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286 Societies dans leur rapport avec les Idees nouvelles, -which was intended to serve as a prelude to his great tripartite social epic. The work is more intelligible than any other of Ballanche a ; it advocates a moderate constitutional government, and was, on this account, misjudged by many, who fancied it recommended Bourbonism. A philosophical dialogue, Le Vieillard et le Jeune Homme, and a novel, L Homme sans Nom, were written in 1819 and 1820. He then devoted himself to his great work, the Palingencsie Sociale. This, which was to be a Theodiccea, an exposition of the workings of God in history, was divided into three parts : the first reconstructed that period of the world which was before the rise of religion, which is prehistoric, or mythical ; the second endeavoured, from a study of known history, to deduce a universal law or rule ; the third sketched that state of things through and in which humanity at last attains its final end and crowning glory. The works representing these three parts were called L Orphee, La Formule, and La Ville des Expiations; only the first was completed, but some fragments of the others are in existence. To the whole a general introduction was pre fixed, which is the most valuable of all Ballanche s works. His latest writing, Vision d Hebal (Hebal being the chief of a Scottish clan, and gifted with second sight), was evidently intended to form portion of the third part of the Palingcnesic. In mystical language it gives vague and semi-prophetic utterances on the future course of world- history. It is by some considered his greatest production. Ballanche, who in 1841 had received the distinguished honour of a seat in the French Academy, died in 184-7. He was much beloved by his friends, and seems to have been a most amiable, warm-hearted man, enthusiastic and poetical in temperament, whose intellect, however, was over shadowed by his imagination. A collected edition of his works was set on foot in 1830, and was intended to occupy nine vols. Only four appeared, and were republished in a smaller form in 1833. It is almost impossible to give a connected view of Ballanche s fundamental ideas. As has been said, he belonged to the theocratic school, who, in opposition to the rationalism of the preceding age, emphasised the principle of authority, placing revelation above individual reason, order above freedom and progress. But Ballanche made a sincere endeavour to unite in one system what was valuable in the opposed modes of thinking. He held with the theocratists that individualism, was an impracticable view ; man, according to him, exists only in and through society. He agreed further with them that the origin of society was to be explained, not by human desire and efforts, but by a direct revelation from God. Lastly, with De Bonald, he reduced the problem of the origin of society to that of the origin of language, and held that language was a divine gift. But at this point he parts company with the theocratists, and in this very revelation of language finds a germ of progress. Originally, in the primitive state of man, speech and thought are identical ; but gra dually the two separate ; language is no longer only spoken, it is also written, and finally is printed. Thus tho primitive unity is broken up ; the original social order which co-existed with, and was dependent on it, breaks up also. New institutions spring up, upon which thought acts, and in and through which it even draws nearer to a final unity, a rehabilitation, a palingenesis. The volition of primitive man was ons with that of God, but it becomes broken up into separate volitions which oppose themselves to the divine will, and through the oppositions and trials of this world work onwards to a second and completer harmony. The history of humanity is therefore comprised in the fall from the perfect state, and in the return, after repeated trials, to a similar condition. In the dim, shadowy records of mythical times may be traced the obscure outlines of primitive society and of its fall ; and this is at tempted in the Orphee. Actual history exhibits the conflict of two great principles, which may be said to be realised in the patricians and plebeians of Rome. Such a distinction of caste is regarded by Ballanche as the original state of his torical society; and history, as a whole, he considers to have followed the same course as that taken by the Roman plebs in its gradual and successful attempts to attain equality with the patriciate. On the future events through which the human race shall achieve its destiny Ballanche gives few intelligible hints. The sudden flash which disclosed to the eyes of Hebal the whole epic of humanity cannot be reproduced in language trammelled by time and space. Scattered throughout the works of Ballanche are many valuable ideas on the connection of events which makes possible a philosophy of history ; but his own theory, so far as it can be understood and judged, does not seem likely to find more favour than it has already met with.

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 BALLARAT, or, a large and flourishing city of Australia, in the province of Victoria. It is situated about 58 miles N.W. of Geelong, with which it is connected by railway, and about 66 miles W.N.W. of Melbourne, at an elevation of 1437 feet above the level of the sea, on a small river known as the Yarowee Greek. It consists of three portions, Ballarat West, Ballarat East, and Sebas- topol, each of which has its own municipality and towa- hali Its existence and prosperity are solely due to the gold-fields which were discovered here in 1851. In 1855 it vas proclaimed a municipality, and in 1870 Ballarat West was raised to the rank of a city. In 1871 it contained 56 churches, 477 hotels, 10,000 dwellings, 11 banks, 8 iron- foimdries, 13 breweries and distilleries, 3 flour-mills, a free public library, a mechanics institute, a hospital, a &quot;bene volent institution,&quot; a theatre, and a public garden ; while about sixty miles of water-mains and fifty of gas-mains had been laid down. Its population of very various origin, and including a large number of very degraded Chinese, who are huddled together in a separate quarter then amounted to 48,156.  BALLÁRÍ [], a district in the Madras Presidency, lies between 13 40 and 15 58 N. lat., 75 44 and 78 19 E. long. It is bounded on the .N. by the Nizam s territory, from which it is separated by the Tungbhadrd river ; on the E. by the districts of Kadapa and Karnul ; on the S. by the Mysore country ; and on the W. by Mysore, and the Bombay district of Dharwar. Its extreme length from north to south is 170 miles, and its breadth from east to west about 120 miles. The area of the dis trict, including 145 square miles of the Sandur State, is estimated at about 11,496 square miles ; according to other returns, the area is 10,857 square miles (excluding Sandur), of which 1004 consists of barren soil, sites of villages, beds of water-courses, &c., and 9852 of lands either actually cultivated or capable of cultivation. The census of 1871 returned the population at 1,652,044, of whom 94 per cent, were Hindus. It is estimated that_ 941,712, or 71 8 per cent, of the population, live by agriculture. The general aspect of the district is that of an exten sive plateau between the Eastern and Western Ghdts, of an average height of from 800 to 1000 feet above sea- level. The most elevated tracts are on the W., where the surface rises towards the culminating range of hills, and on the S., where it rises to the elevated table-land of Mysore. Towards the centre the surface of the plain presents a monotonous aspect, being almost treeless, and unbroken 