BELL, GEORGE JOSEPH (177o-1843), Scots jurist, born at Edinburgh on March 20, 1770, an elder brother of Sir Charles Bell, became advocate in 1791. He was one of the earliest and best friends of Francis Jeffrey. In 1804 he published a Treatise on the Law of Bankruptcy in Scotland which he enlarged and published in 1826 as Commentaries on the Law of Scotland and on the principles of Mercantile Jurisprudence—an institutional work of the highest excellence, praised by such jurists as Story and Kent. In 1821, Bell was elected professor of the law of Scot land at Edinburgh, and in 1831 appointed one of the principal clerks in the Supreme Court. He was put at the head of a com mission in 1833 to enquire into the Scottish bankruptcy law; through the reports of the Commissioners, chiefly his handiwork, useful alterations were made. He died on Sept. 23, 1843. Bell's treatise, Principles of the Law of Scotland, became a textbook for students. The Illustrations of the Principles is also a work of high value. He is one of the four institutional authors who are cited as "authorities" in the Scots courts.