290 



BELL BELPEIl. 



" Resolved That the committee, having learned 

 tint it hits pleased Almighty God to remove from 

 tins prcM-nt life the Reverend Dr Bell, the superin- 

 tendent of the society's schools, deem it incumbent 

 upon them to pay a public murk of respect to the 

 memory of a mun who may justly be regarded as the 

 founder of a system of education which, under the 

 Divine blessing, has been productive of incalculable 

 bciu'fits to this church and nation; and thut, as it 

 is understood that his remains are to be interred in 

 \\Y-tminsttT Abbey, the secretary be directed to 

 a-oTtain the day fixed for his interment, and com- 

 municate the same to the committee for the infor- 

 mation of such members as may find it convenient 

 to attend." 



The remains of Dr Bell arrived in London from 

 Cheltenham on the llth of February. Having 

 remained lor three days at No. 18, Berkeley Square, 

 they were deposited in Westminster Abbey on the 

 14th, the funeral procession, consisting of ten 

 mourning-coaches, and twenty-six private carriages, 

 among which were those of the archbishop of Can- 

 terbury, the earls of Shaftesbury, Eldon, and 

 Amherst ; the bishops of Lichfield and Coventry, 

 Bristol, Chichester, and LlandafT; lords Kenyon 

 and Wynford ; the hon. Mr Justice Park ; Sir 

 James Langham ; the Rev. archdeacons Cambridge, 

 Watson, &c. 



BELL, JOHN, an eminent English lawyer, was 

 a native of Cumberland. He was educated at 

 Trinity college, Cambridge, where he became 

 fellow ; he was the senior wrangler and first. 

 Smith's prizeman of the year 1786, and proceeded 

 M.A. in 1789. He was called to the bar by the 

 hon. society of Gray's Inn, Feb. 1, 1792, and was 

 nominated a King's counsel in Easter Term 1816. 

 For many years he was the most distinguished or- 

 nament of the Chancery bar, and held the highest 

 rank in his profession for profound learning and 

 eminent acuteness. He was a Whig in politics, 

 but never courted or received any favour at the 

 hands of his party. He retained throughout his 

 whole professional career his native Cumberland 

 dialect in all its unalloyed and broad provincialism ; 

 and, in addition to the disadvantages arising from 

 that circumstance, he had to contend with some 

 physical defect in his utterance, speaking with 

 great hesitation, repeating his words and stuttering 

 in such a manner that it was really painful to listen 

 to him. The proceedings in the Chancery courts 

 are, as our readers are generally aware, carried on 

 in a very quiet conversation-like manner. The 

 advocate seldom aims at eloquence. To tell a 

 plain tale in a plain manner is all that is attempted. 

 Even that was beyond the power of John Bell. 

 And yet, with all these defects, such was the re- 

 putation he acquired for sound discretion and soli- 

 dity of judgment, that he managed to maintain a 

 very high rank at the English bar at a time when 

 it was adorned by such men as Sir Samuel Romilly, 

 Sir William Grant, and Sir John Leach. Probably 

 there never was a more extraordinary instance of 

 superiority of intellect making itself known and 

 appreciated, in spite of obstacles which would gene- 

 rally be thought, and indeed be found altogether 

 invincible, than the one exhibited by Mr Bell. 



George the Fourth, while prince regent, is re- 

 lated to have asked the lord chancellor (Eldon), 

 Who 'was considered at that time the greatest 

 lawyer? to which the chancellor is reported to 

 have replied, " Please your royal highness, the 

 greatest lawyer we have at this time is a gentleman 



who can neither read, write, walk, nor talk." And 

 if the words are to be understood with reference 

 to doing ai.y one of these things well, they are true 

 to the very letter. 



He laboured from his infancy under a distortion 

 of one of his feet, which made walking a painful 

 operation. Another singularity attached to him 

 was, the extraordinary illegibleness of his hand- 

 writing ; so that, though his opinions were more 

 sought for than those of any man of his time, it 

 frequently happened that his clients were obliged 

 to resort to himself or his clerk to decypher them. 

 In reference to this defect he used facetiously to 

 say. when asked what sort of a hand he thought he 

 really wrote, that he had three sorts one that he 

 himself could read one that his clerk could read, 

 and one that neither he nor his clerk could read. 

 It certainly was most extraordinary writing 

 paralleled only by the late Dr Parr's hieroglyphics. 



Out of court he was a very good-tempered and 

 affable man, easily accessible, painstaking, and 

 laborious; in court he very frequently obtained 

 advantage over more brilliant and showy opponents 

 by the exactness with which he was accustomed to 

 make himself acquainted with the facts of his cases, 

 and his skill in bringing forward analogous cases 

 which had been previously decided. The applica- 

 tion of cases was indeed his great forte, and in 

 that respect, perhaps, no man was ever more skil- 

 ful. 



In person he was a little man, stout, and round- 

 shouldered ; with a very prominent mouth and 

 large teeth. 



Mr Bell retired many years ago from the Chan- 

 cery bar, but he lent his aid to the Chancery law 

 commissioners. He died on the 6th Feb. 1836. He 

 is supposed to have acquired a princely fortune by' 

 his professional labours, which devolves upon a 

 widow and only son. His will was proved at 

 Doctors' Commons, and the personalty sworn under 

 80,000. 



BELPER; a market-town in Derbyshire, si- 

 tuated in a valley through which flows the river 

 Derwent, 134 miles N. N. W. from London, and 

 54 S. E. from Manchester. Till the year 1777, 

 Belper was an inconsiderable village, inhabited 

 principally by nailers, whose articles are still in 

 considerable demand from the superior quality of 

 the rod-iron made at Alderwasley, four miles dis- 

 tant, which is supposed to arise from something 

 peculiar in the nature of the coal used there. The 

 town has risen into importance since the establish- 

 ment of the cotton-mills of Messrs Strutt. These 

 are now several in number, besides which, there 

 are a bleaching-mill and a manufactory of machinery 

 connected with the works of Messrs Strutt. Up- 

 wards of four thousand persons, chiefly residing in 

 the neighbouring village, receive employment here 

 in a factory for silk and cotton hose, said to be one 

 of the largest establishments of the kind in the 

 kingdom. The North Midland railway passes this 

 town ; the Cromford canal passes within two miles, 

 and the High Peak railway within six. Saturday 

 is market-day, and fairs for horned cattle, sheep, 

 and horses are held on May 12th and Oct. 31st. 

 At the north end of the town a stone bridge of 

 three arches bestrides the Derwent, near which is 

 a beautiful wear for working the mills of Messrs 

 Strutt. A new church and several dissenting 

 places of worship have been built in this town 

 within the last twenty years. Population in 1831, 

 7890; in 1841, 9?85. 



