Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/262

Rh recorder of Hull, and in 1847 was returned to Parliament for that city. His remarkable ability made itself quickly apparent, and in 1848 he became president of the Poor- Law Board. In 1852 he sat for Leeds, and was again appointed president of the Poor-Law Board, which office he held till 1855. In 1856 he was made chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with a seat in the cabinet.  BAINI,, a learned musical critic and com poser of church music, was born at Rome in 1775, and died there in 1844. He was instructed in composition by his uncle, Lorenzo Baini, and afterwards by Jannaconi. In 1814 he was appointed musical director to the choir of the pontifical chapel, in which he had for several years been one of the principal bass singers. His compositions were very favourable specimens of the severe ecclesiastical style ; one in particular, a Miserere, was long performed alternately with the more celebrated work of Allegri in the s jrvices of the Sistine chapel during Passion week. Baini held a higher place, however, as a musical critic and histo rian than as a composer, and his Life of Palestrina (Me- morie storico-criticlie della vita e ddle opere di Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, 1828) ranks as one of tho best works of its class.  BAIRAM, a Turkish or Persian word meaning feast, is the name applied to the two great Mahometan festivals. The first of these, called generally, though, according to pome authorities, incorrectly, the Greater Bairam, is the day following the Ramadan, or month of fasting. It lasts strictly for only one day, though the common people gene rally extend it to three, and is a period of great animation and enjoyment. What is called commonly the Lesser Bairam follows the first at an interval of sixty days. It is the feast of sacrifices, at which all Mahometans imitate the offerings of animals which are then being made at Mecca to commemorate Abraham s offering of Isaac. It lasts for four days, and is not of so sacred a character as the first Bairam.  BAIRD,, Bart., was born at Newbyth in Aberdeenshire, in December 1757. He entered the British army in 1773, and was sent to India with the 73d Highlanders in 1779. In the following year he had the misfortune to fall into the hands of Hyder AH, in the Mysore chief s perfidious attack on a handful of British troops at Perambucum. The prisoners, it is well known, were most barbarously treated. Baird survived his cap tivity ; and on his release, visited his native country, but returned to India in 1791 as a lieutenant-colonel When Harris marched against Tippoo Sahib, Baird, now a major-general, served under him in that campaign ; and when it was resolved to storm Seringapatam, he solicited and obtained the honour of leading the storming party to the breach. He made a daring assault, and was soon a master of the stronghold in which he had long been the prisoner. Through some misconception, Baird seems to have looked upon the temporary appointment? of Colonel Wellesley to hold the captured town as permanently super seding him, and on this ground he judged himself to have been treated with injustice and disrespect. He after wards received the thanks of the British Parliament and of the East India Company for his gallant bearing on that important day, and a pension was offered him by the Company, which he declined, apparently from the hope of receiving the order of the Bath from the Government. General Baird commanded the Indian army which was sent in 1801 to co-operate with Hutchinson in the expulsion of the French from Egypt. He landed at Kosseir, conducted his army to Keneh on the Nile, and thence to Rosetta, where he arrived just as the French were treating for the evacuation of Alexandria. On his return to India in 1802 he was employed against Scindia, but irritated at some neglect he had experienced, he relinquished his command and returned to Europe. In 1804 he was knighted, and in the following year commanded the expedition against the Cape of Good Hope, and captured Cape Town ; but hero again his usual ill-luck attended him, for he was recalled before he had organised his conquest, for having sanctioned the expedition of Sir Home Popharn against Buenos Ayres. He served again in 1807 in the expedition against Copen hagen, and in the following year commanded the consider able force which was sent to Spain to co-operate with Sir John Mooro. In the battle of Coruna, where, after the death of Moore, ho held supreme command, a grape-shot shattered his left arm, so that it had to be amputated at the shoulder-joint. He again obtained the thanks of Parlia ment for his gallant services, and was rewarded with the de coration of the order of the Bath, and the rank of a baronet. Sir David married Miss Campbell Preston, a Perthshire heiress, in 1810. In 1820 he was appointed commander- in-chief in Ireland ; but the post does not appear to have been suitable for him, and he was removed in 1821. From that period he no more appeared in public life. He died on the 18th August 1829. (See Hook s Life of Sir David Baird.  BAIREUTH, or, tho capital of the circle of Upper Franconia, in Bavaria, is pleasantly situated in a valley on the left bank of the Red Maine, 40 miles N.N.E. of Nuremberg. It is well built, with broad, regular, and well-paved streets, and is partially surrounded by old walls. The river is crossed here by two bridges. Most of the buildings are of comparatively modern date, the city having suffered severely from the Hussites in 1430, and from a conflagration in 1621. Among the more important are the old castle, erected in 1454, the new castle, built in 1753, the opera-house, one of the finest in Germany, the gymnasium, founded in 1664, the riding school, and the barracks. Among the ecclesiastical buildings, the Stadt- Tcirche, dating from 1439, and containing the monuments of the margraves of Baireuth, is the most important ; and there are also a handsome synagogue, a public library, theatre, hospital, and an orphan and a lunatic asylum. In 1841, a monument, by Schwanthaler,was erected here to Jean Paul Richter, who spent the last twenty years of his life in the city, r.nd has left some beautiful descriptions of tho neighbourhood in his SiebenMs. His house was in Fried- richsstrasse. Baireuth is a railway junction, and has an active trade, chiefly in grain and horses. It manufactures woollen, linen, and cotton goods, leather, delft and other earthenware, and tobacco, and has also several breweries and distilleries. About half a league distant is the village of St George, noted for its marble works ; and about two miles to the E. is the Hermitage, a fanciful building, erected in the early part of the last century, with gardens containing terraces, statues, and fountains. Baireuth has been chosen by Richard Wagner as the scene of his musical festivals, and a theatre is being erected for his special use. Population, 17,841. Baireuth was formerly the capital of a principality of the same name, which was annexed in 1791 to the kingdom of Prussia. In 1807 it was ceded by Prussia to France, which kept possession of it till 1810, when it was transferred to Bavaria.  BAJA, a market-town of Hungary, in the county of Bacs, on the left bank of the Danube, 90 miles S. of Pesth. It was burned down in 1807, but has since been well built. It carries on a considerable trade in grain and pigs, and iU four annual markets are largely attended. The Roman Catholics, the Greek Church, and the Jews have each a place of worship in the town, which also possesses a gymnasium, and a castle belonging to the Grassalkovich family. Population, 18,110.