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 BALDWIN BALFE 239 husband of his sister and regent during Bald- win's minority. Guy, however, was soon dis- placed at the demand of the harons, and retired to Ascalon, where he defied a weak effort of Baldwin to bring him to trial. Baldwin IV. died while an embassy from his court was on the way to Europe to invoke assistance against Saladin. Baldwin V. was supposed to have been poisoned by his mother (1186) in order to secure the crown for Lusignan, who according- ly succeeded. BALDWIN, John Dennison, an American jour- nalist and archieologist, born at North Stoning- ton, Conn., Sept. 28, 1809. At the age of 14 he was thrown entirely upon his own exertions. He fitted himself in the common school and at an academy to enter college. Not being able to pur- sue a collegiate course, he began the study of law, but soon abandoned it for theology, and while pursuing his theological studies at the divinity school in New Haven went through the course pursued by the freshman, sophomore, and junior classes in Yale college, from which he received the honorary degree of A. M. In 1833 he was licensed to preach, and was settled at North Branford, Conn., where he remained seven or eight years. He acquired the French and Ger- man languages, and by 1844 had begun to give special attention to archaeology and its bearing upon the current schemes of ancient history. He also wrote much for magazines and news- papers, and became editor of the "Charter Oak," an anti-slavery newspaper published in Hartford, and afterward of the "Common- wealth," published in Boston. In 1859 he be- came editor and proprietor of the " Worcester Spy," one of the oldest journals in New Eng- land. In 1863 he was elected to congress, and was twice reelected. In 1847 he published " Raymond Hill," a small volume of poems. While a member of congress he continued his archaeological studies, and in 1869 published a work on " Prehistoric Nations," and in 1872 one on " Ancient America." BALEARIC ISLANDS, a group of islands in the Mediterranean, the principal of which are Ma- jorca, Minorca, and the penal settlement of Cabrera, forming a province of Spain, situated opposite that of Valencia, between lat. 39 6' and 40 5' N. and Ion. 2 20' and 4 21' E. ; area, 1,860 sq. m. ; pop. in 1867, 284,398. Formerly the islands of Iviza and Formente- ra, lying between Majorca and the mainland, were generally considered a part of this group. Both Majorca and Minorca are mountainous, the highest mountain rising over 5,000 feet above the sea. The climate is delightful, and the soil extremely fertile, but agriculture and cattle-breeding are neglected, despite of fine pasture. Sheep and hogs are very large, how- ever, and mules and asses are reared for ex- portation. The principal products are olives, oranges, figs, and other fruits, red and white wine, and saffron. The exports comprise these articles as well as oil, brandy, home-made palm brooms, baskets, and wooden wares. The 68 VOL. ii. 16 trade is chiefly carried on in Majorca and Minorca. The inhabitants resemble the Cata- lans. The language of the common people is a corrupt Catalan dialect mixed with words from various eastern languages. The islands were known to the Greeks and Romans under their present name, which they derived from pdUstv, to throw, in reference to the great skill of the inhabitants as slingers. Early set- tlements were made by the Phoenicians and Carthaginians. During the Pnnic wars the islanders served as slingers in the armies of both Carthage and Rome. Subsequently their piracies caused them to be subdued by the Romans under Q. C. Metellus (123 B. C.), hence surnamed Balearicus. They successively fell into the hands of the Vandals, the Visigoths, and the Moors; were held by Charlemagne six years, and retaken by the Moors, who were not expelled till the 13th century. Conquered by James I. of Aragon in 1229, they formed after his death, for about 70 years, a part of the kingdom of Majorca, and in 1343 reverted to Aragon. BALECHOr, Jean Jacques Nicolas, a French en- graver, born at Aries in 1715, died in Avignon, Aug. 18, 1765. His finest work is the full- length portrait of Augustus III., king of Poland, after Rigaud, in the Dresden gallery. Among his works were three fine plates after Claude Vernet, and one of Ste. Genevieve, after Vanloo. BALEN, Hendrik van, a Flemish painter, born in Antwerp in 1560, died there in 1632. He was a pupil of Adam von Oort, the teacher of Rubens, perfected his art in Italy, and became the instructor of Vandyke and Snyders, and the first of Flemish painters who succeeded in purity of coloring. His cabinet pictures, chief- ly classical subjects, with landscapes by Jan Breughel and Kierings, enjoyed great popular- ity. Altar pieces of his are in the Antwerp cathedral. BALESTRA, Antonio, an Italian painter, born in Verona in 1666, died April 2, 1740, or ac- cording to some accounts in 1734 or 1744. He left commerce for art, studied in Venice, Bo- logna, Rome, and Naples, and became a mem- ber of the academy of St. Luke in Rome, which conferred a prize upon his "Defeat of the Giants." In 1695 he removed to Venice, and afterward to Verona. He was one of the last great representatives of the Venetian school. He engraved in aquatint, and must not be con- founded with the copperplate engraver Giovan- ni Balestra. BALFE, Michael William, an Irish composer, born in Dublin, May 15, 1808, died in London, Oct. 20, 1870. When eight years old he played a concerto on the violin at a public concert. At the age of nine he wrote the ballad called " The Lover's Mistake," effectively introduced into the play of "Paul Pry" by Mme. Vestris. He lost his father in 1823, and went to London with Mr. Charles Horn, the composer, as an articled pupil for seven years. He was soon engaged as principal violinist at the Drury