The whole of the Libyan desert to the westward of Egypt, Formerly most of the gondoliers knew by heart the greater portion of Gerusalemme Liberata (Jerusalem Delivered), and some the whole poem: they passed the summer nights in their gondolas, singing it in alternate stanzas. Before Tasso, Homer alone had the honour to be thus sung; and no other epic poem has since been equally distinguished. (Rousseau.) But Tasso is now no longer sung by the gondoliers; they still have, however, their songs in response to [From the collection of Mr. Thomas. Actual size. Silver, 197 grains.] each other, improviso, which the common auditor may be Under the Fatemite caliphs of Egypt the oppressions of liable (and no doubt willing) to take for Tasso. The old the Saracen governors obliged the people of Barca to emi-barcarolle was sung in parts, at stem and stern of the same grate, and most of them passed into Egypt. Della Cella, boat, by its own gondoliers. however, mentions a treaty of commerce in 1236 between the republic of Genoa and Busacherino, a Mussulman chief, who styles himself 'Lord of Africa,' by which the Genoese were allowed to trade from Tripoli to the extremity of the kingdom of Barca.' Since that time the town of Barca has entirely disappeared, but the name has remained in useated in the province of Entre-Douro-e-Minho, bounded on among the Arabs to indicate the country which once be- the east by the comarca of Braga, on the west by the ocean, longed to it. About 1550 Sultan Solyman having con- on the south by the district of Oporto, and on the north by quered Tripoli, united the country of Barca to it, and made that of Viana. It contains a population of 13,482 inhaa pashalik of the whole. bitants, distributed in 316 parishes. The river Cavado flows through it, fertilizing the land, and supplying the inhabitants with excellent salmon, lampreys, and eels. The soil produces abundantly all sorts of corn, wine, fruit, flax, honey, and wax. The mountains and woods abound in game, and the meadows feed much cattle. Barcarolle, or boat-song, comes to us from the Italian barcarola, through the French. The well-known airs La Biondina in Gondoletta, and O Pescator dell' Onde, are pleasing specimens of this species of song. BARCELLOS, a comarca or district in Portugal, situ There has been much misapprehension among geographers about the nature of the soil in the regions round the great Syrtis; it has been represented as a tract of barren sand. This, however, is by no means the case. The country is parched up in summer, and it then looks dreary, but after the autumnal rains it is covered with a luxuriant vege- Barcellos, the capital of the district, stands in a plain on tation: many parts of the Sort, which is the worst tract, the right bank of the Cavado, twelve miles from Braga, and afford excellent pasturage, and some produce good crops of twenty from Oporto, in 41° 36' N. lat., and 8° 30′ W. long. barley and dhurra. The soil is sandy, but it is not merely It is surrounded by an old wall, with four gates, one of which sand. As for Cyrenaica, it is capable of the highest degree opens upon a bridge over the Cavado. The bridge connects of cultivation. The Arabs of the country are described by the town with the suburb, Barcellinhos. The town has Captain Beechey as a healthy, good-looking race, superior two parishes, a collegiate church, two convents, one for men in appearance to those who inhabit the miserable towns of and another for women, an hospital, and an almshouse. Bengazi and Derna, which are the only two places deserving The number of its inhabitants amounts to 3892. the name of towns in the whole country. Taucheira, after-country round is well cultivated, and the vicinity of the wards under the Ptolemies called Arsinoe, was a town of river affords the means of irrigation, both of which circumBarca, and its walls, which were repaired by Justinian (Pro- stances render its situation highly advantageous. copius, Пepi Krioμárov, lib. vi.), still remain in a good state of preservation. It has resumed its original name, slightly altered to Tocra, and its ruins are occupied part of the year by wandering Arabs. Ptolemais, or Tolometa, is likewise in ruins and deserted; as well as Berenice, now Bernic, and Apollonia, the former port of Cyrene. Descriptions of this interesting country, and of the extensive remains of its cities, have been given by the Beecheys, Pacho, and Della Cella already quoted. [See CYRENE.] Bengazi has about 2000 inhabitants; most of the houses are built of mud, and are liable to be washed away by the eavy winter rains. Derna is a more considerable town than Bengazi, and has a somewhat better appearance. Both places carry on a little trade by sea. Bengazi provides Malta with bullocks. The rest of the country is occupied by nomadic tribes, as in the time of Herodotus. The limits between Tripoli and Egypt along the sea-coast are not very definite; they are nominally stated to be at Akaba el Sodoon, the Catabathmus Magnus of the antients, about 26° E. long.; but the fact is, that the country in that neighbourhood is occupied by independent Arabs, who acknowledge neither the pasha of Tripoli nor the viceroy of Egypt. The BARCELLO'NA, a town in South America, in the republic of Colombia, and the department of Maturin. It is the capital of the province