Encyclopaedia Britannica Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 Part 16

You’re reading novel Encyclopaedia Britannica Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 Part 16 online at LightNovelFree.com. Please use the follow button to get notification about the latest chapter next time when you visit LightNovelFree.com. Use F11 button to read novel in full-screen(PC only). Drop by anytime you want to read free – fast – latest novel. It’s great if you could leave a comment, share your opinion about the new chapters, new novel with others on the internet. We’ll do our best to bring you the finest, latest novel everyday. Enjoy!

_Bailli_.--In France the bailiff (_bailli_), or seneschal in feudal days, was the princ.i.p.al officer of any n.o.ble importance. He it was who held the feudal court of a.s.sizes when the lord was not present himself. A great n.o.ble often also had a _prevote_, where small matters were settled, and the preparatory steps taken relative to the more important cases reserved for the a.s.sizes. Among the great officers of the crown of France a grand-seneschal formerly figured until the reign of Philip Augustus, when the last holder of the office was not replaced by a successor. It is also under Philip Augustus that local bailiffs first make a definite appearance.

In the ordinance of 1190, by which the king, about to set forth on the crusade, arranged for the administration of the kingdom during his absence, they figure as part of a general system. Probably the first royal bailiffs or seneschals were the seigniorial bailiffs of certain great fiefs that had been reunited to the crown, their functions still continuing after the annexation. Their essential function was at first the surveillance of the royal provosts (_prevots_), who until then had had the sole administration of the various parts of the domain. They concentrated in their own hands the produce of the provosts.h.i.+ps, and they organized and led the men who by feudal rules owed military service to the king. They had also judicial functions, which, at first narrowly restricted in application, became much enlarged as time went on, and they held periodical a.s.sizes in the princ.i.p.al centres of their districts. When the right of appeal was inst.i.tuted, it was they who heard the appeals from sentences p.r.o.nounced by inferior royal judges and by the seigniorial justices. Royal cases, and cases in which a n.o.ble was defendant, were also reserved for them. The royal _bailli_ or seneschal (no real difference existed between the two offices, the names merely changing according to the district), was for long the king's princ.i.p.al representative in the provinces, [v.03 p.0219] and the _bailliage_ or the _senechaussee_ was then as important administratively as judicially. But the political power of the bailiffs was greatly lessened when the provincial governors were created. They had already lost their financial powers, and their judicial functions now pa.s.sed from them to their lieutenants.

By his origin the bailiff had a military character; he was an officer of the "short robe" and not of the "long robe," which in those days was no obstacle to his being well versed in precedents. But when, under the influence of Roman and canon law, the legal procedure of the civil courts became _learned_, the bailiff often availed himself of a right granted him by ancient public law: that of delegating the exercise of his functions to whomsoever he thought fit. He delegated his judicial functions to lieutenants, whom he selected and discharged at will. But as this delegation became habitual, the position of the lieutenants was strengthened; in the 16th century they became royal officers by t.i.tle, and even dispossessed the bailiffs of their judiciary prerogatives. The tribunal of the _bailliage_ or _senechaussee_ underwent yet another transformation, becoming a stationary court of justice, the seat of which was fixed at the chief town. During the 15th and 16th centuries ambulatory a.s.sizes diminished in both frequency and importance. In the 17th and 18th centuries they were no more than a survival, the _lieutenant_ of such a _bailliage_ having preserved the right to hold one a.s.size each year at a certain locality in his district. The ancient bailiff or _bailli d'epee_ still existed, however; the judgments in the tribunal of the bailliage were delivered in his name, and he was responsible for their execution. So long as the military service of the _ban_ and _arriere ban_, due to the king from all fief-holders, was maintained (and it was still in force at the end of the 17th century), it was the bailiffs who organized it. Finally the _bailliage_ became in principle the electoral district for the states-general, the unit represented therein by its three estates. The justiciary n.o.bles retained their judges, often called bailiffs, until the Revolution. These judges, who were competent to decide questions as to the payment of seigniorial dues could not, legally at all events, themselves farm those revenues.

See Dupont Ferrier, _Les Officiers royaux des bailliages et senechaussees et les inst.i.tutions monarchiques locales en France a la fin du moyen age_ (1902); Armand Brette, _Recueil de doc.u.ments relatifs a la convocation des etats-generaux de 1789_ (3 vols. 1904) (vol. iii. gives the condition of the _bailliages_ and _senechaussees_ in 1789).

(J. P. E.)



BAILLET, ADRIEN (1649-1706), French scholar and critic, was born on the 13th of June 1649, at the village of Neuville near Beauvais, in Picardy.

