Page:Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography Volume 1.pdf/521

BEL  borrowed, without acknowledgment, from Bellenden the materials of his life of Cicero. Wotton, in his essay on Pope, had said so before him, and there is some ground for the charge. But Parr stoutly asserts,—fidentissime confirmamus, Middletonem non modo ex Bellendeni opere supellectilem sibi sublegisse satis lautam atque amplam, sed libri ipsius prope formam, qua res ferret, adumbrasse. Bellenden was a person of great industry, and had an inordinate admiration of the men and the times of classical history.—J. E.  BELLENGER,, a French philologist, born at Lisieux in 1688; died in 1749. He was well versed in ancient and modern tongues, and author of a translation of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, 1723, 2 vols., 4to. He also wrote a critical essay on the works of Rollin, Amsterdam, 1740-41, 12mo.  BELLENGHI,, archbishop of Nicosia, and apostolical visitor of the orders of regulars in Sardinia, was born at Forlipompoli in 1758, and died in 1839. He published a great number of works, scientific as well as theological; the former relating chiefly to geology.  BELLE-PERCHE,, bishop of Auxerre, and chancellor of France, born at Lucenai in Nivernois; died at Paris, 17th January, 1307. His parentage was obscure, but he was highly educated for his time, and became doctor and professor of civil law at Orleans. Philippe le Bel, attracted by the fame of his talents and learning, intrusted him with various important missions. In 1306 his services were rewarded with the bishopric of Auxerre, and the title of chancellor of France.—G. M.  BELLER,, a Dutch litterateur; died in 1595. He followed the profession of a printer at Antwerp, and produced several editions of the classics, distinguished by the beauty of their typography. He is said to have been the author of a French translation of the Imitation of Christ.  * BELLERMANN,, son of Johann Bellermann, a German theologian and miscellaneous writer, born at Erfurt in 1793, became in 1835 pastor of the parish of St. Paul in Berlin. He has written "Die Katakomben in Neapel;" "Die Alten Liederbücher der Portugiesen;" and "Uber die reactionären Bestrebungen in der evangelischen Kirche."  * BELLERMANN,, brother of Christian Friedrich, was born at Erfurt, March 8, 1795, and, like his brother, in 1813-14 served against Napoleon. He then became teacher, and afterwards professor in the Graue Kloster, to the head-mastership of which he was promoted in 1847. He published—"Die Hymnen des Dionysius und Mesomedes;" "Die Tonleitern und Musiknoten der Griechen," &c.—K. E.  BELLERMANN,, a German theologian and antiquarian, born at Erfurt in 1754; died in 1842. Besides editions of several of the Latin classics, he published a great number of antiquarian dissertations, chiefly on biblical and classical subjects. <section end="521H" /> <section begin="521I" />BELLET,, a French naturalist and antiquary, and canon of Cadillac, lived during the first half of the 18th century. Among the botanical memoirs published by him are catalogues of plants and trees of the neighbourhood of Cadillac, and of the vines cultivated in Languedoc and near Bourdeaux.—J. H. B. <section end="521I" /> <section begin="521J" />BELLETESTE, B., a French linguist, who accompanied Napoleon into Egypt, as a member of the scientific corps with which the expedition was furnished. On his return he was appointed interpreter to the minister of foreign affairs. His works are—"Les quarante vizirs," (a translation from the Turkish), and a translation of an Arabic treatise on precious stones. He died at Paris in 1808.—J. S., G. <section end="521J" /> <section begin="521K" />BELLEVAL,, a French botanist, was born in 1733, and died at Abbeville in 1790. He was a zealous and careful observer of nature, and in his botanical studies followed the system of Tournefort. He published "Notes on the plants of Picardy," which commenced in 1774, and were continued till 1789.—J. H. B. <section end="521K" /> <section begin="521L" />BELLEVAL,, a French physician and botanist, was born at Châlons-sur-Marne in 1558, and died at Montpellier in 1623. His early medical and botanical studies were prosecuted in France, and he was licensed as a medical man at Avignon. A royal garden was founded at Montpellier by Henry IV. in 1593, and Belleval was appointed to the chair of botany in 1596. He got the degree of M.D. at Montpellier, and he lectured on anatomy during winter, and on botany during summer. His botanical works are—"Names of Plants in the Montpellier Garden," and "Researches into the Plants of Languedoc." Villars, in his Flora of Dauphiny, has named a genus of Compositæ Richeria after Belleval.