The Nuttall Encyclopaedia
by
Edited by Rev. James Wood
Part 5 out of 53
and 5 m. broad; once a forest, then a marsh; drained in 1632, and now
fertile, producing hemp, flax, rape, &c.
AXIM, a trading settlement on the Gold Coast, Africa, belonging to
Britain; belonged to Holland till 1871.
AX`OLOTL, a batrachian, numerous in Mexico and the Western States,
believed to be in its preliminary or tadpole state of existence.
AX`UM, capital of an Ethiopian kingdom in Abyssinia, now in ruins,
where Christianity was introduced in the 4th century, and which as the
outpost of Christendom fell early before the Mohammedan power.
AYACU`CHO, a thriving town in Peru, founded by Pizarro in 1539,
where the Peruvians and Colombians achieved their independence of Spain
in 1824, and ended the rule of Spain in the S. American continent.
AYA`LA, PEDRO LOPEZ D', a Spanish soldier, statesman, and
diplomatist, born in Murcia; wrote a "History of the Kings of Castile,"
which was more than a chronicle of wars, being also a review of them; and
a book of poems entitled the "Rhymes of the Court" (1332-1407).
AYE-AYE, a lemur found in the woods of Madagascar.
AYESHA, the daughter of Abubekr, and favourite wife of Mahomet, whom
he married soon after the death of Kadijah; as much devoted to Mahomet as
he was to her, for he died in her arms. "A woman who distinguished
herself by all manner of qualities among the Moslems," who is styled by
them the "Mother of the Faithful" (see KADIJAH). She was, it is
said, the only wife of Mahomet that remained a virgin. On Mahomet's death
she opposed the accession of Ali, who defeated her and took her prisoner,
but released her on condition that she should not again interfere in
State matters (610-677).
AYLES`BURY (9), a borough and market-town in Buckinghamshire, 40 m.
NW. of London, in an agricultural district; supplies the London market
with ducks.
AYLMER, JOHN, tutor to Lady Jane Grey, bishop of London, a highly
arbitrary man, and a friend to neither Papist nor Puritan; he is
satirised by Spenser in the "Shepherd's Calendar" (1521-1594).
AYLOFFE, SIR JOSEPH, English antiquary, born in Sussex (1708-1781).
AYMA`RAS, the chief native race of Peru and Bolivia, from which it
would appear sprang the Quinchuas, the dominant people of Peru at the
time of the Spanish conquest; attained a high degree of civilisation, and
number to-day 500,000.
AYMON, THE COUNT OF DORDOGNE, the father of four sons, Renaud,
Guiscard, Alard, and Richard, renowned in the legends of chivalry, and
particularly as paladins of Charlemagne.
AY`MAR-VER`NAY, a peasant of Dauphine, who in the 17th century
professed to discover springs and treasures hid in the earth by means of
a divining rod.
AYR (23), the county town of Ayrshire, at the mouth of a river of
the same name, a clean, ancient town, its charter, granted by William the
Lion, dating from 1200; well built, with elegant villas in the suburbs, a
good harbour and docks for shipping; famous in early Scottish history,
and doubly so among Scottish towns as the birthplace near it of Robert
Burns.
AYR`ER, JACOB, a German dramatist in the 16th century, of the style
of HANS SACHS (q. v.).
AYRSHIRE (226), a large and wealthy county in the W. of Scotland,
bordered on the W. by the Firth of Clyde, agricultural and pastoral, with
a large coal-field and thriving manufactures; its divisions, Carrick, to
the S. of the Doon; Kyle, between the Doon and the Irvine, and
Cunningham, on the N.; concerning which there is an old rhyme: "Kyle for
a man, Carrick for a coo, Cunningham for butter and cheese, Galloway for
'oo."
AYTON, SIR ROBERT, a poet of considerable merit, a native of Fife,
born at Kinaldie, who made his fortune by a Latin panegyric to King James
I. on his accession; was on friendly terms with the eminent literary men
of his time, Ben Jonson in particular; his poems are written in pure and
even elegant English, some in Latin, and have only recently been
collected together (1571-1638).
AYTOUN, WILLIAM EDMONDSTOUNE, poet and critic, a native of
Edinburgh, professor of Rhetoric and English Literature in Edinburgh
University, author of the "Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers"; he was also
editor, along with Sir Theodore Martin, of the "Gaultier Ballads," an
admirable collection of light verse (1813-1865).
AZEGLIO, MARCHESE D', an Italian patriot and statesman, native of
Turin; wounded at Vicenza in 1848, fighting for Italian independence;
entered the Piedmontese Parliament, was Victor Emanuel's right-hand man,
retired in favour of Cavour; he was not altogether engrossed with
politics, being an amateur in art (1798-1866).
AZERBIJAN (2,000), prov. of Armenian Persia, S. of the river Aras,
with fertile plains, cattle-breeding, and rich in minerals.
AZORES, i. e. Hawk Islands (250), a group of nine volcanic islands
in the Atlantic, 800 m. W. of Portugal, and forming a province of it; are
in general mountainous; covered with orange groves, of which the chief
are St. Michael's and Fayal; and 900 m. W. of it, in the latitude of
Lisbon; the climate is mild, and good for pulmonary complaints; they were
known to the Carthaginian mariners, but fell out of the map of Europe
till rediscovered in 1431.
AZOV, SEA OF, an opening from the Black Sea, very shallow, and
gradually silting up with mud from the Don.
AZ`RAEL, the angel of death according to Rabbinical tradition.
AZ`TECS, a civilised race of small stature, of reddish-brown skin,
lean, and broad featured, which occupied the Mexican plateau for some
centuries before the Spaniards visited it, and were overthrown by the
Spaniards in 1520.
AZUNI, DOMINICO ALBERTO, an Italian jurist, born in Sardinia;
president of the Court of Appeal at Genoa; made a special study of
maritime law; author of "Droit Maritime de l'Europe" (1729-1827).
AZYMITES, the name given to a party in the Church who insisted that
only unleavened bread should be used in the Eucharist, and the
controversy hinged on the question whether the Lord's Supper was
instituted before the Passover season was finished, or after, as in the
former case the bread must have been unleavened, and in the latter
leavened.
B
BAADER, FRANZ XAVIER VON, a German philosopher, born at Muenich; was
patronised by the king of Bavaria, and became professor in Muenich, who,
revolting alike from the materialism of Hume, which he studied in
England, and the transcendentalism of Kant, with its self-sufficiency of
the reason, fell back upon the mysticism of Jacob Boehme, and taught in
16 vols. what might rather be called a theosophy than a philosophy, which
regarded God in Himself, and God even in life, as incomprehensible
realities. He, however, identified himself with the liberal movement in
politics, and offended the king (1765-1841).
BA`AL (meaning Lord), _PL_. BAALIM, the principal male divinity
of the Canaanites and Phoenicians, identified with the sun as the great
quickening and life-sustaining power in nature, the god who presided over
the labours of the husbandman and granted the increase; his crowning
attribute, strength; worshipped on hill-tops with sacrifices, incense,
and dancing. Baal-worship, being that of the Canaanites, was for a time
mixed up with the worship of Jehovah in Israel, and at one time
threatened to swamp it, but under the zealous preaching of the prophets
it was eventually stamped out.
BAAL`BEK (i. e. City of Baal, or the Sun), an ancient city of
Syria, 35 m. NW. of Damascus; called by the Greeks, Heliopolis; once a
place of great size, wealth, and splendour; now in ruins, the most
conspicuous of which is the Great Temple to Baal, one of the most
magnificent ruins of the East, covering an area of four acres.
BAALISM, the name given to the worship of natural causes, tending to
the obscuration and denial of the worship of God as Spirit.
BABA, ALI, the character in the "Arabian Nights" who discovers and
enters the den of the Forty Thieves by the magic password "SESAME"
(q. v.), a word which he accidentally overheard.
BABA, CAPE, in Asia Minor, the most western point in Asia, in
Anatolia, with a town of the name.
BABBAGE, CHARLES, a mathematician, born in Devonshire; studied at
Cambridge, and professor there; spent much time and money over the
invention of a calculating machine; wrote on "The Economy of Manufactures
and Machinery," and an autobiography entitled "Passages from the Life of
a Philosopher"; in his later years was famous for his hostility to street
organ-grinders (1791-1871).
BABBINGTON, ANTONY, an English Catholic gentleman; conspired against
Elizabeth on behalf of Mary, Queen of Scots, confessed his guilt, and was
executed at Tyburn in 1586.
BAB-EL-MANDEB (i. e. the Gate of Tears), a strait between Asia and
Africa forming the entrance to the Red Sea, so called from the strong
currents which rush through it, and often cause wreckage to vessels
attempting to pass it.
BABER, the founder of the Mogul empire in Hindustan, a descendant of
Tamerlane; thrice invaded India, and became at length master of it in
1526; left memoirs; his dynasty lasted for three centuries.
BABES IN THE WOOD, Irish banditti who infested the Wicklow Mountains
in the 18th century, and were guilty of the greatest atrocities. See
CHILDREN.
BABIS, a modern Persian sect founded in 1843, their doctrines a
mixture of pantheistic with Gnostic and Buddhist beliefs; adverse to
polygamy, concubinage, and divorce; insisted on the emancipation of
women; have suffered from persecution, but are increasing in numbers.
BABOEUF, FRANCOIS NOEL, a violent revolutionary in France,
self-styled Gracchus; headed an insurrection against the Directory,
"which died in the birth, stifled by the soldiery"; convicted of
conspiracy, was guillotined, after attempting to commit suicide
(1764-1797).
BABOO, or BABU, name applied to a native Hindu gentleman who
has some knowledge of English.
BABOON, LEWIS, the name Arbuthnot gives to Louis XIV. in his
"History of John Bull."
