BEL 



BEL 



the two towers of St. Paul's Church four bells are hung: 

 in the lower three and in the other one. The great bell 

 shown in the section is hung over two others in the south 

 tower ; these latter are fixed, and not intended to be rung : 

 the upper boll is hung on gudgeons or axles, and prepared 

 for ringing, but from the confined space in which it is hung 

 it cannot be rung, and only moves on its axle when struck 

 by the hammer of rile clock. In the construction of 

 belfries the bearing of the timbers should always be on 

 wooden plates. 



Section of the belfry of St. Paul's on the line A, A. 

 c, c, gudgeons, ou which ttie bt'Ll swings. 



Section of the belfry of St Paul', on the line B, B. 

 h, hammer. 



I 2 3 4 5 



Scale of 



Feet. 



The term belfry was probably applied in the first instance 

 to the wooden construction, which was made strong, in 

 order to bear the weight of the bell or bells. 



In constructing a belfry, the frame-work is placed either 

 on stone corbels, or is made to bear on a ' recess formed in the 

 wall.' (Encyc. Method. Arch.) This latter method is con- 

 sulted the best, because the vibration caused by the mo- 

 tion of the bells acts with less force on the masonry than it 

 would if it were fixed in the masonry. It is also observed, 

 that the higher the bells are placed in the tower, the more 

 does the vibration, caused by ringing them, affect the 

 masonry. 



Village churches have belfries in their towers or steeples. 

 In some instances, where there is a single bell, it is not 

 placed in a tower, but suspended to a slight frame-work fixed 

 between an arch constructed on the exterior top of the gable 

 end of a church or chapel. [See BELL.] 



BELG^E, the general name given by Caesar to the differ- 

 ent tribes inhabiting the north of Gaul, between the sea 

 on the west, the rivers Matrona (Marne) and Sequana 

 (Seine) on the south, and the Rhenus (Rhine) on the east. 

 But it is not well determined how far this name may be 

 extended to the east ; perhaps the Treviri, on the banks of 



NO. 227. 



the Moselle, were included. Csesar remarks that the Ma- 

 trona and Sequana separate the Belgse from the Galli, who 

 were to the south of them. He says also, in general ;i:id 

 vague terms, that the BelpiB extend to the Lower Rhine, 

 and lie towards the north and the rising sun. He also (De 

 Bell. Gall. v. 24) uses the term Belgium to express the 

 country of the Belgae. The Belgce, were according to Ccesar's 

 testimony, of German origin, though perhaps somewhat 

 mingled with the Celtic inhabitants of Gaul, and distin- 

 guished by their warlike character, which Cajsar attributes 

 partly to their origin and partly to their being strangers to 

 luxury and refinement. The Bellovaci [see B K AUVAIS] were 

 the most warlike and numerous Belgic tribe in the time of 

 Caesar. (De Bell. Gall. ii. 4.) The Remi, whose capital 

 was Durocortorum (Rheims), were the nearest Belgic tribe 

 to the Galli on that side. The rest of the tribes are men- 

 tioned by Caesar (ii. 4) : among them we find one name, 

 the Atre'bates, the same as that of a tribe in Britain. The 

 Belgae may be described generally as occupying, in the time 

 of Caesar, the French departments of Nord, Pas de Calais, 

 Somme, Seine Inferieure, Oise, and Aisne; with a part of 

 modern Belgium. 



When Caesar invaded South Britain, he found that part 

 of the island occupied by Belgae, that is, by tribes of Ger- 

 man origin, who had passed over from the opposite shores 

 of Gaul, and obliged the original inhabitants to retreat into 

 the interior of the country. (De Bell. Gall. v. 12.) But as 

 he had no intercourse with the original inhabitants, it is 

 impossible to say how far the Belgao haid penetrated inland ; 

 and later historians have given us no account of this circum- 

 stance. We learn only that the whole southern coast from 

 Suffolk to Devonshire was occupied by Belgic tribes. The 

 Cantii were settled in Kent, the Trinobantes to the north 

 of the Thames, the Regni in Sussex and the Atrebatii 

 in Berkshire. To the west of them the Belgso, properly so 

 called, occupied Hampshire and Wiltshire, and extended 

 through Somersetshire to the Bristol Channel ; their capital 

 was Venta Belgarum, Winchester. Farther to the west, the 

 Durotriges were found in Dorsetshire, and their neighbours, 

 the Damnonii, in Devonshire. 



The Belgaa in Britain, conformably to the character of 

 their brethren in Gaul, made a stout resistance to Caesar 

 But about a century afterwards they were compelled to sub- 

 mit to the yoke, which the Romans had already in the 

 time of Caesar imposed on their kinsmen in Gaul. The 

 name Belgica occurs as the name of a division of Gaul as 

 late as Diocletian's time. Under the emperors it was go- 

 verned by an officer with the title of Procurator, orLegatus. 



BELGIUM. The origin of this kingdom as a separate 

 state dates from the year 1830. In the month of August 

 of that year, the revolution began at Brussels which severed 

 the Belgian provinces from the crown of Holland. On the 

 4th of October following, the provisional government at 

 Brussels proclaimed the independence of Belgium ; and on 

 the 26th of December it was announced to the congress 

 assembled in that city, that the allied powers of Europe 

 had recognised the permanent separation of the Belgian 

 provinces from the kingdom of the Netherlands. [See NK- 



THERLANDS.] 



In February, 1831, the congress elected the Duke of Ne- 

 mours to the throne of the new kingdom ; but his father, 

 Louis Philippe, king of the French, having refused the 

 crown on the part of his son, a new election became neces- 

 sary, and the choice of the national representatives then 

 fell upon Prince Leopold of Saxe Cobourg, widower of the 

 Princess Charlotte of England. This prince having ac- 

 cepted the crown, took the oaths prescribed, and ascended 

 the throne in the presence of the congress on the 22nd of 

 July, 1831. 



The courts of Great Britain, Austria, France, Prussia, 

 and Russia, which had already acknowledged the inde- 

 pendence of Belgium, concluded a treaty with King Leo- 

 pold, which was signed in London on the 15th of November, 

 1831, in which treaty the boundaries of the new kingdom 

 were defined, and the peaceable possession of his territories 

 was guaranteed to King Leopold. 



According to the terms of this treaty, the Belgian terri- 

 tory is composed of the provinces of South Brabant, Liege, 

 Namur, Hainault, West Flanders, East Flanders, Antwerp, 

 Limbourg, with the exception of some districts particularly 

 described, and a part of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. 



The exceptions in the province of Limbourg just men- 

 tioned are : ' 1st. On the right bank of the Meuse ; the old 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA.] 



VOL. IV. 2 A 



