413

THE GREAT BELL OF MOSCOW.

When the great bell was placed in its present position it was intended for service as a chapel, and for that purpose an opening was left through the pedestal-wall, which, with the opening in the bell above it, forms an imposing entrance.

To the list in Vol. III, p. 539, should be added the new bell of St. Paul's in London, commonly known as the "Great Paul." It was raised to its

place May 31, 1882, and dedicated with imposing ceremonies three days later. It is 8 feet 10 inches in height, and 9 feet 634 inches in diameter, and weighs 171⁄2 tons. Its note is E flat; materials, copper and tin; and its cost, about $15,000.

BELLS, a nautical phrase, corresponding to the time of day as indicated by clocks on land. The solar day of 24 hours is divided into 6 watches of 4 hours' duration each. These watches begin at 12, 4 and 8 o'clock of both day and night. The time is announced by striking a stationary bell with a pendant clapper half-hourly, the strokes beginning with 1, sounded 30 minutes after the commencement of the watch, and increasing up to 8 strokes at the termination of 4 hours, the end of the watch. Thus the half-hours are announced by odd-numbered strokes of the bell, the full hours by even-numbered strokes.

BELLWOOD, a town of Blair County, south-central Pennsylvania, is on the Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania and North-Western railroads, and is 9 miles

*This weight is just double that of the largest bell now in use in the world, viz., that suspended above the chapel of St. Nicholas, in the Kremlin, in Moscow, weighing 220,000 pounds. This was cast in 1817. It is said that the sound, when the bell is rung, which is only once a year, is" a deep, hollow murmur, vibrating all over Moscow like the rolling of distant thunder."

BELLWORT, a name applied in general to the species of the genus Campanula, of the family Campanulacea, whose often beautiful bell-shaped blue flowers have suggested the name; also called "harebells." The name is also applied to the species of the genus Uvularia, of the family Liliacea, whose nodding yellow flowers appear early in the spring.

BELMONT, a village in Mississippi County, south east Missouri, on the Mississippi River, opposite Columbus, Kentucky, and about 20 miles S. of Cairo. It is mainly interesting as the scene of the first battle of the Civil War in which Gen. U. S. Grant participated. Descending the Mississippi with a force of about 3,000 men on Nov. 7, 1861, he attacked the Confederate supply camp at Belmont, garrisoned by some 3,000 men, and after some sharp skirmishing carried the camp by assault, put the enemy to flight, destroyed the military stores and captured two guns and 175 prisoners. The Confederates, reinforced by General Polk's command, in turn attacked Grant, but he managed to regain his boats without loss of men or baggage and returned to Cairo. The loss on each side in the battle was about 500 in killed, wounded and missing.

BELMONT, capital of Allegany County, southwestern New York, is situated upon the Genesee River; is midway between Dunkirk and Elmira, and 62 miles S. E. of Buffalo. The town is easy of is very fertile and well farmed. Belmont has large access by a number of railways. Allegany County four-mills, machine-shops and foundries. Population of township 1890, 1749. BELMONT, AUGUST, financier, was born at Alzey, Germany, in 1816; died in New York City, Nov. 24, 1890. He was educated in Frankfort; entered the employ of the Rothschilds in 1830, and came to New York in 1837 as their agent. He soon began to prosper; and at the age of 40 was a millionaire. In 1844 Mr. Belmont was appointed consul-general by the Austrian government, and this office he held six years. He was sent by President Pierce as minister to The Hague, and from 1860 to 1872 was chairman of the national Democratic convention. He was of the opinion that the Southern states should be allowed to secede, thinking they would soon be glad to come back into the Union. The event of war proved Mr. Belmont in error, and caused him to change his He views and advocate the prosecution of the war. had such an influence abroad that he prevented the Confederacy from obtaining credit in the foreign While in Europe he was of great money market. assistance to the Union cause, and furnished valuable information to Secretary Seward. Mr. Bel

AUGUST BELMONT.

414

of fine horses. BELOIT, capital of Mitchell County, north-central Kansas, is upon the Solomon River, and at the junction of two railroads. It is the seat of the State Industrial School for girls. Large amounts of white magnesian limestone are quarried near Belmont. Population 1890, 2,455.

