Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/839

BELL-THE-CAT. BELL-THE-CAT. A name given to Sir Art'hibalcl Doiislas, who, when certain Scottish lords were considering how to remove the up- start mason, Cochrane, from .Tames lU.'s favor, answered "That will I," to the inquiry, "Who n-ill hell the cat?"

BELL-TOWER. A tower built to contain one or more large bells in connection with re- ligious or civil structures. The use of bells for calling religious or political gatherings, or an- nouncing times and seasons, does not seem to have obtained in antiquity. Public criers and heralds were the main announcers, as the muez- ciHs still are in the Kast. Small bells, rung by hand, were used, however, by the early Christians. It is certain that wliile large towers were erected in connection with churches as early as the .Fifth and Sixth centuries, the use of large bells sus- pended in towers did not become general until much later, probably toward the close of the Kighth Century. Pope Stephen Til. (7GS-772) erected a bell-tower with .3 bells at Saint Peter's, and Leo IV. (847-8.5.'5) did the same for Saint Andrew's at Pvome. For the bell-tower of Charle- magne's Cathedral at Aix-la-Chapelle, Taneho, of Saint (4all, cast a bell weighing apparently between 400 and .500 pounds. These dimensions were increased, until bells weighing from 2000 to 3000 pounds were east in the Eleventh and Twelfth, centuries, but it was not until the Thir- teenth Century that any great weight was reached. Therefore, evcTi after bells were placed in towers, they remained for centuries so small that the size, imi)ortance, and position of the church-towers caiuiot have been governed by their use as bell-towers, but rather by other considerations. In support of this we read in the aecoint of the original plan for the Monastery of Saint Gall that the round towers were od iiniversa inspicicnda for a general lookout. And even as late as the Twelfth and Thirteenth centuries there is an upper story in church-towers, above the belfry story, which is the 'crow's-nest,' where the watchman stands. Originally there were two ways of grouping the tower with the church : it was either a separate structure, as in the round and square towers of the Fifth and Sixth centuries at Ravenna; or it was part of tlie facade, like the one or two towers at the end or ends of the facade at Shak- ka, Turmanin, and other churches of Syria, also of the Fifth and Sixth centuries. The type of the separate tower prevailed in Italy in its campfDiUi : the attached towers in the rest of Europe. The comparative freedom allowed in designing such structures, the rivalry in regard to their size and richness between monasteries, cathedrals, and even communities, make of the church-towers of the Romanesque and Gothic eras the most characteristic and finished product of each architectural school. For details see Towers.

There are several other terms in use for constructions supporting bells: Belfry (q.v.). which is either a civil bell-tower or the wooden fr.nnie supporting the bell : hell-fialle. a flat piece of wall or gable pierced with an opening for a bell; hell-cote, a small steeple that does not break out much from the general design: hell-turret, usually octagonal or circular, and of high, slender proportions, on a small scale.

BELLUNO, bel-lrnj'nu (anciently liclunum). An episcopal citv, capital of the Province of Bel- luno, in north Italy (.Map: Italy, G 1). It is situated on a high tongue of land, formed by the confluence of the Ardo and the Piave, 72 miles ncuth of Venice. Noteworthy among the 14 churches is the cathedral, modeled on the Pal- ladium, and containing some excellent paint- ings. The campanile is 217 feet high. The chief manufactures are silk, straw, leather, and wax: the iprincipal trade is in silk, lumber, wine, and fruit. Poiiulation, in 1881, 10,000; in 1001, 19,000.

BELLUNO, DuivE of. See Victob, CLAroB Perkin.

BELL'WOET. See Campanula.

BEL-MEEODACH, bel mer'6-dak. See SIe- EOD.VCir.

BEL'MONT. A village in Mississippi County, SIo., on the Mississippi River, oppo- site Columbus, Ky., and on the Saint Louis, Iron Mountain and .Southern Railroad (Map: Missouri, (i 5). In the summer of 18(51 Belmont became the site of a Confederate camp. On November 7 General Grant, then in command at Cairo, 111., moved upon it with about 3000 troops, and after four hours of fighting captured and destroyed it. Meanwhile General Polk sent General Pillow with a Confederate reinforcement across the river, and Grant was forced to fight his way back to his transports. The total Con- federate force engaged was about 7000. The losses in killed, wounded, and missing were, for the Federals, 485, and for the Confederates, 642.

BELMONT. A village and county-seat of Allegany t'ounty, N. Y., about 00 miles west by north of Elmira; on the (jenesee River and oil the Erie Railroad (Map: New York, B 3). It is the centre of an agricultural community, and luis tiour-mills, iron-works, machine-shop, etc. Popul.ation, in 1890, 950; in 1900, 1190.

BELMONT, August (18IG-90). An Ameri- can financier. He was born in Alzey, Germany; was for several years employed in the banking house of the Rothschilds at Frankfort and Na- ples, and removed to New York as their repre- sentative in 1837. He was consul-general for Austria from 1844-.50, and in 1853 was appointed by President Pierce charge d'affaires at The Hague, where he afterwards became Minister Resident, resigning in 1858. He was interested in politics, and was chairman of the National Democratic Committee from 1800 to 1872. He was prominent on the turf, and as a patron of art, and owiied a fine collection of paintings. BELMONT, Charles. A young man-about- town in Moore's play. The Foiindlhiri. He res- cues a child from the hands of a villain, brings her up in his own home, falls in love with her, and eventually marries her. She is dis- co'ered, in the denouement, to be the daughter of Sir Charles Raymond. Garrick achieved much siiccess in the role.

BELMONT, Perry (1851 — ). An American lawyer, son of August Belmont. He was born in New York, graduated at Harvard in 1872, and at the Columbia College Law School in 1870: was admitted to the bar, and practiced law in New York until 1881. He was a member of Congress as a Democrat in 1881-87; was chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in