His parents could only afford to send him to a small school in the village, but he picked up some Latin from the friars of a neighbouring convent, who brought him under the notice of the bishop of Beauvais. By his kindness Baillet received a thorough education at the theological seminary, and was afterwards appointed to a post as teacher in the college of Beauvais. In 1676 he was ordained priest and was presented to a small vicarage. He accepted in 1680 the appointment of librarian to M. de Lamoignon, advocate-general to the _parlement_ of Paris, of whose library he made a _catalogue raisonne_ (35 vols.), all written with his own hand. The remainder of his life was spent in incessant, unremitting labour; so keen was his devotion to study that he allowed himself only five hours a day for rest. He died on the 21st of January 1706. Of his numerous works the following are the most conspicuous: (1) _Histoire de Hollande depuis la treve de 1609 jusqu'a 1690_ (4 vols. 1693), a continuation of Grotius, and published under the name of La Neuville, (2) _Les Vies des saints ..._ (4 vols. 1701), (3) _Des Satires personelles, traite historique et critique de celles qui portent le t.i.tre d' Anti_ (2 vols. 1689), (4) _Vie de Descartes_ (2 vols. 1691), (5) _Auteurs deguises sous des noms etrangers, empruntes, &c._ (1690), (6) _Jugemens des savans sur les princ.i.p.aux ouvrages des auteurs_ (9 vols. 1685-1686). The last is the most celebrated and useful of all his works. At the time of his death he was engaged on a _Dictionnaire universelle ecclesiastique_. The praise bestowed on the Jansenists in the _Jugemens des savans_ brought down on Baillet the hatred of the Jesuits, and his _Vie des saints_, in which he brought his critical mind to bear on the question of miracles, caused some scandal. His _Vie de Descartes_ is a mine of information on the philosopher and his work, derived from numerous unimpeachable authorities.

See the edition by M. de la Monnoye of the _Jugemens des savans_ (Amsterdam, 4 vols. 1725), which contains the _Anti-Baillet_ of Gilles Menage and an _Abrege de la vie de Mr Baillet_.

BAILLIE, LADY GRIZEL (1665-1746), Scottish song-writer, eldest daughter of Sir Patrick Hume or Home of Polwarth, afterwards earl of Marchmont, was born at Redbraes Castle, Berwicks.h.i.+re, on the 25th of December 1665. When she was twelve years old she carried letters from her father to the Scottish patriot, Robert Baillie of Jerviswood, who was then in prison.

Home's friends.h.i.+p for Baillie made him a suspected man, and the king's troops occupied Redbraes Castle. He remained in hiding for some time in a churchyard, where his daughter kept him supplied with food, but on hearing of the execution of Baillie (1684) he fled to Holland, where his family soon after joined him. They returned to Scotland at the Revolution. Lady Grizel married in 1692 George Baillie, son of the patriot. She died on the 6th of December 1746. She had two daughters, Grizel, who married Sir Alexander Murray of Stanhope, and Rachel, Lady Binning. Lady Murray had in her possession a MS. of her mother's in prose and verse. Some of the songs had been printed in Allan Ramsay's _Tea-Table Miscellany_. "And werena my heart light I wad dee," the most famous of Lady Grizel's songs, originally appeared in _Orpheus Caledonius_ (1725).

_Memoirs of the Lives and Characters of the Right Hon. George Baillie of Jerviswood and Lady Grisell Baillie, by their daughter, Lady Murray of Stanhope_, were printed in 1822. George Baillie's _Correspondence_ (1702-1708) was edited by Lord Minto for the Bannatyne Club in 1842. "The Legend of Lady Grizelda Baillie" forms one of Joanna Baillie's _Metrical Legends of Exalted Character_.

BAILLIE, JOANNA (1762-1851), British poet and dramatist, was born at the manse of Bothwell, on the banks of the Clyde, on the 11th of September 1762. She belonged to an old Scottish family, which claimed among its ancestors Sir William Wallace. At an early period she moved with her sister Agnes to London, where their brother, Dr Matthew Baillie, was settled. The two sisters inherited a small competence from their uncle, Dr William Hunter, and took up their residence at Hampstead, then on the outskirts of London, where they pa.s.sed the remainder of their lives. Joanna Baillie had received an excellent education, and began very early to write poetry. She published anonymously in 1790 a volume called _Fugitive Verses_; but it was not till 1798 that she produced the first volume of her "plays on the pa.s.sions" under the t.i.tle of _A Series of Plays_. Her design was to ill.u.s.trate each of the deepest and strongest pa.s.sions of the human mind, such as hate, jealousy, fear, love, by a tragedy and a comedy, in each of which should be exhibited the actions of an individual under the influence of these pa.s.sions. The first volume was published anonymously, but the authors.h.i.+p, though at first attributed to Sir Walter Scott, was soon discovered. The book had considerable success and was followed by a second volume in 1802, a third in 1812 and three volumes of _Dramas_ in 1836.

_Miscellaneous Plays_ appeared in 1804, and the _Family Legend_ in 1810.

