4*1 



BAR SWELL, ROBKRT. 



BALBINDS, DECIMUS CAELIU& 



IM 



by Lord Craw, then bishop of Durham, to the rectory of Long Newton 

 iu that cliocM. which he resigned in 1600, upon refusing to take the 

 oath* to King William. He now retired to hi* fellowship at St. John's, 

 in which IM was protected till January, 20th, 1717, when again refuting 

 to take the oath* to a new government, he wai ejected, in company 

 with MTwml other learned men. Mr. Baker retained a lively sense of 

 tail deprivation, which he expressed by writing in the blank leaves of 

 all the books which he afterward* gave to the college, " Tbo. Baker 

 ColL Jo. aocioe ejectua," He appear* to have had the sympathy and 

 pecuniary assistance of Edward Lord Oxford and other friends after 

 this deprivation, but hii only settled income was an annuity of 401. a 

 year. His death took place on July 2nd, 1740. Dr. Heberden, who 

 attended him, communicated a memorandum of his last illness and 

 death, which be had made at the time, to Mr. Cole. In a letter dated 

 October 13th, 1777, still preserved among Cole's Manuscripts in the 

 British MuMam. 



living appointed one of the executors of his elder brother's will, by 

 which a large sum was bequeathed to pious uses Mr. Baker prevailed 

 on the other two executors, who were his other brother, Francis, and 

 the Hon. Charles Montague, to lay out 13101. of the money upon an 

 emtate to be settled upon St. John's College for six exhibitioners. He 

 likewise gave the college 1001. for the consideration of six pounds 

 a-year (then legal interest) for his life; and to the library several 

 choice books, both printed and manuscript ; medals and coins ; besides 

 what he left to it by his will, which were " all such books, printed and 

 manuscript, as he had, and were wanting there." 



All that Mr. Baker printed was, 1, 'The preface to Bishop Fisher's 

 foneral armon for Margaret, Conn tow of Richmond and Derby,' 8vo, 

 Load. 1708; 2, 'Reflections n learning, showing the insufficiency 

 tBMVof in Ha several particulars, in order to evince the usefulness nnd 

 neeeuity of Revelation,' 8vo, Load. 1710, which went through eight 

 editions: both works were without his name. HU manuscript 

 collection* relative to the history and antiquities of the University of 

 Cambridge funned the great labour of his life, and chiefly entitle him 

 to a notice here. They amount to thirty-nine volumes in folio, and 

 three in quarto, closely written. The British Museum possesses twenty- 

 three volumes, which he bequeathed to the Earl of Oxford, his friend 

 and patron ; the Public Library at Cambridge contains sixteen volumes 

 in folio and three in quarto, which he bequeathed to the University. 

 A minute account of the contents of every volume will be fouud in the 

 Catalogue of Mr. Thomas Baker's MS. Collections' appended to 

 Hastens Memoir of him, and in the Biographia Britannica,' vol. i. 

 p. 521-86. The catalogue of the Harlcian Manuscripts contains an 

 account of those deposited in the Museum. 



The awinlauce which Mr. Biker gave to his contemporaries engaged 

 in literary pursuit* was valnable and extensive; such aid i< more 

 particularly acknowledger! by Walker in his ' Sufferings of the Clergy,' 

 by Bishop Hornet, Archbishop Wake, Strype, Thomas Hearne, Pro- 

 fessor Ward, Browne Willis, Peck, Le If eve, Bishop Kennet Dr. Conyers 

 Middleton, Dr. Waterland. Dr. Zach. Grey, Ac. The Society of Anti- 

 quaries) have a portrait of Mr. Baker, and there is another in the 

 picture-gallery at Oxford. 



(fluyrapkia RrUannica ; Masters, Memoirt drawn from the Papert 

 of Ih: ZaeM. Orey, 8vo, Cambr., 1784; and Cole'i MS. Collection!, lirit. 

 Mo*, vol. xxiiL, xxvii., xxx., xxxi., with his Atben. Cantabr. lett. II.) 



