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which abound in the close and densely populated quarter of Bethnal Green.'

26 June, 1663. By coach to Bednallgreen, to Sir W. Rider's to dinner. A fine merry walk with the ladies alone after dinner in the garden; the greatest quantity of strawberries I ever saw, and good. Pepys' Diary.

My father, shee said, is soone to be seene:
The seely blind beggar of Bednall-greene,
That daylye sits begging for charitie.
He is the good father of pretty Bessee.

The Beggar's Daughter of Bednall-Green. Percy's Relques. According to Percy, this popular old ballad was written in the reign of Elizabeth.]

'Twas August, and the fierce sun overhead

Smote on the squalid streets of Bethnal Green,

And the pale weaver, through his windows seen

In Spitalfields, looked thrice dispirited. Matthew Arnold. Bevis Marks. A thoroughfare in London, near Houndsditch. A part of the scene of Dickens's Old Curiosity Shop" is laid here.

I intended calling on you this morning on my way back from Bevis Marks, whither I went to look at a house for Sampson Brass. Charles Dickens to Mr. Forster. Bezetha. A hill in Jerusalem mentioned by Josephus, but not mentioned in the Bible. It is identified with a broad uneven ridge which extends north from the Haram, and descends into the Valley of Jehoshaphat. At the present time it is cultivated and covered with olive-trees. Bibiena, Cardinal. A portrait by Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520). In the Pitti Palace, Florence, Italy. Bibliotéca Ambrosiana. See AмBROSIAN LIBRARY.

Bibliotéca Casanatense. [Casanatense Library.] The largest library in Rome, next to that of the Vatican, named after its founder Cardinal Casanate, and kept in the Dominican convent of the Minerva, Sta. Maria sopra Minerva. It contains more than 120,000 bound volumes and 4,500 MSS.

Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal. One of the principal public libraries of Paris. Bibliothèque Mazarine. [Mazarin

Library.] One of the principal

public libraries of Paris, situated in the Palais de l'Institut. Its foundation was the library of Cardinal Mazarin, bequeathed by him to the city of Paris. Bibliothèque Nationale. [It has been known as the Bibliothèque du roi, Bibliothèque royale, nationale, impériale, according to the changes of government.] A public library in Paris, perhaps the richest and most extensive in the world. The collection is supposed to include 1,000,000 printed books, 1,300,000 engravings, 300,000 maps and charts, 150,000 MSS. The Palais Mazarin, originally the palace of the Cardinal Mazarin, was purchased for the library in 1724. Bicêtre. An ancient hospital near Paris, founded in 1364, was destroyed in the fifteenth century, but afterwards restored and converted into a hospital for old men and those afflicted with mental diseases. The name is a corruption of Winchester, a Bishop of Winchester having lived here in 1290. The word Bicêtre has passed into common language to express a notion of folly or extravagance. Thus the French say of one who gives himself up to acts of folly: "He has escaped from Bicêtre." Compare BEDLAM. Bielshöhle. A cave in the Harz Mountains, Germany, very interesting in a geological regard on account of the fossil remains found in it.

Big Ben. This is the largest bell in England. It hangs in the clock-tower of the new Houses of Parliament, in London. The first bell of this name was cast in 1856, but was cracked by being struck for amusement before it was raised to its place in the tower. The weight of this bell, which was broken up and re-cast, was more than 16 tons, its height 7 feet 10 inches, and its diameter at the mouth 9 feet 5 inches; the thickness of the metal at the sound bow was 9 inches. The present "Big Ben " was cast in 1857, and is slightly cracked. Its

weight is more than 13 tons. See | Birkenhead, The. An English

GREAT TOM (2).

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Biga, Sala della. See SALA DELLA BIGA.

Billingsgate. The noted fish-market of London, near London Bridge, long famous for the coarse language indulged in by the venders. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, the name Billingsgate was derived from Belin, king of the Britons about 400 B.C., who, says Geoffrey, built here a water-gate, with an immense tower above it, and a haven for ships beneath. The market was destroyed by fire in 1715, and rebuilt. A new market was erected in 1852, and it has been since rebuilt in 1856.

That strength of body is often equal to the courage of mind implanted in the fair sex, will not be denied by those who have seen the water-women of Plymouth; the female drudges of Ireland, Wales, and Scotland; the fisherwomen of Billingsgate. Goldsmith.

