BELL. 



487 



and although it is likely that Bell was aware of this 

 fact, he must be allowed the praise of having done, 

 in his own country, what all other men, notwithstand- 

 ing the superior advantages of skill and capital, had 

 failed in doing 1 . Bell lived to see the bosom of the 

 Clyde dimmed far and wide by innumerable copies of 

 his own invention; he lived to know that steam- 

 boats promised to give a new turn to the art of gene- 

 ral warfare ; he lived to behold numerous secluded 

 parts of his own country subjected by means of these 

 light wanderers of the deep to the blessings of com- 

 merce and civilization, which could not have other- 

 wise reached them for centuries ; yet he reaped, for 

 himself, little advantage. While mankind at large 

 were enjoying the blessings which he had pointed 

 out to them, he approached the confines of old age, 

 with the prospect of hardly the average comforts 

 which attend that stage of existence in the humbler 

 walks of society. Touched by his condition, a num- 

 ber of benevolent individuals instituted a subscription 

 in his behalf, and it is creditable to the good feeling 

 of the citizens of Glasgow and other places that a 

 considerable sum was raised. The trustees on the 

 river Clyde also gave Mr Bell an annuity of 100, 

 which he enjoyed for several years, and the half of 

 which sum is still continued to his widow. Mr Bell 

 died at Helensburgh, on the 14th of November, 

 1830. 



BELL, James, an eminent geographical writer, son 

 of the Rev. Thomas Bell afterwards mentioned, was 

 born at Jedburgh, 1769, and removed with his father 

 to Glasgow in 1777, where, after receiving a liberal 

 education, he served an apprenticeship to the weaving 

 business, and, in 1790, commenced the manufacturing 

 of cotton goods upon a large and respectable scale. 

 In the universal depression occasioned, 1793, by the 

 shock of the French revolution, Mr Bell having a 

 heavy stock on hand, in common with many others, 

 was stripped of his all, and, for a number of years, 

 acted as a common warper in the warehouses of dif- 

 ferent manufacturers. It has been alleged, that while 

 he occupied this station, he was frequently more in- 

 tent upon the metres of Horace, the delineations of 

 Mela and Strabo, and the glowing narratives of Xeno- 

 phon and Thucydides than upon the porters and splits 

 into which his baskets of bobbins were to be adjusted 

 upon the warping mill, in consequence of which his 

 c/tui/is, when they came into the hands of the opera- 

 tive, were found to be inextricably entangled. What- 

 ever was in this, Mr Bell, about the year 1806, re- 

 linquished that line of life, and became a teacher of the 

 classics to young men preparing for and attending the 

 university. This he followed with diligence and success 

 for some years, being all the while himself a most inde- 

 fatigable student, especially in history, systematic theo- 

 logy, and above all in geography, which he pursued 

 with the most ardent enthusiasm. About the year 

 1815, he was engaged to improve the Glasgow Sys- 

 tem of Geography, an original work in two vols., 

 which had met with considerable encouragement, and 

 was now, chiefly by the labours of Mr Bell, extended 

 to five vols. It was well received by the public, and 

 formed the basis of his principal work, " A System of 

 popular and scientific Geography," published at Glas- 

 gow in six vols. During the progress and in the in- 

 terval between these works, he published " Critical 

 researches in Geography," and also an elegant edition 

 of Rollin's Ancient History, interspersed with copious 

 and highly interesting notes. He had also made 

 preparations for publishing a General Gazetteer, upon 

 a new and improved plan. His Gazetteer of England 

 and Wales was in the course of publication at the 

 time of his death. He died at Lukeston, near the 

 clachan of Campsie, where he had resided some years 

 for the benefit of his health, on the 3rd of May, 1833. 



BELL, John, of Antennony, in Scotland, was born 

 on his paternal estate in 1691, and, after receiving a 

 classical education., turned his attention to the study 

 of medicine. On passing physician he determined to 

 visit foreign countries. " In my youth," says he, " I 

 had a strong desire of seeing foreign parts ; to satisfy 

 which inclination, after having obtained, from some 

 persons of worth, recommendatory letters to Dr Ares- 

 kine, chief physician and privy counsellor to the Czar 

 Peter the First, I embarked at London, in the month 

 of July, 1714, on board the Prosperity of Ramsgate, 

 Captain Emerson, for St Petersburg. On my arri- 

 val there, I was received by Dr Areskine in a very 

 friendly manner, to whom I communicated my inten- 

 tions of seeking anjopportunity of visiting some parts 

 of Asia, at least those parts which border on Russia. 

 Such an opportunity soon presented itself, on occasion 

 of an embassy then preparing, from his Czarish Ma- 

 jesty to the Sophy of Persia." Preface to his Travels. 

 The ambassador fortunately applied to Dr Areskine 

 to recommend some one skilled in physic and surgery 

 to go in his suite, and Mr Bell was soon afterwards 

 engaged in the service of the Russian Emperor. He 

 accordingly left St Petersburgh on the 15th of July, 

 1715, and proceeded to Moscow, from thence to Ca- 

 zan, and down the Wolga to Astracan. The em- 

 bassy then sailed down the Caspian sea to Derbent, 

 and journeyed by Mougan, Tauris, and Saba, to 

 Ispahan, where they arrived on the 14th of March, 

 1717. They left that city on the 1st of September, 

 and returned to St Petersburg on the 30th of De- 

 cember, 1718, after having traveled across the coun- 

 try from Saratoff. On his arrival in the capital, 

 Mr Bell found that his friend and patron Dr Areskine 

 had died about six weeks before, but he had now se- 

 cured the friendship of the ambassador, and upon 

 hearing that an embassy to China was preparing, he 

 easily obtained an appointment in it through his in- 

 fluence. The account of his journey to Cazan, and 

 through Siberia to China, is by far the most complete 

 and interesting part of his travels. His description 

 of the manners, customs, and superstitions of the in- 

 habitants, and of the Delay-lama and Chinese wall, 

 deserve particularly to be noticed. They arrived at 

 Pekin " after a tedious journey of exactly sixteen 

 months." Mr Bell has left a very full account of 

 occurrences during his residence in the capital of 

 China. The embassy left that city on the 2nd of 

 March, 1721, and arrived at Moscow on the 5th of 

 January, 1722. 



The war between Russia and Sweden was now 

 concluded, and the Czar had determined to undertake 

 an expedition into Persia, at the request of the Sophy, 

 to assist that prince against the Affghans, his sub- 

 jects, who had seized upon Chandahar, and possessed 

 themselves of several provinces on the frontiers to- 

 wards India. Mr Bell's former journey to Persia 

 gave him peculiar advantages, and he was accordingly 

 engaged to accompany the army to Derbent, from 

 which he returned in December, 1722. Soon after- 

 wards he revisited his native country, and returned 

 to St Petersburg in 1734. In 1737, he was sent to 

 Constantinople oy the Russian chancellor, and Mr 

 Rondeau the British minister at the Russian court. 

 He seems now to have abandoned the public service, 

 and to have settled at Constantinople as a merchant. 

 About 174C, he married Mary Peters, a Russian lady, 

 and determined to return to Scotland. lie spent the 

 latter part of his life on his estate, and in the enjoy- 

 ment of the society of his friends. At length, after a 

 long life spent in active beneficence, and exertions 

 for the good of mankind, tie died at Antennony on 

 the 1st of July, 1780, at the advanced age of eighty- 

 nine. The only work written by Mr Bell is his 

 " Travels from St Petersburg in Russia, to various 