Miss Baillie herself intended her plays not for the closet but for the stage. The _Family Legend_, brought out in 1810 at Edinburgh, under the enthusiastic patronage of Sir Walter Scott, had a brief though brilliant success; _De Monfort_ had a short run in London, mainly through the acting of John Kemble and Mrs Siddons; _Henriquez_ and _The Separation_ were coldly received. With very few exceptions, Joanna Baillie's plays are unsuited for stage exhibition. Not only is there a flaw in the fundamental idea, viz. that of an individual who is the embodiment of a single pa.s.sion, but the want of incident and the direction of the attention to a single point, present insuperable obstacles to their success as acting pieces. At the same time they show remarkable powers of a.n.a.lysis and acute observation and are written in a pure and vigorous style. Joanna Baillie's reputation does not rest entirely on her dramas; she was the author of some poems and songs of great beauty. The best of them are the _Lines to Agnes Baillie on her Birthday, The Kitten, To a Child_ and some of her adaptations of Scottish songs, such as _Woo'd and Married an'a'_. Scattered throughout the dramas are also some lively and [v.03 p.0220] beautiful songs, _The Chough and the Crow_ in _Orra_, and the lover's song in the _Phantom_. Miss Baillie died on the 23rd of February 1851, at the advanced age of 89, her faculties remaining unimpaired to the last. Her gentleness and sweetness of disposition made her a universal favourite, and her little cottage at Hampstead was the centre of a brilliant literary society.

See Joanna Baillie's _Dramatic and Poetical Works_ (London, 1851).

BAILLIE, ROBERT (1602-1662), Scottish divine, was born at Glasgow. Having graduated there in 1620, he gave himself to the study of divinity. In 1631, after he had been ordained and had acted for some years as regent in the university, he was appointed to the living of Kilwinning in Ayrs.h.i.+re. In 1638 he was a member of the famous Glasgow a.s.sembly, and soon after he accompanied Leslie and the Scottish army as chaplain or preacher. In 1642 he was made professor of divinity at Glasgow, and in the following year was selected as one of the five Scottish clergymen who were sent to the Westminster a.s.sembly. In 1649 he was one of the commissioners sent to Holland for the purpose of inviting Charles II. to Scotland, and of settling the terms of his admission to the government. He continued to take an active part in all the minor disputes of the church, and in 1661 was made princ.i.p.al of Glasgow University. He died in August of the following year, his death being probably hastened by his mortification at the apparently firm establishment of episcopacy in Scotland. Baillie was a man of learning and ability; his views were not extreme, and he played but a secondary part in the stirring events of the time. His _Letters_, by which he is now chiefly remembered, are of first-rate historical importance, and give a very lively picture of the period.

A complete memoir and a full notice of all his writings will be found in D.

Laing's edition of the _Letters and Journals of Robert Baillie_ (1637-1662), Bannatyne Club, 3 vols. (Edinburgh, 1841-1842). Among his works are _Ladensium_ [Greek: autokatakrisis], an answer to _Lysimachus Nicanor_, an attack on Laud and his system, in reply to a publication which charged the Covenanters with Jesuitry; _Anabaptism, the true Fountain of Independency, Brownisme, Antinomy, Familisme, &c._, a sermon; _An Historical Vindication of the Government of the Church of Scotland; The Life of William (Laud) now Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Examined_ (London, 1643); _A Parallel of the Liturgy with the Ma.s.s Book, the Breviary, the Ceremonial and other Romish Rituals_ (London, 1661).

BAILLIE, ROBERT (d. 1684), Scottish conspirator, known as BAILLIE OF JERVISWOOD, was the son of George Baillie of St. John's Kirk, Lanarks.h.i.+re.

He incurred the resentment of the Scottish government by rescuing, in June 1676, his brother-in-law Kirkton, a Presbyterian minister who had illegally been seized and confined in a house by Carstairs, an informer. He was fined 500, remaining in prison for four months and then being liberated on paying one-half the fine to Carstairs. In despair at the state of his country he determined in 1683 to emigrate to South Carolina, but the plan came to nothing. The same year Baillie, with some of his friends, went to London and entered into communication with Monmouth, Russell and their party in order to obtain redress; and on the discovery of the Rye House Plot he was arrested. Questioned by the king himself he repudiated any knowledge of the conspiracy, but with striking truthfulness would not deny that he had been consulted with the view of an insurrection in Scotland. He was subsequently loaded with irons and sent back a prisoner to Scotland.

Though there was no evidence whatever to support his connexion with the plot, he was fined 6000 and kept in close confinement. He was already in a languis.h.i.+ng state when on the 23rd of December 1684 he was brought up again before the high court on the charge of treason. He was p.r.o.nounced guilty on the following day and hanged the same afternoon at the market cross at Edinburgh with all the usual barbarities. His shocking treatment was long remembered as one of the worst crimes committed by the Stuart administration in Scotland. Bishop Burnet, who was his cousin, describes him as "in the presbyterian principles but ... a man of great piety and virtue, learned in the law, in mathematics and in languages." He married a sister of Sir Archibald Johnston, Lord Warriston, and left a son, George, who took refuge in Holland, afterwards returning with William III. and being restored to his estates.

