enth day was the only true sabbath. This caused some division in the society, and Beissel retired to a hermitage on the banks of the Cocalico. His friends soon joined him, and in 1728 they founded the first community of Seventh-day Dunkers, or German Seventh-day Baptists. In 1783 Beissel established, at what is now the village of Ephrata, a monastic society, which at one time numbered nearly 300. The habit of the Capuchins was adopted by both sexes, and celibacy was considered a virtue, though not made obligatory. Each member adopted a new name, and Beissel was called Friedsam, to which the community afterward added the title of Gottrecht. He seems to have been sincerely devout, though whimsical, was an excellent musician, and composed and set to music several volumes of hymns in German and Latin (1766-'73). He also published a mystical dissertation on the fall of man, and a volume of letters. He left several curiously decorated manuscript volumes. Soon after the death of its founder, the society at Ephrata began to decline, and few of the original features are now to be found there. The principal settlement of the sect founded by Beissel is at Snowhill, Franklin co., Pa.
BELANGER, Solomon, Canadian voyager, d.
in the parish of St. Jacques de I'Archigan, Quebec,
in April, 1863. He was one of the French Canadians that accompanied Sir John Franklin in his
first expedition toward the north pole, and on one
occasion (14 Sept., 1821) saved the explorer's life.
A canoe in which they were crossing a rapid stream
overset, and Belanger held it while Franklin and
a companion took their positions again. Owing to
the violence of the current, Belanger was obliged
to remain in the water and was rescued with great
difficulty. On another occasion he was accused by
Franklin of attempting to persuade one of his
hunters to leave him, before which he had been
esteemed highly by the explorer. See Franklin's
"Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea in 1819-'22 "(London, 1823).
BELCHER, Jonathan, governor of Massachu-
setts and New Jersey, b. 8 Jan., 1681; d. in Elizabethtown, N. J., 31 Aug., 1757. He was the son of Andrew Belcher, one of the provincial council,
and a gentleman of large estate. Jonathan was
graduated at Harvard in 1699, spent six years in
Europe, where he visited the court of Hanover
twice, and by making the acquaintance of the
Princess Sophia and her son, afterward George I.
of England, prepared the way for his future advancement. Having returned to Boston and become a merchant there, in 1729 he was sent to
England as the agent of the colony, and on Gov.
Burnet's death in 1730 he was appointed governor
of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, which office
he held for eleven years, distinguishing himself by
his hospitality and style of living. He wished the
assembly to vote him a fixed salary of $5,000 a
year, and dissolved it when it refused to do so;
but, although he tried to gain over members of influence by the distribution of offices, he was finally
obliged to accept a grant for one year only. This
contest, together with some unnecessary assumption of authority and freedom in censure, gained
him many enemies, and in consequence of popular
clamor he was removed in 1741. It is also claimed
that his enemies resorted to unfair means. However this may be, he easily succeeded in vindicating himself at court, whither he went immediately, was promised the first vacancy in America, and in 1747 was appointed governor of New Jersey.
Here his government was successful, for, though
he found the province in confusion and the two
branches of the legislature at odds, by prudence
and firmness he secured comparative quiet. He
enlarged the charter of the college of New Jersey,
and was its chief patron and benefactor, giving it,
among other presents, his valuable library. See
Hutchinson's "History of Massachusetts Bay"
(Boston, 1764); Smith's "History of the Colony of New Jersey" (Burlington, 1765); Belknap's "History of New Hampshire" (Philadelphia, 1784); and Belcher's letters, 1731-'40, in the "New England Historical and Genealogical Register" (1865).—His son, Jonathan, jurist, b. in Boston, 28 July, 1710; d. in Halifax, N. S., 29 March, 1776. He was graduated at Harvard in 1728, and then went to London, where he studied law in the Temple and attained eminence at the English bar. He was one of the first settlers at Chibucto (afterward called Halifax), and in 1760, being senior councillor, was appointed lieutenant-governor on the death of Gov. Lawrence. He held this office until 1763, and in 1761 was also appointed chief justice of the province. In the same year, as commander-in-chief, he made a treaty with the Indians.—Andrew, son of the second Jonathan, was a prominent citizen of Halifax, and a member of the council in 1801.—Sir Edward, son of Andrew, British explorer, b. in Halifax, N. S., in 1799 ; d. 18 March, 1877. He entered the royal British navy as a midshipman at the age of thirteen, was present at the battle of Algiers, and served afterward on the African station, whence he returned home invalided in 1820. Having next served on the North American station for three years, he was selected in 1825 as assistant surveyor to Capt. F. W. Beechey, then about to sail for Behring strait in the "Blossom " on his voyage of discovery. Belcher was made a commander in 1829, was engaged in 1830 upon a survey of the coast of Africa, and from 1836 till 1842 on a survey of the Pacific in H. M. S. "Sulphur." During this voyage he circumnavigated the globe and did important work in taking soundings of the Canton river. He was rewarded with a commission as post-captain and the companionship of the order of the bath in 1841, and was knighted in 1843. Pie was engaged chiefly on the East Indian station from 1842 till 1849, and was severely wounded while assisting to subdue the pirates of Borneo. In 1852 he was appointed to command an expedition to the Arctic ocean in search of Sir John Franklin. This was an unfortunate appointment, for Belcher, though an able officer, was personally unpopular, and the expedition did not succeed in its object, though it brought back McClure's party, who had been ice-bound for three years. Four of Belcher's ships were abandoned in the ice with what has been thought unnecessary haste. One of these, the "Resolute," was afterward found floating in open water by Capt. Buddington, of New London, Conn., and was purchased by congress, refitted, and presented to the British government. On his return Belcher was tried by court-martial and acquitted; but he was never employed again, though he rose, in course of seniority, to the rank of admiral in 1872. He was also made a K. C. B. in 1867. He published a "Treatise on Nautical Surveying," which was long a standard work (1835); "Narrative of a Voyage round the World " (1843); "Narrative of the Voyage of H. M. S. Samarang" (1848); "The Last of the Arctic Voyages" (1855); and "Horatio Howard Brenton, a Naval Novel" (1856). He also edited Smyth's "Naval Word-Book" (1867).
BELCHER, Joseph, author, b. in Birmingham, England, 5 April, 1794; d. in Philadelphia, 10 July, 1859. He was a Baptist clergyman, and came to
