B A L 



excepting Bruce and Baliol, the competitors, to acknow- 

 ledge Scotland as a fiet of the EngliHi crown, and to fwe;:r 

 fealty to him as their fovereign or liege lord. He alio de- 

 manded poffcffion of the kinudom, that he miglit be able 

 to deliver it to him whofe right (hoiild be preferable. This 

 ftrange demand obtained affent; and Edxvard finding Ealiol 

 the mod obfequious, and the lead formidable of the two 

 rivals, foon after g^ve judgment in his favour. Baliol once 

 more profcficd himfelf the vaffal of England, A. D. 1292, 

 and fubmitted to every condition which the fovereign whom 

 he had now acknowledged was pleafed to prefcribe. Ed- 

 ward having thus, as he conceived, ellabh(hed his dominion, 

 began too foon to afTume the matter; but his new vaffals, 

 fierce and independent, bore with impatience a yoke to ivhich 

 t^ey were not accuftomed. The pafSve fpirit even of Ba- 

 liol began to mutiny, upon which Edward forced him to re- 

 fign the crown, and openly attempted to feize it as fallen to 

 himfelf by the rebellion of his vafTal. At this critical period, 

 fir William Wallace, to whom his countrymen have afcribed 

 many fabulous afts of prowefs, ventured to take up arms in 

 defence of the kingdom, and by his boldnefs revived the 

 fpirit of the nation. At laft Robert Bruce, the grandfon 

 of Baliol's competitor, appeared to afTcrt hid own rights, 

 and to vindicate the honour of his country. The nobles, 

 afhamed of their former baft-nefs, and enraged at the many 

 indignities offered to the nation, crowded to his ftandard. 

 In order to crufh them at once, the Englith monarch entered 

 Scotland, at the head of a mighty army; many battles 

 were fought, but the Scots, though often vanquifhcd, were 

 not fubdutd. The ardent zeal with which the nobles con- 

 tended for the independence of the kingdom, the prudent 

 valour of Bruce, and above all, a national enthufiafm in- 

 fpired by fuch a caufe, baffled the repeated efforts of Ed- 

 ward, and counterbalanced all the advantages which he de- 

 rived from the number and wealth of his fubjecls. And 

 though the war continued, with little intcrmiflion, upwards 

 of 70 years, Bruce and his pofterity kept poffcfTion of the 

 throne of Scotland, and ruled with an auttiority not inferior 

 to that of its former monarchs. During the conteft. in fa- 

 vour of Bruce, John Baliol lived quietly as a private man 

 on his own tftates, which were very coiiiiderabif, in France, 

 without interfering in the affairs of Scotland. Some writers 

 fay, that he lived till he was blind, which, if true, mud have 

 been the efTefl of fome difeafe, fince it is certain that he 

 died A.D. 13141 when he could not be above 55 years of 

 age at mod. " Thus ended," fays lir David Dalrjniple, in 

 his Annals of Scotland, " the (hort and difadrous reign 

 of John Baliol; an ill-fated prince! ccnfured for doing ho- 

 mage to Edward, never applauded for afferting the natioiial 

 independency. Yet, in his original offence, he had the 

 example of Bruce ; at his revolt, he faw the royal fumUy com- 

 bating under the banners of England. His attempt to 

 fhake off a foreign yoke, fpeaks him of a high fpirit, im- 

 patient of injuries. He erred in enterprifing beyond his 

 ftrength; in the caufe of liberty, it was a meritorious error. 

 He confided in the valour and unanimity of his fubjefts, 

 and in the affiftance of France. The efforts of his fubjcfts 

 were languid and difcordant ; and France bcluld his ruin 

 with the indifference of an unconcerned fpeftator." Robert- 

 fon's Hid. of Scotland, vol. i. p. 10, <kc. Biog. Brit. 



BALIPATNA, or Pal.e-Patna, in Ancient Geo. 

 graphy, a maritime town of India, nearly at an equal diftance 

 from the gulf of Canthi-Colpus, and that of Barigazenus. 

 The perlplus of the Erythrscan lea places it to the fouth- 

 ead of Mandagora. See Patna. 



