Page 95

M. 'Perravlt, Raiijfiant, &c. ,dcfend the Modern Peer;
urging, that the Hops ufed with us, and which the Anti 'ents
were Strangzers ~to, having a Faculty of purifying the Blood,
and removing Obfirufi-ons) ferve as a CorreaIor, and free.
the Drink from the Inconveniences laid at the door of t hat
of the Antients. For the Manner of preparing Beer, fee
BREWIN4G ; for its Qualities, fee MALT-LiqYOR. The Word
cornea from the old German, Bierc: f/of/  eie  tfo
tiye Latin, hi here, to drink; tihers from the Hebrew, Bar,
Corn ; others from Bion, a Drink mentioned by Pliny.
BEER. MEASURE. See MEASURE.
BEGLERBEG, a n~rk~jhb Title for a Governor of a
'rovince, who has under, him feveral Sangiacks, or Sub-
Governors. There are 28 Beglerbegs in the ottoman Em-
pire. uihs-Beglereg is the Bafha of the Sea, or the Ad-
miral of the rtiorks. Beg, in the} I'rrki/o Language, fig-
nifies Lord; and Beglerbeg, or Beglerheghi, Lords of Lords.
BEGUJARD, or BEGGHARD, the Name of an Hereti-
cal Se& in Germany, which fprung up towards the End of
the 3thCentury. Their Headwas onef p acinus. Their
principal Tenets were, that Man, in this Life, might be
able       E and, that he might arrive to a Degree of Per-
ron vincnot to be exceeded .  that this State was as happy
as Heaven, which when once obtain'd, they were no longer
obliged to obferve the Fails of the Church, nor obey their
Superiors      o that every intelleNual Creature is felf-happy
that it hands in need of nothing but the Light of Glory to
raife it to the Vifion and Enjoyment of God that none, but
the Imperfe&, apply themaelves to pradife virtuous Aai-
ons 5 that tbefus Cerift dhould not, be adored in the Eleva-
tion of the Hoeta, nor the Myoneries of his Incarnation be
regarded : They condemn'd good Works, and opread abroad
impure Dodrines. Thefe Fanaticks, who wore the Habits
of Monks, without paying regard to any Rule, or obferving
Celibacy, were condemn'd under Pope Clement V. at the
Council of Vienna, in n31.                      b
BEGUINES are devout Societies of young Women,
e{}ablifh'd in feveral Parts of Flanders, Picardy, and Lor-
rain. They maintain themfelves by the Work of their
own Hands; they lead a middle kind of Life, between
the Laick and Religious; but make no Vows.. Thefe So-
cieties began at Nivelle, in Flanders, A. D). i z26, and foon
fpread into France. Their Habit was particular, but mo-
' delI they lived in common, and had Men of great Piety
for their Governors. Some of them giving into abfurd
Opinions, Pope Clement V. abolilhed their Inflitution; up-
on which they ceas'd in France: But, 7ohn XXII. Suc-
ceffi to Clement V. explain'd that Decree, and. declar'd
only thofe Societies of the Beguines extind, who had fallen
into Herefy.
BELAY    on board a Ship,. fignifies the fame asfaJlen;
thus they fay, belay the Sheet, or Stack, that is, fallen it
to the Kennel, Tfc.
BELCHING. See RuCTATION.
BELL, a popular Machine, rank'd by Muficians among
the number of Mufical Infiruments of MPercuflion. Its Form
needs no Defcription; its Parts are the Body, or Barrel,
the Clapper with-in-fide, and the Ear or Cannon, whereby
it is hung to a large Beam of Wood; its Matter is a Metal
compounded of twenty Pounds of Pewter to an hundred of
Copper, call'd Bell-Metal. The Thicknefs of its Edges is
ufually Ts of the Diameter, and its Height twelve times
its Thicknefs. The Bell-Founders have a Diapafon, or
Bell-Scale, wherewith they meafure the Size, Thicknefs,
Weight, and Tone of their Bells. The Ufes of Bells are
fumm'd up in the Latin Diflich:
.Laudo fDeum vertum, Plebem voco, congrego Clerum,
cfuntlos ploro, Pejlem fugo, Fefla decoro.
For the AMethod of Cafling Bells, Ec. fee FOUNDER Y. Mr.
Hauksbee, and others, find by, Experiment, the Sound of a
Bell firuck under Water, to be a fourth deeper than in the
Air: But Merfenne fays, 'tis of the fame Pitch in either
Element. 2elli are obferv'd to be heard further, placed
on Plains, than on Hills; and frill further in Values, than
on Plains: the Reafon of which is not difficult to affign, if
it be confidered, that the higher the fonorous Body is, the
rarer is its Medium; confequently,the lefs Impulfe it receives,
and the lefs proper Vehicle it is to convey it to a Diflance.
The firfi ?ells are faid to, have been made at Nola, in
Campania, whereof St.  ulinus was Biihop * at leafi, 'tis
faid, he was .'the firfl, who brought 'em into the Church.
