BEL 



BEti-ADOSMA, a name given by the Italians to the JeaJly 

 nighljl-ia.lc, becaiile the ladies make a coicietic of the jnice, 

 or diilillcd water, winch they ulc to make their cunipicxion 

 fair and white. Ray. 



Others derive the name from the intoxicating quahty of 

 this plant: " <^iiod infonmis pulchras oficndat virguies fcmi- 

 nafque." Bod. Comment, m Thcophraft. 1078. See 

 Atropa. 



Belladonna, in Entomology ; PiJpil'io Cardui, is defcrib- 

 cd under this name in the Fatiiia Suvcica. Linn. i. n. 778. 



BELLAIRE, in Geography, a poft town of Amcr.ca, 

 near the centre of Harford county in Maryland, and the 

 chief town of the county. It contains a court-houfe aijd 

 gaol, and has but tew inhabitants. Dillant from Hariord 

 6 miles, N. W. 22 N. E. frL.m Baltimore, and 1)6 W. S. W. 

 from Philadelphia. 



BE LLANO, a town of Italy, in the Milanefe, 17 miles 

 north of Como. It m lituated at the foot of a lofty precipice ; 

 rent from top to bottom by a chalm, through which a furii;us 

 torrent forces its way. A bridge is thrown acrofs the chafm, 

 from which the fpectator looks down into a deep gulf, and an 

 aqueduct is conducted along the fteep f:des of the rock. 



BELLARGUS, in Entomology, a fpecies of Papilio 

 (Pleb. rur.) defcribed by Efper; and is Pap'ilw Adonh, 

 Gmel, &c. 



BELLARMIN, Robert, in Biography, a cardinal of 

 Rome, and one of the mod famous controverlial writers of his 

 time, was born at Monte Pulciano, a town of Tufcany, in 

 1542, and entered into the tocicty of the Jefuits in 1560. 

 He was ordained pricll by Janftnius in i5'^9, and in the fol- 

 lowing year advanced to the theological chair in the univerfi- 

 ty of Louvain. Having rem.aincd leven years in the Low 

 Countries, he returned to Italy, and in 1576, began to read 

 leftures at Rome on controverfial fubjefts; and having been 

 honoured by three fucceffive popes with important commif- 

 Cons, he was, in 15^8, nominated to the cardinalate by Cle- 

 ment VIII. with this diiUnguiftiiig eulogium ; " We choofe 

 him becaufe the church of God dees not poffcfs his equal in 

 learnmg." In 1602, he was created archbiihop of Capua ; 

 and it is fuppofcd he would have been raifed to the papal 

 chair, if he had not been a jefuit. In about four years he 

 refigned his archbifhopric, upon being recalled to Rome by 

 pope Paul 111. and here he continued his ftrvices to the 

 church, till the year 1621, when he retired from the Vati- 

 can to a houfe of his order, in which he died. the fame year, 

 at the age of 79. When he was vilited in his laft illntfs by 

 pope Gregory XV. he expreffed his profound veneration for 

 the pontiff, as Chrift's vicar on earth, by faluting him on his 

 entrance with the words of the centurion to Chriil : " Lord, 

 I am not worthy that thou (houldcft come under my roof." 

 On the day of his funeral it was neceffary to keep off the po- 

 pulace by a mihtary guard, as they preflcd on, either to touch 

 his body or to procure fome rchc of his garments, as if he 

 had been a faii.t. 



Bellarmjn was a very flrenuous defender of the catholic re- 

 ligion againft the reformers ; and for fome years his arguments 

 were felecied by prolc.lant divines as fpecial objeiEls of refu- 

 tatior. His famous work is "A Body of Controverfy," 

 written in Latin, and frequently reprinted; of which the bed 

 edition is that of Prague in 1721, 4 vols, folio. The ftyle 

 of this work, without pretending to purity or elegance, is 

 perfpicuous, precife, and free from fcholallic barbarifm. 

