oress. Among her plays are _The Forced Marriage_,
_Abdelazer_, _The Rover_, _The Debauchee_, etc., and her novels include
_Oronoko_ and _The Nun_. The former of these was the first book to bring
home to the country a sense of the horrors of slavery, for which let her
have credit.

BELL, HENRY GLASSFORD (1805-1874).--Poet and historian, was a member of
the Scottish Bar, and became Sheriff of Lanarkshire. He wrote a _Life of
Mary Queen of Scots_ (1830), strongly in her defence, and two vols. of
poetry, _Summer and Winter Hours_ (1831), and _My Old Portfolio_, the
latter also containing pieces in prose.

BELLENDEN, or BALLANTYNE, JOHN (_fl._ 1533-1587?).--Poet, _b._ towards
the close of the 15th century, and _ed._ at St. Andrews and Paris. At the
request of James V. he translated the _Historia Gentis Scotorum_ of
Boece. This translation, _Chroniklis of Scotland_ is a very free one,
with a good deal of matter not in the original, so that it may be almost
considered as a new work. It was _pub._ in 1536, and is the earliest
existing specimen of Scottish literary prose. He also translated the
first five books of Livy. He enjoyed the Royal favour, and was Archdeacon
of Moray. He latterly, however, became involved in controversy which led
to his going to Rome, where he _d._, according to one account, about
1550. Another authority, however, states that he was living in 1587.

BENTHAM, JEREMY (1748-1832).--Writer on jurisprudence and politics, _b._
in London, _s._ of a prosperous attorney, _ed._ at Westminster and
Oxford, was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn, but disliking the law, he
made little or no effort to practise, but devoted himself to physical
science and the theory of jurisprudence. In 1776 he _pub._ anonymously
his _Fragment on Government_, an able criticism of Blackstone's
_Commentaries_, which brought him under the notice of Lord Shelburne, and
in 1780 his _Introduction to Principles of Morals and Legislation_. Other
works were _Panopticon_, in which he suggested improvements on prison
discipline, _Discourse on Civil and Penal Legislation_ (1802),
_Punishments and Rewards_ (1811), _Parliamentary Reform Catechism_
(1817), and _A Treatise on Judicial Evidence_. By the death of his _f._
he inherited a competency on which he was able to live in frugal
elegance, not unmixed with eccentricity. B. is the first and perhaps the
greatest of the "philosophical radicals," and his fundamental principle
is utilitarianism