Nankin, a city of China, was anciently famous ordinary blessings to his posterity, it was customary for the largeness of its bells; but their enormous for the father of each family, some time before he weight having brought down the tower in which died, to call together his children, and inform them, they were hung, the whole building fell to ruin, according to the knowledge which it pleased God and the bells have ever since been disregarded. then to give him, how, and in what manner, the One of these bells is near twelve English feet high, divine blessing conferred upon Abraham was to the diameter seven and a half, and its circumfer- descend among them. Upon these occasions, the ence twenty-three; its figure almost cylindric, ex- patriarchs enjoyed a divine illumination, which cept for a swelling in the middle, and the thickness enabled them to look into futurity; and, under of the metal about the edges, seven inches. From its influence, their benediction was deemed a prothe dimensions of this bell, its weight is computed phetic oracle, foretelling events with the utmost at fifty thousand pounds, which is more than double certainty, and extending to the remotest period of the weight of that at Erfurt, said by father Kircher time. These blessings descended to the eldest son to be the greatest bell in the world. These bells of the family, and to his latest posterity, unless forwere cast by the first emperor of the preceding feited by their bad behavior. To him belonged the dynasty, above three hundred years ago. They birth-right, or right of primogeniture, by which he have each their name, the hanger tchoui, the eater could claim the particular blessing of his dying che, the sleeper choui, the will fi. Father le Compte father; and to him, and to his posterity, belonged adds, that there are seven other bells in Pekin, the blessings of the covenant which God made cast in the reign of Youlo, each of which weighs with Abraham, that from him the promised Messiah one hundred and twenty thousand pounds. But should descend. the sounds even of their biggest bells are very poor; being struck with a wooden instead of an iron clapper.

Under the name benediction, the Jews also include presents sent by one friend to another, probably because accompanied with blessings or good The Egyptians have none but wooden bells ex-wishes. Even their friendly salutations partook cept one brought by the Franks into the monastery of St. Anthony.

of the nature of benediction. "God be gracious unto thee, my son," were the words with which Joseph received Benjamin. In any country of Europe, this would be considered as a benediction; but in the East, it is used merely as a salutation, similar to those offers and assurances of friendship which we make, when we first address or take leave of a

tures so often call the salutations, and farewells of the East, by the term blessing. Various benedictions are still in use among the Jews, the form and order of which are prescribed by the Talmud.

BENEFICE. Is generally taken for all ecclesiastical livings, be they dignities or not: all church preferments are benefices; but they must be given for life, and not for a term of years or at will.

In the churches of Russia their bells are numerous, and distinguished by their enormous size. They are hung, particularly at Moscow, in belfrys or steeples detached from the churches, with gilt or silver cupolas or crosses; and they do not swing like our bells, but are fixed immovably to the friend. This accounts for the reason why the scripbeams, and rung by a rope tied to the clapper and pulled sideways. One of these bells in the belfrey of St. Jvan's church at Moscow, weighs one hundred and twenty-seven thousand eight hundred and thirty-six English pounds. It has always been esteemed a meritorious act of religion to present a church with bells, and the piety of the donor has been estimated by their magnitude. According to this mode of estimation, Boris Godunof, who gave a bell of 288,000 pounds to the cathedral of Moscow, was the most pious sovereign of Russia, until BENEFIT OF CLERGY. Had its rise in the he was surpassed by the empress Anne, at whose pious reverence which the first Christian princes expense a bell was cast, weighing 432,000 pounds, paid the church in its infant state; and was intendwhich exceeds in size every bell in the known ed to exempt the clergy from being criminally proworld. Its dimensions, as ascertained by Mr. Coxe (Travels in Russia, vol. i, p. 322), are as follows: the height is nineteen feet, the circumference at the bottom sixty-three feet eleven inches, and its greatest thickness twenty-three inches. The beam to which this vast machine was fastened, being accidentally burnt by a fire in 1737, the bell fell down, and a fragment was broken off towards the bottom, which left an aperture large enough to admit two persons abreast without stooping.