One may term Billingsgate the Esculine gate of London. Fuller. There stript, fair Rhetoric languish'd on the ground;

Her blunted arms by Sophistry are borne,
And shameless Billingsgate her robes
adorn.
Pope.

Some less fastidious Scotchman shall be
found.

As bold in Billingsgate, though less renown'd. Byron.

No song is heard, save, haply, the strain of some siren from Billingsgate, chanting the eulogy of deceased mackerel.

Irving.

While Lady Thrifty scolds in French. And Cis in Billingsgate. Praed. Bilton Hall. A noted mansion near Rugby, England, once the residence of Addison.

Birds of America. A series of drawings of American birds, of the size and color of life, by John James Audubon (1782-1851). Cuvier is said to have pronounced it (the book containing them)" the most gigantic and most magnificent monument that had ever been erected to Nature."

steamer employed to carry troops to South Africa, and wrecked off the Cape of Good Hope, Feb. 26, 1852. Less than 200 were saved out of more than 600 who were on board.

"The women and children to the boats,' says the captain of the Birkenhead; and, with the troops formed on the deck, and the crew obe. dient to the word of glorious command, the immortal ship goes down."

Thackeray.

But courage like this, or let us say the ever-memorable noble behavior of the soldiers on the sinking Birkenhedo, was not greater than was exhibited by those 20 poor nuns who, in the French Revolution, stood together on the scaffold chanting the Te Deum, till one by one the sweet voices dropped in silence beneath the axe of the guillotine. Frances Power Cobbe. Birmingham Tower. The ancient keep or ballium of the Castle of Dublin, Ireland, and the only part which now bears a character of antiquity. It is associated with many romantic histories. It is now used as the State Paper Office.

Birnam Hill and Wood. An eminence about 1,500 feet high, near the town of Dunkeld, and about 16 miles from Perth, Scotland. It is famous from its association with Shakespeare's tragedy of "Macbeth."

"Birnam hill is at present almost bare of trees, though an attempt is being made to clothe it again with fir saplings taken from the original 'Birnam wood.' In the rear of the hotel are two trees, an oak and a plane, which are believed to be a remnant of this famous forest." W. J. Rolfe.

I pull in resolution, and begin
To doubt the equivocation of the fiend
That lies like truth: Fear not till Bir-

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Birs Nimrood. A ruin in the neighborhood of ancient Babylon, thought to be the same as the Tower of Babel, or the Temple of Belus mentioned by Herodotus. This tower is over 2,000 feet in circumference at the base. The existing remains are of brick laid in beautiful masonry, and are some 28 feet in width. See TOWER OF BABEL.

"The tower of the great temple of Belus was amongst the most remarkable monuments of Babylon. Eight gradually diminishing stories gave it the look of a pyramid with enormous gradients. Upon the summit stood the temple, surmounted by a platform, where the priests assiduously devoted themselves to the study of the celestial bodies. They believed that science was the supreme aim of man, and was the crown of religion. This temple was still in existence in the second century of our era."

Lefevre, Trans.

"It is true that as it now stands, every brick bears the stamp of Nebochadnassar, by whom it was repaired, perhaps nearly rebuilt; but there is no reason for supposing that he changed the original plan, or that the sacred form of these temples had altered in the interval. It owes its more perfect preservation to the fact of the upper story having been vitrified after erection by some process we do not quite understand. This now forms a mass of slag which has to a great extent protected the lower stories from atmos. Fergusson. pheric influences."

Nav, the whole Encyclopédie, that world's wonder of the eighteenth century, the Belus Tower of an age of refined Illumination, what has it become! Carlyle. Birth of Venus. 1. A mythological fresco in the Vatican, Rome, designed by Raphael (1483-1520), and executed by his scholars.

2. A picture by Alexandre Cabanel (b. 1823). In the collection of H. C. Gibson, Philadelphia, Penn.

Bishopsgate. An old and quaint street in London.

Black Brunswicker. A picture by John Everett Millais (b. 1829). Black Butte. A natural curiosity in Wyoming Territory, being a mound of rock and earth standing on the level plain, one of the more celebrated of the hugel

monumental mountains which are found along the line of the Union Pacific Railroad in this part of its course.

Black Forest. An extensive wooded district in Germany, sloping down to the banks of the Rhine, and containing the most varied and beautiful scenery. The heights are covered with forests, and vegetation is most luxuriant in the valleys.

