BELKNAP

Jbrsmt, an American clergyman and author of considerable reputation. He was bom in June, 1744, graduated at Harvard College in 1762, and ordsined pastor of the chur oh in Dover, New Hampshire, in 1767. Here he spent twenty yean in Uie dUigent performance of his clerical duties and the cultivation of literature. It was during this period that he composed his History of New Hampshire, a work by which he establii^ed himself as an autiior in the good opinion of his countrymen. In 1787 he took charge of a church in Boston, where he continued to officiate until his death, in 1798. Besides his History he published two volumes of his unfinished American Biography, and a number of political, religious, and literary tracts. BELL. The metal from which bells are usually made is an alloy of copper and tin called bell-metal. It is commonly composed of eighty parts of copper and twenty of tin. The Indian gong, so much celebrated for the richne of its tones, contains copper and tin in this proportion. The proportion of tin in bell-metal varies, however, from one-third to one fifth of the weight of the copper, according to the sound required, the size of the bell, and the impulse to be given. M. d'Aroet discovered that bell-metal, formed in the proportion of seventy-eight parts of copper united with twenty-two of tin, is, indeed, nearly as brittle as gla , when cast in a thin plate or gong; yet if it be heated to a cherry red, and plunged into cold water, being held between two plates of iron, that the plate may not bend, it becomes malleable. Grongs, cymbals, and tamtjimfl have been manufactured with tlus compound. The clearne and richne of the tone of a bell depend not only on the metal which is used, and the perfection of its casting, but also upon its shape; and it has been shown by a number of experiments made for this purpose, that the well-known shape with a thick lip is best adapted to give a perfect sound. The depth of the tone of a bell increases in proportion to its size. A bell is divided into the body or barrel, the ear or caimon, and the clapper. The lip or sound bow is that part where the beU la struck. Church-bells originated in Italy, being formed by degrees out of the cymbals, small tinkling bells and hand-bells of the East used in religious ceremonies as a means of honouring the gods or of summoning them to the feast. The feast of Osuis, particularly, is known to have been annotmced by bells, and in Athens the priests of Cybele made use of them at their sacrifices. Pliny says tiiat bells were invented long before his time. They were called tintinnabtda; and Suet on i us teUs us that August us caused one to be hung before the temple of Jupiter. Among Christians they were first employed to call together religious congregations, for which purpose runners had been employed before. Afterwards the people were a embled by the sound of little pieces of board struck together; hence called aacred boards. To the present day the Catholics use such boards in Pa ion week and Lent, because the noise of bells seems to VOL.L them unsuited to the solemnity of the season. On the first day of Easter the bells ring again, and the return of the accustomed sound produees a very cheerful effect. Paul in us, bishop of Nola^ in Camp an i a^ is said to have first introduced church-bells in the fourth century, and thence the Latin names of the beU, eampana and nola, are said to have originated. In the sixth century bells were used in the convents; they were suspended on the roof of the church in a frame. Towards the end of this century bells were placed on some churches at the expense of certain cities. About 550 they were introduced into France. Pope Sabinian, who died in 606, first ordered that the hours of the day should be announced by striking the bell, that people might better attend to the horce carwMcaey that is, to the hours for singing and praying. In 610 Cloth air besieged Sens, when Lupus, biahop of Orleans, ordered the bells of St. Stephen to be rung. The sound so frightened Cloth air that he gave up the siege. In the eighth century the custom of baptizing and naming bells began. (See Baptism.) Church-bdls were probably introduced into Britain soon after their invention. They are first mentioned by Bede, about the dose of the seventh century. In the East they came into use in the ninth century; in Switzerland in 1020; at what period they were brought into Germany is uncertain. In the eleventh century the cathedral at Augsburg had two bells. The same spirit which induced people to build immense minsters, and to apply their wealth in ornamenting the places of worsMp, made them vie with each other in the size of their bells. The great bell of Moscow, cast in 1653, in the reign of the Empre Anne, is said by Mr. Clarke to be computed to weigh 448,772 lbs. A bell in the diurch of St. Ivui, in the same city, weighs 127,836 lbs.; another, 89,872 lbs.; and the one cast in 1819 weighs 112,000 lbs., the clapper alone weighing 2016 lbs. On the cathedral of Paris a bell was placed in 1680 which weighed 38,800 lbs. and measured 25 feet in circumference. In Vieima a bell was cast in 1711 of 39,648 lbs. In ObnUtz is one of 40,096 lbs. The famous bell at Erfurt, in Grermany, called 'Maria Gloriosa,' which was cast in 1497 from the metal of the former bell 'Susanna,' melted at the burning of the cathedral in 1472, weighs 30,800 lbs., is more than 24 feet in circumference, and has a clapper of 4 feet, weighing 1232 lbs. 