RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Bellarmine Bells
enthroned in the temple at Jerusalem — thus endeavoring to dispose of the Protestant exposition which saw Antichrist in the pope. The fourth section sets forth the pope as the supreme judge in matters of faith and morals, though making the concessions (confirmed indeed by the Vatican Council) that the pope may err in questions of fact which may be known by ordinary human knowledge, and also when he speaks as a mere unofficial theologian, doctor privatus. His assertions are much more unbounded in the last part, which treats of the pope's power in secular matters. While he says that the pope has no direct jurisdiction in such things, he yet stoutly contends for the power of deposing kings, absolving subjects from their allegiance, and altering civil laws, when these actions are necessary for the good of the souls committed to the charge of the chief pastor.
Until 1589 Bellarmine was occupied altogether as professor of theology, but that date marked the beginning of a new epoch in his life and of new dignities. After the murder of Henry III of France Sixtus V sent Gaetano as legate to Paris to negotiate with the League, and chose Bellarmine to accompany him as theologian; he was in the city during its siege by Henry of Navarre. The next pope, Clement VIII (1591-1605), set great store by him. He wrote the preface to the new edition of the Vulgate, and wns made rector of the Roman College in 1592, examiner of bishops 3. New Du- in 1598, cardinal in 1599, and in 1602 ties after archbishop of Capua. He had written 1589. Con- strongly against pluralism and nontroversial residence, and he set a good example Writings, himself by leaving within four days for his diocese, where he devoted himself zealously to his episcopal duties, and firmly executed the reforming decrees of the Council of Trent. Under Paul V (1605-21) arose the great conflict between Venice and the papacy, in which Fra Paolo Sarpi was the spokesman of the Republic, protesting against the papal interdict, reasserting the principles of Constance and Basel, and denying the pope's authority in matters secular. Bellarmine wrote three rejoinders to the Venetian theologians, and at the same time possibly saved Sarpi's life by giving him warning of an impending murderous attack. He soon had occasion to cross swords with a more prominent antagonist, James I of England, who prided himself on his theological attainments. Bellarmine had written a letter to the. English archpriest Blackwell, reproaching him for having taken the oath of allegiance in apparent disregard of his duty to the pope. James attacked him in 1608 in a Latin treatise, which the scholarly cardinal answered at once, making merry with delicate humor over the defects of the royal Latinity. James replied with a second attack in more caieful style, dedicated to the Emperor Rudolph II and all the monarchs of Christendom, in which he posed as the defender of primitive and truly Catholic Christianity. Bellarmine's answer to this covers more or less the whole controversy. In reply to a posthumous treatise of William Barclay, the celebrated Scottish jurist, he wrote another Tractatus de potestate summi pontificis in rebus tem-
poralibus, which reiterated his strong assertions on the subject, and was therefore prohibited in France, where it agreed with the sentiments of neither the king nor the bishops. He was among the theologians consulted on the teaching of Galileo when it first made a stir at Rome. In his old age he was allowed to return to his old home, Montepulciano, as its bishop for four years, after which he retired to the Jesuit college of St. Andrew in Rome. He received some votes in the conclaves which elected Leo XI, Paul V, and Gregory XV, but only in the second case had he any prospect of election. Since his death the members of his order have more than once attempted to procure his canonization, but without success. The best of the older editions of his works is that in seven vols., Cologne, 1617; recent ones are those of Paris, 1870-74, and Naples, 1872. (A. Hatjck.)
Bibliography: A list of the works of Bellarmine is given. in H. Hurter, Nomenclator literarius, i, 273 sqq., Innsbruck, 1892. His autobiography, written in 1613, was issued in Lat. at Rome, 1675, at Louvain, 1753, and in Lat. and Germ., ed. J. J. I. von Dollinger and F. H. Reusch, Bonn, 1887; it was used in MS. by J. Fuligatti, Vita del Cardinale R. Bellarmino, Rome, 1624. The lives by D. Bartoli, Rome, 1677, N. Frizon, Nantes, 1708, and F. Hense, Paderborn, 1868, are mere eulogies and add nothing of value; indeed it is said that the autobiography and the works founded upon it have done much to prevent Bellarmine's canonization. Consult Niceron, Memoires, xxxi, 1 sqq.; J. B. Couderc, Le Venerable Cardinal Bellarmin, 2 vols., Paris, 1893.
BELLOWS, HENRY WHITNEY: American. Unitarian; b. in Boston June 11, 1814; d. in New York Jan. 30, 1882. He was graduated at Harvard 1832, and at the Cambridge Divinity School 1837;: was ordained pastor of the First Congregational Society (Unitarian), Chambers Street, New York, Jan. 2, 1838, and remained there till death; during; his pastorate the church was twice moved, to Broadway between Spring and Prince Streets and the name changed to the Church of the Divine Unity, and again to 4th Avenue and 20th Street,, where it took the name of All Souls' Church. Dr. Bellows was the organizer, president, and chief administrator of the United States Sanitary Commission (1862-78), and during the Civil War he superintended with rare efficiency the distribution of supplies valued at $15,000,000 and $5,000,000' in money; at a later period he was president of the first civil service reform association organized in the country. He was president of the National Unitarian Conference 1865-79. He wrote much for the periodicals of his denomination and" was the chief originator of The Christian Inquirer (New York, 1846) and for five years its principal contributor. He also published a number of books, of merely personal and transient interest.
BELLS: The use of bells as adjuncts to Christian worship was not without precedent in pre- Christian times. Among the Jews the vestment of the high priest was adorned with little bells (Ex. xxviii, 33); and among the pagans the priests of Proserpine announced the beginning of the sacrifice by ringing bells. There is no evidence of early Christian use of them to summon people to prayer; this seems to have been done by word of mouth, even as late as Tertullian and Jerome,
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