BAR 



by Jews, and lianllv even by Jews fuperior in rank and edu- 

 cation to thole wliofe names they bear; and the argument 

 is ftrengthened by conlidering that under their homely garb 

 we find the mod exalted fentiinents, the cloleft reafoniiig, 

 the pureft morality, and the Ibundell doftrine. In the dif- 

 cuffion t>f this fubjeft, we fliould likewifc conlider the fitu- 

 ation and charaftcr of the perl'ons for whofe ufe the New 

 Teilament was more immediately written. They were partly 

 cither native Jews, or pious perfons who were prof(.lytes_ to 

 the doftrine of Mofes, and who, by continual intcrcoiirfe 

 with native Jews, and the cnnftant reading cf the LXX, 

 were accullomed to Jewilh Greek. It is iiighly probable, 

 therefore, that if the New Teftament had been written with 

 Attic purity, it would h.'ive been unintelligible to many of 

 its earlieft readers, who hnd never read the doctrines of re- 

 ligion in any other diak-Ct than Jewifa Greek. We fiiall 

 only obferve further in this place, that a clalTical or iii^chif- 

 fical ftyle has no more influence on the divinity of the New 

 Teftament, than the elegance or inelegance of the hand in 

 which it is written, and the accuracy or inaccuracy of the 

 pronunciation with which it is uttered. Whoever is accuf- 

 tomed to write a bad hand would certainly not improve it 

 by infpiration ; but admitting the faft, it would have this 

 unfortunate confequence, that no one accuftomcd to the 

 hand would in its improved ftate believe it to be genuine. 

 There is no reafon to believe, that infpiration would amend 

 a faulty pronunciation ; and the writers of the diff'-rent 

 parts of the Bible have undoubtedly fpoken in the fame 

 manner, both before and after the elTufions of the Holy 

 Ghoft. If thefe failings then are confiftcnt with fuperna- 

 tural endowments, " I can fee no reafon," fays Michatlis, 

 " for drawing an argument againft the divinity of the New 

 Teftament from its vulgarifms, or even from its grammatical 

 errors." A particular account of the writings of thofe 

 authors, who have engaged in the controverfy relating to 

 the purity of the language of the New Teftament, may be 

 feen in Walchii Bibliotheca Theologica, t. iv. p. 276 — 2H9. 

 See alfo Fabr. Bib. Crxc. t. iv. p. 224 — 227. Michaelis's 

 Introd. to the New Teftament by Marfti, vol. i. ch. 4. § 4. 

 p. 116, &c. Campbell on the Four Gofpels. Prelimin. 

 Difl". vol.i. p. 13, &c. See more on this fubjedl under the 

 articles Inspiration, zn& Language of the New Testa- 

 ment. 



Barbarism, Barbaries, is alfo ufcd for that rudenefs of 

 tnind, wherein the underftanding is neither furniftied with 

 ufeful principles, nor the will with good inclinations. 



BARBARISSOS, in Jnckr.t Geography, a town of Afia, 

 in Syria, in the Chalybonitidc country. Ptolemy. 



BARBARIUM Fromontii i-m, a promontory of I.ufi- 

 tania, placed bv Ptolemy fouth oi the city of Olios-Hippon, 

 or Oliofcipon, Olefipo, or Liflion, in 39" 45' N. latitude. 



BARBARO, Francis, in Biography, a noble and 

 learned Venetian, was born in 1398, and diftinguiOicd by 

 liis love of literature, and his talents for public buiinefs. 

 Under the learned Grecian Chryfolorns, he acquired that 

 profound knowledge both of the Greek and Latin langua- 

 ges, of which he gav^ fpecimens in his tranflations of Plu- 

 tarch's lives, of Ariftides, and Cato, and in his elegant moral 

 work, written in Latin, intitled " De Re Uxoria," and 

 firft publiftied without his name, in 4to. at Paris, in 15 15. 

 This work furnifhes ufeful inftruftions with regard to the 

 choice of a wife, and the duties of wives and mothers. 