BELOIT, a city of Rock County, south-central Wisconsin, situated on both sides of Rock River, immediately north of the boundary line of Illinois; it is 47 miles by rail S.E. of Madison and 91 miles N.W. of Chicago, Illinois. It is the seat of Beloit College, the center of an extensive farming and dairying district, and the headquarters of important manufactures, including paper, reaping and mowing machines, water-wheels, plows and machinery. Population 1890, 6,315.

BELOIT COLLEGE, an institution of learning at Beloit, Wisconsin, was founded in 1846 by the

HALL OF SCIENCE, BELOIT COLLEGE.

Presbyterians and Congregationalists of Wisconsin and northern Illinois. The Rev. Aaron L. Chapin (Yale, 1837), the first president, was succeeded in 1886 by the Rev. Edward D. Eaton (Beloit, 1872), who is still at the head of the institution. Beloit is a college of the New England type and has a faculty of 25 professors and assistants. There are about 450 students in attendance. Most of the 10 buildings of the college are built upon a hill which overlooks Rock River. All courses of the college are open to women.

BELOT, ADOLPHE, French novelist and dramatist, was born in the island of Guadaloupe, Nov. 6, 1829, and died in Paris, Dec. 17, 1890. He became an advocate at the bar of Nancy in 1854. His first attempt in literature was Châtiment (Paris, 1855), a novel which failed to attract attention.

Two

years later he brought out À la Campagne, a one-act comedy which gave no indication of the immense and lasting success of his second dramatic composition, Le Testament de César Girodot. M. Belot has written a large number of other dramas, L'Article 47: Miss Multon; Le Pavé de Paris, etc. He is also author of numerous novels, some of which are remarkable only for their erotic tendencies. The most noted of these is Mademoiselle Giraud, ma Femme; others are La Reine de Beauté; La Princesse

BELPER, an English market town, in Derby County, on the Derwent. It is on the Midland railway, 10 miles N. of Derby, and contains important manufactures of silk and cotton hosiery. It contains the remains of the mansion which was at one time the dwelling-place of John of Gaunt. Population 1891, 10,420.

BELTON, capital of Bell County, central Texas, is on Little River; is 60 miles N. of Austin, and 40 by rail S. W. of Waco. It has a Masonic Institute, the Chamberlain Institute, and Baylor Female College, the oldest in the state; large cottonseed-oil and flour mills are here. Population 1890, 3,000. BELUGA OR WHITE WHALE (Delphinapterus leucas). See MAMMALIA, Vol. XV, p. 399; WHALE, Vol. XXIV, p. 525.

BELUS OR BEL, TEMPLE OF an enormous structure in ancient BABYLON; q.v., Vol. III, p. 183. BELVEDERE, in architecture, an Italian word meaning, originally, a pavilion on the top of a house or other structure, built so as to afford a view of the surrounding country. It is still understood in this sense in Italy. A part of the Vatican in Rome is known as the Belvedere, and gives name to the famous statue of Apollo. In France the word has come to signify any kind of summer-house or place of refreshment, always with the idea, however, of the command of a fine prospect of country.

BELVEDERE, an annual plant of the family Chenopodiaceae, a native of the middle and south of Europe and of Asia, familiar in gardens as an ornamental annual, not on account of its flowers, which have no beauty, but on account of its close, pyramidal, rigid form and numerous narrow leaves, which make it appear like a miniature cypress tree. It is sometimes called " summer cypress.

BELVIDERE, a manufacturing town and the capital of Boone County, north-central Illinois. It is upon the Kishwaukee River, and 78 miles N.W. of Chicago, with which the Chicago and NorthWestern railway connects it. Several fine churches ornament the town, and there are a number of flourmills and manufacturing establishments. Population 1890, 3,867.

BELVIDERE, a town, the capital of Warren County, northwestern New Jersey, at the junction of the Delaware River and Pequest Creek, on the Pennsylvania and Lehigh and Hudson railroads. There is a bridge across the Delaware. Abundant waterpower is furnished for cotton and flour mills and a carriage factory. The surrounding region furnishes iron ore, limestone, slate and magnesia. Population 1890, 1,768.