Black Forests, and the glories of Lubberland; sensuality and horror, the spectre nun, and the charmed moonshine, shall not be wanting. Carlyle

And you, with braided queues so neat,

Black-Forest maidens, slim and brown, How careful on the stoop's green seat You set your pails and pitchers down.

Ferdinand Freiligrath, Trans.

Black Hole. A small dungeon, so called, in Fort William, Calcutta. When Calcutta was captured by Surajah Dowlah, in June, 1756, he shut up at night in this confined and ill-ventilated space the British garrison of 146 men. The Black Hole was only 18 feet square; and the sufferings from heat, want of air, and thirst, were so terrible that but 23 of the prisoners were found alive in the morning. The Black Hole now serves as a warehouse. Mr. Holwell, one of those imprisoned, gives a narrative of the excruciating sufferings of the unfortunate garrison, in the "Annual Register for 1758.

Must the indomitable millions, full of old Saxon energy and fire, lie cooped up in this Western Nook, choking one another, as in a Blackhole of Calcutta, while a whole fertile untenanted Earth, desolate for want of the ploughshare, cries: Come Carlyle. and till me, come and reap me?

Black Maria. A name popularly applied to the covered van in which criminals are conveyed to and from the court-house and the jail in cities. It is often painted black.

Black Prince. An armor-plated ship of the British navy, launched Feb. 27, 1861.

Black Rod. The title of a gentleman-usher who bears a black rod surmounted with a gold lion, and who in the time of a parliament

ary session attends in the House | Blackfriars
of Lords, and summons the House
of Commons when a royal assent
is to be given, and on other occa-
sions.

The House, therefore, on the last day of the session, just before the Black Rod knocked at the door, unanimously resolved that William Fuller was a cheat and a false accuser. Macaulay

Black Rood [of Scotland]. A famous gold cross, believed to contain a piece of the true cross, brought to Scotland by Queen Margaret in 1067, and held in reverence by the whole Scottish people. Since the Reformation it has disappeared.

Black Stone of Mecca. A dark colored stone contained in a small oratory of the temple of the Caaba at Mecca, Arabia, and held in the utmost veneration by the Mohammedans as having been given by an angel to Abraham. See CAABA.

"To the idolatrous Arabs one of

the most ancient universal objects of worship was that Black Stone, still kept in the building called Caabah at Месса. Diodorus Siculus mentions this Caabah in a way not to be mis. taken, as the oldest, most honored temple in his time; that is, some half century before our Era. Silvestre de Sacy says there is some likelihood that

the Black Stone is an aërolite. In that case, some man might see it fall out of Heaven! It stands now beside the Well Zemzem: the Caabah is built over both." Carlyle. Black Virgin. See SHRINE OF THE BLACK VIRGIN. Blackfriars. The district in London between Ludgate Hill and the Thames, so called from the Dominican monks who built a monastery and church here. Here (June 21, 1529) was decided the divorce of Henry VIII. from Catherine of Arragon, and here assembled the parliament which condemned Cardinal Wolsey. Under Edward VI. part of the monastic buildings was converted into Blackfriars Theatre. See BLACKFRIARS THEATRE.

Dead long since, but not resting; daily doing motions in that Westminster region still, daily from Vauxhall to Blackfriars. and back again; and cannot get away at all! Carlyle.

Bridge. An iron bridge across the river Thames, at London, erected in 1760-69 by Robert Mylne, and rebuilt in 1867 by Cubitt.

Blackfriars Theatre. A play-
house in London, built in 1575
upon the site of the monastery of
Blackfriars. Shakespeare was
one of the proprietors, and acted
here in 1598. În 1655 the theatre
was taken down, and dwelling-
houses
were built upon the
ground.

In 1598 Ben Jonson's first and best
comedy, Every Man in his Humour, was
produced at the Blackfriars; and the au-
thor of King Henry the Fourth and Romeo
and Juliet might have been seen for two
pence by any London prentice who could
command the coin, playing an inferior
part, probably that of Knowell, in the new
play.
Richard Grant White.

In that year [1603] Ben Jonson's Sejanus was produced at the Blackfriars, and the author of Hamlet might have been seen playing a subordinate part in it. Richard Grant White.

Blackwell's Island. An island
within the city limits of New
York, noted for its penitentiary
and for its public hospitals.
Blair Castle.

