BELLADONNA 476 BELLES -LETTRES on which h^d been suspended for a num- ber of years, was then approaching com- pletion. The lower floors were already- occupied by the Supreme Court in the Chamber, while in the other assembled the Freemen of the Province of Pennsyl- vania, then consisting of one body. A committee was appointed by the Free- men, with Peter Norris as chairman, and empowered to have a new bell cast for the building. The commission for the bell was, in the same year, awarded to Robert Charles, of London, the specifica- tion being that the bell should weigh 2,000 pounds and cost £100 sterling. It was to be made by the best workmen, to be examined carefully before being shipped, and to contain, in well shaped letters around it, the inscription: "By order of the Province of Pennsylvnia, for the State House in the City of Philadel- phia, 1752." An order was given to place underneath this the prophetic words from Leviticus xxv: 10: "Proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all the inhabitants thereof." The reason for the selection of this text has been a sub- ject of much conjecture, but the true reason is apparent when the full text is read: It is as follows: "And ye shall hallow the 50th year and proclaim lib- erty throughout the land and to all the inhabitants thereof." In selecting the text the Quakers had in memory the ar- rival of William Penn and their fore- fathers more than half a century before. In August, 1752, the bell arrived, but though in apparent good order, it was cracked by a stroke of the clapper while being tested. But it was also defective. It was again recast and a success, and was placed in position in June, 1753. On Monday, the 8th of July (not the 4th), at noon, true to its motto, it rang out the memorable message of "Liberty throughout the land and to all the in- habitants thereof." For 50 years the bell continued to be rung on every festi- val and anniversary, until it eventually cracked. Subsequently, it was placed on the original timbers in the vestibule of the State House, and, in 1873, it was suspended in a prominent position imme- diately beneath a larger bell, presented to the city in 1866. In 1893 it was taken to Chicago and placed on exhibition at the World's Columbian Exposition, and in 1915 to the Pan-Pacific Exposition, San Francisco. BELLADONNA, a European plant, atropa belladonna, or deadly nightshade, natural order solanacese. It is native in Great Britain. All parts of the plant are poisonous. The inspissated juice is com- monly known by the name of extract of belladonna. It is narcotic and poisonous, but is of great value in medicine, espe- cially in nervous ailments. It has the property of causing the pupil of the eye to dilate. The fruit of the plant is a dark, brownish-black shining berry. BELLAIBE, a city in Belmont cc, O.; on the Ohio river, and several rail- roads; 5 miles S. of Wheeling, W. Va. The river is here crossed by a costly iron railroad bridge. Bellaire is the center of a region rich in coal, iron, cement brick, clay, and limestone, and has manu- factories of stoves, glass, carriages, boil- ers, and foundry and machine shop prod ucts. The city has a National bank, high grade educational institutions, daily and weekly newspapers, etc. Pop. (1910) 12,946; (1920) 15,061. BELLEATJ WOOD, a forest in the vicinity of Chateau-Thierry, France, notable for a victory won there on July 6, 1918, by American marines and sol- diers. The wood was dense and heavily fortified and was defended by strong forces of Germans, but the Americans won a signal victory. See World War. BELLEEONTAINE, a village and county-seat of Logan co., O.; on the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis, and on the Toledo and Ohio Cen- tral railroads; 57 miles N. E. of Dayton. It occupies the highest elevation in the State and is surrounded by an agricul- tural region. There are extensive car shops, round house, switch yard, etc., of the "Big Four" railroad and numerous manufacturing plants. The village has two National banks; several daily and weekly newspapers. Pop. (1910) 8,238; (1920) 9,336. BELLE-ISLE (bel-el), or BELLE- ISLE-EN-MEB, a French island in the Bay of Biscay, department of Morbihan, 8 miles S. of Quiberon Point; length, 11 miles; greatest breadth, 6 miles. Pop. about 10,000, engaged in the pilchard fishing. The capital is Le Palais, on the N. E. coast. BELLE-ISLE, a rocky island 9 miles long, at the E. entrance to the Strait of Belle-Isle, the channel, 17 miles wide, between Newfoundland and the coast of Labrador. Steamers from Glasgow and Liverpool to Quebec around the N. of Ireland commonly go by this channel in summer as being the shortest route. There are two lighthouses. BELLES-LETTRES (bel-let'r), polite, or elegant literature: a word of some- what vague signification. Rhetoric, poetry, fiction, history, and criticism, with the languages in which the standard works in these departments are written.
