BELL-THE-CAT. A name given to Sir Art'hibalcl Doiislas, who, when certain Scottish lords were considering how to remove the up- start mason, Cochrane, from .Tames lU.'s favor, answered "That will I," to the inquiry, "Who n-ill hell the cat?"
BELL-TOWER. A tower built to contain
one or more large bells in connection with re-
ligious or civil structures. The use of bells for
calling religious or political gatherings, or an-
nouncing times and seasons, does not seem to
have obtained in antiquity. Public criers and
heralds were the main announcers, as the muez-
ciHs still are in the Kast. Small bells, rung by
hand, were used, however, by the early Christians.
It is certain that wliile large towers were erected
in connection with churches as early as the .Fifth
and Sixth centuries, the use of large bells sus-
pended in towers did not become general until
much later, probably toward the close of the
Kighth Century. Pope Stephen Til. (7GS-772)
erected a bell-tower with .3 bells at Saint Peter's,
and Leo IV. (847-8.5.'5) did the same for Saint
Andrew's at Pvome. For the bell-tower of Charle-
magne's Cathedral at Aix-la-Chapelle, Taneho,
of Saint (4all, cast a bell weighing apparently
between 400 and .500 pounds. These dimensions
were increased, until bells weighing from 2000
to 3000 pounds were east in the Eleventh and
Twelfth, centuries, but it was not until the Thir-
teenth Century that any great weight was
reached. Therefore, evcTi after bells were placed
in towers, they remained for centuries so small
that the size, imi)ortance, and position of the
church-towers caiuiot have been governed by
their use as bell-towers, but rather by other
considerations. In support of this we read in
the aecoint of the original plan for the Monastery of Saint Gall that the round towers were od iiniversa inspicicnda for a general lookout. And even as late as the Twelfth and Thirteenth centuries there is an upper story in church-towers, above the belfry story, which
is the 'crow's-nest,' where the watchman stands.
Originally there were two ways of grouping the
tower with the church : it was either a separate
structure, as in the round and square towers of
the Fifth and Sixth centuries at Ravenna; or
it was part of tlie facade, like the one or two
towers at the end or ends of the facade at Shak-
ka, Turmanin, and other churches of Syria, also
of the Fifth and Sixth centuries. The type of
the separate tower prevailed in Italy in its
campfDiUi : the attached towers in the rest of
Europe. The comparative freedom allowed in
designing such structures, the rivalry in regard
to their size and richness between monasteries,
cathedrals, and even communities, make of the
church-towers of the Romanesque and Gothic
eras the most characteristic and finished product
of each architectural school. For details see
Towers.
There are several other terms in use for constructions supporting bells: Belfry (q.v.). which is either a civil bell-tower or the wooden fr.nnie supporting the bell : hell-fialle. a flat piece of wall or gable pierced with an opening for a bell; hell-cote, a small steeple that does not break out much from the general design: hell-turret, usually octagonal or circular, and of high, slender proportions, on a small scale.
BELLUNO, bel-lrnj'nu (anciently liclunum).
An episcopal citv, capital of the Province of Bel-
luno, in north Italy (.Map: Italy, G 1). It is
situated on a high tongue of land, formed by the
confluence of the Ardo and the Piave, 72 miles
ncuth of Venice. Noteworthy among the 14
churches is the cathedral, modeled on the Pal-
ladium, and containing some excellent paint-
ings. The campanile is 217 feet high. The chief
manufactures are silk, straw, leather, and wax: the
iprincipal trade is in silk, lumber, wine, and fruit.
Poiiulation, in 1881, 10,000; in 1001, 19,000.
BELLUNO, DuivE of. See Victob, CLAroB
Perkin.
BELL'WOET. See Campanula.
BEL-MEEODACH, bel mer'6-dak. See SIe-
EOD.VCir.
BEL'MONT. A village in Mississippi
County, SIo., on the Mississippi River, oppo-
site Columbus, Ky., and on the Saint Louis,
Iron Mountain and .Southern Railroad (Map:
Missouri, (i 5). In the summer of 18(51 Belmont
became the site of a Confederate camp. On
November 7 General Grant, then in command at
Cairo, 111., moved upon it with about 3000 troops,
and after four hours of fighting captured and
destroyed it. Meanwhile General Polk sent
General Pillow with a Confederate reinforcement
across the river, and Grant was forced to fight
his way back to his transports. The total Con-
federate force engaged was about 7000. The
losses in killed, wounded, and missing were, for
the Federals, 485, and for the Confederates, 642.
BELMONT. A village and county-seat of
Allegany t'ounty, N. Y., about 00 miles west
by north of Elmira; on the (jenesee River and
oil the Erie Railroad (Map: New York, B 3).
It is the centre of an agricultural community,
and luis tiour-mills, iron-works, machine-shop,
etc. Popul.ation, in 1890, 950; in 1900, 1190.
BELMONT, August (18IG-90). An Ameri-
can financier. He was born in Alzey, Germany;
was for several years employed in the banking
house of the Rothschilds at Frankfort and Na-
ples, and removed to New York as their repre-
sentative in 1837. He was consul-general for
Austria from 1844-.50, and in 1853 was appointed
by President Pierce charge d'affaires at The
Hague, where he afterwards became Minister
Resident, resigning in 1858. He was interested
in politics, and was chairman of the National
Democratic Committee from 1800 to 1872. He
was prominent on the turf, and as a patron of
art, and owiied a fine collection of paintings.
BELMONT, Charles. A young man-about-
town in Moore's play. The Foiindlhiri. He res-
cues a child from the hands of a villain, brings
her up in his own home, falls in love with
her, and eventually marries her. She is dis-
co'ered, in the denouement, to be the daughter
of Sir Charles Raymond. Garrick achieved much
siiccess in the role.
BELMONT, Perry (1851 — ). An American lawyer, son of August Belmont. He was born in New York, graduated at Harvard in 1872, and at the Columbia College Law School in 1870: was admitted to the bar, and practiced
law in New York until 1881. He was a member of Congress as a Democrat in 1881-87; was chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in
