B A L 



B A L 



T.AI.EARICA Biiff. gn,s hthdiicd Aldr. l>akm-k cr.vie 

 ■Ray, Willuglihy, Sloane, &c., in 0: riiliWoiry, a trivial name 

 given by thtl'c and (ome other ornitholo;;;ical writers to the 

 crowned heron o{ I^atham, and ara'ui pai'onij Gmtlin. 



BALECHOU, John Joskph, in H'wp-aphy, a cele- 

 brated French engraver, flouriflied about the year 1750, and 

 died not many years ijnce at Avignon. He was perfeft 

 mafter of the graver, with which he entirely worked; and 

 diltiiijjuiflied by t!ie clearnefs of his ftrokes, and the depth 

 of colour which he produced ; but for want of drawing well, 

 his prints fail in point of freedom, correftuefs, and harmony. 

 His two large plates from Vernet, one rcprcltntiiig a 

 ■" Storm," tlve other a " Calm," are well knov/n, and uni- 

 verfally ad:nired. Strutt. 



BALEME Posit, in G:ogra*>Iiy, is a port of North 

 America, two leagues dillant From Loulfbourg, on the 

 coad of the ifland of cape Breton. Tiie rocks, which arc 

 covered by a high Tea, render it difficult of accefs. 



BALENS Hendrick V'an, in BmraJ>h, a painter of 

 hiftoiy and portrait, was born at Antwerp, in 1560; and 

 after havmg been a difciple of Adam Van Oort, he purfiied 

 his (Indies at Rome. By copying the antiques, and at- 

 tending to the works of eminent modern artifts, his improve- 

 ment was fuch, that, in his return to his own country, he 

 obtained the ellecm of the ablclV judges. He was diiUn- 

 guifhed by a good manner of defigning, and his works arc 

 admitted into the cabinets of the curious, among thofe of 

 the principal painters. He particulaly excelled in the na- 

 ked, and gave to his figures fo much truth, roundnefs, and 

 correftnefs of outline, that few of his cotemporaries could 

 enter into competition with him. Several of his line por- 

 traits are at the Hague; and particularly one adorned with 

 the figures of wifdom and jultice, which is very highly 

 commended. His deligiis of the deluge, of Mofes ftriking 

 the rock, and the drowning of Pharaoh, are grand and no- 

 ble compofitions. His " Judgment of Paris" is alfo ac- 

 counted a mafterly performance ; in which the iigure of Venus 

 is fo elegantly defigned, fo full of life, and fo round, tliat 

 it feems to ftand forth from the furface. He died in 1632. 

 Pilkington. 



BALEN, Jacob Van, a painter of hiftory, landfcapes, 

 and boys, was born at Antwerp, in 161 1, and derived from 

 Jiis father Hendrick Van Balen his knowledge of the art, 

 and his fine tafte of drawing and defign. He afterwards 

 travelled to Rome, and other cities of Italy. His particular 

 merit was exhibited in his figures of boys, cupids, and 

 aymphs bathing or hunting ; and he gained wealth and fame 

 by his landfcapes and hillories. His piftures were well 

 handled, his trees touched with fpirit, and his herbage and 

 verdure appeared natural and lively. The carnations of his 

 figures were clear and frefh, his colouring in general was 

 tranfparent, and the airs of his heads were in the manner of 

 Albano. Pilkington. 



BALENBi'-RG, in Geograph^<, a town of Germany, in 

 the circle ol tlie I^ower Rhine, and territory of Mentz, two 

 miles north-well of Krauthtim. 



BAI-ENGER, Balengaria, \x\ MtMe Age Wrhtrs, a 

 kind of vefiel of war, but what in particular feems not well 

 known. Blount fays, that by the tlat. 28 Hen. VI. cap. J. 

 balenger feems to have been a kind of barge. 



