BEL 



445 



BEL 



-" and canon of Ross, was a native of Scotland, but the 

 ' "v" '"' year of his birth is jncertain. His education seems 

 to have been liberal ; and, according to George Con, 

 he took the degree of doctor of divinity in the Sor- 

 bonne. (De Duplici Statu Religionis ajntd Scolos, 

 p. 167.) Dr Campbell has remarked, that his phrase- 

 ology occasionally savours of a French education. 

 His History and Crouiklis of Scotland, a free trans- 

 lation of the first seventeen books of Hector Boyce, 

 was undertaken at the request of James the Fifth, 

 whose favour he seems to have enjoyed. Into this 

 publication he has introduced two poems of consider- 

 able length, entitled, The Pro/ieme of the Cosmo- 

 graphc, and The Proheme of the History ; and has 

 closed the whole by a prose T.pistil direckk be ye 

 Translatoure to the Kiugis Grace. If we may cre- 

 dit Dr Mackenzie, this work was printed in the year 

 1536 ; but his source of information it would be dif- 

 ficult to discover, for the title-page and colophons 

 exhibit no date. Mr Herbert, without any apparent 

 foundation, mentions the publication of another edi- 

 tion in the year 1541. Bellenden likewise translated 

 the first five books of Livy ; and a manuscript copy 

 of his version is preserved in the Advocates' Library. 

 From a passage in the poetical prolong, it appears, 

 that this work was also unde'rtaken at the suggestion 

 of King James. In the same poem he expresses an 

 intention of executing a complete version of Livy's 

 Roman History ; but this formidable task he steins 

 never to have performed. According to Dempster, 

 he died at Rome in the year 1550. Of the original 

 compositions of a writer who discovers such a fine vein 

 of poetry, it cannot but be regretted that so incon- 

 siderable a portion has been preserved. His poems are 

 the effusions of an excursive fancy and a cultivated 

 taste. He has been extolled as a master of every 

 branch of divine and human learning ; and it is at 

 least apparent, that his literature was such as his 

 Scotish cotemporaries did not very frequently sur- 

 pass. " He was unquestionably," says Dr Camp- 

 bell, " a man of great parts, and one of the finest 

 poets his country had to boast. So many of his 

 works remain as fully prove this ; inasmuch as they 

 are distinguished by that noble enthusiasm which is 

 the very soul of poetry." The most poetical of his 

 works is, The Proheme of the Cosmographe. The 

 principal incidents are borrowed from the ancient al- 

 legory of the choice of Hercules ; but he has im- 

 pressed his transcript with the characteristic features 

 of an original. Sec Irving's Lives of the Scotish 

 I'xis, vol. ii. p. 119. (e) 



BELLENDEN, William, a Scotish author of 

 high accomplishments, was one of the masters of the 

 English court of requests. According to Dempster, 

 he had been a professor of humanity in the university, 

 and an advocate in the parliament of Paris. ( Hist 

 Ixctesiast. Gent. Scotor. p. 119.) The time of his 

 birth and of his death has not been ascertained ; but 

 he flourished after the accession of King James to 

 the crown of England. His three books De Statu 

 are known to every man of letters ; and it is sufficient 

 praise to say, that they have been found capable of 

 attracting the attention of an editor so accomplished 

 as Dr Parr. (Lond. 1787, Svo.) On ;he ingenuity, 

 learning, and taste of Bellenden, this excellent scho- 



lar has bestowed unreserved commendation. Bellen- Uellendeir, 

 den's posthumous work De Tribus Luminidus Ro- M'ero- 

 manorum, (Paris, lG'M, fol. ) though it extends to P 

 no fewer than eight hundred and twenty-four pages, ^^ 

 is only to be considered as a fragment. The first of 

 his three ornaments of Rome is Cicero ; and the other 

 two, whom he had in view, are supposed to have been- 

 Seneca and the elder Pliny. The apparent object of 

 that portion of his work which is completed, is to 

 combine, in an historical form, such of the observa- 

 tions and sentiments of Cicero as relate to the religi- 

 ous and political affairs of Rome. His plan is exe- 

 cuted in such a manner as to display the spirit and 

 essence of the Roman history. The latter part o 

 the work, or that which relates to the times of Cice- 

 ro himself, is very copious and 'satisfactory. The 

 epistles of Cicero have furnished him with an histori- 

 cal detail similar to that exhibited in the biography 

 of Dr Middleton ; and Dr Parr has asserted in the 

 strongest terms, that Middleton has not only selected 

 many valuable materials from the production of Bel 

 lenden, but, when it suits his purpose, has even, re- 

 tained their form as well as their substance. A si- 

 milar accusation had likewise been preferred by Dr 

 Warton ; but the admirers of Dr Middletom may 

 still urge, and with some appearance of reason, that 

 such marks of plagiarism are extremely equivocal. 

 As the materials which he is supposed to have pur- 

 loined lie scattered through the works of Cicero, 

 they are accessible to every scholar ; and as Bellen- 

 den and Middleton had clearly the same object in 

 view, it need not excite our astonishment, that two 

 scholars, possessed of the same elegance of taste, 

 should conduct their researches on similar principles. 

 Bellenden has been solicito'us to retain the identical 

 expressions of his favourite author ; and, by means 

 of a skilful combination, has exhibited a production 

 of no trivial importance. " This work," says Dr 

 Parr, ' displays the highest ingenuity and industry. 

 \V hatevcr in the various writings of Cicero is either 

 sagaciously conceived or elegantly expressed, Bellen- 

 den has adapted to one great plan, and exhibited in 

 a more splendid view. He, therefore, who is familiar- 

 ly acquainted with this performance, will be enabled 

 to appretiate the genius of antiquity, and to profit 

 by the examples which it supplies. He will obtain 

 an extensive knowledge of the jurisprudence and po- 

 litical science of the Romans ; and, as from a splen- 

 did storehouse, may select all the varieties of exqui- 

 site diction." (Prcef. in Bellendenvm, p. lxx. ) What 

 plan Bellenden purposed to adopt in relation to Se- 

 neca and Pliny cannot easily be ascertained. It may, 

 perhaps, be regarded as no absurd conjecture, that, 

 by availing himself of their productions, he intended 

 to exhibit an enlarged view of the intellectual and 

 physical science of the Romans. See living's Dis- 

 sertation on the Literary History of Scotland, p. 104. 



( e ) 



BELLEROPIION, was the son of Glaucus, king 

 of Ephyre, or Ephyrax. Having murdered his bro- 

 ther, who was called Alcimenus or Beller, he obtain- 

 ed the name of Bellerophon, or the murderer of Bel* 

 ler, and fled to the court of Prxtus, king of Argos. 

 Antsca, the queen of Argos, having tried in vain to 

 seduce Bellerophon, was so enraged at bis refusal*. 