BAILLY, JEAN SYLVAIN (1736-1793), French astronomer and orator, was born at Paris on the 15th of September 1736. Originally intended for the profession of a painter, he preferred writing tragedies until attracted to science by the influence of Nicolas de Lacaille. He calculated an orbit for the comet of 1759 (Halley's), reduced Lacaille's observations of 515 zodiacal stars, and was, in 1763, elected a member of the Academy of Sciences. His _Essai sur la theorie des satellites de Jupiter_ (1766), an expansion of a memoir presented to the Academy in 1763, showed much original power; and it was followed up in 1771 by a noteworthy dissertation _Sur les inegalites de la lumiere des satellites de Jupiter_. Meantime, he had gained a high literary reputation by his _eloges_ of Charles V., Lacaille, Moliere, Corneille and Leibnitz, which were issued in a collected form in 1770 and 1790; he was admitted to the French Academy (February 26, 1784), and to the Academie des Inscriptions in 1785, when Fontenelle's simultaneous members.h.i.+p of all three Academies was renewed in him. Thenceforth, he devoted himself to the history of science, publis.h.i.+ng successively:--_Histoire de l'astronomie ancienne_ (1775); _Histoire de l'astronomie moderne_ (3 vols. 1779-1782); _Lettres sur l'origine des sciences_ (1777); _Lettres sur l'Atlantide de Platon_ (1779); and _Traite de l'astronomie indienne et orientale_ (1787).

Their erudition was, however, marred by speculative extravagances.

The cataclysm of the French Revolution interrupted his studies. Elected deputy from Paris to the states-general, he was chosen president of the Third Estate (May 5, 1789), led the famous proceedings in the Tennis Court (June 20), and acted as mayor of Paris (July 15, 1789, to November 16, 1791). The dispersal by the National Guard, under his orders, of the riotous a.s.sembly in the Champ de Mars (July 17, 1791) rendered him obnoxious to the infuriated populace, and he retired to Nantes, where he composed his _Memoires d'un temoin_ (published in 3 vols. by MM. Berville and Barriere, 1821-1822), an incomplete narrative of the extraordinary events of his public life. Late in 1793, Bailly quitted Nantes to join his friend Pierre Simon Laplace at Melun; but was there recognized, arrested and brought (November 10) before the Revolutionary Tribunal at Paris. On the 12th of November he was guillotined amid the insults of a howling mob.

He met his death with patient dignity, having, indeed, disastrously shared the enthusiasms of his age, but taken no share in its crimes.

Notices of his life are contained in the _eloges_ by Merard de Saint Just, Delisle de Salles, Lalande and Lacretelle; in a memoir by Arago, read the 26th of February 1844 before the Academie des Sciences, and published in _Notices biographiques_, t. ii. (1852). See also Delambre, _Histoire de l'astronomie au 18me siecle_, p. 735, and Lalande, _Bibliographie astronomique_, p. 730.

BAILMENT (from Fr. _bailler_, to place in charge of, cf. BAIL), in law, a delivery of goods from one person called the _bailor_, to another person called the _bailee_, for some purpose, upon a contract, express or implied, that after the purpose has been fulfilled they shall be redelivered to the bailor, or otherwise dealt with according to his direction, or kept till he reclaims them. The following is Chief Justice Holt's cla.s.sification of bailments in _Coggs_ v. _Bernard_, 1704, 1 Sm. L.C. 167, which is generally adopted. (1) _Depositum_, or bailment without reward, in order that the bailee may keep the goods for the bailor. In this case, the bailee has no right to use the thing entrusted to him, and is liable for gross negligence, but not for ordinary negligence. Thus, where a customer had deposited some securities with his banker (who received nothing for his services) and they were stolen by a cas.h.i.+er, it was held that as there was no proof of gross negligence the banker was not liable (_Giblin_ v.

_McMullen_, 1868, L.R. 2 P.C. 317). (2) _Commodatum_, or loan, where goods or chattels that are useful are lent to the bailee _gratis_, to be used by him. The bailee may be justly considered as representing himself to the bailor to be a person of competent skill to take care of the thing lent (_Wilson_ v. _Brett_, 1843, 11 M. & W. 113), and the transaction being a gratuitous loan, and one for the advantage of the bailee solely, he is bound to use great diligence in the protection of the thing bailed and will be responsible even for slight negligence. Thus, where a [v.03 p.0221]

horse was lent to the defendant to ride, it was held that it did not warrant him in allowing his servant to do so (_Bringloe_ v. _Morrice_, 1676, 1 Mod. 210). But where a horse was for sale and the vendor allowed the defendant to have the horse for the purpose of trying it, it was held that he had a right to allow a competent person upon the horse to try it (_Camoys_ v. _Scurr_, 1840, 9 C. & P. 383). (3) _Locatio rei_, or lending for hire. In the case of hiring the bailee is bound to use such diligence as a prudent man would exercise towards his own property. Thus, where the defendant hired a horse, and it having fallen ill, prescribed for it himself instead of calling in a veterinary surgeon, he was held liable for the loss (_Dean_ v. _Keate_, 1811, 3 Camp. 4). (4) _Vadium_, p.a.w.n or pledge; a bailment of personal property as a security for a debt. In this case the pledgee is bound to use ordinary diligence in guarding the thing pledged. (5) _Locatio operis faciendi_, where goods are delivered to be carried, or something is to be done about them for a reward to be paid to the bailee. In this case, the bailee is bound to use ordinary diligence in preserving the property entrusted to him. (6) _Mandatum_, a delivery of goods to somebody, who is to carry them, or do something about them _gratis_. The liabilities of a mandatory and of a depository are exactly the same; neither is liable for anything short of gross negligence.