BAEES, Peter, m Biography, an extraordinary maflcr 

 of penmanfhip and fine writing, was born in 1 547, and de- 

 ferves to be recorded on account of the (Ivill which he ac 

 quired in theexercifeof hisart. Anthony Wood mention? him 

 as " a moft dexterous perfou in his profelfion," and as having 

 " fpent feveral years in fciences among the Oxonians, par- 

 ticularly as it feems in Gloucefter hall; but that lludy which 



he nfed for a divcrfion only, proted at length an employ- 

 ment of profit." Hnllnfhed, in his Chronicle, A. U. 1575, 

 records his flvill in micrography or miniature writing ; and 

 Mr. Evclvn (Numifmata, fol. 1697, p. 26S.) fays of him, 

 that in 1557 he wrote the lord's prayer, creed, decalogue, 

 with two Ihort Latin prayers, his own name, motto, day 

 of the month, year of our I^ord, and of the queen's reign, 

 to whom he prefented it at Hampton Court, all within the 

 circle of a fingle penny, enchafed in a ring and border of 

 gold, and covered with cryftal; fo nicely wrote as to be 

 plainly legible, to the admiration of her majelty, her privy- 

 council, and feveral ambafladors, who then faw it." He 

 pofieired alfo an extraordinary flcill in im.itating the writing 

 of others; and he feems to have been employed in this and 

 fimilar ways for the fervice of the ftate, with a view to the 

 complete dii'covery and conviclion of traitors, between the 

 years 1586 and i$>^'-). At this time he had reafon to cxpeft 

 fome place or preferment at court ; but being difappointed 

 in his expeiftations by the death of fecretary Waliingham, 

 he piirfued the bufinefs of a writingmafter in the Old Bai- 

 ley ; and in 1590, he publifiied his " Writing Schoolmailer, 

 in three Parts," containing the art of brachygraphy, or 

 fwift writing ; the order of orthography, or true writing ; 

 and the key of calligraphy, or fair writing. In 1595, he 

 was engaged in a trial of Ikill with anotiier performer in the 

 fame way, for a golden pen of 20I. value, which he gained; 

 and in another more general competition, he obtained the 

 arms of calligraphv, which are azure., a pen, or. By various 

 exercifes of his pen, he recommended himlelf to feveral per- 

 fons of knowledge and dillinftion ; and Anthony Wood 

 fays, that he was engaged in the treafons of the earl of 

 Eifcx, in 1600; but the real fadl was, that Bales was inno- 

 cently employed in fer\ing the treacherous purpofes of one 

 of the earl's mercenary dependants. Towards the clofe of 

 life, he feems to have been reduced to a deftitute and dif- 

 treli'ed condition, either by his own extravagance, or by im- 

 prudent confidence in others; and to have died about the 

 year 1610. Biog. Brit. 



BALESCOU DF. Tharart, or I'li/r/rus of Tarenta, a 

 Portnguele. It appears from his own tellimony, that he began 

 writing in the year 141 8, after thirty-fix years experisncc. 

 Elis firli publication " De Philonio," was printed at Venice, 

 1490; then at I^yons, in folio, in 1531 ; and his work, " De 

 Morbis Curandis," edited by Guido Defiderius, at Lyons, 

 in 1560, in 4to. and afterwards at PVankfort 1590. A 

 fliort traft, " Traftatus Chirurgise," is printed with the 

 Philonium. He propofes extirpating cancers by an applica- 

 tion, in which arfenic is an ingredient. This drug, we know, 

 formed the bafis of a preparation of late introduced, for the 

 fame purpofe, by Plunket. Our author, however, admo- 

 nifhes pradtitioners, that arlenic is not ufed without danger. 

 He faw a pirfon who died fuddenly in the night, whofe head 

 I'.ad been anointed with an arlenical preparation, for the ciire 

 of tinea capitis. It appears from his works, that he was well 

 acquainted with tlie dodrine of Galen, and of the Arabic 

 writers. Haller. Bib. Cliirurg. 



BALESIUM, in indent Geography, a town of Italy, 

 in Magna Grxcia, in the country called Melfapia. Pliny 

 and Mela. 



BALESOS, an ifland of the ^gean Sea, between Thrace 

 and the ifle of Crete. Anton. Itin. 



BALESSAN, \n nuuny. See Balsam. 

 BALESTRA, Antonio, in Bingrapl:-/, an hiflorical 

 painter, was born at Verona, in 1666: at the age of twentj'- 

 one, entered himfelf in the fchool of Antonio Belucci, at 

 Venice, and afterwards vifited Bologna and Rome, at which 

 latter place he became the difciple of Carlo Maratti. Hav- 

 ing 



