marched towards Ravenna. Before the siege of Rome was raised, Milan had declared for Belisarius. It was now besieged by Vitiges with a mixed army of Goths and Burgundians. The relief of Milan was of the utmost moment, and Belisarius's plans were interrupted, instead of being assisted by Narses, the general who had been sent with the last reinforcements from Constantinople. Narses was a Pers-Armenian eunuch, in the service of the palace, who claimed to know all Justinian's secret purposes; and who, as the emperor was jealous of Belisarius's power, was probably sent to watch him. He affected to hold an independent commission, and refused to obey Belisarius's orders. Milan was taken, the garrison spared, but the city razed to the ground.
Narses was, in the spring of 539, recalled, and Belisarius left in undisputed command. Vitiges had not ceased his communications with Justinian, and a treaty was signed at Constantinople, leaving him the title of king, the provinces beyond the Po, and half the treasures of Ravenna. The Goths distrusted every treaty which did not bear the signature of Belisarius; and he, determined to destroy the Gothic monarchy, and bring Vitiges a captive to Constantinople, refused to give it. The Goths, not understanding the conduct of Belisarius, proposed to dethrone Vitiges, and make Belisarius emperor of the West. Vitiges affected to abdicate in his favour. Belisarius allowed the Goths to act on the supposition of his assent, and thus obtained the surrender of Ravenna. As soon as this object was effected, he proclaimed his loyalty to the emperor. He and they, he said, were alike subjects. He returned to Constantinople, bringing with him the captive king of Italy. He was received with courtesy by the emperor, who, however, continued to regard him with jealousy and distrust, and availed himself of the invasion of Syria by the Persians to employ him at what he regarded as a safe distance. The Persian king was successful in most of his objects during the first year of the war thus commenced by him. In the second he was checked by the genius of Belisarius. An account, however, of these campaigns belongs more properly to the biography of Chosroes, or Nushirvan, to call him by his Persian name. Belisarius, after two years, was recalled. While in Persia, a report was spread of the emperor's death, and Belisarius expressed an opinion on the succession opposed to the emperor's views. Belisarius had become too powerful for Justinian's peace of mind. His wealth, too, offered a strong temptation to avarice. He had scarce returned from Persia, when his treasures were seized, his personal guards taken from his command, and he had no doubt that his death was resolved upon. A communication from the empress told him that his life was spared at the solicitation of Antonina. A fine of three thousand pounds, weight of gold was exacted from him. What the precise accusation against him was has not been recorded. Within a few months he was sent to Italy, which was again in arms. The emperor, no doubt, hoped some advantage there from the magic of his name; yet the mission must have seemed more like exile than anything implying high trust. The latter campaigns of Belisarius in Italy, though they are described as exhibiting great skill on the part of the general, were on the whole unsuccessful, as all his purposes were thwarted by the neglect of the emperor to send adequate supplies. Belisarius solicits his recall, and is recalled. Soon after his return, a conspiracy to murder the emperor was detected. Belisarius, as his chief supporter, was to have shared his fate.
Eleven years are now passed by him in private life, when the empire is invaded by barbarian hordes, whom the earlier historians call Bulgarians, but whom modern inquirers class with the family of Huns. They were actually within a few miles of Constantinople when Belisarius was summoned to the rescue. He succeeded in dispersing the tumultuous hosts, and saved the capital. Four years after this he was accused of participation in a conspiracy to murder the emperor. The wild word of a criminal under torture outweighed, in the estimate of his judges, the evidence which a life of almost romantic loyalty afforded. His life was spared, but his property confiscated. It is said that his eyes were put out, and there is no improbability in the narrative. Justinian always thought of him as a rival for the empire, and the laws of several countries annexed to blindness, however arising, the penalty—if it is to be so called—of incapacity to reign; and this expedient was frequently resorted to when it was wished to get rid of a competitor for the throne, without depriving him of life. Gibbon disbelieves the fact, as it is not mentioned in the earlier narratives; but it is not easy to imagine the prevalence of the tradition except on the supposition of its truth. However this be, he died in the spring of the following year (565). The great authority for the biography of Belisarius is the account of Justinian's Wars, by Procopius, Belisarius's secretary, and the same writer's Secret History. See also Gibbon, Lord Mahon (now Earl Stanhope), and Finlay—Greece under the Romans.—J. A., D.
BELL, Andrew, whose name is so honourably associated with the progress of education about the beginning of the present century, was born at St. Andrews in March, 1753. When he had finished his college course, he went to America, where he remained till 1781. On his return to Scotland, he determined to enter into holy orders, and soon became the pastor of the episcopal chapel at Leith, but being not altogether satisfied with his position, he determined to quit his native land and seek his fortune in India. Dr. Bell settled at Madras, and became, in the first instance, a lecturer on natural philosophy. He soon, however, obtained several offices in the way of his profession, and was, in 1788, appointed to be one of the company's chaplains at Fort St. George. About the time that Bell arrived at Madras, there was a proposal on foot for establishing a military orphan asylum, and it was from his connection with it that his fame subsequently arose. He organized the asylum, and conducted it for six years without fee or reward, watching over its interest with more than paternal solicitude. Amongst many other new features, or, at least, which were thought new, he had recourse to the plan of making the elder boys teach the younger, and in fact reduced the plan to a system. Reports of the orphan military asylum at Madras reached England, and they may possibly have fallen into the hands of Mr. Joseph Lancaster, who was beginning his educational career about this period. Fortunately or unfortunately—lis sub judice est—Bell and Lancaster were pitted against each other, and for many years the friends of education carried on an unseemly quarrel about their respective merits. Bell was the champion of the Church and the National Society, while Lancaster, mostly in the cause of Dissent, called into existence the British and Foreign School Society. Both societies are still in existence, and have done much good; though, as far as the operations of the schoolroom are concerned, the system on which they started has not been able to stand the test of time. Dr. Bell looked upon his system (and bishops, judges, and magistrates went into the extraordinary delusion) "as an engine of simple and easy construction, fitted for common and popular use, and giving that facility, expedition, and economy to the education of youth, which physical machinery had given to the arts and manufactures." It was this idea, and particularly the economy part of it, that gained so ready an acceptance for the monitorial system; but time that changes all things, has greatly changed it, and we can now only look back with wonder at the mighty results that even wise men expected to flow from such small causes. It was in 1797 that Dr. Bell returned to England, and according to his biography by Southey, he was then worth little short of £26,000. He left India on furlough, but he had not been long in England when he resolved not to return to the East, provided he could get a pension. He accordingly applied to the court of directors, and obtained £200 a year.
Rich patronage in the church followed, and for many years he employed himself in diffusing a knowledge of his system, and in helping to establish schools in all parts of the country, As a reward for his labours, he was made a prebendary of Westminster, and there his ashes finally reposed. "The inscription on his coffin-plate," as we are carefully informed by his biographers, "is Rev. Dr. Andrew Bell, D.D., LL.D., F.R.S.E.; died January 27, 1832, aged seventy-nine years. By his own request the inscription to be placed on his tombstone is to be simply—The Author of the Madras System of Education." Dr. Bell deserved well of his country and his kind. His true monument exists in the Madras college of St. Andrews, and copies of it, so to speak, are to be found in the schools he established in Cupar-of-Fife, in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leith, Aberdeen, and Inverness. These have done much for the children of the poor in those places, and they will keep the name of Dr. Bell green in the memory long after the distinctive features of "the Madras system" have passed away.—C. W. C.
BELL, Benjamin, a distinguished surgeon. He was educated at Edinburgh, and studied anatomy under the celebrated Monro. After travelling on the continent, he returned to Edin-