ceeded against by lay judges. Popish ecclesiastics soon made an ill use of this, for they afterwards claimed this indulgence, not only for themselves, but for all attendants upon the church, and at length for all who could read: reading being a mark of great learning in those days, and few but ecclesiastics being able to read fluently. Henry VIII. made a distinction between laymen and clergymen; the former, for crimes deserving death, were to be burned with a hot iron on the left thumb; and the privilege to be, on a second time, refused them: BENEDICTION. In a general sense, is the both men and women, however, obtained the inact of blessing, or of praying to God for a divine dulgence. Clergymen, when found guilty of such blessing; but it is also used to signify praise, or a crimes as claim the benefit of clergy, were not to grateful acknowledgement of blessings received. be burnt in the hand, but immediately discharged: Hence it has been applied to the act of saying peers, when found guilty, were also discharged by grace both before and after meals. Among the benefit of clergy, without burning; but for the secJews, benedictions were of various kinds. The ond offence were, like a layman, to suffer death. original institution of them is to be found among By an act passed in 1827 benefit of clergy was the patriarchs. From the time that God entered abolished; and by the same act it is provided that into covenant with Abraham, and promised extra- no person convicted of felony shall suffer death un

less it be for some felony which was excluded from the benefit of clergy before or on the first day of the then session of parliament, or which hath been or shall be made punishable with death by some statute passed after that day.

BENISH DAYS. Among the Egyptians, a term for three days of the week, which are days of less ceremony in religion than the other four; and have their name from the benish, a garment of common use, not of ceremony. In Cairo, on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, they go to the bashaw's divan; and these are the general days of business. Fridays they stay at home, and go to their mosques at noon; but though this is their day of devotion, they never abstain from business. The three other days of the week are the benish days, in which they throw off all business and ceremony, and go to their little summer-houses in the country.

of prepared zafire. The properties of the beryl were very wonderful, in the opinions of the ancient naturalists: it kept people from falling into ambuscades of enemies, excited courage in the fearful, and cured diseases of the eyes and stomach. It has none of these virtues now, because people are not so credulous as to believe it has them.

BESTIARII. Among the Ancient Romans, those who were hired to combat with beasts, or those who were exposed to them, by sentence of law. We usually distinguished two kinds of bestiarii: the first were those condemned to the beasts; either as being enemies taken prisoners, or as being slaves, and guilty of some enormous crime.These were all exposed naked, and without defence, to the beasts; nor did it aught avail to conquer and kill the beast, fresh ones being continually let loose on them, till they were dead. But it seldom happened that two were required for the same man; on the contrary, one beast frequently despatched several men. Cicero mentions a lion, which alone despatched two hundred bestiarii.

BERGAMOT. A species of citron, produced at first casually by an Italian's grafting a citron on the stock of a bergamot pear-tree, whence the fruit The Christians were bestianii of this kind, even produced by this union participated both of the some of them who were Roman citizens; though citron and the pear. The fruit has a fine taste and it was the legal right of such to be exempt from it. smell, and its essential oil is in high esteem as a The second kind of bestiarii, Seneca observes, conperfume. The essence of bergamot is also called sisted of young men, who, to become expert in essentia de cedra. It is extracted from the yellow managing their arms, fought sometimes against rind of the fruit, by cutting it in small pieces, and beasts, and sometimes against one another; and immediately squeezing the oil out of them into a of bravoes, who, to show their courage and dexteriglass vessel. This is the ethereal oil. A water is ty, exposed themselves to this dangerous combat. distilled from the peel, as follows: Take the outer Augustus encouraged this practice in young men rind of three bergamots, a gallon of pure proof of the first rank; Nero exposed himself to it; and spirit, and four pints of pure water; draw off a gal-it was for the killing beasts in the amphitheatre, that lon in a balneum mariæ; then add as much of the Commodus acquired the title of the Roman Herbest white sugar as will be agreeable. Or, take the cules. essence of bergamot, three and a half drams: of rectified spirit of wine, three pints; of volatile sal ammoniac, a dram: distil off three pints in a balneum mariæ.