IIAKKWKI.I,. ROBERT, a celebrated agriculturist and improver 

 of live-stock. He was born, about the year 1725, at Diihley, in Leices- 

 tershire, and died there in the year 1795. Though it does not appear 

 that he contributed anything to literature, even on the subjects to 

 which he devoted his life, his efforts, particularly to improve the breed 

 of cattle, procured for him a widely-extended reputation : the long- 

 homed breed which he introduced is designated by the name of the 

 Diahlvy or New Leicestershire breed. He also paid much attention 

 to improving the breeds of horses, pigs, and sheep. He is to be distin- 

 guished from another Robert Bakewell, who, in 1808, published 

 Observations on Wool/ with notes by Lord Somerville. 



BALl',1, ADRIEtf, was born at Venice on April 25, 1782. At an 

 early period of his life he was appointed professor of geography and 

 al*cM>f natural philosophy in his native town. In 1820 he took up his 

 reaidViMe in Portugal. Here, from the archives of the kingdom, he 

 nweand the materials for hi* 'Eseai sUtlstlque snr le royaume do 

 Portugal et Algarvc, compart anx autres Etat* de 1'Europe,' pub- 

 lished in Paris in 1822. After having settled In Paris, and employ.-d 

 hinweir in collecting rich and varied materials for many years, he 



SbHsbed in 18M the Ant volume of his 'Atlas ethnograpbiqu* du 

 b* j or, Cl*t6eatioo de* Peuples ancicn* et moderne* d'apro* leura 

 Langnea.' This work first made the French public acquainted with 

 the researches of Adelung and other German philologists. Bolbi how- 

 vr improved their arrangement, and added much information gathered 

 from the account* of such traveller* a* A. Humbol.it, Freycinet, and 

 others, a* well a* from linguist* such as O. Humboldt, Remusat, 

 CbampoUt">, Klaproth, Ac. This work attained a deaerv.-dly high 

 repuUtion. Under the administration of Martignac, Balbi received 

 from the government *nch pecuniary assistance as rendered his circura 

 *"" 7' He had previously published, with the assistance of 

 *" "k"" lp " has scrupulously acknowledged, statistical tables 

 rf< *5* 1 ?? d ? III ' ofFnu>0 . R i , and the Netherlands. After finish- 

 * 'Abrade OeocraphU, rtidipi sor on plan nouveau,' which 



work has been translated into most of the principal languages of 

 Europe, he quitted Paris in 1832, and settled in Padua, where he died 

 on March 14, 1848. 



We have mentioned the works on which Balbi's reputation rest*, 

 but he produced several others, among them are : ' La Monarchic 

 Francaisocompareeaux principaux Etat* de I'Kurope,' 1828; 'L'Empire 

 Rune ooinparoe aux principaux Etat* du monde,' 1829, and 'The 

 World compared with the British Empire/ 1830. 



(Nouvelle Bingmphit I'nireriette.) 



BA'LBI, O.VSPARO, a Venetian merchant and traveller, who lived 

 in the second part of the 18th century. He was a dealer in precious 

 stones, and the business of his trade led him to Aleppo, whence he 

 undertook a journey to India, which lasted several years. On his 

 return to Venice he published an account of this journey, ' Viaggio 

 all' Indie Oriental!,' Svo, Venice, 1590, which was reprinted in 1600. 

