BEL 



43-4 



BEL 



to be founded in the following branches, viz. mathe- 

 matics, natural philosophy, logic, metaphysics, mo- 

 ral philosophy, belles lettres, chemistry, botany, and 

 agriculture. A subscription of five guineas makes a 

 proprietor ; twenty guineas qualifies one for holding 

 the office of manager; fifty for that of vice-presi- 

 dent. That of president continues for life, and has 

 been vested in the Most Noble the Marquis of Do- 

 negall. The fund for carrying this undertaking into 

 < fleet, already amounts to 16,0001. which was solely 

 collected by private subscription, and the sum is 

 daily increasing. The proprietors have obtained a 

 a charter of incorporation, and the building is ad- 

 vancing with rapidity. 



The proprietor of the soil is the Marquis of Do- 

 negall, a most indulgent landlord, and highly respect- 

 ed by his tenantry. 



Belfast is situated 80 miles north of Dublin, in 

 West Long. 5 49', and North Lat. 54 43'. Varia- 

 tion of the needle in 1810, 28 30' west. See Ar- 

 thur Young's Tour; Dr Beaufort's Memoir; Belfast 

 Monthly Magazine, &c. (u) 



BELGjE, a people of ancient Gaul, who inhabi- 

 ted the tract of country extending from the Rhine to 

 the Loire. They seem to have been originally Goths 

 or Scythians, who, after defeating the Cimbri, took 

 possession of the north-west of Gaul. See Caesar's 

 Comment. De Bell. Gall, lib. i. and ii. ; and Henry's 

 Hist, of Britain, vol. i. p. 246. (j) 



BELGRADE, the Alba Grmcorum of the an- 

 cients, is the capital of Servia in Turkey, and is situ- 

 ated on the declivity of a hill, at the junction of the 

 Save with the Danube. The streets of Belgrade are 

 covered with wood, to shelter the inhabitants when 

 engaged in their mercantile concerns, as they never 

 enter the shops to purchase, but receive the commo- 

 dities out of the window. The only public build- 

 ings of any importance are the caravansera or public 

 inn, the college, two exchanges, and two bazars, 

 or bezestins, built in the form of a cathedral" church, 

 where the finest articles of merchandise are exposed to 

 sale. The aqueducts, about 6 miles from Belgrade, 

 were built by Valentinian I. for conveying water to 

 Constantinople. They were afterwards repaired by 

 Solyman, the Magnificent, who, in order to have them 

 kept In repair by the inhabitants of twelve Greek vil- 

 lages in their vicinity, exempted them from the usual 

 tribute. The principal of these aqueducts are three 

 large buildings erected over three vallies. The longest 

 of them has many arches, but they are less in magnitude 

 than those of the other two, which consist of two 

 rows of arches one above the other, and appear to 

 be of more ancient architecture. The largest of these 

 two is composed of four large arches, each 60 feet 

 long, and about 64 high, supported by octagonal pil- 

 lars, about 168 feet in circumference near their base. 

 The aqueduct which appears more recent than the 

 rest, was probably built by Solyman. 



The position of Belgrade upon the Danube ren- 

 ders it peculiarly fitted for commerce, and gives it an 

 easy communication with Vienna and the Black Sea. 

 [t is resorted to by Austrian, Venetian, Armenian, 

 Turkish, Jewish, Hungarian, Greek, and Sclavonian 

 merchants; and the Armenians andJ<w&are employ- 

 ed as factors. For Ragusiens and dr*s, the Bel- 

 grade merchants give in exchange wax and quick- 



silver, which they receive from Upper Hungary and Btl^rade- 

 Transylvania. The duty annually levied upon goods \ " ' 

 amounts to 4-00,000 livres. The surrounding country, 

 which is very poorly cultivated, produces fine oaks, 

 and is marked with several small villages inhabited by 

 Greeks. 



The situation of Belgrade, as the key of Hungary, 

 has frequently rendered it the object of fierce conten- 

 tion between the Austrians and the Turks. In 1436, 

 Belgrade was besieged by Amurath ; but the garri- 

 son of 10,000 by which it was defended, compelled 

 the Turkish army to retire. Solyman the Magnifi- 

 cent made himself master of it in 1521 ; but it was 

 recovered in 1688 by the imperial army under the 

 Elector of Bavaria. The cruelties of the governor 

 to the captain of the Greek interpreter, whom the 

 Elector had charged with the summons for a sur- 

 render, inspired the besiegers with a thirst for ven- 

 geance, which was most wantonly gratified in the 

 murder of the defenceless inhabitants. The Turks 

 again laid siege to it in 1690; and, in consequence of 

 a bomb having lighted upon the great tower, by 

 which the walls of the city were thrown down, and 

 1200 of the garrison destroyed, the Austrians were 

 compelled to resign the city to the fury and cruelties 

 of the besiegers. The Austrians, in 1693, attempt- 

 ed to regain possession of this important place ; but 

 after many, fruitless attempts, and the loss of 1000 

 men, they were under the necessity of raising the 

 siege. The possession of Belgrade was confirmed to 

 the Turks by the treaty of Carlowitz in l6:-)9, and 

 they remained masters of it till the year 1717, when 

 it underwent one of the most celebrated sieges that 

 history has to record. 



Under the pretence that the Venetians had infrin- 

 ged the treaty of Carlowitz, the Turks declared war 

 against Austria in 1715. In May 1717, Prince Eu- 

 gene marched to the siege of Belgrade with a fine army 

 of about 90,000 men. On the 15th of June, be ef- 

 fected the passage of the Danube in boats, and Bel- 

 grade was completely invested on the 19th of that 

 month. The Turkish garrison amounted to about 

 25,000 men, and were assisted by a strong flotilla 

 on the Danube. The besiegers were harassed by 

 a violent storm on the 13th of July, which broke 

 down their bridges over the Danube and the Save, 

 and by several bold sorties, in which the Turks dis- 

 played the most undaunted courage ; but a complete 

 chain of works having been constructed, the Aus- 

 trians were completely secured against the efforts both 

 of the garrison and the elements. 



The Austrian batteries were opened with tremen- 

 dous effect on the 23d of July. The part of the 

 town near the river was a heap of ruins ; and no- 

 thing but the hopes of succour, and confidence in the 

 strength of their fortifications, could have prevented 

 the garrison from yielding to the enemy. On the 

 31st of July, a Turkish army of 200,000 men, under 

 the Grand Vizier, arrived at Belgrade, and encamped 

 above the Austrian camp, having its left towards the 

 Save, and its right supported by the Danube. The 

 works which the Grand Vizier threw up, were mount? 

 ed with 140 pieces of cannon. Being thus placed be- 

 tween the fire of the Ottoman army and that of the 

 garrison, while his army was wasting with the dy- 

 sentery, and a mortality prevailing among the horses. 