BALIPATUA, a town of India, on this fide of the 

 Ganges. Ptolemy. 



Vol. III. 



B A L 



BALIS, a town of Africa, in Libya, and in the vicinity 

 of Cyrenr, which had its name from a temple dedicated to 

 Baal. 



Balis, in Geography, a town of Afiatlc Turkey, in 

 Syria, on the frontiers of Diarbekir, on the \.clt bank 

 of the Euphrates, twenty leagues ead of Aleppo. 



BALISBIGA, in Ancient Geography, a town of Afia, 

 fituate in the mountains north of the nvcr Arlani.;., placed 

 by Ptolemy in Armenia Major. 



BALISSUS, a dream in the deferts which anciently 

 feparated Affyria from Arabia, near the place where CrafTus 

 was defeated by the Parthians. 



BALISTA, in Arlili'ery. See Ballista. 



Balista, in Ancient Geography, a mountain of Italy, in 

 Liguria. Livy. 



BALISTES, in Ichthyolgy, the name of a gjenus of 

 branchiodegous fidies, in the Linnian fydcm. The charaftcr 

 of the genus is, to have the head compreded, continued clofe 

 to the body; and fomctimes a fpine between the eyes; mouth 

 narrow; teeth in each jaw eight in number, of which the 

 two anterior ones are longed, and three interior ones agaii;.1 

 the intervals between thofc on the fide; aperture of the gills 

 narrow, above the pecloral fins; no operculum; rays of the 

 membrane two; body compreded, and carinated on each 

 fide; fcalcs joined together, coriaceous, and rough, with 

 minute prickles. Nearly all the fifties of this genus are re- 

 markable for their fplendid colours. The fpecies mentioned 

 by Linnzus and Gmelin are the following: monoccros, fcrip. 

 tiis ^, hifpidus, tomentofus, papillofus, verrucofus, biacu- 

 leatus, acuieatus, vetula, maculatus, ringens, finenfis, affafli, 

 caprifcus, forcipatus, punctatus, Klcinii, curaflavicu?, and 

 Americanus; which fee. 



Lacepede has dtfcribed twenty-four fpecies of baliftes, in 

 his work on fithes, and whicii he divides into four fedlions; 

 le balide mamelonne, le balide pralin, le balifte verdatrc, le 

 balide Mungo-Parck (Park); le bahde metallique, &c. 

 are new or intereding fpecies dtfcribed by Lacepede, Bofc. 

 &c. as will be noticed iiereafter. 



BALITO {Gu'tffo lialito), in Ornithology, the name of 

 emberiza tridaftyla, or three-toed grolbeak, in Buffon's Hill. 

 Birds. 



BALIVIS, a name given by the peopleof the Philippine 

 iflands to a kind of duck that is fmaller than the common 

 wild duck of this country. The fpecies is unknown. 



BALIVO amoverulo, in La<w, a writ to remove a 

 bailiff from his office, for want of fufGcie. t land in the 

 bailiwick. 



B.ALIZE, in Geography, a fort at the mouth of the 

 Miffifippi river. 



BALK, in Agriculture, a ridge or bank between two 

 furrows, or pieces of arable land. 



Balks, among Builders, denote large pieces of timber 

 brought from abroad in floats; or a fort of beams imported 

 from live to twelve inches fquare. The greater balks are 

 accounted timber, if above eight inches fquare. 



Balk, or Bdzuk, is alfo ufcd in fome parts of England for 

 the fummer-beam of a building, for the poles or rafters laid 

 over outhoufes or barns; and among bricklayers, for the 

 pieces of timber that are ufed in making Icaffolds. 



Balk, in Geogniphy, a province of Great Bucharia, in 

 Independent Tartaiy, correfponding to the ancient Bailria 

 or BaAriaua. It lies to the fouth ol the province of Saraar- 

 cand, and ead of Proper Bucharia, and has been edimated at 

 360 miles in length, and zyo in breadth. Bentink obfcrvcs, 

 that though this province is the fmalled of the three into 

 which Great Buciiaria was formerly divided, the other two 

 being Samarcand and Bucharia Proper; ytt, being very 

 3 T fcrtUe 