BA`BRIUS, or GABRIUS, a Greek poet of uncertain date; turned
the fables of AEsop and of others into verse, with alterations.
BABY-FARMING, a system of nursing new-born infants whose parents may
wish them out of sight.
BABYLON, the capital city of Babylonia, one of the richest and most
magnificent cities of the East, the gigantic walls and hanging gardens of
which were classed among the seven wonders of the world; was taken,
according to tradition, by Cyrus in 538 B.C., by diverting out of their
channel the waters of the Euphrates, which flowed through it and by
Darius in 519 B.C., through the self-sacrifice of Zophyrus. The name was
often metaphorically applied to Rome by the early Christians, and is
to-day to great centres of population, such as London, where the
overcrowding, the accumulation of material wealth, and the so-called
refinements of civilisation, are conceived to have a corrupting effect on
the religion and morals of the inhabitants.
BABYLO`NIA, the name given by the Greeks to that country called in
the Old Testament, Shinar, Babel, and "the land of the Chaldees"; it
occupied the rich, fertile plain through which the lower waters of the
Euphrates and the Tigris flow, now the Turkish province of Irak-Arabi or
Bagdad. From very early times it was the seat of a highly developed
civilisation introduced by the Sumero-Accadians, who descended on the
plain from the mountains in the NW. Semitic tribes subsequently settled
among the Accadians and impressed their characteristics on the language
and institutions of the country. The 8th century B.C. was marked by a
fierce struggle with the northern empire of Assyria, in which Babylonia
eventually succumbed and became an Assyrian province. But Nabopolassar in
625 B.C. asserted his independence, and under his son Nebuchadnezzar,
Babylonia rose to the zenith of its power. Judah was captive in the
country from 599 to 538 B.C. In that year Cyrus conquered it for Persia,
and its history became merged in that of Persia.
BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY, the name given to the deportation of Jews from
Judea to Babylon after the capture of Jerusalem by the king of Babylon,
and which continued for 70 years, till they were allowed to return to
their own land by Cyrus, who had conquered Babylon; those who returned
were solely of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi.
BACCHANALIA, a festival, originally of a loose and riotous
character, in honour of Bacchus.
BACCHANTES, those who took part in the festival of Bacchus, confined
originally to women, and were called by a number of names, such as
Maenads, Thyads, &c.; they wore their hair dishevelled and thrown back,
and had loose flowing garments.
BAC`CHUS, son of Zeus and Semele, the god of the vine, and promoter
of its culture as well as the civilisation which accompanied it;
represented as riding in a car drawn by tame tigers, and carrying a
THYRSUS (q. v.); he rendered signal service to Zeus in the war
of the gods with the GIANTS (q. v.). See DIONYSUS.
BACCHYL`IDES, a Greek lyric poet, 5th century B.C., nephew of
Simonides and uncle of Eschylus, a rival of Pindar; only a few fragments
of his poems extant.
BACCIO DELLA PORTO. See BARTOLOMEO, FRA.
BACCIO`CHI, a Corsican officer, who married Maria Bonaparte, and was
created by Napoleon Prince of Lucca (1762-1841).
BACH, JOHANN SEBASTIAN, one of the greatest of musical composers,
born in Eisenach, of a family of Hungarian origin, noted--sixty of
them--for musical genius; was in succession a chorister, an organist, a
director of concerts, and finally director of music at the School of St.
Thomas, Leipzig; his works, from their originality and scientific rigour,
difficult of execution (1685-1750).
BACHE, A. DALLAS, an American physicist, born at Philadelphia,
superintended the coast survey (1806-1867).
BACHELOR, a name given to one who has achieved the first grade in
any discipline.
BACIL`LUS (lit. a little rod), a bacterium, distinguished as being
twice as long as it is broad, others being more or less rounded. See
BACTERIA.
BACK, SIR GEORGE, a devoted Arctic explorer, born at Stockport,
entered the navy, was a French captive for five years, associated with
Franklin in three polar expeditions, went in search of Sir John Ross,
discovered instead and traced the Great Fish River in 1839, was knighted
in 1837, and in 1857 made admiral (1796-1878).
BACKHUY`SEN, LUDOLPH, a Dutch painter, famous for his sea-pieces and
skill in depicting sea-waves; was an etcher as well as painter
(1631-1708).
BACON, DELIA, an American authoress, who first broached, though she
did not originate, the theory of the Baconian authorship of Shakespeare's
works, a theory in favour of which she has received small support
(1811-1859).
BACON, FRANCIS, LORD VERULAM, the father of the inductive method of
scientific inquiry; born in the Strand, London; son of Sir Nicholas
Bacon; educated at Cambridge; called to the bar when 21, after study at
Gray's Inn; represented successively Taunton, Liverpool, and Ipswich in
Parliament; was a favourite with the queen; attached himself to Essex,
but witnessed against him at his trial, which served him little; became
at last in succession Attorney-General, Privy Councillor, Lord Keeper,
and Lord Chancellor; was convicted of venality as a judge, deposed, fined
and imprisoned, but pardoned and released; spent his retirement in his
favourite studies; his great works were his "Advancement of Learning,"
"Novum Organum," and "De Augmentis Scientiarum," but is seen to best
advantage by the generality in his "Essays," which are full of practical
wisdom and keen observation of life; indeed, these show such shrewdness
of wit as to embolden some (see _SUPRA_) to maintain that the
plays named of Shakespeare were written by him (1561-1626).
BACON, ROGER, a Franciscan monk, born at Ilchester, Somerset; a
fearless truth-seeker of great scientific attainments; accused of magic,
convicted and condemned to imprisonment, from which he was released only
to die; suggested several scientific inventions, such as the telescope,
the air-pump, the diving-bell, the camera obscura, and gunpowder, and
wrote some eighty treatises (1214-1294).
BACON, SIR NICHOLAS, the father of Francis, Lord Bacon, Privy
Councillor and Keeper of the Great Seal under Queen Elizabeth; a prudent
and honourable man and minister, and much honoured and trusted by the
queen (1510-1579).
BACSANYI, JANOS, a Hungarian poet; he suffered from his liberal
political opinions, like many of his countrymen (1763-1845).
BACTE`RIA, exceedingly minute organisms of the simplest structure,
being merely cells of varied forms, in the shape of spheres, rods, or
intermediate shapes, which develop in infusions of organic matter, and
multiply by fission with great rapidity, fraught, as happens, with life
or death to the higher forms of being; conspicuous by the part they play
in the process of fermentation and in the origin and progress of disease,
and to the knowledge of which, and the purpose they serve in nature, so
much has been contributed by the labours of M. Pasteur.
BAC`TRIA, a province of ancient Persia, now BALKH (q. v.),
the presumed fatherland of the Aryans and the birthplace of the
Zoroastrian religion.
BACTRIAN SAGE, a name given to Zoroaster as a native of Bactria.
BACUP (23), a manufacturing town in Lancashire, about 20 m. NE. of
Manchester.
BADAJOZ` (28), capital of a Spanish province of the name, on the
Guadiana, near the frontier of Portugal; a place of great strength;
surrendered to Soult in 1811, and taken after a violent and bloody
struggle by Wellington in 1812; the scene of fearful outrages after its
capture.
BADAKANS, a Dravidian people of small stature, living on the
Nilghiri Mountains, in S. India.
BADAKHSHAN` (100), a Mohammedan territory NE. of Afghanistan, a
picturesque hill country, rich in minerals; it is 200 m. from E. to W.
and 150 from N. to S.; it has been often visited by travellers, from
Marco Polo onwards; the inhabitants, called Badakhshans, are of the Aryan
family and speak Persian.
BADALO`NA (15), a seaport 5 m. NE. of Barcelona.
BA`DEN (4), a town in the canton of Aargau, Switzerland, 14 m. NW.
of Zurich, long a fashionable resort for its mineral springs; also a town
near Vienna.
BAD`EN, THE GRAND-DUCHY OF (1,725), a German duchy, extends along
the left bank of the Rhine from Constance to Mannheim; consists of
valley, mountain, and plain; includes the Black Forest; is rich in
timber, minerals, and mineral springs; cotton fabrics, wood-carving, and
jewellery employ a great proportion of the inhabitants; there are two
university seats, Heidelberg and Freiburg.
BADEN-BADEN (13), a town in the duchy of Baden, 18 m. from Carlsruhe
and 22 from Strassburg, noted for its hot mineral springs, which were
known to the Romans, and is a popular summer resort.
BAD`ENOCH, a forest-covered district of the Highlands of Scotland,
45 m. long by 19 broad, traversed by the Spey, in the SE. of
Inverness-shire; belonged originally to the Comyns, but was forfeited by
them, was bestowed by Bruce on his nephew; became finally the property of
the Earl of Huntly.
BADI`A-Y-LABLICH, a Spaniard, born at Barcelona; travelled in the
East; having acquired a knowledge of Arabic and Arab customs, disguised
himself as a Mohammedan under the name of Ali-Bei; his disguise was so
complete that he passed for a Mussulman, even in Mecca itself; is
believed to be the first Christian admitted to the shrine of Mecca; after
a time settled in Paris, and wrote an account of his travels (1766-1818).
BADRINATH, a shrine of Vishnu, in N.W. India, 10,000 ft. high; much
frequented by pilgrims for the sacred waters near it, which are believed
to be potent to cleanse from all pollution.
BAEDEKER, KARL, a German printer in Coblenz, famed for the
guide-books to almost every country of Europe that he published
(1801-1859).
BAER, KARL ERNST VON, a native of Esthonia; professor of zoology,
first in Koenigsberg and then in St. Petersburg; the greatest of modern
embryologists, styled the "father of comparative embryology"; the
discoverer of the law, known by his name, that the embryo when developing
resembles those of successively higher types (1792-1876).