—J. H. B. <section end="521L" /> <section begin="521M" />BELLEVAUX,, a pupil of Watelet, born at Asti in Piedmont in 1803, remarkable for that restricted excellence of painting landscapes on porcelain, a high branch of decorative art, but no more, not even in the finest Sevres, glowing with the face of a Pompadour.—W. T. <section end="521M" /> <section begin="521N" />BELLEVOIS, a seascape painter, died at Hamburg in 1684. He painted sea-shores, storms, indeed many aspects of ocean's barren plains. He must have been of an amiable, tranquil mind, for he excelled in calms. His vessels are well drawn; with their high gilded mountains of poop, and their pleasant, gallant flutter of flags and pennants, they have a pleasant buoyant grace, but his figures are toys ill-balanced. His touch is light, and colour clear, a quality that the living in sea-air seems to give men.—W. T. <section end="521N" /> <section begin="521O" />BELLEY,, a French antiquarian, born in 1697 in the diocese of Lisieux; died in 1771. He was librarian to the duke of Orleans, and member of the Academy of Inscriptions in 1744. He wrote a great number of dissertations on geography, history, medals, &c. <section end="521O" /> <section begin="521P" />BELLI, a religious painter of Venice—epoch uncertain. <section end="521P" /> <section begin="521Q" />BELLI or BELLIUS,, an Italian physician and botanist, a native of Vicenza, lived in the second half of the sixteenth century. He resided and practised medicine for a long time in the east, principally in Crete, which then belonged to the Venetians. His leisure was devoted to botany, and he was one of the first who attempted the identification of the plants referred to by the ancients, a study for which his intimate acquaintance with the Greek language, and his long residence in the native countries of many of these plants, peculiarly fitted him. Belli was in correspondence with the most celebrated botanists of his time, such as the brothers Bauhin and Clusius; he is mentioned by Ponce in his Description du Monte Baldo. His only published writings are "Epistolæ aliquot de rarioribus quibusdum plantis," which were inserted by Clusius in his Historia plantarum rariorum, printed at Antwerp in 1601. In these letters he corrects some errors committed by Belon and others, who had visited Crete some little time previously.—W. S. D. <section end="521Q" /> <section begin="521R" />BELLIARD,, Count, a French general and peer, born at Fontenay-le-Comte, 25th May, 1769; died at Brussels, 28th January, 1832. On his first entering the army, he received the grade of captain of the first battalion of La Vendee. He served with distinction under Dumouriez, latterly as adjutant-general, and after the defection of that general he was arrested and deprived of his commission. When again set at liberty he re-entered the service as a common soldier, but after the lapse of some months he was reinstated in his rank, under the orders of Hoche, who commanded the army of La Vendee. He subsequently distinguished himself in the Italian and Egyptian campaigns, and in 1805 took part in the battles of Wittingen, of Langenau, and of Austerlitz. In 1807 and 1808 he was present at Jena, Erfurt, Eylau, Friedland, and other engagements. He also served both in the Peninsular war and in the disastrous Russian campaign. In 1814 he was nominated colonel-general of the cavalry of the guard, and received also the grand cordon of the legion of honour. After the abdication of the emperor, Belliard entered into the service of Louis XVIII., and was created a peer. On the return of Napoleon he again joined the imperial army, and was intrusted with the chief command of the 3rd and 4th military divisions. On the second restoration of the Bourbons, Belliard was, by a royal ordinance, excluded from the peerage, and a few months afterwards was arrested and sent to the Abbaye. In June, 1816, he was set at liberty, and restored to his former rank. In 1831 he was sent as ambassador to Belgium, and signed the treaty of separation between that country and Holland.—G. M. <section end="521R" /> <section begin="521S" />BELLIARD, J. F., born at Marseilles in 1798, and studied under Aubert. He painted miniature portraits of Rochejacquelin and Charette, the chouan leaders. Various lithographs of his works were published at Paris. He also painted some flatulent classical pictures of Marius, Zephyrus, &c.—W. T. <section end="521S" /> <section begin="521Zcontin" />BELLICARD,, a French architect and engraver, professor at the Royal Academy of Architecture in Paris, and member of various foreign academies, was born in 1726, and died in 1786. During his residence in Italy, where he added to his accomplishments considerable skill in the art of engraving, he published "Observations sur les antiquités de la ville d' Herculaneum, &c." he was engaged on a "Complete <section end="521Zcontin" />