BEL 



for this would imply, that the whole courfs of nature was 

 a feries of miracles, or in other words, that there are no mi- 

 racles at all. T!ic author fuggeiled doubts couccnuiig 

 the agency of the devil in feveral of his fermons ; and he 

 alleged, that feveral were afcribed to the devil, in which 

 this evil fpirit had no concern. He was at length, viz. in 

 1691, perluaded to publifli his fyftem at large, in an elabo- 

 rate work, entitled, " Tlie World Be\vi:ched-" This 

 work is divided into fonr books. The firfl contains an ac- 

 count of the opinions of the ancient and modern heathens 

 concerning gods and demons, or fpirits. In the fecond 

 book the author examines all the pall'ages of the Holy Scrip- 

 ture, which mention eitlier angels or the devil, and endea- 

 vours to make them agree with his opinion, that the devil 

 has not the leall power in this world, and to fliew that thole 

 pafTages, which afcribc feveral actions to good as well as 

 bad fpirits, or angels, mud be explained in an allegorical 

 manner. Accordingly, he denies that our firft parents were 

 tempted by the devil ; alleging that this temptation is af- 

 cribed to the devil, only becaule it does not agree with the 

 goodnefs of God, though Mofes does not mention the 

 devil, and that 'Av: puniflrment mentioned by Mofes doth 

 not fuit the devil, but only the ferptnt. He alfo urges fe- 

 veral objcftions agninll the literal fcnfe of our Saviour's 

 temptation ; and he maintains that thofe potfeffed with evil 

 fpirits, which our Lord call out, were merely fick or 

 lunatic perfons whom he cured, and in whofe ficknefs the 

 devil had no concern. (See Demoniac.) Bekker's work, 

 though his fyftcm was not new, occafioned great commotion 

 not only in all tlic United Provinces, but in various parts ot 

 Germany. The author, perfifting in his opmions, was pub- 

 licly depofed from his palloral charge m 1692 ; but the ina- 

 gillrates of Amfterdam continued his falaiy till Iris deatl., 

 which happened in 1^198. Bekker not only retained his opi- 

 nions after his depofition, but (Irenuoufly defended tiiem 

 againft a multitude of adverfaries as long as lie lived. He 

 was a man of a warm imagination, of an active mind, and 

 of a firm refoliite temper. His charafter was irreproachable ; 

 and he avowed to the lall his full conviction of the truth 

 of the Chrillian religion. In his delences he exhibited a 

 moderation wliich he did not experience from his antago- 

 nirts. A fatlrical medal was llruck at his depofition, 

 which exhibited the devil, in the liabit of a minilter, rid- 

 ing upon an afs, and holding a banner in his hand, as a 

 token of the victory which he had gained in the lynods. 

 His opinions found feveral advocates ; and he became the 

 head of a feft which was called after his name. Gen. Diet. 

 Mofheim's Eccl. Hill. vol. 5. p. 632. 



BEKKERANISM, or Bskkeriasmsm, in Ecclefiiijlical 

 Hiflory, the fyftem or fentiments of Balth. Bekker, who 

 denied that fpirits can a£l or operate on bodies. See the 

 preceding article. 



BEL, Matthias, in Bk^mphy, a learned hidorian of 

 Hungary, was born at Orfowa, in 1684 ; and after iludying 

 divinity at the univerfity of Halle, he became firft, viz. in 

 1708, redlor of the evangelical fchool at Neufohl, and in 

 1714, reftor of the fchool at Prelhurg. In 1719, he was 

 chofen preacher by the German evangelical congregation in 

 that city, and died lenior miniller in 1749. His two moil 

 valuable works are his " Apparatus ad hilioriam Hungaria;," 

 aad his " Notitia Hungarix Novx." The latter work was 

 held in fuch high ellimation, that it procured for him from 

 the emperor Charles VI. the appointment of imperial hillorio- 

 grapher, and the honour of being admitted into the royal 

 academy of fciences at Berlin, and alfo into that of Pc- 

 terlburgh. Pope Clement XII. alfo teititied his approba- 

 tion of it by conlerring on the author his portrait and eight 

 gold m«dals. The emperor, upon rece ving the fecond vo- 



7 



BE L 



lume of the work, raifedhim to the rank of nobility, but thi's 

 circumftancc Bel ftudioufly concealed. Among his other 

 works are " Prodromus Hungarire antiquse et novas." Norib. 