BAFFIN, WILLIAM, an early English Arctic explorer, who, when acting
as pilot to an expedition in quest of the N.W. Passage, discovered
Baffin Bay (1584-1622).
BAFFIN BAY, a strait stretching northward between N. America and
Greenland, open four months in summer to whale and seal fishing;
discovered in 1615 by William Baffin.
BAGDAD (185), on the Tigris, 500 m. from its mouth, and connected
with the Euphrates by canal; is the capital of a province, and one of the
most flourishing cities of Asiatic Turkey; dates, wool, grain, and horses
are exported; red and yellow leather, cotton, and silk are manufactured;
and the transit trade, though less than formerly, is still considerable.
It is a station on the Anglo-Indian telegraph route, and is served by a
British-owned fleet of river steamers plying to Basra. Formerly a centre
of Arabic culture, it has belonged to Turkey since 1638. An imposing city
to look at, it suffers from visitations of cholera and famine.
BAGEHOT, WALTER, an English political economist, born in Somerset, a
banker by profession, and an authority on banking and finance; a disciple
of Ricardo; wrote, besides other publications, an important work, "The
English Constitution"; was editor of the _Economist_; wrote in a vigorous
style (1826-1877).
BAGGE`SEN, JENS EMMANUEL, a Danish poet, travelled a good deal,
wrote mostly in German, in which he was quite at home; his chief works, a
pastoral epic, "Parthenais oder die Alpenreise," and a mock epic, "Adam
and Eve"; his minor pieces are numerous and popular, though from his
egotism and irritability he was personally unpopular (1764-1826).
BAGHELKAND, name of five native states in Central India, Rewah the
most prosperous.
BAGHE`RIA, a town in Sicily, 8 m. from Palermo, where citizens of
the latter have more or less stylish villas.
BAGIR`MI, a Mohammedan kingdom in Central Africa, SE. of Lake Tehad,
240 m. from N. to S. and 150 m. from E. to W.
BAGLIO`NI, an Italian fresco-painter of note (1573-1641).
BAGLI`VI, GIORGIO, an illustrious Italian physician, wrote "De Fibra
Motrice" in defence of the "solidist" theory, as it is called, which
traced all diseases to alterations in the solid parts of the body
(1667-1706).
BAGNERES, two French towns on the Pyrenees, well-known
watering-places.
BAGNES, name given to convict prisons in France since the abolition
of the galleys.
BAGRA`TION, PRINCE, Russian general, distinguished in many
engagements; commanded the vanguard at Austerlitz, Eylau, and Friedland,
and in 1812, against Napoleon; achieved a brilliant success at Smolensk;
fell at Borodino (1765-1812).
BAGSTOCK, JOE, a "self-absorbed" talking character in "Dombey &
Son."
BAHA`MAS, THE (47), a group of over 500 low, flat coral islands in
the W. Indies, and thousands of rocks, belonging to Britain, of which 20
are inhabited, and on one of which Columbus landed when he discovered
America; yield tropical fruits, sponges, turtle, &c.; Nassau the capital.
BAHAR (263), a town on the Ganges, 34 m. SE. of Patna; after falling
into decay, is again rising in importance.
BAHAWALPUR (650), a feudatory state in the NW. of India, with a
capital of the name; is connected administratively with the Punjab.
BAHI`A, or San Salvador (200), a fine city, one of the chief
seaports of Brazil, in the Bay of All Saints, and originally the capital
in a province of the name stretching along the middle of the coast.
BAHR, an Arabic word meaning "river," prefixed to the name of many
places occupied by Arabs.
BAeHR, FELIX, classical scholar, burn at Darmstadt; wrote a "History
of Roman Literature," in high repute (1798-1872).
BAHREIN` ISLANDS (70), a group of islands in the Persian Gulf, under
the protection of Britain, belonging to Muscat, the largest 27 m. long
and 10 broad, cap. Manamah (20); long famous for their pearl-fisheries,
the richest in the world.
BAHR-EL-GHAZAL, an old Egyptian prov. including the district watered
by the tributaries of the Bahr-el-Arab and the Bahr-el-Ghazal; it was
wrested from Egypt by the Mahdi, 1884; a district of French Congo lies W.
of it, and it was through it Marchand made his way to Fashoda.
BAIAE, a small town near Naples, now in ruins and nearly all
submerged; famous as a resort of the old Roman nobility, for its climate
and its baths.
BAIF, a French poet one of a group of seven known in French
literature as the "Pleiade," whose aim was to accommodate the French
language and literature to the models of Greek and Latin.
BAIKAL, a clear fresh-water lake, in S. of Siberia, 397 m. long and
from 13 to 54 wide, in some parts 4500 ft. deep, and at its surface 1560
ft. above the sea-level, the third largest in Asia; on which sledges ply
for six or eight months in winter, and steamboats in summer; it abounds
in fish, especially sturgeon and salmon; it contains several islands, the
largest Olkhin, 32 m. by 10 m.
BAIKIE, W. BALFOUR, an Orcadian, born at Kirkwall, surgeon in the
Royal Navy; was attached to the Niger Expedition in 1854, and ultimately
commanded it, opening the region up and letting light in upon it at the
sacrifice of his life; died at Sierra Leone (1825-1864).
BAILEY, NATHAN, an early English lexicographer, whose dictionary,
very popular in its day, was the basis of Johnson's; _d_. 1742.
BAILEY, PHILIP JAMES, English poet, born in Nottingham; author of
"Festus," a work that on its appearance in 1839 was received with
enthusiasm, passed through 11 editions in England and 30 in America, was
succeeded by "The Angel World," "The Mystic," "The Universal Hymn," and
"The Age"; he has been rated by some extravagantly high; _b_. 1816.
BAILEY, SAMUEL, an English author, born in Sheffield, a
liberal-minded man, a utilitarian in philosophy, who wrote on psychology,
ethics, and political economy, and left a fortune, acquired in business,
to his native town (1787-1870).
BAILLIE, JOANNA, a poetess, born at Bothwell, child of the
Presbyterian manse there; joined a brother in London, stayed afterwards
with a sister at Hampstead; produced a series of dramas entitled "Plays
of the Passions," besides many others, both comedies and tragedies, one
of which, the "Family Legend," was acted in the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh,
under the auspices of Sir Walter Scott; she does not stand high either as
a dramatist or a writer (1762-1851).
BAILLIE, LADY GRIZEL, an heroic Scotch lady, famous for her songs,
"And werena my heart licht I wad dee" is well known (1665-1740).
BAILLIE, MATTHEW, physician, brother of Joanna, wrote on Morbid
Anatomy (1761-1823).
BAILLIE, ROBERT, a Scotch Presbyterian divine, born in Glasgow;
resisted Laud's attempt to thrust Episcopacy on the Scotch nation, and
became a zealous advocate of the national cause, which he was delegated
to represent twice over in London; he was a royalist all the same, and
was made principal of Glasgow University; "His Letters and Journals" were
published by the Bannatyne Club, and are commended by Carlyle as
"veracious," forming, as they do, the subject of one of his critical
essays (1599-1662).
BAILLIE, ROBERT, a zealous Scotch Presbyterian, tried for complicity
in the Rye House Plot, and unfairly condemned to death, and barbarously
executed the same day (in 1683) for fear he should die afterwards and
cheat the gallows of its victim.
BAILLY, JEAN SYLVAIN, an astronomer, born at Paris; wrote the
"History of Astronomy, Ancient and Modern," in five volumes; was
distracted from further study of the science by the occurrence of the
Revolution; elected president of the National Assembly; installed mayor
of Paris; lost favour with the people; was imprisoned as an enemy of the
popular cause and cruelly guillotined. Exposed beforehand "for hours
long, amid curses and bitter frost-rain, 'Bailly, thou tremblest,' said
one; 'Mon ami,' said he meekly, 'it is for cold.' Crueller end," says
Carlyle, "had no mortal."
BAILY, E. H., a sculptor, born in Bristol, studied under Flaxman;
his most popular works were, "Eve Listening to the Voice," "The Sleeping
Girl," and the "Graces Seated" (1788-1867).
BAIN, ALEXANDER, born at Aberdeen, professor of Logic in the
university, and twice Lord Rector, where he was much esteemed by and
exercised a great influence over his pupils; his chief works, "The Senses
and the Intellect," "The Emotions and the Will," and "Mental and Moral
Science"; has written on composition in a very uninteresting style; his
psychology, which he connected with physiology, was based on empiricism
and the inductive method, to the utter exclusion of all _a priori_ or
transcendental speculation, such as hails from Kant and his school; he is
of the school of John Stuart Mill, who endorsed his philosophy; _b_.
1818.
BAIRAM, a Mohammedan festival of three days at the conclusion of the
Ramadan, followed by another of four days, seventy days later, called the
Second Bairam, in commemoration of the offering up of Isaac, and
accompanied with sacrifices.
BAIRD, JAMES, ironmaster, founder of the Baird Lectureship, in
vindication of Scotch orthodoxy; bequeathed L500,000 to support churches
(1802-1876).
BAIRD, SIR DAVID, a distinguished English general of Scotch descent,
born at Newbyth, Aberdeenshire; entered the army at 15; served in India,
Egypt, and at the Cape; was present at the taking of Seringapatam, and
the siege of Pondicherry; in command when the Cape of Good Hope was
wrested from the Dutch, and on the fall of Sir John Moore at Corunna,
wounded; he afterwards retired (1757-1829).
BAIRD, S. FULLERTON, an American naturalist, wrote, along with
others, on the birds and mammals of N. America, as well as contributed to
fish-culture and fisheries (1823-1887).