 His manner is diilincl and m.ethodical ; and his ftatements of 

 the opinions and objeftions of his adverfaries are fo fair and 

 fo forcible, that it has been queftioned by fome of his own 

 party, whether his works were not likely to do more harm 



BEL 



than good. In his proofs and refutations, however, he is 

 very copious ; and difpla) 3 an extent of learnmg m fcriptural 

 cnticifin, in the commentaries of fathers and councils, and 

 in the doArine and practice of the church in all ages, becom- 

 ing a controverlialiil,whodetermines every point by authority, 

 and not by reafoning. With refpeCt to the doctrines of prt- 

 dcftination and efficacious grace, he is more an Ajgullinian 

 than a Jefuit ; nor dots he adopt that lax morality which 

 was inculcated by fome of his own order, Befides this prin- 

 cipal work, he wrote " A Commentary on the Pfalras ;" 

 *' Sermons j" «' A Treatife on Eccleliaftical Hilfories ;" 

 " A Treatife on the Temporal Authority of the Pope," 

 againft Barclay ; " The Groans of the Dove ;" " On the 

 Oliligations of Bilhops ;" and " A Hebrew Grammar." 

 Some of his works, and particularly his book on the tern- 

 poral authority of the pope, raifed adverfaries againil him in 

 h:s own communion, whilll his declaration of the right of the 

 pontiffs to dcpofe princes, caufed it to be condemned by the 

 parliament of Paris; his alfcnion of the indireft power of the 

 popes in temporal matters, fo offended the court of Rome, 

 that Sixtus V. cauftd it to be infcribed in the Index of the 

 Inquifition. Some Protcftants, by excefs of zeal, injured 

 their own caufe ; they circulated unfounded and malignant 

 calumnies againil his morals, &c. Jofeph Scaliger has even 

 afferted, that he did not believe a word of the doftrines he 

 defended ; whereas it is moil probable that he inclined to 

 fuptrftition in faith, and to fcrupuloiity in practice. At hi^ 

 death he bequeathed one half of his foul to the Virgin Mary, 

 and the other half to Jefus Chrifl ; and, it is faid, that he 

 Would not allow the vermin that infelled his body to be mo- 

 Iclltd ; under the plea, that thefe animals had no other pa» 

 radife than their preftnt exiilence, of which it was cruel to 

 deprive thtni. His right to canonization was ftror.gly 

 urged ; and the popes were prevented from allowing his 

 claim merely by the fear of giving offence to thofe fovereigns 

 whole temporal rights he had oppofed. Gen. Di6l. Nouv. 

 Did. Hilt. Mofheim. Eccl. Hill. vol. iv. p. 221, &c. 



BELLAS, in Geography, a fmall town of Portugal, \n 

 Eilreniadura, containmg about 1240 inhabitants. 



BELLATOR, in Entomology, a fpecies of Cimex 

 (Spinofus). It is brown above, beneath yello\\aih : antennae 

 black annulated with white. Gmelin. A native of Cayenne. 

 This is Coreus Bellator of Fabricius. 



BELLATRIX, in Ajironomy, a ruddy, glittering ftar of 

 the fecond magnitude, in the left llioulder of Orion. 



It takes its name from lellum, as being anciently fuppofed 

 to have great influence in kindling wars, and forming war- 

 riors. 



BELLAY, William du, in Biography, a French ge- 

 neral, fignahzed himfclf in the fervice of Francis I. by his 

 valour as an officer, and by his talents as a negotiator. Ke 

 was affiduous and fucctfsful in his efforts for inducing fome 

 of the uni\ crllties of France to pronounce judgment in favour 

 of the divorce of king Henry VIII. from his queen Catharine ; 

 and he was employed in feveral embaflies to Germany for the 

 purpofe of conciliating the princes of the Proteilairt league, 

 and evading their objcdions againil the king his mailer's fe- 

 verity in punilhing heretics. Bellay was eminently dif- 

 tinguifhed for his addrefs in penetrating, by his fpies and in- 

 trigues, into the defigns of the enemy ; and he fucceeded in 

 Piedmont, whither he was fent in quality of viceroy, in tak- 

 ing feveral towns from the Imperiahfls. Being defirous of 

 communicating in perfon fome important intelligence to the 

 king, and being very infirm, he ordered a Utter for his con- 

 veyance ; but having pafTed the mountains of Tarara, betwixt 

 Lyons and Roan, he was under anecelfity of flopping at St, 



Zaphorin 



