dox belief.

BEKKER, IMMANUEL, philologist, born in Berlin, and professor in
Halle; classical textual critic; issued recensions of the Greek and Latin
classics (1780-1871).

BEL AND THE DRAGON, HISTORY OF, one of the books of the Apocrypha, a
spurious addition to the book of Daniel, relates how Daniel persuaded
Cyrus of the vanity of idol-worship, and is intended to show its
absurdity.

BELA I., king of Hungary from 1061 to 1063; an able ruler;
introduced a great many measures for the permanent benefit of the
country, affecting both religion and social organisation.

BELA IV., king of Hungary, son of Andreas II., who had in 1222 been
compelled to sign the Golden Bull, the _Magna Charta_ of Hungarian
liberty; faithfully respected the provisions of this charter, and
incurred the enmity of the nobles by his strenuous efforts to subdue them
to the royal power.

BELCH, SIR TOBY, a reckless, jolly, swaggering character in "Twelfth
Night."

BELCHER, SIR EDWARD, admiral, was engaged in several exploring and
surveying expeditions; sailed round the world, and took part in the
operations in China (1812-1877).

BELFAST (256), county town of Antrim, and largest and most
flourishing city in the N. of Ireland; stands on the Lagan, at the head
of Belfast Lough, 100 m. N. of Dublin; is a bright and pleasant city,
with some fine streets and handsome buildings, Presbyterian, Catholic,
and Methodist colleges. It is the centre of the Irish linen and cotton
manufactures, the most important shipbuilding centre, and has also
rope-making, whisky, and aerated-water industries. Its foreign trade is
larger than even Dublin's. It is the capital of Ulster, and head-quarters
of Presbyterianism in Ireland.

BELFORT (83), a fortified town in dep. of Haut-Rhin, and is its
capital, 35 m. W. by N. of Basel; capitulated to the Germans in 1870;
restored to France; its fortifications now greatly strengthened. The
citadel was by Vauban.

BELGAE, Caesar's name for the tribes of the Celtic family in Gaul N.
of the Seine and Marne; mistakenly rated as Germans by Caesar.

BELGIUM (6,136), a small European State bordering on the North Sea,
with Holland to the N., France to the S., and Rhenish Prussia and
Luxemburg on the E.; is less than a third the size of Ireland, but it is
the most densely populated country on the Continent. The people are of
mixed stock, comprising Flemings, of Teutonic origin; Walloons, of Celtic
origin; Germ