Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/390

374 abuse and railing), and died, the last survivor of the Committee of Public Safety, January 15, 1841. Two years after his death appeared Mcmoires de Bertrand Barere, edited by Hippolyte Carnot and David of Angers. (See Macaulay s article in the Edinburgh Review, vol. Ixxix., in which the character and career of Barere are discussed with characteristic emphasis and severity.)  BARETTI,, an Italian critic of some distinc tion, was born at Turin in 1716. He was intended by his father for the profession of law, but at the age of sixteen fled from Turin and went to Guastalla, where he was for some time employed in a mercantile house. His leisure hours he devoted to literature and criticism, in which he became expert. For many years he led a wandering life, supporting himself chiefly by his writings. At length he arrived in London, where he remained for a considerable time. He obtained an appointment as secretary to the Royal Academy of Painting, and became acquainted with Johnson, Garrick, and others of that society. He was a frequent visitor at the Thrales ; and his name occurs repeatedly in Bos well s Life. In 1769 he was tried for murder, having had the misfortune to inflict a mortal wound with his fruit knife on a man who had assaulted him in the street. Johnson among others gave evidence in his favour at the trial, which resulted in Baretti s acquittal. He died in May 1789. His first work of any importance was the Italian Library, London, 1757, a useful catalogue of the lives and works of many Italian authors. The Letters Famigliari, giving an account of his travels through Spain, Portugal, and France during the years 1761-1765, were well received, and when afterwards published in English, 4 vols., 1770, were highly commended by Johnson. While in Italy on his travels Baretti set on foot a journal of literary criticism, to which he gave the title of Frusta Letteraria, the literary scourge. It was published under considerable difficulties and was soon discontinued. The criticisms on contemporary writers were sometimes just, but are frequently disfigured by undue vehemence and coarseness. Among his other numerous works may be mentioned a useful Dictionary and Grammar of the Italian Language, and a dissertation on Shakespeare and Voltaire.  BARFLEUR, called formerly Barbeflot, and in the Latin chroniclers Barbatxs Fludus, an ancient town of Normandy, in France, now in the department of Manche, 15 miles E. of Cherbourg. It was at one time the seat of an active trade across the Channel, but was ruined and had its harbour filled up by the English in 1346. Cape Barfleur has a lighthouse 271 feet above the sea, in long. 1 16 W., lat. 49 40 K  BARHAM,, a celebrated humourist, better known by his nom de plume of , was born at Canterbury, December 6, 1788. At seven years of age he lost his father, who left him a small estate, part of which was the manor of Tappington, so frequently mentioned in the Legends. At nine he was sent to St Paul s school, but his studies were interrupted by an accident which shattered his arm and partially crippled it for life. Thus deprived of the power of bodily activity, he became a great reader and diligent student. In 1 807 he entered Brasenose College, Oxford, intending at first to study for the profession of the law. Circumstances, how ever, induced him to change his mind and to enter the church. The choice seems surprising, for he had from childhood displayed that propensity to fun in the form of parody and punning which afterwards made him a reputa tion. In 1813 he was ordained and took a country curacy ; he married in the following year, and in 1821 removed to London on obtaining the appointment of minor canon of St Paul s Cathedral. Three years later he became one of the priests in ordinary of his Majesty s chapel royal. In 1826 he first contributed to Ulacfavood s Magazine ; and on the establishment of Bentleys Miscellany in 1837 he began to furnish the series of grotesque metrical tales known as The Ingoldsly Legends. These became very popular, were published in a collected form, and have since passed through numerous editions. In variety and whim sicality of rhymes these verses have hardly a rival since the days of Hudibras. But beneath this obvious popular quality there lies a store of solid antiquarian learning, the fruit of patient enthusiastic research by the light of the midnight lamp, in out-of-the-way old books, which few readers who laugh over his pages detect. If it were of any avail we might regret that a more active faculty of venera tion did not keep him from writing some objectionable passages of the Legends. His life was grave, dignified, and highly honoured. His sound judgment and his land heart made him the trusted counsellor, the valued friend, and the frequent peacemaker ; and he was intolerant of all that was mean, and base, and false. In politics he was a Tory of the old school ; yet he was the life-long friend of the liberal Sydney Smith, whom in many respects hs singularly resembled. Theodore Hook was one of his most intimate friends. Mr Barham was a contributor to the Edinburgh Review and the Literary Gazette ; published a novel in 3 vols., entitled My Cousin Nicholas; and, strange to tell, wrote nearly a third of the articles in Gorton s Biographical Dictionary. His life was not with out such changes and sorrows as make men grave. Ho had nine children, and six of them died in his lifetime. But he retained vigour and freshness of heart and mind to the last, and his latest verses show no signs of decay. He died in London after a long, painful illness, June 17, 1845, leaving his beloved wife, two daughters, and a son, surviv ing him. A short memoir, by his son, was prefixed to a new edition of Ingoldsby in 1847, and a fuller Life and Letters was published in 2 vols. in 1870.  BARI,, a province of Italy, in the district of Apulia, bounded on the N&quot;. by the Adriatic, E. and S.E. by the province of Otranto, S.W. by Basilicata, and W. by Capitanata. It has an area of 1782 geographical square miles, and is divided into the three districts of Bari, Barletta, and Altamura. Except in the S. and S.W., where branches of the Apennines occur, the surface is generally level. The soil is for the most part calcareous, with a rich covering of loam. The climate is oppressively hot in summer, but very pleasant during the rest of the year. The only considerable river is the Of anto, or A ^lfidus ; but, in spite of the lack of irrigation, the province is among the best cultivated in the kingdom, producing abundance of grain, flax, tobacco, cotton, wine, oil, almonds, liquorice, &c. Swine, asses, goats, and sheep with a very fine wool, are numerous ; and the salt and nitre works form impor tant branches of industry. Among the more important towns besides the capital are Barletta, Trani, Bisceglie, Molfetta, Monopoli, and Fasano on the coast, and Andria Ruvo, Nola, Bitonto, and Conversano somew r hat inland. 