BAI`REUTH (24), the capital of Upper Franconia, in Bavaria, with a
large theatre erected by the king for the performance of Wagner's musical
compositions, and with a monument, simple but massive, as was fit, to the
memory of Jean Paul, who died there.
BAIREUTH, WILHELMINA, MARGRAVINE OF, sister of Frederick the Great,
left "Memoirs" of her time (1709-1758).
BAJAZET` I., sultan of the Ottoman Turks, surnamed ILDERIM, _i. e_.
Lightning, from the energy and rapidity of his movements; aimed at
Constantinople, pushed everything before him in his advance on Europe,
but was met and defeated on the plain of Angora by Tamerlane, who is said
to have shut him in a cage and carried him about with him in his train
till the day of his death (1347-1403).
BA`JUS, MICHAEL, deputy from the University of Louvain to the
Council of Trent, where he incurred much obloquy at the hands of the
Jesuits by his insistence of the doctrines of Augustine, as the
Jansenists did after him (1513-1580).
BAKER, MOUNT, a volcano in the Cascade range, 11,000 ft.; still
subject to eruptions.
BAKER, SIR RICHARD, a country gentleman, born in Kent, often
referred to by Sir Roger de Coverley; author of "The Chronicle of the
Kings of England," which he wrote in the Fleet prison, where he died
(1603-1645).
BAKER, SIR SAMUEL WHITE, a man of enterprise and travel, born in
London; discovered the Albert Nyanza; commanded an expedition under the
Khedive into the Soudan; wrote an account of it in a book, "Ismailia";
visited Cyprus and travelled over India; left a record of his travels in
five volumes with different titles (1821-1893).
BAKSHISH, a word used all over the East to denote a small fee for
some small service rendered.
BAKU (107), a Russian port on the Caspian Sea, in a district so
impregnated and saturated in parts with petroleum that by digging in the
soil wells are formed, in some cases so gushing as to overflow in
streams, which wells, reckoned by hundreds, are connected by pipes with
refineries in the town; a district which, from the spontaneous ignition
of the petroleum, was long ago a centre of attraction to the Parsees or
fire-worshippers of the East, and resorted to by them as holy ground.
BAKU`NIN, MICHAEL, an extreme and violent anarchist, and a leader of
the movement; native of Moscow; was banished to Siberia, but escaped;
joined the International, but was expelled (1814-1876).
BALA, the county town of Merioneth, in Wales. Bala Lake, the largest
lake in Wales, 4 m. long, and with a depth of 100 ft.
BA`LAAM, a Midianitish soothsayer; for the account of him see Num.
xxii.-xxiv., and Carlyle's essay on the "Corn-Law Rhymes" for its
application to modern State councillors of the same time-serving type,
and their probable fate.
BALACLA`VA, a small port 6 m. SE. of Sebastopol, with a large
land-locked basin; the head-quarters of the British during the Crimean
war, and famous in the war, among other events, for the "Charge of the
Six Hundred."
BALANCE OF POWER, preservation of the equilibrium existing among the
States of Europe as a security of peace, for long an important
consideration with European statesmen.
BALANCE OF TRADE, the difference in value between the exports and
the imports of a country, and said to be in favour of the country whose
exports exceed in value the imports in that respect.
BALANOGLOS`SUS, a worm-like marine animal, regarded by the zoologist
as a possible connecting link between invertebrates and vertebrates.
BALATA, a vegetable gum used as a substitute for gutta-percha, being
at once ductile and elastic; goes under the name of bully.
BAL`ATON, LAKE, the largest lake in Hungary, 48 m. long, and 10 m.
broad, 56 m. SW. of Pesth; slightly saline, and abounds in fish.
BALBI, ADRIANO, a geographer of Italian descent, born at Venice, who
composed in French a number of works bearing on geography (1782-1848).
BALBO, CAESARE, an Italian statesmen and publicist, born at Turin;
devoted his later years to literature; wrote a life of Dante; works in
advocacy of Italian independence (1789-1853).
BALBO`A. VASCO NUNEZ DE, a Castilian noble, established a settlement
at Darien; discovered the Pacific; took possession of territory in the
name of Spain; put to death by a new governor, from jealousy of the glory
he had acquired and the consequent influence in the State (1475-1517).
BALDACHINO, a tent-like covering or canopy over portals, altars, or
thrones, either supported on columns, suspended from the roof, or
projecting from the wall.
BALD`ER, the sun-god of the Norse mythology, "the beautiful, the
wise, the benignant," who is fated to die, and dies, in spite of, and to
the grief of, all the gods of the pantheon, a pathetic symbol conceived
in the Norse imagination of how all things in heaven, as on earth, are
subject in the long-run to mortality.
BALDERSTONE, CALEB, the faithful old domestic in Scott's "Bride of
Lammermoor," the family he serves his pride.
BALDRICK, an ornamental belt worn hanging over the shoulder, across
the body diagonally, with a sword, dagger, or horn suspended from it.
BALDUNG, HANS, or HANS GRUeN, a German artist, born in Suabia; a
friend of Duerer's; his greatest work, a masterpiece, a painting of the
"Crucifixion," now in Freiburg Cathedral (1300-1347).
BALDWIN, archbishop of Canterbury; crowned Richard Coeur de Lion;
accompanied him on the crusade; died at Acre in 1191.
BALDWIN, the name of several counts of Flanders, eight in all.
BALDWIN I., king of Jerusalem; succeeded his brother Godfrey de
Bouillon; assuming said title, made himself master of most of the towns
on the coast of Syria; contracted a disease in Egypt; returned to
Jerusalem, and was buried on Mount Calvary; there were five of this name
and title, the last of whom, a child of some eight years old, died in
1186 (1058-1118).
BALDWIN I., the first Latin emperor of Constantinople; by birth,
count of Hainault and Flanders; joined the fourth crusade, led the van in
the capture of Constantinople, and was made emperor; was defeated and
taken prisoner by the Bulgarians (1171-1206). B. II., nephew of
Baldwin I., last king of the Latin dynasty, which lasted only 57 years
(1217-1273).
BALE, JOHN, bishop of Ossory, in Ireland; born in Suffolk; a convert
from Popery, and supported by Cromwell; was made bishop by Edward VI.;
persecuted out of the country as an apostate from Popery; author of a
valuable account of early British writers (1495-1563).
BALEARIC ISLES (312), a group of five islands off the coast of
Valencia, in Spain, Majorca the largest; inhabitants in ancient times
famous as expert slingers, having been one and all systematically trained
to the use of the sling from early childhood; cap. Palma (58).
BALFE, MICHAEL WILLIAM, a musical composer, of Irish birth, born
near Wexford; author of "The Bohemian Girl," his masterpiece, and
world-famous (1808-1870).
BALFOUR, A. J., of Whittinghame, East Lothian; educated at Eton and
Cambridge; nephew of Lord Salisbury, and First Lord of the Treasury and
leader of the House of Commons in Lord Salisbury's ministry; author of a
"Defence of Philosophic Doubt" and a volume of "Essays and Addresses";
_b_. 1848.
BALFOUR, FRANCIS MAITLAND, brother of the preceding; a promising
biologist; career was cut short by death in attempting to ascend the
Wetterhorn (1851-1882).
BALFOUR, SIR JAMES, Lord President of the Court of Session; native
of Fife; an unprincipled man, sided now with this party, now with the
opposite, to his own advantage, and that at the most critical period in
Scottish history; _d_. 1583.
BALFOUR OF BURLEY, leader of the Covenanters in Scott's "Old
Mortality."
BALI, one of the Samoa Islands, 75 m. long by 40 m. broad; produces
cotton, coffee, and tobacco.
BALIOL, EDWARD, son of the following, invaded Scotland; was crowned
king at Scone, supported by Edward III.; was driven from the kingdom, and
obliged to renounce all claim to the crown, on receipt of a pension; died
at Doncaster, 1369.
BALIOL, JOHN DE, son of the following; laid claim to the Scottish
crown on the death of the Maid of Norway in 1290; was supported by Edward
I., and did homage to him for his kingdom, but rebelled, and was forced
publicly to resign the crown; died in 1314 in Normandy, after spending
some three years in the Tower; satirised by the Scotch, in their stinging
humorous style, as King Toom Tabard, i. e. Empty King Cloak.
BALIOL, SIR JOHN DE, of Norman descent; a guardian to the heir to
the Scottish crown on the death of Alexander III.; founder of Baliol
College, Oxford; _d_. 1269.
BALIZE, or BELIZE, the capital of British Honduras, in Central
America; trade in mahogany, rosewood, &c.
BALKAN PENINSULA, the territory between the Adriatic and the AEgean
Sea, bounded on the N. by the Save and the Lower Danube, and on the S. by
Greece.
BALKANS, THE, a mountain range extending from the Adriatic to the
Black Sea; properly the range dividing Bulgaria from Roumania; mean
height, 6500 ft.
BALKASH, LAKE, a lake in Siberia, 780 ft. above sea-level, the
waters clear, but intensely salt, 150 m. long and 73 m. broad.
BALKH, anciently called Bactria, a district of Afghan Turkestan
lying between the Oxus and the Hindu-Kush, 250 m. long and 120 m. broad,
with a capital of the same name, reduced now to a village; birthplace of
Zoroaster.
BALL, JOHN, a priest who had been excommunicated for denouncing the
abuses of the Church; a ringleader in the Wat Tyler rebellion; captured
and executed.
BALL, SIR R. S., mathematician and astronomer, born in Dublin;
Astronomer-Royal for Ireland; author of works on astronomy and mechanics,
the best known of a popular kind on the former science being "The Story
of the Heavens"; _b_. 1840.
BALLAD, a story in verse, composed with spirit, generally of
patriotic interest, and sung originally to the harp.