 Balbi's narrative is carious, as it refers to an epoch when India was 

 much less known than it is now, and was in a state very ilr 

 from the present The Portuguese were then almost the only Euro- 

 pean nation trading to India, and their establishments on the coasts 

 were numerous and strong. Those Venetian merchants who ventured 

 so far appear to have been on good terms with the Portuguese, and 

 to have enjoyed security under their protection. Balbi wrote in an 

 unpretending style, which bears marks of his candour as to what he 

 himself saw, and also of his credulity with regard to matters which ho 

 knew only from hearsay. He is very minute and exact in every 

 particular of mercantile information; but IIH statements are scanty 

 with regard to the history and geography of the countries which he 

 visited 



Balbi proceeded from Alppo to Bir on the Euphrates, and then 

 embarked on the river, which ho represents as dangerous, owing to 

 rapids and shallows. He landed on the left bank, at the di-tance of 

 one day and a half from Baghdad, which ho culla New Babylon, nnd 

 to which city he proceeded by land. From Baghdad he descended 

 the Tigris to Bussora, and there embarked for Ormuz. where the 

 Portuguese had a fort, the sovereign of that barren little island being 

 tributary to them. From Ormuz he proceeded to Diu, another factory 

 of the Portuguese at the entrance of the Qulf of Cambay, and thence 

 to Qoa, their chief settlement on the Malabar coast Ho gives a full 

 and curious account of the trade in those places, of the various goods 

 brought to the markets, their prices ill Venetian currency, the duties, 

 freights, Ac. From Goa he went to Cochin, and thouce round Cape 

 Comorin to St Thomas, or St. Thome, as he calls it, another Portu- 

 guese factory. He gives a sketch of the missionaries, and their modo 

 of converting the people at that time, which was quite aa much by 

 means of physical aa of moral force. At St. Thomd Balbi embarked 

 with several Portuguese merchants for the kingdom of Pegu, where 

 he arrived in the year 1583. His account, of that remote country is 

 the most curious part of his narrative. Pegu was then a powerful 

 kingdom ; Ava was subject to it, and even Siam was its tributary. 

 The ship in which Balbi was having arrived at Negrais, the goods and 

 passengers were transferred into boats, in which they ascended the 

 river Irawaddi for eleven days, when they arrived at Meccao, and pro- 

 ceeded by laud to the capital of Pegu, which was twelve miles east 

 from the river. Balbi represents the town as very Urge, divided 

 into old and new : the new town was square, surrounded with walls 

 and ditches. A number of large crocodiles were he says kept in the 

 ditches to prevent any one from swimming over. The streets were 

 \vi.le, the houses built of wood, and dirty inside. The king's palace 

 was in the middle of the new town : the old town was occupied by 

 the trading people. The town of Pegu has since been destroyed by 

 the Birtnana, who conquered it about the middle of the 18th century, 

 and left standing ouly the great temple of Shomadoo. Balbi had au 

 audience of the king, who inquired about the traveller's native country, 

 and laughid heartily on being told that it was a republic and had no 

 king. He appears however to have heard something of European 

 politics, for he asked Balbi tho name of the sovereign who had recently 

 conquered Portugal (Philip II. of Spain). The king, according to 

 Balbi's account, behaved very graciously to him, and made him a 

 present of a golden cup and several pieces of China damask silk, to 

 the great surprise of the natives. Balbi had brought from India some 

 fine emeralds, which the king purchased at the price set on them by 

 the brokers, and Balbi was paid partly in other precious stones and 

 partly in 'gansa,' or lead pieces, which were the currency of the 

 country. Ho wished to go on to Ava where the finest relics were to 

 be obtained, but was prevented by a war breaking out between Pegu 

 and Ava. Balbi, after remaining two years in Pegu, set off for 

 Martaban, and there embarked to return to Cochin. At Cochin he 

 was detained MJVCII mouths before he could get a passage for Ormuz. 

 He tells many curious particulars of the people of the Malabar coast, 

 their superstitions, Ac. Balbi returned home by the way of Ormuz, 

 Bussora, Baghdad, and Aluppo. He had left Aleppo iu 1579, and 

 returned in 1588. 



Balbi seems to have been the first traveller who gave an account of 

 Transgansietic India. A Latin translation of his narrative i* in De 

 Bry's ' Collection of Voyages and Travels to the East Indies,' Frank- 

 furt, 1590 94. 



1! U.BI'NUS, DE'CIMUS CA'ELIUS, a Roman senator, after being 

 twice consul, was elected emperor by the senate in opposition to the 