Vigenere to these adds two kinds of bestiarii more: the first were those who made a trade of it, and fought for money; the second was where several bestiarü, armed, were let loose at once, against a number of beasts.

BERYL. In natural history, called by lapidaries aquamarina, is a pellucid gem, of a bluish green BETEL. Is the leaf of a climbing East Indian color, found in the East Indies, and about the gold plant, which belongs to the same tribe as pepper, mines of Peru. We have also some from Silesia; and, in shape and appearance, is not much unlike but what are brought from thence are oftener color-ivy, but is more tender, and full of juice. There is ed crystals, than real beryls; and when they are genuine, they are greatly inferior, both in hardness and lustre, to the Peruvian kinds.

an almost incredible consumption of betel throughout India, and other parts of the East. The inhabitants chew it almost incessantly, and in such a The beryl, like most other gems, is met with both quantity that their lips become quite red, and their in the pebble and columnar form, but in the latter teeth black-a color greatly preferred by them to most frequently. In the pebble form, it usually ap- the whiteness which the Europeans and Americans pears of a roundish but flatted figure, and common- so much affect. They carry it, in little white boxes, ly full of small flat faces, irregularly disposed. In about their persons, and present it to each other, by the columnar or crystalline form, it always consists way of compliment and civility, in the same manof hexangular columns, terminated by hexangular ner as we do snuff. This is done by the women as pyramids. It never receives any admixture of well as by the men; and it would be considered an color into it, nor loses the blue and green; but has its genuine tinge, in the degrees from a very deep and dusky, to the palest imaginable of seawater hue. The beryl, in its perfect state, approaches to the hardness of garnet, but is often softer; and its size is from that of a small tare to that of a pea, a horse-bean, or even a walnut. It may be imitated by adding to twenty pounds of crystal glass, made without magnesia, six ounces of BEY. Denotes a governor of a country or town, calcined brass or copper, and a quarter of an ounce in the Turkish empire. The Turks write the word

offence, if those, to whom it is offered should refuse to except of and chew it. The leaves are sometimes used alone, but much more commonly when covered with a kind of lime made of sea-shell, and wrapped round slices of the areca nut, the fruit of the areca palm, of the size of a small egg, and resembling a nutmeg deprived of its husk.

begh, or bek, but pronounce it bey; it properly signifies lord, but is particularly applied to a lord of a banner, or standard, and is the badge of him who commands in a considerable place of some province.

BIBLE. The Book, a name given by Christians, in way of eminence to a collection of the sacred writings. This collection of the sacred writings, containing those of the Old and New Testament, is justly looked upon as the foundation of the Jewish as well as the Christian religion. The Jews, it is true, acknowledge only the scriptures of the Old Testament, the correcting and publishing of which are unanimously ascribed, both by the Jews and the Christians, to Ezra.

Wickliff, therefore, who was a strenuous opposer of the corruptions and usurpations of the church of Rome, and from whom we are to date the dawn of the Reformation in Great Britain, published a translation of the whole Bible in the English language; but not being sufficiently acquainted with the Hebrew and Greek languages to translate from the originals, he made his translation from the Latin Bibles, which were at that time read in the churches.

So offensive was this translation of the Bible, to those who were for taking away the key of knowledge, and means of better information, that a bill was brought into the house of lords for suppressing it. This bill, however, was rejected; but in the The principal translation of the Old Testament year 1408, in a convocation held at Oxford, it was into the Greek language, is that which is called the decreed, by a constitution, "That no one should Septuagint. This name is derived from the Latin thereafter translate any text of Holy Scripture into word Septuaginta, seventy, the version being related English, by way of a book, or little book, or tract; to have been made by seventy or seventy-two in- and that no book of this kind should be read that terpreters. It is recorded that, about the year be- was composed lately, in the time of John Wickliff, fore Christ 277, Ptolemy Philadelphus, being intent or since his death." This constitution led the way on forming a great library at Alexandria, in Egypt, to great persecution; and many persons were punsent to Eleazer, the high priest of the Jews, to re-ished severely, and some even with death, for readquest a copy of the Law of Moses; and, as he was ignorant of the Hebrew tongue, he further desired that some men of sufficient capacity might be sent to translate it into Greek.

ing the Scriptures in English.