BALLANCHE, PIERRE SIMON, a mystic writer, born at Lyons, his chief
work "la Palingenesie Sociale," his aim being the regeneration of society
(1814-1847).
BALLANTINE, JAMES, glass-stainer and poet, born in Edinburgh
(1808-1877).
BALLANTINE, SERJEANT, distinguished counsel in celebrated criminal
cases (1812-1887).
BALL`ANTYNE, JAMES, a native of Kelso, became a printer in
Edinburgh, printed all Sir Walter Scott's works; failed in business, a
failure in which Scott was seriously implicated (1772-1833).
BALLANTYNE, JOHN, brother of preceding, a confidant of Sir Walter's
in the matter of the anonymity of the Waverley Novels; an inimitable
story-teller and mimic, very much to the delight of Sir Walter
(1774-1821).
BALLARAT` (40), a town in Victoria, and since 1851 the second city
in the province, about 100 m. NW. of Melbourne; the centre of the chief
gold-fields in the colony, the precious metal being at first washed out
of the soil, and now crushed out of the quartz rocks and dug out of deep
mines; it is the seat of both a Roman Catholic and a Church of England
bishopric.
BALL`ATER, a clean Aberdeenshire village on the Dee, a favourite
summer resort, stands 668 ft. above sea-level.
BALMAT, JACQUES, of Chamounix, a celebrated Alpine guide
(1796-1834).
BALMAWHAPPLE, a prejudiced Scotch clergyman in "Waverley."
BAL`MEZ, an able Spanish Journalist, author of "Protestantism and
Catholicism compared in their Effects on the Civilisation of Europe"
(1810-1848).
BALMOR`AL, a castle on the upper valley of the Dee, at the foot of
Braemar, 521/2 m. from Aberdeen, 9 m. from Ballater; the Highland residence
of Queen Victoria, on a site which took the fancy of both the Queen and
the Prince Consort on their first visit to the Highlands.
BALMUNG, the sharp-cutting sword of Siegfried, so sharp that a smith
cut in two by it did not know he was so cut till he began to move, when
he fell in pieces.
BALNAVES, HENRY, coadjutor of John Knox in the Scottish Reformation,
and a fellow-sufferer with him in imprisonment and exile; afterwards
contributed towards formulating the creed of the Scotch Church; born at
Kirkcaldy, and educated in Germany; _d_. 1579.
BALSALL, a thriving suburb of Birmingham, engaged in hardware
manufacture.
BALTIC PROVINCES, Russian provinces bordering on the Baltic.
BALTIC SEA, an inland sea in the N. of Europe, 900 m. long and from
100 to 200 m. broad, about the size of England and Wales; comparatively
shallow; has no tides; waters fresher than those of the ocean, owing to
the number of rivers that flow into it and the slight evaporation that
goes on at the latitude; the navigation of it is practically closed from
the middle of December to April, owing to the inlets being blocked with
ice.
BALTIMORE (550), the metropolis of Maryland, on an arm of Chesapeake
Bay, 250 m. from the Atlantic; is picturesquely situated; not quite so
regular in design as most American cities, but noted for its fine
architecture and its public monuments. It is the seat of the John Hopkins
University. The industries are varied and extensive, including textiles,
flour, tobacco, iron, and steel. The staple trade is in bread-stuffs; the
exports, grain, flour, and tobacco.
BALUE, CARDINAL, minister of Louis XI.; imprisoned, for having
conspired with Charles the Rash, by Louis in an iron cage for eleven
years (1421-1491).
BALUCHISTAN, a country lying to the S. of Afghanistan and extending
to the Persian Gulf. See Beluchistan.
BALZAC, HONORE DE, native of Tours, in France; one of the most
brilliant as well as prolific novelwriters of modern times; his
productions remarkable for their sense of reality; they show power of
observation, warmth and fertility of imagination, and subtle and profound
delineation of human passion, his design in producing them being to make
them form part of one great work, the "Comedie Humaine," the whole being
a minute dissection of the different classes of society (1799-1850).
BALZAC, JEAN LOUIS GUEZ DE, born at Angouleme, a French litterateur
and gentleman of rank, who devoted his life to the refinement of the
French language, and contributed by his "Letters" to the classic form it
assumed under Louis XIV.; "he deliberately wrote," says Prof. Saintsbury,
"for the sake of writing, and not because he had anything particular to
say," but in this way did much to improve the language; _d_. 1685.
BAMBAR`RA (2,000), a Soudan state on the banks of the Upper Niger,
opened up to trade; the soil fertile; yields grain, dates, cotton, and
palm-oil; the natives are negroes of the Mohammedan faith, and are good
husbandmen.
BAMBERG (35), a manufacturing town in Upper Franconia, Bavaria; once
the centre of an independent bishopric; with a cathedral, a magnificent
edifice, containing the tomb of its founder, the Emperor Henry II.
BAMBINO, a figure of the infant Christ wrapped in swaddling bands,
the infant in pictures surrounded by a halo and angels.
BAMBOROUGH CASTLE, an ancient fortress E. of Belford, on the coast
of Northumberland, now an alms-house.
BAMBOUK (800), a fertile but unhealthy negro territory, with mineral
wealth and deposits of gold, W. of Bambarra.
BAMIAN`, a high-lying valley in Afghanistan, 8500 ft. above
sea-level; out of the rocks on its N. side, full of caves, are hewn huge
figures of Buddha, one of them 173 ft. high, all of ancient date.
BAMPTON LECTURES, annual lectures on Christian subjects, eight in
number, for the endowment of which John Bampton, canon of Salisbury, left
property which yields a revenue worth L200 a year.
BANBURY, a market-town in Oxfordshire, celebrated for its cross and
its cakes.
BANCA (80), an island in the Eastern Archipelago, belonging to the
Dutch, with an unhealthy climate; rich in tin, worked by Chinese.
BANCROFT, GEORGE, an American statesman, diplomatist, and historian,
born in Massachusetts; his chief work "The History of the United States,"
issued finally in six vols., and a faithful account (1800-1891).
BANCROFT, HUBERT, an American historian, author of a "History of the
Pacific States of N. America"; _b_. 1832.
BANCROFT, RICHARD, archbishop of Canterbury, a zealous Churchman and
an enemy of the Puritans; represented the Church at the Hampton Court
Conference, and was chief overseer of the Authorised Version of the Bible
(1554-1610).
BANCROFT, SIR SQUIRE, English actor, born in London, made his first
appearance in Birmingham in 1861; married Mrs. Wilton, an actress; opened
with her the Haymarket Theatre in 1880; retired in 1885, at which time
both retired, and have appeared since only occasionally.
BANDA ISLES, a group of the Moluccas, some twelve in number,
belonging to Holland; yield nutmegs and mace; are subject to earthquakes.
BANDA ORIENTAL, See URUGUAY.
BANDELLO, an Italian Dominican monk, a writer of tales, some of
which furnished themes and incidents for Shakespeare, Massinger, and
other dramatists of their time (1480-1562).
BANDIE`RA, brothers, born in Venice; martyrs, in 1844, to the cause
of Italian independence.
BANDINELLI, a Florentine sculptor, tried hard to rival Michael
Angelo and Cellini; his work "Hercules and Cacus" is the most ambitious
of his productions; did a "Descent from the Cross" in bas-relief, in
Milan Cathedral (1487-1559).
BANFF (7), county town of Banffshire, on the Moray Firth, at the
mouth of the Deveron; the county itself (64) stretches level along the
coast, though mountainous on the S. and SE.; fishing and agriculture the
great industries.
BANFFY, BARON, Premier of Hungary, born at Klausenburg; became in
1874 provincial prefect of Transylvania; was elected a peer on the
formation of the Upper Hungarian Chamber, and was made Premier in 1893;
he is a strong Liberal; _b_. 1841.
BANGA, the Hindu name for the Delta of the Ganges.
BAN`GALORE (180), the largest town in Mysore, and the capital;
stands high; is manufacturing and trading.
BANGHIS, a low-caste people in the Ganges valley.
BANGK`OK (500), the capital of Siam, on the Menam; a very striking
city; styled, from the canals which intersect it, the "Venice of the
East"; 20 m. from the sea; the centre of the foreign trade, carried on by
Europeans and Chinese; with the royal palace standing on an island, in
the courtyard of which several white elephants are kept.
BANGOR (9), an episcopal city in Carnarvon, N. Wales, with large
slate quarries; a place of summer resort, from the beauty of its
surroundings.
BANGORIAN CONTROVERSY, a controversy in the Church of England
provoked by a sermon which Hoadley, bishop of Bangor, preached before
George I. in 1717, which offended the sticklers for ecclesiastical
authority.
BANGWEO`LO, a lake in Equatorial Africa, discovered by Livingstone,
and on the shore of which he died; 150 m. long, and half as wide; 3690
ft. above sea-level.
BANIAN DAYS, days when no meat is served out to ships' crews.
BANJARI, a non-Aryan race in Central India, the carriers and
caravan-conductors of the region.
BANIM, JOHN, Irish author, a native of Kilkenny, novelist of Irish
peasant life on its dark side, who, along with his brother Michael, wrote
24 vols. of Irish stories, &c.; his health giving way, he fell into
poverty, but was rescued by a public subscription and a pension; Michael
survived him 32 years (1798-1842).
BANKS, SIR JOSEPH, a zealous naturalist, particularly in botany; a
collector, in lands far and wide, of specimens in natural history; left
his collection and a valuable library and herbarium to the British
Museum; president of the Royal Society for 41 years (1744-1820).
BANKS, THOMAS, an eminent English sculptor, born at Lambeth; first
appreciated by the Empress Catharine; his finest works, "Psyche" and
"Achilles Enraged," now in the entrance-hall of Burlington House; he
excelled in imaginative art (1735-1805).