See further under BANKS AND BANKING; CARRIER; DILIGENCE; FACTOR; HIRING; INNS AND INNKEEPERS; LIEN; NEGLIGENCE; PLEDGE; p.a.w.nBROKING; PRINc.i.p.aL AND AGENT, &c.

BAILY, EDWARD HODGES (1788-1867), British sculptor, was born at Bristol on the 10th of March 1788. His father, who was a celebrated carver of figureheads for s.h.i.+ps, destined him for a commercial life, but even at school the boy showed his natural taste and remarkable talents by producing numerous wax models and busts of his schoolfellows, and afterwards, when placed in a mercantile house, still carried on his favourite employment.

Two Homeric studies, executed for a friend, were shown to J. Flaxman, who bestowed on them such high commendation that in 1807 Baily came to London and placed himself as a pupil under the great sculptor. In 1809 he entered the academy schools. In 1811 he gained the academy gold medal for a model of "Hercules restoring Alcestis to Admetus," and soon after exhibited "Apollo discharging his Arrows against the Greeks" and "Hercules casting Lichas into the Sea." In 1821 he was elected R.A., and exhibited one of his best pieces, "Eve at the Fountain." He was entrusted with the carving of the bas-reliefs on the south side of the Marble Arch in Hyde Park, and executed numerous busts and statues, such as those of Nelson in Trafalgar Square, of Earl Grey, of Lord Mansfield and others. Baily died at Holloway on the 22nd of May 1867.

BAILY, FRANCIS (1774-1844), English astronomer, was born at Newbury in Berks.h.i.+re, on the 28th of April 1774. After a tour in the unsettled parts of North America in 1796-1797, his journal of which was edited by Augustus de Morgan in 1856, he entered the London Stock Exchange in 1799. The successive publication of _Tables for the Purchasing and Renewing of Leases_ (1802), of _The Doctrine of Interest and Annuities_ (1808), and _The Doctrine of Life-Annuities and a.s.surances_ (1810), earned him a high reputation as a writer on life-contingencies; he ama.s.sed a fortune through diligence and integrity and retired from business in 1825, to devote himself wholly to astronomy. He had already, in 1820, taken a leading part in the foundation of the Royal Astronomical Society; and its gold medal was awarded him, in 1827, for his preparation of the Astronomical Society's Catalogue of 2881 stars (_Memoirs R. Astr. Soc._ ii.). The reform of the _Nautical Almanac_ in 1829 was set on foot by his protests; he recommended to the British a.s.sociation in 1837, and in great part executed, the reduction of Joseph de Lalande's and Nicolas de Lacaille's catalogues containing about 57,000 stars; he superintended the compilation of the British a.s.sociation's Catalogue of 8377 stars (published 1845); and revised the catalogues of Tobias Mayer, Ptolemy, Ulugh Beg, Tycho Brahe, Edmund Halley and Hevelius (_Memoirs R. Astr. Soc._ iv., xiii).

His notice of "Baily's Beads," during an annular eclipse of the sun on the 15th of May 1836, at Inch Bonney in Roxburghs.h.i.+re, started the modern series of eclipse-expeditions. The phenomenon, which depends upon the inequalities of the moon's limb, was so vividly described by him as to attract an unprecedented amount of attention to the totality of the 8th of July 1842, observed by Baily himself at Pavia. He completed and discussed H. Foster's pendulum-experiments, deducing from them an ellipticity for the earth of 1/289 (_Memoirs R. Astr. Soc._ vii.); corrected for the length of the seconds-pendulum by introducing a neglected element of reduction; and was entrusted, in 1843, with the reconstruction of the standards of length.

His laborious operations for determining the mean density of the earth, carried on by Henry Cavendish's method (1838-1842), yielded for it the authoritative value of 5.66. He died in London, on the 30th of August 1844.

Baily's _Account of the Rev. John Flamsteed_ (1835) is of fundamental importance to the scientific history of that time. It included a republication of the British Catalogue.

See J. Herschel's _Memoir of F. Baily, Esq._ (1845), also prefixed to Baily's _Journal of a Tour_, with a list of his writings; _Month. Not. R.

Astr. Soc._ xiv. 1844.

BAILY, WILLIAM h.e.l.lIER (1819-1888), English palaeontologist, nephew of E. H. Baily the sculptor, was born at Bristol on the 7th of July 1819. From 1837 to 1844 he was a.s.sistant Curator in the Bristol Museum, a post he relinquished to join the staff of the Geological Survey in London. In 1854 he became a.s.sistant naturalist, under Edward Forbes and afterwards under Huxley. In 1857 he was transferred to the Irish branch of the Geological Survey, as acting palaeontologist, and retained this post until the end of his life. He was the author of many papers on palaeontological subjects, and of notes on fossils in the explanatory memoirs of the Geological Survey of Ireland. He published (1867-1875) a useful work ent.i.tled _Figures of Characteristic British Fossils, with Descriptive Remarks_, of which only the first volume, dealing with palaeozoic species, was issued. The figures were all drawn on stone by himself. He died at Rathmines near Dublin on the 6th of August 1888.

