces of Laristan and Kerman on the west to that of Sind on the east. It contains six principal divisions :—1. Jhalawan and Sarawan, with the district of Kelat; 2. Macran and Les; 3. Kohistan, that is, the mountainous region west of the Desert; 4. the Desert; 5. Cach Gandavah and the district of Herrend Dajel; 6. the province of Sind. It is very mountainous. Many of the mountains are of great height, covered with snow. In the plains, the heat is very great; in summer, water is generally scarce. The rivers are the Pooralle Muktoo, Dast, Nughor, Sinroo and Sudgee. The desert of Belujistan is 300 miles long, and upwards of 200 broad, consisting of waves of sand extremely difficult to be traversed. The minerals are gold, silver, lead, iron, copper, tin, rock salt, alum, saltpetre and sulphur. The soil produces grain, cotton, indigo, madder and assafoetida. The Belooches,

or Balojes, consist of three tribes-the Beluches, the Brahuis, the Dehwars. They are warlike and semi-barbarous. They live a pastoral life, and are of the Mohammedan religion. Little was known of this country, till Mr. Pottinger, and some other enterprising officers in the East India company's service, explored it in 1809 and 1810.

BELVEDERE (Ital. fine sight. See Bellevue.) The name of buildings in Italy destined for the enjoyment of prospects. The name is also given to the small cupolas on houses, which are ascended for the sake of fresh air, or of the view which they afford. Many of the buildings in Rome are furnished with such cupolas; yet the term belvedere is generally applied only to those on the palaces of the rich. In France, the name bellevue is given to small country-seats, in a simple style, or to arched bowers at the end of a garden or park, intended for the enjoyment of fresh air, or as places of shelter against the burning sun. This is the name, also, of a part of the Vatican, where the famous statue of Apollo is placed, which, on this account, is called Apollo Belvedere.

BELZONI, Giambattista, that is, John Baptist; born at Padua, and educated at Rome. He was destined for the monastic life, but left the city when it was occupied by the French armies, and, in 1803, went to England, where he acted the parts of Apollo and Hercules, at Astley's amphitheatre. Here he acquired, besides an acquaintance with the English language, much knowledge of the science of hydraulics, the study of which had been his chief occupation in Rome, and which afterwards carried him to Egypt. He left England, after a residence of nine years, accompanied by his wife (who faced the Arabs with the courage of an Amazon), and took his way through Portugal, Spain and Malta to Egypt. There he lived, from 1815 to 1819, at first as a dancer, till he won the favor of the pacha, who made use of his services. B., though often alone amidst the rude inhabitants of the country, kept them in awe by his extraordinary stature and strength. He succeeded in opening, not only the pyramid of Ghiza, which had been already opened, in the 17th century, by Pietro della Valle, and to which the French, during their expedition to Egypt, could not find the entrance, but, also, a second, known by the name of Cephrenes, and several catacombs near Thebes, especially one, in a fine state of preserva tion, in the valley of Biban el Molook,

which is considered to be the mausoleum of Psammis (400 B. C). The drawings which he has furnished of these antiquities are the most exact which we possess. In the year 1816, his perseverance and skill succeeded in transporting the bust of Jupiter Memnon, together with a sarcophagus of alabaster, found in the catacombs, from Thebes to Alexandria, from whence they came to the British museum. On the 1st of August, 1817, he opened the temple of Ipsambul, near the second cataract of the Nile, which two Frenchmen, Cailliaud and Drovetti (the French consul-general), had discovered the year before, but had not succeeded in opening. B. discovered a subterraneous temple in its ruins, which, until that time, had been unknown. He then visited the coasts of the Red sea, and the city of Berenice, and made an expedition into the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon. His journey to Berenice was rewarded by the discovery of the emerald mines of Zubara. B. refuted Cailliaud's assertion, that he had found the famous Berenice, the great emporium of Europe and India, by subsequent investigations on the spot, and by the actual discovery of the ruins of that great city, four days journey from the place which Cailliaud had taken for Berenice. B.'s Narrative of the Operations and recent Discoveries within the Pyramids, Temples, Tombs and Excavations in Egypt and Nubia; and of a Journey to the Coast of the Red Sea, in Search of Berenice; also of another to the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon (London, 1820); accompanied by a folio vol. of 44 copper-plates; was received with general approbation. Padua, his native city, requited his present of two Egyptian statues from Thebes, with a medal by Manfredini. (Concerning the models, which B. placed in Bullock's museum, see Museum.) In the year 1823, this enterprising traveller had made preparations for passing from Benin to Houssa and Timbuctoo, when he died, at Gato, on his way to Benin, Dec. 3, 1823. He believed the Nile and the Niger to be different streams, and that the Niger empties its waters into the Atlantic ocean.

BEMBO, Pietro; one of the most celebrated of the Italian scholars, that adorned the 16th century; born at Venice, in 1470. He very early learned the Latin, and afterwards, at Messina, under the direction of Lascaris, the Greek language; after which he returned to his native country, and there published a small treatise on mount Etna. In compliance with the will of his father, he entered upon the

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career of public business, but, soon conceiving a dislike for it, he devoted himself to science and the theological profession. At Ferrara, where he completed his philosophical studies, he entered into a connexion with Ercole Strozzi, Tibaldeo, and particularly with Sadoleto. From Ferrara he returned to Venice, where a literary society had been established, in the house of the printer Aldus Manutius. B. became one of its principal members, and, for some time, took pleasure in correcting the beautiful editions which proceeded from this celebrated press. After visiting Rome, he went, in 1506, to the court of Urbino, at that time one of those Italian courts where the sciences stood highest in esteem. He lived there about six years, and gained several powerful friends. In 1512, he went to Rome with Giulio de' Medici, whose brother, pope Leo X. made him his secretary, and gave him his friend Sadoleto for a colleague. About this time, B. became acquainted with the young and beautiful Morosina, with whom he lived, in the most tender union, during 22 years. She presented him with two sons and a daughter, whom he educated with the greatest care. His many labors, arising from his office, as well as his literary pursuits, and, perhaps, too great an indulgence in pleasure, having impaired his health, he was using the baths of Padua, when he was apprized of the death of Leo X. Being by this time possessed of several church benefices, he resolved on withdrawing entirely from business, and on passing his days at Padua, (the air of which he had found very beneficial), occupied only with literature and science, and enjoying the society of his friends. The learned members of the famous university of this city eagerly frequented his house, and strangers also flocked thither. B. collected a considerable library: he had a cabinet of medals and antiquities, which, at that time, passed for one of the richest in Italy, and a fine botanical garden. He spent the spring and autumn at a villa called Bozza, which had always belonged to his family. He devoted the leisure of a country life principally to his literary pursuits. In the year 1529, after the death of Andreas Navagero, the office of historiographer of the republic of Venice was offered to him, which he accepted, after some hesitation, and declining the salary connected with it. At the same time, he was nominated librarian of the library of St. Mark. Pope Paul III, having resolved upon a new promotion of cardinals,