which bears its name, and lies in 10° 10' N. lat., and 64° 47' W. long., on a small river, the Neveri, about three miles from the shores of the Caribbean Sea. The town is on the left bank of the river, and its houses have mostly mud walls. Its unpaved streets are extremely muddy in rainy weather; and in the dry season they are covered with a dust so light, that the least breath of wind raises it into the air. Nearly opposite the town, on the right bank of the Neveri, stands a small fortress, called el Morro de Barcellona, on a hill, which rises to about 360 or 400 feet above the sea; but it is commanded on the south by a more lofty eminence. This fortress protects the harbour and the shipping in it; but the estuary of the Neveri is so shallow as not to admit vessels of any considerable size, and is besides exposed to the winds from north-east, north, and north-west. At the distance of about three miles from the shore is a small rocky island, called Borracha, inhabited by fishermen, which on its south side affords a safe anchorage for ships of the largest size. Barcellona is one of the most unhealthy places in South America, the air being very hot and moist at the same time. | twelve years. During the struggles between the houses of But the excessive moisture is extremely favourable to vege- Austria and Bourbon for the throne of Spain, Lord Petertation; and there are few tracts in South America which borough besieged and took Barcelona for Charles of Austria, can compare with the country about Barcellona in fertility. in 1706. The French prince, Philip, in 1713, offered the Yet agriculture is not much advanced, and its commercial Barcelonians a liberal amnesty if they abandoned the cause products are only cacao, indigo, and a little cotton. of Charles, but they openly declared that they never would acknowledge his authority until he had given them a solemn promise to maintain their privileges. Philip did not consent to that condition, and the place was besieged. In the spring of 1714 Marshal Berwick reinforced the besiegers with 20,000 men. The Barcelonians, without distinction of rank, age, or sex, made a desperate defence; but, overwhelmed by superior forces, the place was taken by assault on the 12th of September. The trade of this town, before the Spanish colonies obtained their independence, was considerable. The articles of export were chiefly the produce of the extensive pastures on the banks of the Lower Orinoco, and extending northward towards the sources of the Guarapiche; they consisted of cattle, horses, mules, jerked meat or tasajo, and hides, all which articles were carried to the West Indies. The situation of Barcellona is very favourable to this branch of trade, because the high land which separates the town from the Llanos, or plains, does not rise to a great elevation in these parts. In three days the cattle may be brought down from the plains to the coast, while eight or nine are required to take them to Cumana: on the latter route they are obliged to pass the high chains of the Brigantin and of the Impossible. Lavaysse gives the following detail of the export trade for the year 1802: 132,000 head of horned cattle; 2100 horses; 8400 mules; 800 asses; 180,000 hundred weight of tasajo or jerked beef; 36,000 ox-hides; 4500 horse-hides; 6000 hides of deer; from 3000 to 4000 lbs. of indigo; about 2000 lbs. of annotto; from 250,000 to 300,000 lbs. of cotton; and from 150,000 to 200,000 lbs. of cacao. We are not informed as to the changes which the late revolutions in South America may have effected in the trade of this town. The fishery is another branch of industry, but it is not so extensive as farther to the east, near the town of Cumana and the islands of Margarite, Cubagua, and Coche, and is rather carried on by the fishermen of the neighbouring villages than by the inhabitants of the town. This town had, in 1807, a population of 15,000 persons, half whites, and half mulattoes and negroes. By the aborigines who inhabit the country about it, that is, by the Cumanayotes, it is called Enipiricuar. (Humboldt, De Pons, Lavaysse.) BARCELONA (Barcíno, Bapkivwv, Ptolemy), a fortified city and port of Spain, on the Mediterranean, in the principality of Cataluña, or Catalonia, of which it is the capital. It stands on a very gentle eminence between the river Besós on the north, and Llobregat on the south, in 41° 22' N. lat., 2° 10' E. long., commanding one of the most fertile and best-cultivated plains in the Peninsula. This plain is bounded by a chain of mountains, which form a curve line on the south, west, and northern sides. Barcelona may be said to have existed as a maritime and commercial state from the eleventh century. There is a law of Raimundo II. of that epoch, granting important privileges to all the vessels proceeding from and coming to Barcelona. As a maritime power, that state then rivalled Genoa, Pisa, and Venice, in the commerce of the East. The Consulado, or Court of Commerce of Barcelona, dates from 1279, when Pedro III. granted the merchants of that city the privilege of appointing, from their own body, two deputies to protect their interests. These deputies, called consuls, presided over the Colegio de Mercaderes, or College of Merchants, who were elected by a majority of voices on the same day that the common-councilmen of