BAIN, ALEXANDER (1818-1903), Scottish philosopher and educationalist, was born on the 11th of June 1818 in Aberdeen, where he received his first schooling. In early life he was a weaver, hence the punning description of him as _Weevir, rex philosophorum_. In 1836 he entered Marischal College, and came under the influence of John Cruickshank, professor of mathematics, Thomas Clark, professor of chemistry, and William Knight, professor of natural philosophy. His college career was distinguished, especially in mental philosophy, mathematics and physics. Towards the end of his arts course he became a contributor to the _Westminster Review_ (first article "Electrotype and Daguerreotype," September 1840). This was the beginning of his connexion with John Stuart Mill, which led to a life-long friends.h.i.+p.

In 1841 he became subst.i.tute for Dr Glennie, the professor of moral philosophy, who, through ill-health, was unable to discharge the active duties of the chair. This post he occupied for three successive sessions, during which he continued writing for the _Westminster_, and also in 1842 helped Mill with the revision of the MS. of his _System of Logic_. In 1843 he contributed the first review of the book to the _London and Westminster_. In 1845 he was appointed professor of mathematics and natural philosophy in the Andersonian University of Glasgow. A year later, preferring a wider field, he resigned the position and devoted himself to literary work. In 1848 he removed to London to fill a post in the board of health, under Edwin Chadwick, and became a prominent member of the brilliant circle which included George Grote and John Stuart Mill. In 1855 he published his first large work, _The Senses and the Intellect_, followed in 1859 by _The Emotions and the Will_. These treatises won for him a position among independent thinkers. He was examiner in logical and moral philosophy (1857-1862 and 1864-1869) to the university of London, and in moral science in the Indian Civil Service examinations.

In 1860 he was appointed by the crown to the new chair of [v.03 p.0222]

logic and English in the university of Aberdeen (created on the amalgamation of the two colleges, King's and Marischal, by the Scottish Universities Commission of 1858). Up to this date neither logic nor English had received adequate attention in Aberdeen, and Bain devoted himself to supplying these deficiencies. He succeeded not only in raising the standard of education generally in the north of Scotland, but also in forming a school of philosophy and in widely influencing the teaching of English grammar and composition. His efforts were first directed to the preparation of English textbooks: _Higher English Grammar_ (1863), followed in 1866 by the _Manual of Rhetoric_, in 1872 by _A First English Grammar_, and in 1874 by the _Companion to the Higher Grammar_. These works covered a large field and their original views and methods met with wide acceptance. But the other subject of his chair also called for attention. His own philosophical writings already published, especially _The Senses and the Intellect_ (to which was added, in 1861, _The Study of Character_, including an _Estimate of Phrenology_), were too large for effective use in the cla.s.s-room.

Accordingly in 1868, he published his _Manual of Mental and Moral Science_, mainly a condensed form of his treatises, with the doctrines re-stated, and in many instances freshly ill.u.s.trated, and with many important additions.

The year 1870 saw the publication of the _Logic_. This, too, was a work designed for the use of students; it was based on J. S. Mill, but differed from him in many particulars, and had as distinctive features the treatment of the doctrine of the conservation of energy in connexion with causation and the detailed application of the principles of logic to the various sciences. His services to education in Scotland were now recognized by the conferment of the honorary degree of doctor of laws by the university of Edinburgh in 1871. Next came two publications in "The International Scientific Series," namely, _Mind and Body_ (1872), and _Education as a Science_ (1879).

All these works, from the _Higher English Grammar_ downwards, were written by Bain during his twenty years' professoriate at Aberdeen. To the same period belongs his inst.i.tution of the philosophical journal _Mind_; the first number appeared in January 1876, under the editors.h.i.+p of a former pupil, G. Croom Robertson, of University College, London. To this journal Bain contributed many important articles and discussions; and in fact he bore the whole expenses of it till Robertson, owing to ill-health, resigned the editors.h.i.+p in 1891, when it pa.s.sed into other hands. Bain resigned his professors.h.i.+p in 1880 and was succeeded by William Minto, one of his most brilliant pupils. Nevertheless his interest in thought, and his desire to complete the scheme of work mapped out in earlier years, remained as keen as ever. Accordingly, in 1882 appeared the _Biography of James Mill_, and accompanying it _John Stuart Mill: a Criticism, with Personal Recollections_. Next came (1884) a collection of articles and papers, most of which had appeared in magazines, under the t.i.tle of _Practical Essays_.

This was succeeded (1887, 1888) by a new edition of the _Rhetoric_, and along with it, a book _On Teaching English_, being an exhaustive application of the principles of rhetoric to the criticism of style, for the use of teachers; and in 1894 he published a revised edition of _The Senses and the Intellect_, which contains his last word on psychology. In 1894 also appeared his last contribution to _Mind_. His last years were spent in privacy at Aberdeen, where he died on the 18th of September 1903.

He married twice but left no children.

Bain's life was mainly that of a thinker and a man of letters. But he also took a keen interest and frequently an active part in the political and social movements of the day; and so highly did the students of Aberdeen rate his practical ability, that, after his retirement from the chair of logic, they twice in succession elected him lord rector of the university, each term of office extending over three years. He was a strenuous advocate of reform, especially in the teaching of sciences, and supported the claims of modern languages to a place in the curriculum. A marble bust of him stands in the public library and his portrait hangs in the Marischal College.

