B A K 



communication, and he continued to exercife his fiinaions, 

 and even to vindicate his dodrinep; whilft he fohcitcd the 

 pope to ablolve the irregularity. About thirteen years after 

 this tranfaftion, complaints ugainft Baius were rent-wed ; 

 and pope Gregory XIII., at the inftigation of thejefuits] 

 confirmed the fenteuce of Pins IV. Baius quietly acqui- 

 efced in the papal fentence, and concurred in condemning 

 the propoiit.ons agreeably to the defirn and meaning of the 

 bull. Baius, not-.vith'.landing the popular odium which, he 

 incurred, retaiiitd his ofiice, and received further preferment. 

 He, and Hefiels, his aflociace in the profcfTorlliip at Louvain, 

 were the two divines commiflioned to attend the council of 

 Trent, in the year 1563. In 1575, he was preferred to the 

 dcantry of St. Ttter at Louvain, and ekaed chancellor of 

 the uiiiverfity; and, in 1578, was appointed con fcrvator of 

 its privileges. In 15R9 he died, at the age cf fevcnty-feven 

 years. Molheim reprefents him as equally remarkable on 

 account of the warmth of his pi-ay as the extent of his 

 learning. In proof of his charitable difpofition it is alleged, 

 that by his laft will h.e left his whole eftate to the poor. His 

 manners were engaging ; and Toiet, one of hii adverfarics 

 of the fraternity of Jefuits, faid of him, " Michaile Baio 

 nihil doftius, nihil humilius;" nothing can be more learned, 

 nothing more humble than Baius. As his works, relating 

 chiefly to the controvtrfy concerning grace and free-will, are 

 not likely to be now much fought after, it is needlcfs to 

 enumerate them. They were printed entire in 4to. at Co- 

 logne, in 1694. They are written with logical precifion, 

 and in a neat llyle. Gen. Did. Moih. Eccl. Hift. vol. iv. 

 p. 235, 236. 



BAIX, in Geogmphy, a town of France, in the depart- 

 ment of the Ardeche, two leagues and a half foulh-eall of 

 Privas. 



BAIZE, a town of Germany; in the county of Tyrol, 

 eight miles foiith of Trent. 



Baize, in Commerce. See Bays. 



BAKAL, in Geography, a town of Ruflla, in the govern- 

 ment of Ufa, r.inety-llx miles W. N. W. of Ufa. 



BAKAN, a town of Afia, in the BIrman empire, feated 

 on the river Ava. N. lat. 19° 35'. E. long. 98^ o'. 



BAKER, Sir Richard, in Biography, an Englilh hif- 

 torian, was tlie grandfon of fir John Baker, chancellor of 

 the exchequer, in the reign of HeniT VIII, and born at 

 Siffingherll in Kent, about the year i j68. He was entered 

 a commoner at Hart's hall, in Oxford, in 1584; and hav- 

 ing fpent three years in academic ftudies, liniilied his educa- 

 tion in one of the inns of court, and by travelling. In 

 1603, he obtained the honour of knighthood ; and in 1620 

 he was appointed high-fheriff for the county of Oxford. 

 By involving himfelf in pecuniary erabarraflment, in confe- 

 quence of his marriage, he was obliged to take refuge in 

 the Fleet prifon, where, after remaining there feveral years, 

 he terminated his life in 1645. ^" thefe circumllances of 

 confinement and humiliating dillrefs, he obtained relief by 

 ftudy, and from the influence of religious pnnciples. Befides 

 other trafts of lefs importance, in the compofition of which 

 he amufed himfelf, his principal work was the " Chronicle 

 of the Kings of E;i^land from the Time of the Romans' 