BELVISIA (now called Napoleona), a genus of small trees of the family Myrtacea, natives of tropical Africa. They have smooth, simple, leathery leaves; the beautiful and very curious flowers, growing in threes, being sessile in the axils of the leaves. The calyx is a thick leathery cup divided into five ovate segments. The corolla is composed of three distinct rings; the outer one five-lobed, and furnished with ribs, by means of which it is strongly plaited,

415.

BEM, JOSEPH, a Polish general; born at Tarnow, in Galicia, in 1795; died in Aleppo, Dec. 1c, 1850; was commander of the army in Transylvania during the Hungarian revolution. After a course of military adventure in Poland he went to France, where he resided for a considerable time. In 1848 he joined the Hungarians and was intrusted with the command of the army of Transylvania. He defeated the Austrian army and succeeded in driving their allies, the Russians, back to Wallachia. Having thus made himself master of Transylvania, at Kossuth's request he hastened into Hungary, where he took part in the unfortunate battle near Temesvar. He made his escape into Turkey, where he embraced, from political motives, the profession of Islam; he was raised to the dignity of a pasha and obtained a command in the Turkish army. In 1850 he was sent to Aleppo, where he died, after suppressing the sanguinary insurrection of the Arabs against the Christian population. He was, in private life, characterized by a benevolent disposition, and as a military leader distinguished by courage, presence of mind in extreme danger and remarkable rapidity of

movement.

BEMBATOOKA OR BOMBETOK, BAY OF, a safe and commodious bay on the northwest coast of Madagascar. The Betsiboka River, navigable for 90 miles, flows into it. On the south side of the bay is the village of Bembatooka, where prime bullocks are sold, and bought extensively by agents of the French government, who have them driven to Fort Dauphin, on Antongil Bay, on the opposite side of the island, where they are killed and cured for the use of the French navy, and for colonial consumption. Majunga, on the north side of the bay, is a town of 14,000 inhabitants.

BEMBECIDÆ, a family of hymenopterous insects usually found in warm countries. They are known as sand-wasps. The female commonly deposits her eggs in the sand, and at the same time provisions the nest with various flies. There are several species in the United States.

BEMIS, EDWARD WEBSTER, political economist, born in Springfield, Massachusetts, April 7, 1860; was graduated at Amherst College in 1880; received his doctor's degree from Johns Hopkins in 1883; engaged in university extension lecturing at St. Louis, Buffalo and other places in 1887-88, the term University Extension being used for the first time in connection with his lectures, as applied to this method of popular education. From 1889 to 1892 he was professor of economics and history at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee; and from 1892 to November, 1895, associate professor of economics at the University of Chicago. Since that

BEMIS HEIGHTS OR BEMUS HEIGHTS, a village in Saratoga County, eastern New York, on the west bank of the Hudson River, 24 miles above Albany; famous for having been the place where occurred the first battle of Stillwater, Sept. 19, 1777, in which Generals Gates and Burgoyne were the opposing commanders. Population 1890, 121.

BEN, a Hebrew word signifying "son," and forming the first syllable of many names, ancient and modern, as Benhadad, Benjamin, etc. The corresponding Arabic word, Ibn or Ebn, in like manner enters into the composition of a great number of names, as Ibn Sina, Ibn-al-Faradhi, etc. Ibn, in some of its constructive forms, drops the initial vowel, thus nearly corresponding to the Hebrew, as Jusuf-ben-Yakub (Joseph, the son of Jacob).

BEN, a term of Gaelic origin, prefixed to the names of the principal mountains of Scotland, as Ben Ledi, Ben Lomond, etc. It is essentially the same as the Welsh pen, the primary signification of which is "head," and hence it may be considered as equivalent to "mountain head." The term Pennine, applied to a division of the Alps, is doubtless derived from the Celtic pen or ben, and even the naine Apennines is in all probability from the

same root.