Wide as Bain's influence has been as a logician, a grammarian and a writer on rhetoric, his reputation rests on his psychology. At one with Johannes Muller in the conviction _psychologus nemo nisi physiologus_, he was the first in Great Britain during the 19th century to apply physiology in a thoroughgoing fas.h.i.+on to the elucidation of mental states. He was the originator of the theory of psycho-physical parallelism, which is used so widely as a working basis by modern psychologists. His idea of applying the natural history method of cla.s.sification to psychical phenomena gave scientific character to his work, the value of which was enhanced by his methodical exposition and his command of ill.u.s.tration. In line with this, too, is his demand that psychology shall be cleared of metaphysics; and to his lead is no doubt due in great measure the position that psychology has now acquired as a distinct positive science. Prof. Wm. James calls his work the "last word" of the earlier stage of psychology, but he was in reality the pioneer of the new. Subsequent psycho-physical investigations have all been in the spirit of his work; and although he consistently advocated the introspective method in psychological investigation, he was among the first to appreciate the help that may be given to it by animal and social and infant psychology. He may justly claim the merit of having guided the awakened psychological interest of British thinkers of the second half of the 19th century into fruitful channels. He emphasized the importance of our active experiences of movement and effort, and though his theory of a central innervation sense is no longer held as he propounded it, its value as a suggestion to later psychologists is great. His autobiography, published in 1904, contains a full list of his works, and also the history of the last thirteen years of his life by W. L. Davidson of Aberdeen University, who further contributed to _Mind_ (April 1904) a review of Bain's services to philosophy.

Works (beside the above):--Edition with notes of Paley's _Moral Philosophy_ (1852); _Education as a Science_ (1879); _Dissertations on leading philosophical topics_ (1903, mainly reprints of papers in _Mind_); he collaborated with J. S. Mill and Grote in editing James Mill's _a.n.a.lysis of the Phenomena of the Human Mind_ (1869), and a.s.sisted in editing Grote's _Aristotle_ and _Minor Works_; he also wrote a memoir prefixed to G. Croom Robertson's _Philosophical Remains_ (1894). (See PSYCHOLOGY and a.s.sOCIATION OF IDEAS.)

(W. L. D.)

BAIN, ANDREW GEDDES (1797-1864), British geologist, was a native of Scotland. In 1820 he emigrated to Cape Colony, and carried on for some years the business of a saddler at Graaf Reinet. During the Kaffir War in 1833-34 he took command of a provisional battalion raised for the defence of the frontier. Later he was engaged to construct a military road through the Ecca Pa.s.s, and displayed engineering talents which led to his being permanently employed as surveyor of military roads under the corps of Royal Engineers. This occupation created an interest in geology, which was fostered in 1837 by the loan of Lyell's _Elements_. He discovered the remains of many reptilia, including the _Dicynodon_, which was obtained from the Karroo Beds near Fort Beaufort and described by Owen. Devoting all his spare energies to geological studies, Bain prepared in 1852 the first comprehensive geological map of South Africa, a work of great merit, which was published by the Geological Society of London in 1856. He died at Cape Town in 1864.

Obituary by Dr R. N. Rubidge, in _Geol. Mag._ January 1865, p. 47; also _Trans. Geol. Soc. S. Africa_, vol. ii. part v., June 1896 (with portrait).

BAINBRIDGE, JOHN (1582-1643), English astronomer, was born at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, in Leicesters.h.i.+re. He started as a physician and practised for some years, kept a school and studied astronomy. Having removed to London, he was admitted (November 6, 1618) a licentiate of the college of physicians, and attracted notice by a publication concerning the comet of 1618. Sir Henry Savile (1549-1622) thereupon appointed him in 1619 to the Savilian chair of astronomy just founded by him at Oxford; Bainbridge was incorporated of Merton College and became, in 1631 and 1635 respectively, junior and senior reader of Linacre's lectures. He died at Oxford on the 3rd of November 1643. He wrote _An Astronomical Description of the late Comet_ (1619); _Canicularia_ (1648); and translated Proclus'

_De Sphaera_, and Ptolemy's _De Planetarum Hypothesibus_ (1620). Several [v.03 p.0223] ma.n.u.script works by him exist in the library of Trinity College, Dublin.

See Munk's _College of Physicians_, i. 175; Wood's _Athenae_ (Bliss), iii.

67; _Biographia Britannica_, i. 419.