 Government unto the Death of King James," publifhcd in 

 folio, at London, in 164T, and afterwards continued by 

 Edward Phillips, a nephew of Milton. Tiiis chronicle 

 continued to be popular for feveral years, and dcfen-edly fo 

 if the author's acco^mt of it be juft; for he fays, " that it 

 was collefted with fo great care and diligence, that if all 

 other of our chronicles fhould be loll, this only would be 

 fuf&cient to inform pofterity of all paffages memorable or 

 worthy to be knou-n." Eat of this performance a lefs fa- 



B A K 



vourabic opinion has been entertained by others ; and the 

 critical examination of Thomas Bloujit in his " Animadvcr- 

 fions upon fir Ridiard Baker's Chronicle, and its Continua- 

 tion," publifhcd in i2ino., at Oxford, in 1672, in which 

 many and ^>rofs errors, refpefting da'.cs, names, places, and 

 fa^s, we-e pointed out, greatly depreciated its value in the 

 public eftim; lion. Althourh a new correfted edition, with 

 a fecoiid continuation, api^cartd in 1 730, yet Baker's chro- 

 nicle remained, after all, a performance ill-conftrufted, in- 

 judicious, and unworthy of confidence. Of the writer's 

 taile and ftyle the following commendation of his pantgyrift, 

 fir Henry Wotton, will afford an adequate idea : " I much 

 admir: the character of your (lyle, which fcemeth unto me 

 to have not a little of the African idea of St. .A.u(lin's age; 

 full of fweet raptures, and of refearching conceits; nothino- 

 borrowed, nothing vulgar, and yet all flowing from you, 

 I know not how, with a certain equal facihty." Biog. 

 Brit. 



Baker, Thomas, an eminent mathematician, was bom at 

 Ikon in Somerfetlhire, about the year 1625, and was edu- 

 cated at Oxford. In 1645 he was elecled fcholar of Wad- 

 ham college, took his degree of bachelor of arts in 164-- 

 and foon afterwards left the univei-fity. As vicar of Bifhops- 

 Nymmct in Devonfhire, he lived in ftudious retirement, and 

 chiefly apphed himfelf to the ftudy of mathematics, in which 

 he excelled. Of this we have fufficient evidence in his work, 

 intiiled, "The Geometrical Key, or the Gate of Equations 

 unlocked," and publifhcd at London in 1684, 4to. in Latin 

 and Englifli. An account of this book is given in the Phil. 

 Tranf. vol. xiv. N^ 157. p. 549, 550. (See Central Rule.) 

 To fome mathematical queries, lent to him by the members 

 of the Royal Society, not long before his death, he retunied 

 an anfw^er fo fatisfaCtorj-, that they gave him a medal, with 

 an infcription honourable and refpectful. He died at Bilhops- 

 Nymmet, June 5th, 1690, and was buried in his own 

 church. Biog. Brit. 



Baker, Thomas, a writer and antiquar}- of eminence, was 

 born at Lancheller in the county of Durham, in 1656, and 

 ftudied at St. John's college, Cambridge, where he became 

 a fellow. In 1699 he publifhcd, in 8vo., an anon}'mous 

 work, intitled, " RefleiTtions upon Learning, wherein is fhewn 

 the Infufncitncy thereof, in its feveral Particulars, in order 

 to evince the NeceflTity and L^fetulnefs of Revelation," which 

 paffed through feveral editions, and was regarded, for many 

 years, as a llandard of tine writing. As to its I'yle, how- 

 ever, it has been obferved, that, whilll it is allowed to be 

 perfpicuous and manly, it has no claim to any high degree 

 of elegance ; and whatever merit the work in general may 

 be fuppofed to pofTefs, it will be juftly queftioned, whether 

 an author, who bellows cold and partial praife on Bacon, 

 who in a chapter of metaphyfics omits the mention of Locke, 

 who fpeaks contemptuoufly of the Copemican fyflem, and 

 who attacked Le C'lerc with an unbecoming afpcrity, wai 

 duly qualified to pafs judgment upon generallearning. The 

 ingenious Dr. Jortin fays of him (Life of Eralmus, p. 550, 

 551), " that he was no critic himfelf, and not at all ac- 

 quainted witli the true ftate of clafTical books, and particu- 

 larlv of Greek authors." Baker, though he pofTitred real 

 enidilioi!, and though his remarks are otlcn acute and inge- 

 nious, has unduly difparagfd t!.e writings of able men, ai;d 

 the difcoveries of modern fcience. In the progrcfs of his 

 life, he piirfucd lludies for which he feems to have bjcn bet- 

 ter quahfied. As a collc^^or of antiquities, and particularly 

 of fuch as related to the church and univerfity, he excelled. 

 His talents in this way were employed in collci'-ing materials 

 for a hillory of the uiiiverlity of Cambridge; but though be 

 lived to an advanced age, the hiltory was never completed. 



Baker 