BEN, OIL OF, a fluid, fixed oil, obtained from the seeds of a tree found in India and Arabia, and known as the horse-radish tree (Moringa pterygasperma). The seeds are called ben-nuts, and are roundish, with three membranous wings. The oil, which is odorless and nearly colorless, is used by watchmakers because it does not readily freeze, and by perfumers as the basis of various scents. Other oils are often adulterated with it.

BENATEK OR BENATKY, a town of Bohemia, on the right bank of the Iser, 21 miles N.E. of Prague. It is worthy of note as being for a time the residence of the celebrated astronomer, Tycho Brahe. Population 1890, 1,568.

BENBECULA, one of the Hebrides or Western Isles of Scotland, between North and South Uist, 20 miles W. of Skye, and belonging to Invernessshire. It is 8 miles long and 8 broad, low and flat, and consists chiefly of bog, sand and lake, resting on a substratum of gneiss rock, with a very broken coast-line. Population 1891, 1,563, consisting of fishermen and farmers, who fertilize the soil with the seaweed which is cast ashore on the island. BENCH-WARRANT is the process or writ issued against a person charged with the commission of a crime or contempt of court. Such process

may

be issued by a judge while on the bench (from which comes the name bench-warrant) or by a judge at chambers. A bench-warrant is an intermediate or interlocutory process upon which the person against whom it is issued is arrested and taken before the court to stand for trial for the offense charged, and may be issued when the person charged has been indicted by the grand jury; when he has been charged with crime by a sworn complaint setting

416

forth the charges made, or when the offense has been committed in the presence of the court. See WARRANTS, Vol. XXIV, p. 371.

governor of Hungary in 1860, and in 1866 was made commander-in-chief of the Austrian army. After the defeat at Sadowa he was brought before a court-martial, and although the proceedings were quashed by the emperor, Benedek never recovered from the savage criticisms of his mortified and de

BENDEMANN, EDWARD, a painter of the Düsseldorf school; born in Berlin, Dec. 3, 1811; died at Düsseldorf, Dec. 27, 1889. He received a careful scientific education, but devoted himself to art; became a pupil of Schadow, and soon proved that he was not mistaken in his vocation. When he was but 20 years of age his picture of the Captive Jews was exhibited at Berlin, and at once acknowledged to be a masterpiece. His next important work, in 1833, represented Two Girls at a Fountain, followed in 1837 by Jeremiah at the Ruins of Jerusalem, a picture for which he obtained a prize medal at Paris. His pictures are distinguished by a grace and charm arising from symmetry in drawing and composition, naïveté in conception, and a tender, harmonious, yet always truthful, coloring. In 1838 he was a professor at the Academy of Arts at Dresden. He was director of Düsseldorf Academy from 1859 to 1867.

BENDIGO, a county in the Loddon district, Victoria, Australia; area, 1,949 miles; chief town, Sandhurst, sometimes known as Bendigo. Gold was discovered in 1851, and the county is now one of the most productive gold-fields in the colony of Victoria. It is about 25 miles to the north of Mount Alexander, which, again, is about 75 miles inland from Melbourne. Population 1890, 56,653.

BENDIRE, CHARLES EMIL, United States army officer and ornithologist; born at Darmstadt, Germany, April 27, 1836; emigrated to this country in 1852; entered the army in 1854 as a private; remained in the army until retired, with the rank of captain, April 24, 1886. Became an authority in oölogy, and is recognized as such to-day. He presented the United States National Museum with its largest single collection of North American birds' eggs. He is the author of The Life Histories of North American Birds, with Special Reference to their Breeding, Habits and Eggs (Vol. I, 1892).

BENE, a town in the province of Mondovi, Piedmont, Italy, 18 miles N.E. of Coni. It occupies the site of the ancient Augusta Bagiennorum, destroyed by Alaric. Many interesting vestiges are found in the neighborhood, and the ruins of an aqueduct, baths, and amphitheater are still visible. Population 1891, 6,426.