BAINBRIDGE, WILLIAM (1774-1833), commodore in the United States navy, was born on the 7th of May 1774 in Princeton, New Jersey. At the age of fourteen he went to sea in the merchant service, and was in command of a trading schooner at an early age. The American trading vessels of that period were supposed to be excluded by the navigation laws from commerce with the British West Indian Islands, though with the concealed or very slightly disguised a.s.sistance of the planters, they engaged in a good deal of contraband commerce. The war between France and Great Britain tended further to make the carrying trade of neutrals difficult. Bainbridge had therefore to expect, and when he could to elude or beat off, much interference on the part of French and British cruisers alike. He is said to have forced a British schooner, probably a privateer, which attacked him when on his way from Bordeaux to St Thomas, to strike, but he did not take possession. On another occasion he is said to have taken a man out of a British s.h.i.+p in retaliation for the impressment of an American seaman by H.M.S. "Indefatigable," then commanded by Sir Edward Pellew. When the United States navy was organized in 1798 he was included in the corps of naval officers, and appointed to the schooner "Retaliation." She was on one occasion seized by the French but afterwards released. As captain of the brig "Norfolk" of 18 guns, he was employed in cruising against the French, who were as aggressive against American commerce as the English. He was also sent to carry the tribute which the United States still condescended to pay to the dey of Algiers, in order to secure exemption from capture for its merchant s.h.i.+ps in the Mediterranean--a service which he performed punctually, though with great disgust. When the United States found that bribing the pirate Barbary states did not secure exemption from their outrages, and was constrained at last to use force, he served against Algiers and Tunis. His s.h.i.+p, the "Philadelphia," ran aground on the Tunisian coast, and he was for a time imprisoned. On his release he returned for a time to the merchant service in order to make good the pecuniary loss caused by his captivity. When the war of 1812 broke out between Great Britain and the United States, Bainbridge was appointed to command the United States frigate "Const.i.tution" (44), in succession to Captain Isaac Hull (_q.v._). The "Const.i.tution" was a very fine s.h.i.+p of 1533 tons, which had already captured the "Guerriere." Under Bainbridge she was sent to cruise in the South Atlantic. On the 29th of December 1812 he fell in with H.M.S. "Java," a vessel of 1073 tons, formerly the French frigate "Renommee" (40). She was on her way to the East Indies, carrying the newly appointed lieutenant-governor of Bombay. She had a very raw crew, including very few real seamen, and her men had only had one day's gunnery drill. The United States navy paid great attention to its gunnery, which the British navy, misled by its easy victories over the French, had greatly neglected. In these conditions the fate of the "Java" was soon sealed. She was cut to pieces and forced to surrender, after suffering heavy loss, and inflicting very little on the "Const.i.tution." After the conclusion of the war with Great Britain, Bainbridge served against the Barbary pirates once more. During his later years he served on the board of navy commissioners.

He died on the 28th of July 1833.

(D. H.)

BAINDIR (anc. _Caystrus_), a town in Asiatic Turkey in the Aidin vilayet, situated in the valley of the Kuchuk Menderes. Pop. under 10,000, nearly half Christian. It is connected with Smyrna by a branch of the Aidin railway, and has a trade in cotton, figs, raisins and tobacco.

BAINES, EDWARD (1774-1848), English newspaper-proprietor and politician, was born in 1774 at Walton-le-Dale, near Preston, Lancas.h.i.+re. He was educated at the grammar schools of Hawkshead and Preston, and at the age of sixteen was apprenticed to a printer in the latter town. After remaining there four years and a half he removed to Leeds, finished his apprentices.h.i.+p, and at once started in business for himself. He was always a most a.s.siduous student, and quickly became known as a man of great practical shrewdness and ability, who took a keen interest in political and social movements. His political opinions led him to sympathize with nonconformity and he soon joined the Independents. In 1801 the a.s.sistance of party friends enabled him to buy the _Leeds Mercury_. Provincial newspapers did not at that time possess much influence; it was no part of the editor's duty to supply what are now called "leading articles," and the system of reporting was defective. In both respects Baines made a complete change in the _Mercury_. His able political articles gradually made the paper the organ of Liberal opinion in Leeds, and the connexion of the Baines family with the paper made their influence powerful for many years in this direction. Baines soon began to take a prominent part in politics; he was an ardent advocate of parliamentary reform, and it was mainly by his influence that Macaulay was returned for Leeds in 1832; and in 1834 he succeeded Macaulay as member. He was re-elected in 1835 and 1837, but resigned in 1841. In parliament he supported the Liberal party, but with independent views. Like his son Edward after him, he strongly advocated the separation of church and state, and opposed government interference in national education. His letters to Lord John Russell on the latter question (1846) had a powerful influence in determining the action of the government. He died in 1848. His best-known writings are:--_The History, Directory and Gazetteer of the County of York_; _History, Directory and Gazetteer of the County of Lancaster_; _History of the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster_. He was also the author of a _History of the Wars of Napoleon_, which was continued under the t.i.tle of _A History of the Reign of George III_.

Encyclopaedia Britannica Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 Part 16

You're reading novel Encyclopaedia Britannica Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 Part 16 online at LightNovelFree.com. You can use the follow function to bookmark your favorite novel ( Only for registered users ). If you find any errors ( broken links, can't load photos, etc.. ), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible. And when you start a conversation or debate about a certain topic with other people, please do not offend them just because you don't like their opinions.


Encyclopaedia Britannica Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 Part 16 summary

You're reading Encyclopaedia Britannica Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 Part 16. This novel has been translated by Updating. Author: Various already has 594 views.

It's great if you read and follow any novel on our website. We promise you that we'll bring you the latest, hottest novel everyday and FREE.

LightNovelFree.com is a most smartest website for reading novel online, it can automatic resize images to fit your pc screen, even on your mobile. Experience now by using your smartphone and access to LightNovelFree.com

RECENTLY UPDATED NOVEL