The seat of the Duke of Athole, near Blair-Athole, in Scotland.

Blanche Nef. The ship in which William, the only son of Henry I. of England, with 140 noblemen was wrecked in 1120 upon the rocks of Barfleur, Normandy. Blarney Stone. About four miles north-west of the city of Cork, in Ireland, are the celebrated remains of the ancient Blarney Castle, in which is a wondrous stone, thought to possess the power of imparting to any one who kisses it a fluent, persuasive, and not over-honest tongue. The exact position of the stone in the ruins is a matter of dispute. Some say that it is lying loose on the ground; others allege that it is at the summit of the large square tower which was originally the donjon or keep of the castle; while there are yet others who maintain that it is inserted in the wall at such a height that he who would kiss it must consent to be

suspended by his heels from the top. When or how it first got its singular reputation is not known; but the superstition concerning it is firmly fixed in the minds of the Irish peasantry, hundreds of whom resort to the castle every year for the purpose of kissing a stone endued with a property so marvellous. It is said that, in the early part of the seventeenth century, the lord of Castle Blarney, having been taken prisoner by the English, made repeated promises that he would surrender the fortress; but, whenever the fulfilment of his pledges was demanded, he invented

some

smooth and plausible excuse for delay; and thus the term blarney became a byword, and was used to denote a soft, insinuating, and deceitful manner of speech.

"When or how the stone ob. tained its singular reputation, it is diffi cult to determine: the exact position among the ruins of the castle is also in doubt; the peasant-guides humor the visitor according to his capacity for climbing, and direct either to the summit or the base the attention of him who desires to 'greet it with a holy kiss.'" Mr. and Mrs. Hall.

There is a stone there
That whoever kisses,
O, he never misses
To grow eloquent.

Don't hope to hinder him
Or to bewilder him,
Sure he's a pilgrim
From the Blarney Stone.

R. A. Milliken.

O say, would you find this same 'Blarney' ? There's a castle, not far from Killarney, On the top of its wall

(But take care you don't fall)
There's a stone that contains all this Blar-
ney.

Like a magnet, its influence such is,
That attraction it gives all it touches;
If you kiss it, they say,
From that blessed day
You may kiss whom you please with your
Blarney.
Samuel Lover.

Blenheim. A noble mansion and estate at Woodstock, near Oxford, England. It was erected in the reign of Queen Anne, and was presented by the British Parliament to the Duke of Marlborough in commemoration of the victory achieved by him at the battle of Blenheim, Aug. 13, 1704.

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See, here's the grand approach,
That way is for his Grace's coach;
There lies the bridge, and there the clock,
Observe the lion and the cock;
The spacious court, the colonnade,
And mind how wide the hall is made;
The chimneys are so well designed,
They never smoke in any wind;
The galleries contrived for walking,
The windows to retire and talk in;
The council-chamber to debate,
And all the rest are rooms of state.
"Thanks, sir," cried I, "'tis very fine,
But where d'ye sleep, or where d'ye dine?
I find by all you have been telling,
That 'tis a house, but not a dwelling.

Swift. Blennerhasset's Island. A little island in the Ohio River, not far from Parkersburg, W. Va., celebrated as the residence of Harman Blennerhasset (1770-1831), a wealthy Irishman, who ruined his fortune by aiding Aaron Burr, of whose designs, suspected to be treasonable, he was an associate or accomplice.

Who is Blennerhasset? A native of Ireland, a man of letters, who fled from the storms of his own country, to find quiet in ours. On his arrival in America, he retired, even from the population of the Atlantic States, and sought quiet and solitude in the bosom of our western forests. But he brought with him taste, and science, and wealth, and "lo, the desert smiled!" Possessing himself of a beautiful island in the Ohio, he rears upon it a palace, and decorates it with every romantic embellishment of fancy. A shrubbery that Shenstone might have envied blooms around him. Music that might have charmed Calypso and her nymph is his. An extensive library spreads its treasi res before him. A philosophical apparatus offers to him all the secrets and mysteries of Nature. Peace, tranquillity, and innocence shed their mingled delights around him. Wm. Wirt. Blois Castle. An ancient royal fortress and residence in Blois, France, possessing great historic interest. It has been within a few years restored by the government to something like its former condition.

Blood of St. Januarius. In the Church of San Gennaro (St. Januarius), at Naples, are preserved in a tabernacle behind the altar,

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