BENEDEK, LUDWIG VON, an Austrian general; born at Odenburg, Hungary, in 1804; died at Gratz, April 27, 1881. He received a military education; entered the army as ensign in 1822, and became distinguished for gallantry and skill. He served against the Italians in 1848-49 as colonel and against the Hungarian patriots in 1849 as general. He was

BENEDETTI, VINCENT, COUNT, a French diplomatist; born in 1817, at Bastia, in Corsica; was appointed, in 1855, director of political affairs to the foreign minister, and in this capacity edited the protocols of the Congress of Paris in the following year. He was appointed ambassador at Turin in 1861, and at Berlin in 1864. Benedetti will be chiefly remembered as the writer of the remarkable draft of a secret treaty between France and Prussia, published in 1870, at the outbreak of the war. Of this war he was the immediate instrument, as conveying the imperative demands of France. In a pamphlet issued at Paris in 1871, Ma Mission en Prusse, he throws the whole responsibility on Bismarck. On the fall of the empire he retired to Corsica, and practiced law at the bar of Ajaccio.

cast See

BENEDICITE, or the Song of the Three Children, is the canticle used in the Anglican service after the first lesson in the morning, alternatively with the Te Deum, at the option of the minister. It is taken from the Greek continuation of Daniel iii, as the song sung by the three Israelites, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, when they were into the fiery furnace by Nebuchadnezzar. also HYMNS, Vol. XII, p. 589. BENEDICT, BISCOP, an ecclesiastic; born in England in 629; died Jan. 2, 690. His influence upon Anglo-Saxon civilization and learning was most important. Until about the year 654 he served at the court of Oswin, king of Northumberland, after which he spent about ten years at Rome in study. In 665 he returned to Rome on a mission for Alchfrith, king of Northumbria, and was made abbot of the monastery of St. Peter, at Canterbury, after his return to England in 668. In 675 he imported workmen from France to make glass for his monastery, and thus started or revived the glassmaking industry in England. He also brought bells from Italy in 680, and thus introduced the use of church bells in England. He purchased, in France, a valuable collection of books, and went to Northumbria, where he founded the famous monastery of Wearmouth on a piece of land near the mouth of the Wear, presented to him by King Ecgfrith. See BEDE, Vol. III, p. 481.

BENEDICT, SIR JULIUS, musician and composer; born in Stuttgart, Germany, Nov. 27, 1804; died in London, June 5, 1885. In 1836 he took up his residence in England. He was musical director of the Kärnther Thor Theater, Vienna, in 1824; and later on occupied the same position at Naples. In Paris, and afterward in London in 1835, he appeared with great success as a pianist. In 1850 he conducted at Jenny Lind's concerts in America. He was knighted in 1871. Among his musical compositions which attained popularity are The Gypsy's Warning; The Crusaders; The Lily of Killarney; St. Cecilia; and The Bride of Song.

BENEDICT, MORITZ, Austrian neurologist; born in Eisenstadt, Hungary, July 6, 1835; graduated at the University of Vienna in 1859; appointed professor of nervous pathology in the University of Vienna in 1868; has published Nervenpathologie and Elektrotherapie.

BENEDICTINES. See BENEDICTINES, Vol. III, p. 558, and Vol. XVI, pp. 704 et seq. An account

of the Benedictines, as affecting the history of England, is given in Vol. VIII, pp. 372 et seq. Their historical monasteries are described in the article ABBEY, and their libraries in Vol. XIV, p. 513. The Benedictines in the United States are known as the American Casinensian Congregation. The parent organization is the house at Latrobe, Pennsylvania, founded in 1846 as the monastery of Saint Vincent, and raised in 1855 to the dignity of Abbey of Saint Vincent. It is under the jurisdiction of a mitered abbot appointed by the pope, and under the same general supervision is a large and increasing number of monasteries. The abbey of Saint Meinrad, Indiana, which was founded in 1853, is a filiation of the celebrated Benedictine abbey at Einsiedeln, in Switzerland. The first convent of Benedictine nuns in the United States was established at Saint Mary's, Pennsylvania, in 1853.

BENEDICTION (Lat. benedicere, to speak well) a solemn invocation of the divine blessing upon men or things. The simplest form of this ceremony may be considered as almost coeval with the earliest expression of religious feeling. The Jewish patriarchs, before they died, invoked the blessing of God upon their children, and later on the priests were commanded to solicit divine blessing upon the people. In the Eastern as well as in the Western church it is regarded as an essential preliminary to almost all important acts. See also TARGUM, Vol. XXIII, p. 62, note 9.