'Great Tom,' of Christ Church, Oxford, weighs 17,000 lbs.; of Lincoln, 9894 lbs.; the bell of St. Paul's, London, 8400 lbs.; a bell at Nankin, in China^ is said to weigh 50,000 lbs.; and seven at Pekin 120,000 lbs. eadi. The practice of hanging bells in houses is comparatively a modem one, having been introduced into England since the time of Queen Anne. The inscriptions on old bells are curious, and in some cases have even historical value; and at this time, when curiosities of all kinds are eagerly sought for, a collection of these inscriptions would not 'be uninteresting. The different uses of bells have given rise to many poems, some of which are inscribed on the bells themselves. One of the most common is the following: — 'Funera plan go, fulgnn ftango, sabbat a paneo; £zoito leutos, diaaipo ventos, paoo crufiutos.^ Perhaps the finest poem which has ever been written on bells is Schiller^s poem, Die Glocke (The BeU), in which he describes the casting of the bell, and all its uses, in a highly poetical manner. This has been translated into many modem languages, and also into Greek and Latin, by a profe or at Li^. The word heU is used in many arts and sciences for instruments similar in form to church-be Us. See Chimes and Curfew. S3 BELL, Akdbew, I).D., the author of the mutual instruction or 'Mibdras' Bystem of education, bom at St. Andrews in 1753, and was educated the univeraitj of his natiye town. Having orders in the Church of England he visited America, and in 1789 went to India, where he became chaplain at Fort St. Greorge, Madras, and manager of the stitution for the education of the oiphan children European soldiers. In that year the direct ois East India Company sent out orders to Madras a seminary should be established there for the cation and maintenance of the orphans and distre ed male children of the European military. The in tendence of this asylum was undertaken by Bell, who, having no object in view but the gratification of his benevolence, refused the salary of pagodas (£480) which was attached to it Failing retain the services of properly qualified ushers, resorted to the expedient of conducting his through the medium of the scholars themselves. is in the mode of conducting a school by means mutual instruction that the discovery of Dr. oonsiBts; and its value as an abbreviation mechanical part of teaching, and where laige numbers were to be taught economically, could not be overestimated at the time, although later tionaliBts have improved upon the plan, and Madras system is le in use than formerly. the oonmienoement of his experiment he made scholars, as far as po ible, do everything for selves; they ruled their own paper, made their pens, , while the teacher only directed them. maxim of the schod was, that no boy oould do thing right the first time, but he must learn when first set about it, by means of his teacher, so as able to do it himself ever afterwards. After intending the school for seven yean he found nece ary for his health to return to Europe. arrival he published in 1797 a pamphlet, entitled. Experiment in Education made at the Male Asylum of Madras, in which he gave an account of his systeuL The first place in England where the system adopted was the charity school of St. Bodolph's, Aldgate, and gradually, especially through the fluence of Joseph Lancaster, it was very carried out in England and elsewhere. Dr. lived long enough to witne the introduction his system into 12,973 national schools, educating 900,000 of the children of Ins English countrymen, and to know that it was employed extensively almost every other civilized country. He acquired in later life the dignity of a prebendary of minster, and was master of Sherbom Hospital, baoL He employed himself during his latter yean writing several works on education, among which most valuable were. The Elements of Ihiition, English School, and Brief Manual of Mutual InstmcticD and Discipline. The latter yean of his life pa ed at Cheltenham, ^ere he died Jan. 27, Before his death he bestowed £120,000 three cent, stock, for the purpose of founding an academy in his native dty. 143