His collected works did not appear until 1568. The early death of the French Ovid, as he has been called, was a serious loss to European literature, for Joachim du Bellay was at the height of his power, and still rapidly advancing. His poems have a force, an occasional sublimity, and a direct pathos for which we look in vain among his contem poraries ; and none but Ronsard excelled him in facility and grace. His most famous poem, Un Vanneur de Ble aux Vents, one of the loveliest lyrics of the age, was written shortly before his death, and appeared in the Jeux Rustiques in 1560 ; it is nominally a paraphrase from the Latin of Xaugerius. The standard edition of the French works of Joachim du Bellay is that published in 2 vols. by Lemerre in 1866, and edited by Ch. Marty- Laveaux. Spenser translated sixty of Du Bellay s Roman sonnets into English, and published them in 1591. A very delicate essay on the poet will be found in Mr W. H. Pater s Studies in the History of the Renaissance,
1873.BELLE-ISLE-EN-MER, an island on the W. coast of France, belonging to the department of Morbihan. It is about 10 miles in length by 4 or 5 in breath, and is divided into the four communes of Palais, Bangor, Porte Philippe, and Locmaria. The inhabitants are principally engaged in agriculture and the fisheries, and in the preservation of sardines, anchovies, &c. The breed of draught horses in the island is highly prized. The chief town, Palais, is a military town of the first class, and possesses a port which is accessible to vessels of 300 tons. It is evident that Belle-isle must have been inhabited from a very early period, as it possesses several rude stone monuments of the class usually called Druidic. The Roman name of the island seems to have been Vindilis, which in the Middle Ages became corrupted to Guedel. In 1572 the monks of the abbey of St Croix at Quimperle sold the island to the Retz family, in whose favour it was raised to a marquisate in the following year. From 1761 to 1763 it was held by English troops. Under Napoleon I. the refortification of the island was undertaken, but it was never completed. In the state prison of Nouvelle Force at Palais political prisoners have been at various times confined. The popu lation of Palais in 1870 was 3375, of the island rather under 10,000. The lighthouse is situated in 47 18 43" X. lat. and 3 4 43" W. long.
BELLEAU, Remy, French poet of the Renaissance, and member of the Pleiad, was born at Xogent-le-Rotrou in 1528. He became attached to the Elbceufs, and accom panied the head of the family in the expedition against Naples in 1557, where he did good military service. On his return he was made tutor to the young Charles, marquis d Elboeuf, who, under Belleau s training, became a great patron of the muses. Belleau was extremely learned in the newly-discovered literature of Greece and Rome, and joined the young group of poets with ardour. In 1556 he published the first translation of Anacreon which appeared in French, but this work had no great success. He first became famous through his commentaries to Ronsard s Amours in 1560, notes which evinced delicate taste and prodigious learning. Like Ronsard and Du Bellay, he was extremely deaf. His days passed peacefully in the midst of his books and friends, and terminated on the 6th of March 1577. His body was buried in the nave of the Grands Augustins de Paris, and was borne to the tomb on the pious shoulders of four illustrious poets, Ronsard, J. A. de Baif, Philippes Desportes, and Amadis Jarnyn. His greatest work is La Bergeric, a pastoral in prose and verse, written in a faded rococo style, in imitation of Sannazaro, but containing, as Sainte-Beuve says, some adorable things. Belleau was the French Herrick, full of picturesqueness, warmth, and colour, but of doubtful taste and wanting in passion. His skies drop flowers and all his air is perfumed, but one becomes weary at last of this excess of sweetness. Extremely popular in his own age, he became undeservedly forgotten in the next. Regnier said, " Belleau ne parlc pas comme onparle a la ville; " and his lyrical beauty was lost on the trim 17th century. His complete works were collected in 1578, and contain, besides the Anacreon, La Bergerie, and miscellaneous odes and sonnets, a comedy entitled La Reconnue, in short rhymed lines, which is not without humour and life. This was one of the earliest productions of the French stage. The best edition of Remy Belleau is that published by Jannet in 1867, in 3 vols., and edited by A. Gouverneur.
BELLENDEN, John, a Scotch poet, and the translator of Boece s History, was born about the beginning of the 16th century, probably in East Lothian. He appears to have been educated, first at the University of St Andrews and then at that of Paris, where he took the degree of doctor. From his own statement we learn that he had been in the service of James V. from the king s earliest years, and that the post he held was clerk of accounts. It was at the request of James that he undertook his translations of Boece and of Livy. As a reward for his labours he was appointed to the archdeaconry of Moray, and was also made a canon of Ross. Belleuden, who was a strenuous oppo nent of the Reformation, is said to have died at Rome in 1550. His translation of Boece, which is a remarkable specimen of Scottish prose, distinguished by its freedom and vigour of expression, appears to have been first pub lished in 1536. The best edition is that superintended by Mr Maitland, 2 vols. 4to, Edin., 1821. The same gentle man edited for the first time (Edin., 1822) Bellenden s translation of Livy, which extends only to the first five books. The few poetical remains exhibit considerable taste and skill in versification.
BELLENDEN, William, a distinguished classical scholar, who flourished during the early part of the 17th century, is said to have been a professor at the University of Paris. Xothing is known with certainty of his life, except that he held the office, probably a sinecure, of Master of Requests. The first of the works by which he is known was published in 1608, with the title Ciceronis Princeps, Rationes et Consilia bene gerendi firmandique Imperii, ex Us repetita quce ex Ciceronis defluxere fontibus in libros xvi. de Statu Rerum Romanarum, qui nondum lucem acceperunt. It is a laborious compilation of all Cicero s remarks on the origin and principles of regal government, digested and syste matically arranged. In 1612 there appeared a similar work, devoted to the consideration of consular authority and the Roman senate, Ciceronis Consul, Senator, Sena- tusque Romanus. His third work, De Statu Prisci Grbis, 1615, is a good outline of general history. All three works were combined in a single large volume, entitled De Statu Libri Tres, 1615, which was first brought into due notice by Dr Parr, who, in 1787, published an edition with a preface, famous for the elegance of its Latinity and the vehemence of its politics. The greatest of Bellenden s works is the extensive treatise published posthumously in 1633, Gulielmi Bdlendeni Scoti, Magistri supplicinn Libellonnn Augusti Regis Magnw Britanmae, de tribus Luminibus Romanorum libri sexdecim. The book is un finished, and treats only of the first luminary, Cicero ; the others intended were apparently Seneca and Pliny, probably the younger. It contains a most elaborate history of Rome and its institutions, drawn from Cicero, and thus forms a well-arranged storehouse of all the historical notices con tained in that voluminous author. It has been suspected that Middleton was indebted for much of the information contained in his Life of Cicero to Bellenden s little known work.