BENEDICTUS, the song of Zacharias, father of John the Baptist, taken from Luke i, 68-79, which is the canticle appointed, alternatively with the Jubilate, to follow the lessons in the morning service of the Anglican Church. It has been set to music by all the most eminent composers.

BENEDIX, JULIUS RODERICK, German dramatist; born at Leipsic, Jan. 21, 1811; died there, Sept. 26, 1873. Of his numerous pieces, the best are his comedies, most of which are popular in Germany. His dramatic works fill 27 volumes. Among his comedies are Der Störenfried, Bemoostes Haupt, etc.

BENEFICIARY. A beneficiary is one who is entitled to the benefits of a contract or an estate held by another in trust for him. The technical legal term in general use is cestui que trust, but, at the suggestion of Judge Story, the term beneficiary has come into frequent use as a substitute, and is perhaps more appropriate.

BENEFIT OF CLERGY. See CLERGY, BENEFIT OF, Vol. V, p. 827.

*BENEFIT SOCIETIES, MUTUAL. These societies are also known under the name of friendly or fraternal societies. It is very difficult to classify properly all the organizations which may be brought under these titles. At the time of the eleventh census of the United States an attempt was made to

*Copyright, 1896, by The Werner Company.

417

secure information concerning all these fraternities. Most of them came into existence during the past twenty years. Many died after a very brief career, but the census officers found at least 2,129 different societies, although many of these were subordinate branches of a national organization. Of the 2,129 organizations for which the census obtained data, 1,040 furnished financial statements suitable for compilation, and these reported 3,035,435 members on Dec. 31, 1889. The aggregate income of the number which furnished financial statements for the same year was $40,664,412, while the expenditures were $37,051,793. Attempts have been made independently of the census to secure information concerning fraternal societies or mutual benefit organizations, the chief effort having been made by the great almanacs, and more especially by the New York World. Supplementing that information by data collected especially for this article, it is found that the chief organizations in the country which can be classed as mutual benefit or fraternal societies are as follows, the list giving names and the date of foundation of the separate societies:

NAME OF ORGANIZATION.
American Legion of Honor. ---
Ben Hur, Tribe of.....
B'nai B'rith, Independent Order of..

Brith Abraham Order...
Catholic Benevolent Legion...
Catholic Knights of America....
Catholic Mutual Benefit Association.......

Chosen Friends, Order of.
Druids, United Ancient Order of

Elks, Benevolent and Protective Order of.
Equitable Aid Union.............
Foresters, Ancient Order of...
Foresters, Ancient Order of, of America.
Foresters, Independent Order of..
Golden Chain, Order of..
Golden Cross, United Order of
Good Fellows, Royal Society of.
Heptasophs, Improved Order...
Hibernians of America, Ancient Order of..
Home Circle..

Independent Order Free Sons of Israel.

Irish Catholic Benevolent Union...
Knights and Ladies of Honor.
Knights of Honor....
Knights of St. John and Malta...
Knights of Pythias..
Knights of the Golden Eagle.
Knights of the Maccabees.
Mystic Circle, The Fraternal.

National Provident Union..........
National Union

FOUNDED

1878

1894

1843

1859

1881

1877

1876

1879

1839

1868

1879

1832

1874

1874

1881

New England Order of Protection...
Odd Fellows, Grand United Order of, of America.
Odd Fellows, Independent Order of.
Pilgrim Fathers, United Order of
Rechabites, Independent Order of..
Red Men, Improved Order of.....
Royal Arcanum..

Royal Templars of Temperance.
Scottish Clans, Order of..

United American Mechanics, Order of..
United American Mechanics, Junior Order of..
Order of...

United Workmen, Ancient Order of...
Woodmen of America, Fraternity of Modern ..
Woodmen of the World....

There are various sub-lodges under most of the organizations named in the foregoing list, but nearly all comprehend in it work on the lodge plan;