HELPER BELTRAMI 511 men enjoy considerable freedom. The Bra- hooees speak a dialect resembling those of the Punjaub, and are shorter and stouter than the Belooches. They are somewhat less addicted to rapine and plunder than the others, and are said to be hospitable and observant of prom- ises. The government is under various heads, of whom the khan of Kelat is leader in time of war, and a kind of feudal chief in peace. Beloochistan was formerly subject to Persia and afterward to Afghanistan, but in the latter part of the last century the tribes shook oft" their dependence on the Afghans. At the time of the British expedition into Afghanis- tan the British forced the Bolan pass. The Belooches harassed the troops considerably ; and in 1840 an expedition was sent against Kelat to chastise them, which was done effect- ually, but no permanent occupation was made. HELPER (formerly eaupoire), a town of Derbyshire, England, on the Derwent and the Midland railway, 7 m. N. of Derby ; pop. in 1871, 11,156. It is well built, and one of the most flourishing towns of Derbyshire. The Strutt cotton works employ over 2,000 persons, and there are also manufactories of silk and cotton hosiery, nails, and brown earthenware. BELSIIAM. I. Thomas, an English Unitarian divine and author, born at Bedford in April, 1750, died at Hampstead, Nov. 11, 1829. He was educated at the dissenters 1 academy at Daventry, of which he was principal from 1781 to 1789, also preaching at Daventry. In 1789 he embraced Unitarianism, and after spending nearly 11 years as pastor of the Gravel Pit congregation, he was called to the metropolis, and settled in 1805 as pastor of Essex street chapel, London, where the re- maining 24 years of his life were spent. Mr. Belsham wrote a great deal in assertion and vindication of Unitarianism, including "Evi- dences of the Christian Revelation," a "Trans- lation of the Epistles of Paul the Apostle, with an Exposition and Notes," and a reply to Mr. Wilbertbrce's " Practical View." Among his contributions to general literature, his " Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind and of Moral Philosophy " (London, 1801), in which, with David Hartley, he re- solves all mental phenomena into the associa- tion of ideas, is best known. II. William, a historical writer, brother of the preceding, born at Hammersmith in 1752, died Nov. 17, 1827. He was a whig in politics, and well acquainted with the leaders of that party. In 1789 he commenced his literary course by pub- lishing " Essays, Historical, Political, and Lit- erary " (2 vols.). To these succeeded essays on various subjects, chiefly political, and sev- eral works which appeared between 1793 and 1801, and were finally reproduced in a col- lective edition as a " History of Great Britain to the Conclusion of the Peace of Amiens " (12 vols. 8vo, 1806). BELSHAZZAR (Chal. BeMatztzar). See BAB- YLON. 85 VOL. ii. 33 BELSFNCE, or Belznnee, Henri Francois Xavler de, a French Jesuit, born at Pe'rigord, Dec. 4, 1671, died in Marseilles, June 4, 1755. At an early age he became a Jesuit, was made grand vicar of Agen, and in 1709 bishop of Marseilles. During the pestilence which devastated his see in 1720-'21, Belsunce displayed charity and unselfishness to a degree that drew upon him the encomiums of all Europe. He is especially referred to in Pope's "Essay on Man." In consideration of his services at this period, he was offered the bishopric of Laon, and also the archbishopric of Bordeaux, but refused both. He was, however, the recipient of many hon- ors, both from the pope and the king. In his later years he became involved in disputes with the Jansenists, whom he attacked with much zeal in various writings. He founded a Jesuit college which bears his name. BELT, Great and Little, the name given to two of the three channels which connect the Baltic with the Cattegat, and through it with the North sea. The Great Belt is about 50 m. long, 18 m. in medium width, and from 6 to 26 fathoms deep. It lies between the islands of Seeland and Funen, the shores of which present no striking features, but are lined with safe harbors. Navigation is diffi- cult at all seasons on account of many danger- ous shoals and sand banks, and in winter it is still further obstructed by floating ice, though the swiftness of the current prevents the strait from being often frozen over. Lighthouses have been erected on the shores ; and on the small island of Sprogo, which lies in the mid- dle of the channel, and which the action of the waves is gradually wearing away, there is, be- sides a light, a small building for the shelter of crews of such small vessels as may be ice- bound in the attempt to pass through the strait. The Little Belt separates Funen from Schleswig and Jutland. It is also about 50 m. long, from 1,000 yards to 12 ra. wide, and from 5 to 30 fathoms deep. The shores are low and regular, and the current rapid. It is frozen over from December to April, and navigation at other seasons is attended with the same dan- gers as in the Great Belt. Large vessels usu- ally pass through the Sound, which is the only channel except the Belts between the Catte- gat and the Baltic. BELTANE, or Belteln, a kind of festival, still celebrated in parts of Ireland and Scotland on the 1st of May, and supposed to be as old as the remotest period of druidical supremacy. The name signifies the fire of Bel or Baal, and the custom was probably an offshoot and rem- nant of oriental worship. To the Beltane may be referred the practice of lighting fires on midsummer eve in England, in honor of the summer solstice. BELTIS, or ISilit, a goddess of the Babylo- nians. See MYLITTA. BELTRAMI, a N. W. county of Minnesota ; pop. in 1870, 80. Red lake in the N. W. part discharges into the Red river of the North, and