During the sixteenth century, as the Reformation advanced, different translations of the Bible were made, the most distinguished of which was underThe messengers who went upon this errand, taken by royal command, and under the direction and carried with them many rich presents for the of archbishop Parker. Distinct portions, fifteen at temple, were received with great honor and respect, least, were allotted to as many persons, eminent for both by the high priest and all the people; and hav- their learning and abilities; they all performed the ing received a copy of the law of Moses, and six work assigned, and the whole was afterwards reelders having been assigned out of each tribe (sev-vised with great care by other critics. This transenty-two in all) to translate it, returned to Alex-lation was published in 1658, with a preface, which andria. Upon their arrival, the elders betook was written by the archbishop; and it is generally themselves to the work, and first translated the called the Bishop's Bible, because eight of the perPentateuch, afterwards the rest of the Old Testa- sous originally concerned in it were bishops. ment, into Greek. Whatever may be thought of the truth of this story, it is certain, that the trans-1603, before king James the first, between the lation called the Septuagint, was held in esteem and veneration almost equal to the original, and was not only used by the Jews in their dispersion through the Grecian cities, but approved by the great Sanhedrim at Jerusalem, and quoted and referred to by our blessed Saviour and his apostles. The Latin translations of the Bible were in early times extremely numerous, but they were chiefly made from the Septuagint, and not from the original Hebrew, until St. Jerome, who was well versed in the Hebrew language, observing the errors of the many Latin translations, and their frequent disagreement with the original, undertook an entirely new translation, and, with great care and exactness, translated from the Hebrew all the Old Testament except the psalms. This translation of St. Jerome was not universally received in the church; and at length another, which is composed of this and some former translations, and which is called, by the Romanists, the Ancient Vulgate, came into general

use.

There were several versions of the Bible into the Saxon tongue; but when the popes of Rome had established their spiritual tyranny, they forbade the reading of these translations; and in the fourteenth century, the common people had been so long deprived of the use of the Scriptures, that the latest of the translations were become unintelligible.

In the conference held at Hampton Court, in Episcopalians and Puritans, Dr. Reynolds, the speaker of the Puritans, requested his majesty, that a new translation of the Bible might be made, alleging that those which had been made in former reigns were incorrect. Accordingly his majesty formed the resolution of causing a new and more faithful translation to be made, and commissioned for that purpose fifty-four of the most learned men in the universities and other places.

At the same time, he required the bishops to inform themselves of all learned men within their several diocesses, who had acquired especial skill in the Hebrew and Greek tongues, and had taken pains, in their private studies of the Scriptures, for the clearing up of obscurities, either in the Hebrew, or the Greek, or for the correction of any mistakes in the former English translations; and to charge them to communicate their observations to the persons eniployed, that so, the intended translation might have the help and furtherance of all the principal learned men in the kingdom.

Before the work was begun, seven of the persons nominated for it, either were dead, or declined to engage in the task. The remaining forty-seven were ranged under six divisions, and several parcels of the Bible were assigned to them, according to the several places where they were to meet, confer, and consult together. Every one of the

company was to translate the whole parcel; then they were each to compare their translations together, and when any company had finished their part, they were to communicate it to the other companies, so that nothing might pass without general

consent.

If any company, upon a review of the book so sent, doubted or differed upon any place, they were to note the place, and send back the reasons for their disagreement. If they happened to differ about the amendments, the difference was to be referred to a general committee, consisting of the chief persons of each company, at the end of the work. When any passage was found remarkably obscure, letters were to be directed, by authority, to any learned persons in the land, for their judgment thereon.

