BAPTISTS 



587 



BARBARA FRIETCHIE 



the child may in after years be admitted into 

 full membership in the Church vary widely 

 among the different denominations. 



BAP'TISTS, a Protestant denomination 

 which holds that the only acceptable mode of 

 baptism is by immersion (see BAPTISM). The 

 name was first applied in 1644 to English con- 

 gregations holding this opinion. The first Bap- 

 tist church in America was founded by Roger 

 Williams at Providence, Rhode Island, in 1639. 

 There are twelve different branches of Baptists 

 in the United States. They have about 43,000 

 ministers, over 57,000 churches and over 6,000,- 

 000 members. The Church in Canada has 

 about 390,000 members. 



Baptist Young People's Union. On July 7 

 and S, 1891, all the organizations of young 

 people of the Baptist churches in America 

 united in a federation to which they gave the 

 name, The Baptist Young People's Union of 

 America. The organization has branch societies 

 in every state in the Union and every province 

 of Canada. The main purpose of the society 

 is to so organize the young people of the 

 denomination that they will assist in the most 

 efficient manner in carrying on the activities of 

 the Church. 



Free Baptists, one of the largest branches of 

 the Baptist Church, founded in 1780 in New 

 Hampshire by Benjamin Randall, which differs 

 from the main body of the Church by having 

 open communion. After 1820 the Church made 

 great progress in New England and the Mul<l! 

 West. At present its membership in America 

 averages about 150,000. 



B ARABB AS , ba rab ' as, the murderer whom 

 Pilate released to the Jews when he delivered 

 Jesus to be crucified. Pilate was the Roman 

 governor of Judea, and according to the New 

 Testament account, it was customary to par- 

 don one or more prisoners during the feast of 

 the Passover. Desiring to pacify the Jews 

 and at the same time escape the responsibility 

 of sentencing Jesus to be executed, he said to 

 rlir Jews: ''Whether of the twain will ye that 

 I n loose unto you? They said Barabbas." 



BARBADOS, bahrba'dozc, the most east- 

 erly of the West India Islands, and the most 

 densely populated island in tli.> \\-i.: 

 .-iL'niL' 1.120 people per square iml< It is of 

 coral formation ami i> pmKil.l.v founded on a 

 volcanic base, as it is subj- ikes. 



Th- .'In :lil :iinl li. .iltlil'ul. Ill 



George Washington undertook the on 

 journey of his life, accompanying his invalid 

 brother Lawrence to Barbados. 



The soil in the lowlands is very fertile, and 

 large crops of sugar cane are raised. Other 

 important products are cotton, coffee, tobacco, 

 indigo and arrowroot. The leading industries 

 are the manufacture of sugar and rum, but the 

 island has considerable commerce and im- 

 portant fisheries. Barbados is the headquarters 

 for the English forces in the West Indies. The 

 capital is Bridgetown, on the only good harbor 

 the island possesses. The island was discovered 

 in 1518, was occupied by the British in 1625, 

 and has always been a British possession. It is 

 administered by a governor, assisted by an ex- 

 ecutive committee and a legislative council, all 

 appointed by the British government, and a 

 house of assembly elected by the people. Pop- 

 ulation in 1911, 171,982. 



BAR 'BAR A, SAINT, a saint of the Roman 

 Catholic Church who, according to legend, was 

 beheaded by her father for accepting Chris- 

 tianity. No sooner had he killed her than 

 he himself was struck dead by lightning, and so 

 Saint Barbara is prayed to in time of storm, 

 and is considered the guardian saint of artil- 

 lery. The powder room in a French ship of 

 war is named Sainte-Barbe. Saint Barbara's 

 day is the fourth of December. She is sup- 

 posed to have lived in the third century and 

 to have suffered martyrdom at Nicomedia, in 

 A "I? Minor. 



BAR'PARA FRIETCHIE, /re' chi, the aged 

 heroine of Whittier's poem of that name, who 

 risked her life to suve her country's flag from 

 dishonor. The poen is based on a story that 

 sprang up during the War of Secession, and 

 was first published in the Atlantic Monthly in 

 1863. According to the story, the men of 

 Frederick, Md., hauled down the American 

 flag on the approach of the Confederate troops 

 under Stonewall Jackson. Old Barbara Friet- 

 chie, "bowed with her fourscore years and ten," 

 loyally set the flagstaff in her attic window, 

 and when the Confederates, at the word of 

 command, rent the banner with a blast from 

 their rifles, she dauntlessly seised the flag and, 

 in the words of the poem- 

 She leaned far <>ut <>n the window-Hill 

 An. I hok it forth with a royal will. 



"Shoot. If you muflt. thin old gray head, 



xpnre your country's Hag," she said. 



Stonewall Jackson was moved by her ap- 

 peal, for 



A i*hade of sadness, a blush of shame 

 face of the leader came; 



a hair of yon gray head 

 Diea like a dog! March on!" he said. 