 1723, fol.; "Notitia Hungarix novK hillorio-geographica," 

 Vienna;, j 735-1 742, 4 vols. fol. ; " Apparatus ad Hiftorip.m 

 HungarijE, live Collectio Mifcella Monumcntorum, &c. dec. 

 I S: 2," I'ofon, 173J-46, fol. He alfo tranflated into the 

 Bohemian language the Bible, and fome other books. 



Be'-, Charles Andrew, Ion of the former, was born 

 at Preiburg in 17 17, and ftudied at Jena and Altdorf. In 

 1741, he became eKtraorJmary profcfhir of philofophy at 

 Leiplic ; and in 1756, he was appointed public profelTor of 

 poetry, and librarian to the univerfity, with the rank of 

 counicllor of ilate- He died fuddenly in 17S2. Among 

 his writings are " De vera origine ct cpocha Hunnorum, 

 Ararum, Hungaror.m, in Pannonia," Lipf. 1757, 4to. 

 After tlie death of Menek, he was employed as editor of 

 the Acta Eruditorura, and of the Leipiic literary gazette, 

 which he condudtcd from the year 1754 to 178 1. 



Bel, John-James, was born at Bourdeaux, in 169?, 

 and having purfued his ftudies with great aifiduity in the 

 college of the fathers of tiie oratory, and made diftin- 

 guifned acquirements in belles lettres, and alio in meta- 

 phyfics and morals; he was admitted counfellor of parliament 

 in 1720. After feveral vifits to Paris, he finally fettled at 

 Bourdeaux; and in 1737, he was chofen director of the 

 academy : but the excels of his application to a variety of 

 fcientific and literarj' purfiiits haftciied his death in 1738. 

 To the academy of Bourdeaux he left the houfe in which 

 it holds its fittings, and his valuable library. Befides feveral 

 profelTional works, M. Bel pubhlhed " An Apology for Mr. 

 Houdart di la Motte," 1724, 8vo. which is an ironical cri- 

 ticifm on the viforks of t!.at author, and particularly his tra- 

 gedies ; " An Examination of the tragedy of Romulus, by 

 la Motte ;" " A Differtation on the Abbe Dubos's opinion 

 concerning the preference to be given to the perceptions of 

 taile above reafoning, iu judging of works of genius ;" 

 " Letters containing Obfervations on Voltaire's tragedy of 

 Mariamne ;" all which are inlerted, together with fome 

 other papers of M. Bel, in " Memoirs of Literature and 

 Hiflory," colhdted by father des Moiety, of the oratory. 

 He was alfo the author of the " Neolcgical Dictionary," 

 augmented by the abbe des Fontaines, and intended to ex- 

 pole the new words and afftdted phrafeology of feveral mo- 

 dern writers. Nouv. Didt. Hiflor. 



BiL, in Botany, the name of a plant, and alfo of its fruit, 

 called by fome the cucumis capparis, or caper-cucumber. 

 Avicenna has given the moil copious account of this plant, 

 which is imperfectly defcribcd by others ; and he fays, tliat 

 the fruit, which refemblcd a caper, was ufed in medicine, 

 and refembled ginger in the fiery heat of its talle. 



Bel, St. in Geogniphy, a town of France, in the depart- 

 ment of the Riione and Loire, on the Brevenn ; 3I leagues 

 well of Lyons. 



Bel, in Mythology. See Belus. 



Bel and the Dragon, Hiflory of, in Biblical Hiflory, an 

 apocryphal part of the book of Daniel, which, although it 

 was annexed to this book, and formed the I4tli and laft 

 chapter of it, was uniformly rejcfled by the Jews, and made 

 no part of their canon of icripture. It occurs neither in the 

 Hebrew or Chaldcc text, nor in the Greek vcrfion of the 

 Septuagint, but was taken out of the Greek verfion of The- 

 odotion. Afrieanus, Euftbius, and ApoUinarius, have re- 

 jected the narration, not only as uncanonical, but alio as 

 fabulous ; and Jerom alfo concurs in their opinion. Origen 

 maintains the truth of the hillory contained in the 13th (fee 

 Susanna), and 14th chapters, againil Afrieanus, but docs 

 not affert it to be canonical. This hillory is alfo cited, as part 