BANNATYNE CLUB, a club founded by Sir Walter Scott to print rare
works of Scottish interest, whether in history, poetry, or general
literature, of which it printed 116, all deemed of value, a complete set
having been sold for L235; dissolved in 1861.
BAN`NOCKBURN (2), a manufacturing village 3 m. SE. of Stirling, the
scene of the victory, on June 24, 1314, of Robert the Bruce over Edward
II., which reasserted and secured Scottish independence; it manufactures
carpets and tartans.
BAN`SHEE, among the Irish, and in some parts of the Highlands and
Brittany, a fairy, believed to be attached to a family, who gave warnings
by wailings of an approaching death in it, and kept guard over it.
BANTAM, a chief town in Java, abandoned as unhealthy by the Dutch;
whence the Bantam fowl is thought to have come.
BANTING SYSTEM, a dietary for keeping down fat, recommended by a Mr.
Banting, a London merchant, in a "Letter on Corpulence" in 1863; he
recommended lean meat, and the avoidance of sugar and starchy foods.
BANTRY BAY, a deep inlet on the SW. coast of Ireland; a place of
shelter for ships.
BANTU, the name of most of the races, with their languages, that
occupy Africa from 6 deg. N. lat. to 20 deg. S.; are negroid rather than negro,
being in several respects superior; the name, however, suggests rather a
linguistic than an ethnological distinction, the language differing
radically from all other known forms of speech--the inflection, for one
thing, chiefly initial, not final.
BANVILLE, THEODORE DE, a French poet, born at Moulins; well
characterised as "_Roi des Rimes_," for with him form was everything, and
the matter comparatively insignificant, though, there are touches here
and there of both fine feeling and sharp wit (1823-1891).
BANYAN, the Indian fig; a tree whose branches, bending to the
ground, take root and form new stocks, till they cover a large area and
become a forest.
BA`OBAB, a large African tropical tree, remarkable for the girth of
its trunk, the thickness of its branches, and their expansion; its leaves
and seeds are used in medicine.
BAPHOMET, a mysterious image, presumed represent Mahomet, which the
Templars were accused of worshipping, but which they may rather be
surmised to have invoked to curse them if they failed in their vow;
Carlyle refers to this cult in "Sartor," end of Bk. II. chapter vii.,
where he speaks of the "Baphometic fire-baptism" of his hero, under which
all the spectres that haunted him withered up.
BAPTISM, the Christian rite of initiation into the membership of the
Church, identified by St. Paul (Rom. vi. 4) with that No to the world
which precedes or rather accompanies Yea to God, but a misunderstanding
of the nature of which has led to endless diversity, debate, and
alienation all over the Churches of Christendom.
BAPTISTE, JEAN, a name given to the French Canadians.
BAPTISTRY, a circular building, sometimes detached from a church, in
which the rite of baptism is administered; the most remarkable, that of
Pisa.
BAPTISTS, a denomination of Christians, sometimes called Anabaptists
to distinguish them from Paedobaptists, who, however they may and do
differ on other matters, insist that the rite of initiation is duly
administered only by immersion, and to those who are of age to make an
intelligent profession of faith; they are a numerous body, particularly
in America, and more so in England than in Scotland, and have included in
their membership a number of eminent men.
BAPTISMAL REGENERATION, the High Church doctrine that the power of
spiritual life, forfeited by the Fall, is bestowed on the soul in the
sacrament of baptism duly administered.
BARAGUAY D'HILLIERS`, ACHILLE, a French marshal who fought under
Napoleon at Quatre-Bras; distinguished himself under Louis Philippe in
Algeria, as well as under Louis Napoleon; presided at the trial of
Marshal Bazaine (1795-1878).
BARATARIA, the imaginary island of which Sancho Panza was formally
installed governor, and where in most comical situations he learned how
imaginary is the authority of a king, how, instead of governing his
subjects, his subjects govern him.
BARBACAN, or BARBICAN, a fortification to a castle outside the
walls, generally at the end of the drawbridge in front of the gate.
BARBA`DOES (182), one of the Windward Islands, rather larger than
the Isle of Wight; almost encircled by coral reefs; is the most densely
peopled of the Windward Islands; subject to hurricanes; healthy and well
cultivated; it yields sugar, arrowroot, ginger, and aloes.
BARBARA, ST., a Christian martyr of the 3rd century; beheaded by her
own father, a fanatical heathen, who was immediately after the act struck
dead by lightning; she is the patron saint of those who might otherwise
die impenitent, and of Mantua; her attributes are a tower, a sword, and a
crown. Festival, Dec. 4.
BARBARIANS, originally those who could not speak Greek, and
ultimately synonymous with the uncivilised and people without culture,
particularly literary; this is the sense in which Matthew Arnold uses it.
BARBAROSSA, the surname of Frederick I., emperor of Germany, of whom
there is this tradition, that "he is not yet dead; but only sleeping,
till the bad world reach its worst, when he will reappear. He sits within
a cavern near Saltzburg, at a marble table, leaning on his elbow;
winking, only half-asleep, as a peasant once tumbling into the interior
saw him; beard had grown through the table, and streamed out on the
floor. He looked at the peasant one moment, asked something about the
time it was; then drooped his eyelids again: 'Not yet time, but will be
soon.'"
BARBAROSSA (i. e. Red-beard), HORUK, a native of Mitylene;
turned corsair; became sovereign of Algiers by the murder of Selim the
emir, who had adopted him as an ally against Spain; was defeated twice by
the Spanish general Gomarez and slain (1473-1518).
BARBAROSSA, KHAIR-EDDIN, brother and successor of the preceding;
became viceroy of the Porte, made admiral under the sultan, opposed
Andrea Doria, ravaged the coast of Italy, and joined the French against
Spain; died at Constantinople in 1546.
BARBAROUX, CHARLES, advocate, born at Marseilles, of which he became
town-clerk; came to Paris "a young Spartan," and became chief of the
Girondins in the French Revolution; represented Marseilles in the
Constituent Assembly and the Convention; joined the Rolands; sent
"fire-eyed" message to Marseilles for six hundred men "who knew how to
die"; held out against Marat and Robespierre; declared an enemy of the
people, had to flee; mistook a company approaching for Jacobins, drew his
pistol and shot himself, but the shot miscarried; was captured and
guillotined (1767-1794).
BARBARY APE, a tailless monkey of gregarious habits, native of the
mountainous parts of Barbary, and of which there is a colony on the Rock
of Gibraltar, the only one in Europe.
BARBARY STATES, the four states of Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and
Tripoli, so called from the Berbers who inhabit the region.
BARBAULD, ANNA LAETITIA, _nee_ Aiken, an English popular and
accomplished authoress, wrote "Hymns in Prose for Children," "Evenings at
Home," in which she was assisted by a brother, &c. (1743-1825).
BARBAZAN, a French general under Charles VI. and VII., who
deservedly earned for himself the name of the Irreproachable Knight; _d_.
1432.
BAR`BECUE, a feast in the open air on a large scale, at which the
animals are roasted and dressed whole, formerly common in the SW. States
of N. America.
BARBERI`NI, an illustrious and influential Florentine family,
several of the members of which were cardinals, and one made pope in 1623
under the name Urban VIII.
BARBERTON, a mining town and important centre in the Transvaal, 180
m. E. of Pretoria.
BARBES, ARMAND, a French politician, surnamed the Bayard of
Democracy; imprisoned in 1848, liberated in 1854; expatriated himself
voluntarily; died at the Hague (1809-1870).
BARBIER, ANTOINE ALEX., a French bibliographer, author of a
"Dictionary of Anonymous and Pseudonymous Works" (1765-1825).
BARBIER, ED. FR., jurisconsult of the parliament, born in Paris;
author of a journal, historical and anecdotical, of the time of Louis XV.
(1689-1771).
BARBIER, HENRY, a French satirical poet, born in Paris; wrote
vigorous political verses; author of "Iambics" (1805-1882).
BARBOUR, JOHN, a Scotch poet and chronicler, archdeacon of Aberdeen,
a man of learning and sagacity; his only extant work a poem entitled "The
Bruce," being a long history in rhyme of the life and achievements of
Robert the Bruce, a work consisting of 13,000 octosyllabic lines, and
possessing both historical and literary merit; "represents," says
Stopford Brooke, "the whole of the eager struggle for Scottish freedom
against the English, which closed at Bannockburn, and the national spirit
in it full grown into life;" _d_. 1195.
BARCA (500), a Turkish province in the N. of Africa, between Tripoli
and Egypt; produces maize, figs, dates, and olives.
BARCA, name of a Carthaginian family to which Hamilcar, Hasdrubal,
and Hannibal belonged, and determinedly opposed to the ascendency of
Rome; known as the Barcine faction.
BARCELO`NA (280), the largest town in Spain next to Madrid, on the
Mediterranean, and its chief port, with a naval arsenal, and its largest
manufacturing town, called the "Spanish Manchester," the staple
manufacture being cotton; is the seat of a bishopric and a university;
has numerous churches, convents, and theatres.
BARCLAY, ALEX., a poet and prose-writer, of Scotch birth; bred a
monk in England, which he ceased to be on the dissolution of the
monasteries; wrote "The Ship of Fools," partly a translation and partly
an imitation of the German "Narrerschiff" of Brandt. "It has no value,"
says Stopford Brooke; "but it was popular because it attacked the follies
and questions of the time; and its sole interest to us is in its pictures
of familiar manners and popular customs" (1475-1552).
BARCLAY, JOHN, born in France, educated by the Jesuits, a stanch
Catholic; wrote the "Argenis," a Latin romance, much thought of by
Cowper, translated more than once into English (1582-1621).