The work was begun in the spring of 1607, and prosecuted with all due care and deliberation. It was about three years before it was finished. Two persons selected from the Cambridge translators, two from those at Oxford, and two from those at Westminster, then met at Stationers' Hall, and read over and corrected the whole. After long expectation, and great desire of the nation, this translation came forth, in the year 1611, the divines employed having taken the greatest pains in conducting the work, not only examining translations with the original, which was absolutely necessary, but also comparing together all the existing translations, in the Italian, Spanish, French, and other languages.

means of the Bible; otherwise called sortes biblicae,
or sortes sanctorum. It consisted in taking pas-
sages at hazard, and drawing indications thence
concerning things future. It was much used at the
consecration of bishops. It was a practice adopted
from the heathens, who drew the same kind of
prognostication from the works of Homer and Vir-
gil. In 465 the council of Vannes condemned
whoever practised this art to be cast out of the
communion of the church; as did the councils of
Agde and Auxerre. But in the twelfth century we
find it employed as a mode of detecting heretics.
In the Gallican church it was long practised in
the election of bishops; children being employed,
on behalf of each candidate, to draw slips of paper
with texts on them, and that which was thought
most favorable decided the choice. A similar mode
was pursued at the installation of abbots, and the
reception of canons: and this custom is said to
have continued in the cathedrals of Ypres, St.
Omer and Boulogne, so late as the year 1744. In
the Greek church, we read of the prevalence of
this custom so early as the consecration of Athana-
sius, on whose behalf the presiding prelate, Cara-
calla, archbishop of Nicomedia, opened the gospels
upon the words, 'For the devil and his angels.'
The bishop of Nice first saw them, and adroitly
turned over the leaf to another verse, which was
instantly read aloud: "The birds of the air came
and lodged in the branches thereof.' But this pas-
sage appearing irrelevant to the ceremony, the first
became gradually known; and the historian who
has recorded the fact, remarks, that the church of
Constantinople was violently agitated by the most
fatal divisions during the patriarchate.

This is the translation of the Holy Scriptures now in common use amongst us; and since that time there has been no authorised version of any part of the sacred volume. The excellency of it is such as might be expected, from the judicious BIBLIOMANIA. An extravagant passion for care with which it was conducted, and the joint books, and particularly those called curious or rare, labors of the many distinguished men employed from whatever cause; or a desire for accumulating upon it."It is," says Dr. Gray, "a most wonder-them beyond all reason and necessity; a passion at ful and incomparable work, equally remarkable for once well satirised and stimulated in the producthe general fidelity of its construction, and the mag-tions of the author of a modern work under this nificent simplicity of its language.” title.

BIBLIOGRAPHY. Was originally a branch BIBLISTÆ or BIBLISTS. An appellation of archoeography, or the art of describing or explain- given by Romish writers to those who profess, to ing antiquities, and denoted skill in the perusing adhere to Scripture alone as the sole rule of faith, and judging of ancient manuscripts; but in its mod- exclusive of all tradition, and the supposed authorern and more extended sense, it signifies the knowl-ity of the church. In this sense, all Protestants edge of books, in reference to the subjects discussed are, or ought to be biblists. The word among in them, their different degrees of rarity, curiosity, Christians, answers nearly to caraites or textuarites reputed and real value, the materials of which they among the Jews. But it arose more particularly are composed, and the rank which they ought to from the doctors being divided, towards the close hold in the classification of a library. Bibliography of the twelfth century, into two classes, viz. the belong to those sciences, the progress of which is biblici, and the scholastici; the former were called dependent, in a great degree, on external circum-doctors of the sacred page, because they explained stances. It has been and still is cultivated most successfully in France. This is owing not only to the riches of the great and daily increasing public libraries, liberally thrown open to the use of the public, the large number of fine private collections, and the familiarity of its numerous literary men with books of all ages and countries, but, in a great degree, to the practical spirit of the nation which induces their bibliographers to keep constantly in view the supply of existing wants.

the doctrines of Christianity in their manner by the sacred writings; their reputation, however, declined, and the scholastic theology prevailed in all the European universities till the time of Luther.

BIENNIAL PLANTS. Plants that last only two years. Numerous plants are of this tribe, which, being raised one year from seed, generally attain perfection either the same, or in about the period of a twelvemonth (a little less or more), and the following spring or summer they flower, and BIBLIOMANCY. Divination performed by perfect seeds; soon after which they commonly