And hence, 'tis added, they had their Latin Names, Nolan
and Ca~mpan.e  But others fay, they take thee Names,
not from their being invented in Campania, but becaufe
Atwas here the manner of hanging and balancing of 'em,
now in Ufie, was firft pradis'd; at leaft, that they were
ballanced and hung on the Model of a Ballance invented
or ufed in Campania. For, in Latin Writers we find Cam-
pana Statera, for a Counter-poife, and in Greek *zmrwe'
ior ponderare to load or weigh. Polydore Virgil afcribes the
Invention of Bells to Pope-Sabinigw, St. GregorM'stuccelr;
B EE-..i
but by Miflake; for St. Yeromei Cotemporary with fiaz-
linus, makes mention of a Bell. In effec, Pope Sabiniinti
did not invent Bells; but he' was the firfi who appointed
the Canonical Hours to be diflinguilh'd by 'em. We even
find mention made of Bells in Ovid, _ibullns, .Martia4
Statins, and Manilius, and the Greek Authors, under the
Titles of Tintinnabula, and Sounding Brafs. Suetonius,
Dion, Strabo, Polybius, _7o/ephus, and others, mention 'em
under the Names of Petaflus, Tintinnabulum, Aramen-
trUm, Crotalum, Signum, &c. But thefe appear to have
been little elfe but Baubles, and little like the huge Bells
in ufe among us.
Hlieronymus Magius, who has a Treatife exprefs on Bells,
(wrote, when in Chains, in /iTrkey, and which is account-
ed very remarkable, purely from his Memory, without the
Affiflance of any Books) makes large Bells a modern In-
vention. Indeed, we don't hear of any before the fixth
Century: In 6io, we are told, Loup, Bifhop of Orleansi
being at Sens, then befieg'd by the Army of Clotharius,
frigh ted away the Befiegers by ringing the Bells of St. Ste-
phen's. The firfi large GBells in England are mention'd by
Bede towards the latter End of that Century. The Greeks
are commonly faid to have been unacquainted with 'em till
the ninth Century, when their Con{+rudfion was firfl taught
them by a Venetian. Indeed, 'tis not true that the Ufe of
Bells was entirely unknown in the antient Eaflern Churches,
and that they call'd the People to Church, as at prefent,
with wooden Mallets. Leo Allatius, in his Dibffrtation of
the Greek 7'emples, proves the contrary from feveral an-
tient Writers. 'Tis his Opinion, that Bells firftc began to be
difufed among 'em, after the taking of Conflantinojle by
the I'irks; who, it feems, prohibited 'em, leil their Sounds
Should diffurb the Repofe of Souls, which, according to
them, wander in the Air. He adds, that they frill retain
the Ufe of Bells in Places remote from the Commerce of
the Iurks; particularly, very antient ones in Mount Athos:
F. Simon thinks the hfirks rather prohibited the Chriflians
the Ufe of Bells, out of political, than religious Reafons;
inafmuch as the Ringing of Bells might ferve as a Signal for
the Execution of Revolts, &'c. See MINARET. The City
Boardeaux was deprived of its Bells for Rebellion; and
when 'twas offer'd to have 'em reflored, the People refus'd
it, after hav ng tafted the Eafe and Conveniency of being
freed from the conflant Din and Jangling of Bells.
Matthew Paris obferves, that antiently the Ufe of Bells
was prohibited in Time of Mourning; tho at prefent they
make one of the principal Ceremonies of Mourning. Mabil-
Ion adds, that 'twas an antient Cuflrom to ring the Bells for
Perfons about to expire, to advertife the People to pray for
'em; whence our Pafling-Bells. Lobineau obferves, that
the Cuflom of ringing Bells, at the Approach of Thunder,
is of fome Antiquity; but that the Deffgn was not fo much
to {hake the Air, and fo diffipate the Thunder, as to call
the People to Church, to pray the Parifl may be preserved
from that terrible Meteor.
The Cufiom of baptizing, or bleffing Bells, is very an-
tient. Some fay 'twas introduced by Pope ,7on XIII. in
9725 but 'tis evidently of an older fianding; there being
an exprefs Prohibition of the Praffice in a Capitulary of
*7ohn XIII.  Alcuin fays 'twas eflablifh'd long before
Pope 7ohn XIII. Yet this is only to be underflood of an
Order of that Pope, for refloring the Pradice which had
been difufed. See BAPTISM.
Nankin, a City of China, was antiently famous for the
Largenefs of its Bells; but their enormous Weight having
brought down the Steeple, the whole Building fell to Ruin,
and the Bells have ever fince lain on the Ground. One of
thefe Bells is near i2 Englijh Foot high, the Diameter
7.i, and the Circumference 23; its Figure almoff Cylin-
dric, except for a Swelling in the middle; and the Thick-
.nefs of the Metal about the Edges, feven Inches. From
the Dimenfions of this Bell, its Weight is computed at
50000 Pounds, which is more than double the Weight of
that of Erfort, faid by Father Kircher to be the greatefi
Bell in the World. Thefe Bells were cal by the firfi Em-
peror of the preceding Dynafly, about 3co Years ago.
they have each their Name, the Hanger Schoui, the Eater
Che, the Sleeper CMhovi, the Will Fi. Father le Compet
adds, that there are feven other Bells in Pekin, cafl in the
Reign of Toulo, each of which weighs Izoooo Pounds.
But the Sounds even of their biggeff Bells, are very poor;
being firuck with a Wooden in lieu of an Iron Clapper.
The lgptians have none but wooden Clocks, except one
brought by the Franks into the Monaflery of St. Antbony.
BELL: The Sound of a Bell conGfis in a vibratory Mo-
tion of the Parts thereof, much like that of a 9uical
Chord. The Stroke of the Clapper, 'tis evident, mufl
change the Figure of the Bell, and of round, make it oval:
But the Metal having a great degree of Elaflicity, that
Part which the Stroke drove furthelit from the cntre will
fly back again, and that even fomewhat nearer to the
Centre than before: So that the two Points which before
were