the city were elected, and their office lasted one year. Afterwards, a supreme council, composed of a hundred members, called, on that account, el Sabio Consejo de los Ciento, was instituted. They were also elective, and were presided over by five cancelleres, or councillors, also elective. All these institutions were abolished, with the privileges of the Catalonians, by Philip V. Barcelona is now governed by the Ayuntamiento, or Common Council, in the municipal concerns; the judicial power is exercised by two alcaldes, mayors or judges, and by the Audiencia, or Court of Justice. There is a Real Acuerdo, and a Consulado; the former is the supreme authority of Catalonia, and the latter presides over commercial matters. A Junta de Comercio, or Board of Trade, directs public instruction, and appoints and pays professors, who deliver public lectures on navigation, chemistry, mechanics, drawing, architecture, natural philosophy, agriculture, commercial arithmetic, short-hand writing, French, Italian, and English languages, The schools, or lecture-rooms, are in the Lonja, or Exchange. All the kings of Spain, from the time of the union of Catalonia and Aragon down to Philip V., being obliged to swear to the observance of the privileges of the principality, Barcelona has been frequently visited by the Spanish moIt was probably one of the colonies formed by the Greeks narchs. Some of these visits have coincided with events on the eastern coasts of the Peninsula, and was the capital deserving to be recorded. When Fernando the Catholic of the Laletani, a nation inhabiting the country extending visited Barcelona, the great discoverer Columbus arrived in from the Pyrenees to the river Ter. However this may be, that port from his second voyage to the New World. In a town appears to have been built here by Hamilcar Barcas 1543, when Carlos I., the grandson of that king. was at or Barcino, about 235 B.C., who gave to it the name of his Barcelona, the first vessel propelled by steam was put to sea family. When the Carthaginians were expelled from Spain in that port. This fact is mentioned by Navarrete in the in 206 B.C., Barcelona fell into the hands of the Romans, introduction to his Coleccion de los Viages y Descubrimi who made it a colony, with the additional name of Fa-entos in a manner which leaves no room for doubt. It apventia. In A.D. 411, the Gothic King Ataulphus made his pears that a certain Blasco de Garay, who had made the triumphant entrance into it. In 718 it fell into the hands discovery, proposed to the emperor to exhibit his invention of the Mohammedans, who kept it until 801, when the before him, upon a vessel called the Trinidad, of 200 barrels Catalonians, assisted by Charlemagne and his son Louis, burden. The vessel was put to sea in the presence of the besieged it, and after an obstinate struggle of two years, emperor and his court, and of an immense multitude of forced the Moorish governor Omar, a relation of the wali people, who saw her, with astonishment, rend the waves of Barcelona, Zeyad, to capitulate. Barcelona was then without sail, oar, or any other human agency except a erected into a county, and given in fief by the emperor cauldron of boiling water and a very complicated machinery Charlemagne to Bera, a French nobleman of Gaul. In 827 of wheels and paddles. The minister commissioned by the it was taken by Abderahman II., but in 833 it returned emperor to examine the invention gave an unfavourable again into the power of the Christians. In 852 the Jews report, and Carlos being called out of Spain paid no further betrayed the city to the Mohammedans, who burned the attention to the subject. The inventor, however, was handgreatest part of it, but did not retain the place. In 984 somely rewarded by Carlos, but the invention was lost to Barcelona was stormed by the formidable chief Almansor, the world. who butchered the greatest part of the inhabitants, and burned many houses; but its count, Borello, marched to its succour, and recovered it. Barcelona remained an independent state, and was governed by its counts until 1131, when, by the marriage of Raimundo V. with Petronila, queen of Aragon, the county of Barcelona and the kingdom of Aragon became united. [See CATALUNA.] In 1640 the Barcelonians rose against their king, the profligate Philip IV., and the place was besieged by the Marquis of Los Velez, but the inhabitants forced him to raise the siege, and, assisted by the French, resisted the troops of Philip for The mole covers a space of 6000 feet by 7200, where vessels can anchor. The original mole was built in 1477, but having been destroyed by storms in the sixteenth century, it was rebuilt as it exists at present. The officer of engineers, Don Juan Smith, about forty years ago, proposed to prolong the mole 1500 feet towards the south, and then erect a wall at the extremity of it, and nearly at right angles with it, 600 feet long and 150 wide, in the direction of W.S.W., forming some resemblance to the letter T. The depth of water in the port is from eighteen to twenty feet. There is a bar at the entrance of it, supposed to be There is also an Academy of Sciences and Arts, and another of Polite Literature. Barcelona gives its name to a bishop's see comprising 253 formed by the confluence of the two streams Llobregat to the west, and