BARCLAY, JOHN, leader of the sect of the Bereans (1734-1798).
BARCLAY, ROBERT, the celebrated apologist of Quakerism, born in
Morayshire; tempted hard to become a Catholic; joined the Society of
Friends, as his father had done before him; his greatest work, written in
Latin as well as in English, and dedicated to Charles II., "An Apology
for the True Christian Divinity, as the same is held forth and preached
by the People called in scorn Quakers," a great work, the leading thesis
of which is that Divine Truth is not matter of reasoning, but intuition,
and patent to the understanding of every truth-loving soul (1645-1690).
BARCLAY, WILLIAM, father of John (1), an eminent citizen and
professor of Law at Angers; _d_. 1605. All these Barclays were of
Scottish descent.
BARCLAY DE TOLLY, a Russian general and field-marshal, of Scottish
descent, and of the same family as Robert Barclay the Quaker;
distinguished in successive Russian wars; his promotion rapid, in spite
of his unpopularity as German born; on Napoleon's invasion of Russia his
tactic was to retreat till forced to fight at Smolensk; he was defeated,
and superseded in command by Kutusow; on the latter's death was made
commander-in-chief; commanded the Russians at Dresden and Leipzig, and
led them into France in 1815; he was afterwards Minister of War at St.
Petersburg, and elevated to the rank of prince (1761-1818).
BARD OF AVON, Shakespeare; OF AYRSHIRE, Burns; OF HOPE,
Campbell; OF IMAGINATION, Akenside; OF MEMORY, Rogers; OF
OLNEY, Cowper; OF RYDAL MOUNT, Wordsworth; OF TWICKENHAM,
Pope.
BARDELL`, MRS., a widow in the "Pickwick Papers," who sues Pickwick
for breach of promise.
BARDOLPH, a drunken, swaggering, worthless follower of Falstaff's.
BARDON HILL, a hill in Leicestershire, from which one can see right
across England.
BAR-DURANI, the collective name of a number of Afghan tribes between
the Hindu-Kush and the Soliman Mountains.
BAREBONE'S PARLIAMENT, Cromwell's Little Parliament, met 4th July
1653; derisively called Barebone's Parliament, from one Praise-God
Barebone, a member of it. "If not the remarkablest Assembly, yet the
Assembly for the remarkablest purpose," says Carlyle, "that ever met in
the modern world; the business being no less than introducing of the
Christian religion into real practice in the social affairs of this
nation.... In this it failed, could not but fail, with what we call the
Devil and all his angels against it, and the Little Parliament had to go
its ways again," 12th December in the same year.
BAREGES, a village on the Hautes-Pyrenees, at 4000 ft. above the
sea-level, resorted to for its mineral waters.
BAREILLY (121), a city in NW. India, the chief town in Rohilkhand,
153 m. E. of Delhi, notable as the place where the Mutiny of 1858 first
broke out.
BARENTZ, an Arctic explorer, born in Friesland; discovered
Spitzbergen, and doubled the NE. extremity of Nova Zembla, in 1596, and
died the same year.
BARERE, French revolutionary, a member of the States-General, the
National Assembly of France, and the Convention; voted in the Convention
for the execution of the king, uttering the oft-quoted words, "The tree
of Liberty thrives only when watered by the blood of tyrants;" escaped
the fate of his associates; became a spy under Napoleon; was called by
Burke, from his flowery oratory, the Anacreon of the Guillotine, and by
Mercier, "the greatest liar in France;" he was inventor of the famous
fable "his masterpiece," of the "Sinking of the _Vengeur_," "the largest,
most inspiring piece of _blaque_ manufactured, for some centuries, by any
man or nation;" died in beggary (1755-1841). See VENGEUR.
BARETTI, GIUSEPPE, an Italian lexicographer, born in Turin; taught
Italian in London, patronised by Johnson, became secretary of the Royal
Academy (1719-1789).
BARFLEUR, a seaport 15 m. E. of Cherbourg, where William the
Conqueror set out with his fleet to invade England.
BARFRUeSH (603), a town S. of the Caspian, famous for its bazaar.
BAR`GUEST, a goblin long an object of terror in the N. of England.
BARI, THE, a small negro nation on the banks of the White Nile.
BARING, SIR FRANCIS, founder of the great banking firm of Baring
Brothers & Co.; amassed property, value of it said to have been nearly
seven millions (1740-1810).
BARING-GOULD, SABINE, rector of Lew-Trenchard, Devonshire,
celebrated in various departments of literature, history, theology, and
romance, especially the latter; a voluminous writer on all manner of
subjects, and a man of wide reading; _b_. 1834.
BARHAM, RICHARD HARRIS, his literary name Thomas Ingoldsby, born at
Canterbury, minor canon of St. Paul's; friend of Sidney Smith; author of
"Ingoldsby Legends," published originally as a series of papers in
_Bentley's Miscellany_ (1788-1879).
BARKIS, a carrier-lad in "David Copperfield," in love with Peggotty.
"Barkis is willin'."
BARKER, E. HENRY, a classical scholar, born in Yorkshire; edited
Stephens' "Thesaurus Linguae Graecae," an arduous work; died in poverty
(1788-1839).
BARKING, a market-town in Essex, 7 m. NE. of London, with the
remains of an ancient Benedictine convent.
BARLAAM AND JOSAPHAT, a mediaeval legend, being a Christianised
version of an earlier legend relating to Buddha, in which Josaphat, a
prince like Buddha, is converted by Barlaam to a like ascetic life.
BARLEYCORN, JOHN, the exhilarating spirit distilled from barley
personified.
BARLOW, JOEL, an American poet and diplomatist; for his Republican
zeal, was in 1792 accorded the rights of citizenship in France; wrote a
poem "The Vision of Columbus" (1755-1812).
BARLOWE, a French watchmaker, inventor of the repeating watch; _d_.
1690.
BARMACIDE FEAST, an imaginary feast, so called from a story in the
"Arabian Nights" of a hungry beggar invited by a Barmacide prince to a
banquet, which proved a long succession of merely empty dishes, and which
he enjoyed with such seeming gusto and such good-humour as to earn for
himself a sumptuous real one.
BAR`MACIDES, a Persian family celebrated for their magnificence, and
that in the end met with the cruellest fate. Yahya, one of them, eminent
for ability and virtue, was chosen by the world-famous Haroun-Al-Raschid
on his accession to the caliphate to be his vizier; and his four sons
rose along with him to such influence in the government, as to excite the
jealousy of the caliph so much, that he had the whole family invited to a
banquet, and every man, woman, and child of them massacred at midnight in
cold blood. The caliph, it is gratifying to learn, never forgave himself
for this cruelty, and was visited with a gnawing remorse to the end of
his days; and it had fatal issues to his kingdom as well as himself.
BAR`MEN (116), a long town, consisting of a series of hamlets, 6 m.
in extent, in Rhenish Prussia; the population consists chiefly of
Protestants; the staple industry, the manufacture of ribbons, and it is
the centre of that industry on the Continent.
BARNABAS, ST., a member of the first Christian brotherhood, a
companion of St. Paul's, and characterised in the Acts as "a good man";
stoned to death at Cyprus, where he was born; an epistle extant bears his
name, but is not believed to be his work; the Epistle to the Hebrews has
by some been ascribed to him; he is usually represented in art as a
venerable man of majestic mien, with the Gospel of St. Matthew in his
hand. Festival, June 11.
BARNABITES, a proselytising order of monks founded at Milan, where
Barnabas was reported to have been bishop, in 1530; bound, as the rest
are, by the three monastic vows, and by a vow in addition, not to sue for
preferment in the Church.
BARNABY RUDGE, one of Dickens' novels, published in 1841.
BARNARD, HENRY, American educationist, born in Connecticut, 1811.
BARNARD, LADY ANNE, daughter of Lindsay, the 5th Earl of Balcarres,
born in Fife; authoress of "Auld Robin Gray," named after a Balcarres
herd; lived several years at the Cape, where her husband held an
appointment, and after his death, in London (1750-1825).
BARNARD CASTLE, an old tower W. of Darlington, in Durham; birthplace
of John Baliol, and the scene of Scott's "Rokeby."
BAR`NARDINE, a reckless character in "Measure for Measure."
BARNAVE, JOSEPH MARIE, French lawyer, born at Grenoble; president of
the French Constitutional Assembly in 1780; one of the trio in the
Assembly of whom it was said, "Whatsoever those three have on hand,
Dupont thinks it, Barnave speaks it, Lameth does it;" a defender of the
monarchy from the day he gained the favour of the queen by his gallant
conduct to her on her way back to Paris from her flight with the king to
Varennes; convicted by documentary evidence of conspiring with the court
against the nation; was guillotined (1761-1793).
BARN-BURNERS, name formerly given to an extreme radical party in the
United States, as imitating the Dutchman who, to get rid of the rats,
burned his barns.
BARNES, THOMAS, editor of the _Times_, under whom the paper first
rose to the pre-eminent place it came to occupy among the journals of the
day (1786-1841).
BARNES, WILLIAM, a local philologist, native of Dorsetshire; author
of "Poems of Rural Life in Dorset," in three vols.; wrote on subjects of
philological interest (1830-1886).
BARNET (5), a town in Hertfordshire, almost a suburb of London; a
favourite resort of Londoners; has a large annual horse and cattle fair;
scene of a battle in 1471, at which Warwick, the king-maker, was slain.
BARNETT, JOHN, composer, born at Bedford; author of operas and a
number of fugitive pieces (1802-1891).
