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 BALL A RAT BALLET 243 1805, when the "Lay of the Last Minstrel" was published, to his failure in 1826, Scott was a secret partner with Ballantyne, not only in the printing business, but in the proprietorship of the "Edinburgh Weekly Journal," which Ballantyne conducted with spirit and success. Ballantyne was in the secret of the authorship of " Waverley," and was almost the only per- son to whose criticism and suggestions Scott paid any attention. For many years he printed "Blackwood's Magazine;" and in 1822 145,000 volumes of Scott's works were issued from Bal- lantyne's press. Unfortunately, Scott also be- came principal in a publishing house of which John Ballantyne was the ostensible head. After struggling for some years, with heavy losses, this concern was broken up, and the Ballan- tynes shared in Scott's misfortunes. Wilson described James Ballantyne as " the best de- claimer extant," and Lockhart said he was one of the best readers he ever heard. He was con- sidered for 25 years the best theatrical orator in Scotland. II. John, brother of the preceding, born at Kelso about 1774, died June 16, 1821. After having filled the office of clerk in a Lon- don bank for some time, he returned to his native place, where he kept a clothier's shop ; but he was unfortunate in business, and in 1806 went to Edinburgh as clerk to his brother James. In 1808 he became nominal head of the publishing house of John Ballantyne and company. After the failure of this concern he became a literary auctioneer in Edinburgh. His liveliness, humor, eccentricity, and con- vivial habits greatly endeared him to Scott, and he was repeatedly mentioned by Wilson, in "Blackwood's Magazine," for his social qualities. He wrote an unsuccessful novel, " The Widow's Lodgings," and for a short time conducted a weekly periodical called "The Sale Room," to which Scott contributed some minor poems, including the humorous piece entitled "The Sultan of Serendib, or the Search after Happiness." BiLLiRAT, a city of Victoria, New South Wales, next to Melbourne and Sydney the largest town of Australia, situated at an eleva- tion of 1,437 ft. above the sea, 66 m. W. N. W. of Melbourne. It is divided into Ballarat West and Ballarat East, separated by the Yarowee creek. Ballarat West was erected into a city in September, 1870; pop. in 1871, 40,651 (of whom 1,500 were Chinese), and with the sur- rounding district, 74,260. The town owes its rapid growth to being the centre of perhaps the richest gold-bearing district of the world. The public buildings in 1871 comprised a spa- cious hospital erected on high ground, an or- phan asylum, a benevolent asylum, a public bath, a free public library, a theatre, eight banks, three town halls, and 56 churches. In the same year Ballarat had four daily newspa- pers. Gold was first discovered in Ballarat in June, 1851 ; in December, 1855, it was pro- claimed a municipality. Some of the gold mines were in 1871 as deep as some of the coal pits in England, with horses employed in them, and worked by expensive steam machinery. In all it was estimated that there were on the Ballarat gold fields 215 engines of 6,461 horse power engaged in surface mining, and 140 en- gines of 3,390 horse power used in quartz min- ing. The district around Ballarat is also well suited for farming purposes. BALLARD, a W. county of Kentucky, sepa- j rated from Missouri by the Mississippi river, i and from Illinois by the Ohio; area, 500 sq. I m. ; pop. in 1870, 12,576, of whom 1,477 were I colored. It has a moderately uneven surface, with plenty of good timber land. The soil of the southern portions of the county is quite fertile, but in the north it is poor. The chief productions in 1870 were 70,794 bushels of wheat, 577,759 of corn, 28,223 of oats, 18,198 of Irish and 17,220 of sweet potatoes, and 2,863,455 Ibs. of tobacco. Capital, Blandville. BALLENSTEDT, a town of the duchy of An- halt, Germany, at the foot of the Lower Hartz, on the Getel, 15 m. S. E. of Halbertstadt ; pop. in 1867, 4,500. Count Esico IV. of Ballen- stedt founded about the middle of the 10th century a collegiate church, which was soon afterward changed into a Benedictine convent. After 1525 a castle took the place of the con- j vent, which had been destroyed by the peas- ants. In 1765 it became the residence of the dukes of Anhalt-Bernburg. BALLET (Gr. paZM&tv, It. ballare, to dance), a dramatic representation composed of dancing and pantomime with music. Many passages in the Greek writers show that the ballet of action was in great credit among them. The ! Romans reached in it, under the reign of Augus- j above all, Bathyllus, Pylades, and Hyllus, ac- I ances, in which artistic skill and truthfulness of pantomime were admirably blended. Py- lades personified tragic subjects, while Bathyl- lus excelled in the representation of the comic. These entertainments continued popular down to the fall of the empire; but it was only in the later period that women appeared on the stage ; and among the most favorite per- formers at Constantinople was Theodora, who became the wife of the emperor Justinian. The middle ages present no records of the bal- let ; but in 1489, on occasion of the marriage of the duke of Milan, a spectacle of the kind excited such admiration that it was introduced in several countries. France was foremost in encouraging this entertainment; in 1581 Cath- arine de' Medici had a great ballet performed, " Circe and her Nymphs," the expenses of which amounted to 3,600,000 livres. The pop- ularity of the ballet all over Europe was in- creased in the 18th century by Noverre, whom Garrick called the Shakespeare of the dance. He elevated the character of the ballet, im- proving it as a whole and in its details, and propagated its principles through the principal European cities, where he was either the foun-
 * tus, a rare edgree of perfection. Three dancers
 * complished wonders by their varied perform-