 He was alfo the author of fome orations and letters, which 

 inanifeft good tafte and an amiable temper. In all the pub- 

 lic offices which Barbaro fuftamed, he difplayed eminent 

 virtues. Whilft he was governor of Brefcia, he had occa- 

 dSon for the exercife both of courage and difcrction. The 



BAR 



city was divided into two violent faftions, which lie prevailed 

 upon to unite, and to ad in concert for the public good ; 

 and though at the fame time it was befieged by the Milanefe 

 forces ui.der thegreat commander Piccinino, and fufi"ered mtich 

 by famine and d'ifcafe, he at length, after a protrafted fiegc 

 of three years, obliged the enemy to retire. He died much 

 regretted by his countrymen, in 1454, at the age of fifty- 

 fix years. His letters were coUcAcd and printed at Brefcia 

 in 1743. Gren. Diet. 



Carbaro, Ernvdao, the elder, was the nejilicw of the 

 preceding, and diliiuguilhed by his early acquaintance with 

 the Greek languag---, infomuch that at twelve ycai-s of age 

 he tranflated many of Afop's fables into Lat n. He wa« 

 advanced, at the age of thirty years, by pope Eugenius, to 

 the epifcopal fee of Trevigi; and ten years aftirwards 

 he was tranllated to that of Verona, wher-: he died in 

 1470, aged llxty years. He left tranllations of Greek. 

 authors. 



Barbaro, EnnoJao, or Henr.olaus Barltirus, the younger, 

 was the graiidfon of Francis Baibaro, and born at Venice, 

 in the year 1454. In very early life he was eminently dif- 

 tinguidied by his genius, application, and proficiency ; and 

 at the age of fourteen years he received from the hand of 

 th; emperor Frederic the poetic crown. At fixtecn, he un- 

 dertook tlie trandation of Themillius, which was publiflied 

 feven years afterwards. Having ,'^rndiuitcd in the fchool of 

 Padua in jurifprudcnce and philolophy, he returned to Vc- 

 nicf, and devoted himfclf entirely to aflairs of ftate. How- 

 ever, after an interval of twelve years, he refumed his ftudies 

 with frefti ardour ; and, particularly attached to the Greek 

 language, he read leiftures, without gratuity, in his own 

 houfe, upon Demofthenes, Theocritus, and Ariftotle, which 

 were very numeroiifly attended. Al the age of thirty-two 

 years, he was fent ambaffador to the emperor Frederic, who 

 conferred upon him the honour of knighthood ; and in con- 

 fequence of a fubfequent embafTy to pope Innocent VIII. 

 that pontiff created him patriarch of Aquileia. This oiTicc 

 he accepted, though the laws of Venice had prohibited its 

 minifters from accepting any dignity from any foreign prince, 

 without the confent of the republic ; and for his oppofition 

 to this order, the Venetians pronounced upon him a fentencc 

 of perpetual exile. For preventing its execution he wiftied 

 to relinquifh the patriarchate; but the pope refufcd to accept 

 the renunciation. From this time, he refided at Rome; but 

 upon the accefs of the plague, he removed into the coun. 

 try, which, however, afforded him no afylum; for he was 

 feized with this malady, and died in the year 1493. 



Befides the tranflation of Themiilius, Hermolaus publifhcd 

 verfions of Diofcorides, and of the rhetoric of Ariftotle ; 

 an abridgement of the moral and phyfical doftrine of that 

 philofopher ; two large works upon Phny, one intitled 

 " Conftitutiones Plinianae," the other " Confiitutiones Se- 

 cundse ;" " Corrections of Pomponius Mela ;" and an 

 " Explanation of the more difficult words in Phny." He 

 boafted that he had correfted 5000 errors in the text of 

 Pliny, and 300 in that of Mela. Although he is charged 

 with having been too free in his conjesfluml emendations, 

 he exercifcd great ingenuity and indullry in thefe labours. 

 The illuftrious Lorenzo de' Medici treated him with grCiit 

 refpeft, and when he was at Florence on an emhaffy from 

 the republic of Venice, entertained him very liberally and 

 offered him the ufe of his villa and library for the profccu- 

 tion of his ftudies. " Hermolaus is certainly entitled to 

 rank in the firft clafs of learned men, at a period when 

 claffical learning was the firft and almoll the fole objeft of 

 attention : nor is it any depreciation of his merit as a 

 fcholar, whatever it may be of his character as a philofo- 

 pher, 