BARNEVELDT, JOHANN VAN OLDEN, Grand Pensionary of Holland, of a
distinguished family; studied law at the Hague, and practised as an
advocate there; fought for the independence of his country against Spain;
concluded a truce with Spain, in spite of the Stadtholder Maurice, whose
ambition for supreme power he courageously opposed; being an Arminian,
took sides against the Gomarist or Calvinist party, to which Maurice
belonged; was arrested, tried, and condemned to death as a traitor and
heretic, and died on the scaffold at 71 years of age, with sanction, too,
of the Synod of Dort, in 1619.
BARNSLEY (35), a manufacturing town in W. Yorkshire, 18 m. N. of
Sheffield; manufactures textile fabrics and glass.
BARNUM, an American showman; began with the exhibition of George
Washington's reputed nurse in 1834; picked up Tom Thumb in 1844; engaged
Jenny Lind for 100 concerts in 1849, and realised a fortune, which he
lost; started in 1871 with his huge travelling show, and realised another
fortune, dying worth five million dollars (1810-1891).
BAROCCI, a celebrated Italian painter, imitator of the style of
Correggio (1528-1612).
BAROCHE, PIERRE-JULES, a French statesman, minister of Napoleon III.
(1802-1870).
BARO`DA (2,415), a native state of Gujerat, in the prov. of Bombay,
with a capital (101) of the same name, the sovereign of which is called
the Guicowar; the third city in the presidency, with Hindu temples and a
considerable trade.
BARO`NIUS, CAESAR, a great Catholic ecclesiastic, born near Naples,
priest of the Congregation of the Oratory under its founder, and
ultimately Superior; cardinal and librarian of the Vatican; his great
work, "Annales Ecclesiastici," being a history of the first 12 centuries
of the Church, written to prove that the Church of Rome was identical
with the Church of the 1st century, a work of immense research that
occupied him 30 years; failed of the popehood from the intrigues of the
Spaniards, whose political schemes he had frustrated (1538-1607).
BARONS' WAR, a war in England of the barons against Henry III.,
headed by Simon de Montfort, and which lasted from 1258 to 1265.
BAROQUE, ornamentation of a florid and incongruous character, more
lavish and showy rather than true and tasteful; much in vogue from the
16th to the 18th centuries.
BARRA, a small island, one of the Hebrides, 5 m. SW. of S. Uist, the
inhabitants of which are engaged in fisheries.
BAR`RACKPUR (18), a town on the Hooghly, 15 m. above Calcutta, where
the lieutenant-governor of Bengal has a residence; a healthy resort of
the Europeans.
BARRACK-ROOM BALLADS, ballads by Rudyard Kipling, with a fine
martial strain.
BARRAS, PAUL FRANCOIS, a member of the Jacobin Club, born in
Provence; "a man of heat and haste,... tall, and handsome to the eye;"
voted in the National Convention for the execution of the king; took part
in the siege of Toulon; put an end to the career of Robespierre and the
Reign of Terror; named general-in-chief to oppose the reactionaries;
employed Bonaparte to command the artillery, "he the commandant's cloak,
this artillery officer the commandant;" was a member of the Directory
till Bonaparte swept it away (1755-1829).
BAR`RATRY, the offence of inciting and stirring up riots and
quarrels among the Queen's subjects, also a fraud by a ship captain on
the owners of a ship.
BARRE, ISAAC, soldier and statesman, born in Dublin, served under
Wolfe in Canada, entered Parliament, supported Pitt, charged with
authorship of "Junius' Letters"; _d_. 1802.
BARREL MIRABEAU, Viscount de Mirabeau, brother of the great tribune
of the name, so called from his bulk and the liquor he held.
BARRERE. See BARERE.
BARRETT, WILSON, English actor, born in Essex; made his _debut_ at
Halifax; lessee of the Grand Theatre, Leeds, and of the Court and the
Princess's Theatres, London; produced his Hamlet in 1884; _b_. 1846.
BARRIE, JAMES MATTHEW, a writer with a rich vein of humour and
pathos, born at Kirriemuir ("Thrums"), in Forfarshire; began his literary
career as a contributor to journals; produced, among other works, "Auld
Licht Idylls" in 1888, and "A Window in Thrums," in 1889, and recently
"Margaret Ogilvie," deemed by some likely to prove the most enduring
thing he has yet written; _b_. 1860.
BARRIER REEF, THE GREAT, a slightly interrupted succession of coral
reefs off the coast of Queensland, of 1200 m. extent, and 100 m. wide at
the S., and growing narrower as they go N.; are from 70 to 20 m. off the
coast, and protect the intermediate channel from the storms of the
Pacific.
BARRIERE, JEAN FRANCOIS, French historian of the Revolution
(1786-1868).
BARRIERE, PIERRE, would-be assassin of Henry IV. of France; broken
on the wheel in 1593.
BARRIERS, BATTLE OF THE, a battle fought within the walls of Paris
in 1814 between Napoleon and the Allies, which ended in the capitulation
of the city and the abdication of Napoleon.
BARRINGTON, JOHN SHUTE, 1st Viscount, gained the favour of the
Nonconformists by his "Rights of Dissenters," and an Irish peerage from
George I. for his "Dissuasive from Jacobitism"; left six sons, all more
or less distinguished, particularly Daines, the fourth, distinguished in
law (1727-1800), and Samuel, the fifth, 1st Lord of the name,
distinguished in the naval service, assisted under Lord Howe at the
relief of Gibraltar, and became an admiral in 1787 (1678-1764).
BARROS, JOAO DE, a distinguished Portuguese historian; his great
work. "Asia Portugueza," relates, in a pure and simple style, the
discoveries and conquests of the Portuguese in the Indies; he did not
live to complete it (1493-1570).
BARROT, ODILON, famous as an advocate, born at Villefort;
contributed to the Revolutions of both 1830 and 1848; accepted office
under Louis Napoleon; retired after the _coup d'etat_, to return to
office in 1872 (1791-1873).
BARROW, a river in Ireland rising in the Slievebloom Mts.; falls
into Waterford harbour, after a course of 114 m.
BARROW, ISAAC, English scholar, mathematician, and divine, born in
London; a graduate of Cambridge, and fellow of Trinity College; appointed
professor of Greek at Cambridge, and soon after Gresham professor of
Geometry; subsequently Lucasian professor of Mathematics (in which he had
Newton for successor), and master of Trinity, and founder of the library;
a man of great intellectual ability and force of character; besides
mathematical works, left a "Treatise on the Pope's Supremacy," and a body
of sermons remarkable for their vigour of thought and nervousness of
expression (1630-1677).
BARROW, SIR JOHN, secretary to the Admiralty for 40 years, and much
esteemed in that department, distinguished also as a man of letters;
wrote the Lives of Macartney, Anson, Howe, and Peter the Great
(1764-1848).
BARROW-IN-FURNESS (51), a town and seaport in N. Lancashire, of
recent rapid growth, owing to the discovery of extensive deposits of iron
in the neighbourhood, which has led to the establishment of smelting
works and the largest manufacture of steel in the kingdom; the principal
landowners in the district being the Dukes of Devonshire and Buccleuch.
BARRY, JAMES, painter, born in Cork; painted the "Death of General
Wolfe"; became professor of Painting at the Royal Academy, but was
deposed; died in poverty; his masterpiece is the "Victors at Olympia"
(1741-1806).
BARRY, SIR CHARLES, architect, born at Westminster; architect of the
new Palace of Westminster, besides other public buildings (1795-1860).
BARRY CORNWALL. See PROCTER.
BART, or BARTH, JEAN, a distinguished French seaman, born at
Dunkirk, son of a fisherman, served under De Ruyter, entered the French
service at 20, purchased a ship of two guns, was subsidised as a
privateer, made numerous prizes; having had other ships placed under his
command, was captured by the English, but escaped; defeated the Dutch
admiral, De Vries; captured his squadron laden with corn, for which he
was ennobled by Louis XIV.; he was one of the bravest of men and the most
independent, unhampered by red-tapism of every kind (1651-1702).
BARTH, HEINRICH, a great African explorer, born at Hamburg; author
of "Travels in the East and Discoveries in Central Africa," in five
volumes (1821-1865).
BARTHELEMY, AUGUSTE-MARSEILLE, a poet and politician, born at
Marseilles; author of "Nemesis," and the best French translation of the
"AEneid," in verse; an enemy of the Bourbons, an ardent Imperialist, and
warm supporter of Louis Napoleon (1796-1867).
BARTHELEMY, THE ABBE, JEAN JACQUES, a French historian and
antiquary, born at Cassis, in Provence; educated by the Jesuits; had
great skill in numismatics; wrote several archaeological works, in chief,
"Voyage du Jeune Anacharsis en Grece;" long treated as an authority in
the history, manners, and customs of Greece (1716-1795).
BARTHELEMY SAINT-HILAIRE, JULES, a French baron and politician, born
at Paris; an associate of Odilon Barrot in the Revolutions of 1830 and
1848, and subsequently a zealous supporter of M. Thiers; for a time
professor of Greek and Roman Philosophy in the College of France; an
Oriental as well as Greek scholar; translated the works of Aristotle,
his greatest achievement, and the "Iliad" into verse, as well as wrote on
the Vedas, Buddhism, and Mahomet; _b_. 1805.
BARTHEZ, PAUL JOSEPH, a celebrated physician, physiologist, and
Encyclopaedist, born at Montpellier, where he founded a medical school;
suffered greatly during the Revolution; was much esteemed and honoured by
Napoleon; is celebrated among physiologists as the advocate of what he
called the Vital Principle as a physiological force in the functions of
the human organism; his work "Nouveaux Elements de la Science de l'Homme"
has been translated into all the languages of Europe (1734-1806).
BARTHOLDI, a French sculptor, born at Colmar; his principal works,
"Lion le Belfort," and "Liberte eclairant le Monde," the largest bronze
statue in the world, being 150 ft. high, erected at the entrance of New
York harbour; _b_. 1834.
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