Besos to the east of the town. This bar has been considerably lowered by a steam machine, which was very recently at work; and loaded vessels, drawing four-parishes. There are in the city nine parishes, eighteen conteen or fifteen feet water, can safely enter the port. A few years ago almost all vessels were obliged to be partially discharged in the roadstead before they could enter. Vessels are commodiously moored in the harbour at a short distance from the pier. There are not any docks or quays. The port is open to the south, but the ships are pretty well sheltered by the new mole, and no serious damage has occurred to the shipping since the winter of 1821, when a dreadful storm was experienced. vents of monks, nineteen of nuns, one hospital, an ecclesiastical seminary, a casa de caridad, or charity house, and three barracks. The Real Casa de Caridad is a charitable institution, established in 1802, in the reign of Carlos IV. for the support of the destitute of both sexes and of every age. It is supported by the produce of public balls, masquerades, and by charitable donations. It is governed by a junta, or board of six individuals of the mercantile and industrious classes, appointed by the government. The There are always pilots on duty, who go out to the assist-poor are employed in spinning cotton, wool, and hemp, and ance of ships as soon as a vessel approaches the port, in order to carry her over the bar. The fortifications appear to have been rebuilt in the time of Carlos I. The town is defended on the land side by the castle of Monjuich, situated on the south-west of the city, a citadel on the north-east, strong walls, wide ditches, and numerous batteries; and on the sea-side by a wall 380 feet long and 50 wide. Large vessels cannot approach near it for want of sufficient depth of water. The citadel is a regular pentagon, fortified according to the system of Vauban. It was built in 1716, on a space before occupied by 600 houses, and can conveniently hold a garrison of 7000 men. It was intended not for the defence of the city, but to keep the Barcelonians in awe and subjection. On the sea-side is Fort St. Carlos, connected with the citadel by a double covered way, completely surrounding, on the land side, the suburb Barceloneta. weaving different stuffs of the same materials, and in making pins and other similar occupations. The children are instructed in reading and writing. In 1808, the establishment supplied food and clothing to 3656 inmates, besides many poor families who were supported in their own houses. In 1820 the number of destitute persons in the institution amounted to 1500, and in 1829 to 1000. There is only one newspaper at Barcelona, called El Vapor. Some of the works published by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge have been translated into Spanish, under the title of Librería de Conocimientos Humanos, and published there in a form calculated to render their circulation extensive. The number of companies of the different trades in Barcelona exceeds ninety. The manufactures of Barcelona, which existed in the thirteenth century, received great encouragement at the time of the discovery of America, but at the present time they are far behind those of France and England. Since the commerce of America has been open to all nations, the commerce of Barcelona has suffered considerably. The number of vessels belonging to the port of Barcelona is very insignificant. What few there are find employment in the trade to Cuba and Puerto Rico. Previous to the defection of the Spanish provinces on the continent of America, the tonnage belonging to Barcelona was considerable. The city is divided by a pleasant promenade, called La Rambla, into two almost equal parts: the smaller, or the new city, lies on the north-west of the Rambla, and the old city on the north-east. The streets in the old city are narrow and winding; in the new city they are wider and more regular; they are paved with square stones, but not kept in good repair; they are well lighted with oil, and guarded by the serenos, or watchmen, at night. The only square deserving mention is the Plá de Palacio, which is occupied by the palace of the capitan-general, the lonja, or exchange, the custom-house, and the puerta de la mar, or sea-gate, The is nd of Cuba takes annually, one year with another, all fine buildings. The houses are of a very simple archi- about 12,000 pipes of Catalonian wine, and about 3000 pipes tecture, commodious, for the most part built of brick, and of brandy, the value of the former being about 47., and of the in general four or five stories high, with numerous windows latter 87. sterling per pipe. South America takes annually and balconies of different shapes. The cathedral is a noble 16,000 pipes of wine and 6000 pipes of brandy. To the north and elegant Gothic monument in the centre of the city. of Europe about 2000 pipes of wine and the same quantity It was begun in the thirteenth century, and has never of brandy are sent every year. Very little of these descripbeen finished, although a certain fee is imposed by the tions of produce are exported to this country; almost the only ecclesiastical court upon every license of marriage, which article of merchandize which Great Britain takes from Barfund is expressly devoted to that sole purpose. The churches celona is nuts, of which about 30,000 bags are annually of the Dominican friars, called Santa Catalina, and the imported: the value averages thirty shillings per bag. The parish church of Santa Maria del Mar, though aiming at imports into Barcelona from England are principally comthe Gothic style, do not deserve the credit given them by La posed of raw cotton, hides, salted fish, iron hoops, hardwares, Borde. Of the Greek and Roman styles the best are the and woollen stuffs, but the quantities are inconsiderable, Palacio de la Diputacion, now the Audiencia, the convent and the trade is declining. From Cuba and Puerto Rico of la Merced, the exchange, and the custom-house. In Barcelona receives cotton, hides, sugar, cocoa, coffee, horns, the Palace of the Diputacion, where the antient cortes or dyewoods, indigo, and from 300,000 to 500,000 dollars in parliament of the principality held their sittings, are the specie every year. From France and Portugal colonial proarchives of Catalonia and Aragon, a very interesting and ducts are also brought, in addition to butter and cheese; well-classified collection of curious manuscripts and diplo- Denmark and Sweden supply fish and tar, and staves are matic documents, some of which are as old as the ninth procured from Italy. The aggregate value of imports during century. The palace of the antient counts of Barcelona is the three years ending with 1831, is stated to have amounted partly occupied by the nuns of Santa Catalina: in another to 420,000l. in 1829, 570,000l. in 1830, and 650,000/. in part of the building is the College of Surgeons, and the re- 1831, exclusive of specie. The number and tonnage of maining part was occupied by the Inquisition. This palace ships engaged in foreign trade that entered the port during is only remarkable for its simplicity and strength. The those years, was theatre is, with regard to its construction, scenery, and decorations, the best in Spain. It is also the best conducted in every respect, and has excellent performers, particularly in the musical part, of which art the Barcelonians of all ranks are passionately fond. The best and most frequented Of these, those under the British flag were, promenades are La Rambla and La Esplanada. The former crosses the city from the land rampart to the wall on the sea-side, a distance of 2712 feet; and the Esplanada extends from Puerta Nueva to the citadel, a space of 1332 feet in length, containing a public garden, fine avenues of trees, and many stone seats. Barcelona had a university, which was abolished by Philip V., and turned into barracks, which are still called Los Estudios. There are three public libraries, one in the ecclesiastical seminary, another in the church of Santa Catalina, and the third in the convent of the Franciscan friars. In 1829, 122 ships of 17,072 tons burthen 1831, 128 do. 15,135 do. In 1829, 24 ships of 2860 tons burthen do. 2340 do. 1830, 19 ,, 1831, 18 do. 2010 The customs revenue collected at Barcelona in 1831 amounted to 10,027,170 rials (100,2707) on goods imported, and 97,019 rials (9707.) on goods exported. There are not at present any banking establishments in Barcelona. Every merchant is his own banker. The people of Barcelona, though partaking of the stern and severe character of Catalonians, are kind and hospitable, BARCLAY, ALEXANDER, was an elegant writer of He and possess the art of making their society agreeable to the sixteenth century, but whether English or Scotch by strangers. The inns are better conducted, perhaps, in every respect than in any other part of Spain. The Barce-birth is disputed. The author of his life in the Biographia lonians are passionately fond of the pleasures of country Britannica suspects him to have been a native of Somersetlife; and all those who have the means of gratifying their shire; Warton (Hist. Engl. Poet. 4to. edit. vol. ii. p. 240) inclination, retire in the summer season to the neat and that he was of Gloucestershire or Devonshire, in the former pleasant torres, or villas, which cover the extensive Plá, or of which counties there is a place of the same name. plain, of Barcelona. From the city to the pleasant little was educated at Oriel College, Oxford, about 1495, when village of Sarriá, for about four miles, the road is through Thomas Cornish, suffragan Bishop of fyne in the diocese gardens and well-cultivated fields, hedged round with the of Bath and Wells, was provost of that house. After American aloes, and planted with orange-trees, olives, and finishing his studies there, he went in Holland, and thence other productions of warm climates. From Sarriá, which into Germany, Italy, and France, where he applied himself is situated upon an eminence, and commands both the plain assiduously to the languages spoker in those countries, and and the city, there is one of the most magnificent panoramic to the study of their best authors. Upon his return home, views in the Peninsula. Beyond the city, the numerous he became chaplain to Bishop Cornish, who appointed him towers and steeples of which give it an appearance of one of the priests or prebendaries of the college of St. grandeur, the immense expanse of the Mediterranean opens Mary Ottery, in Devonshire. After the death of his patron to the view. he became a monk of the Benedictine monastery of Ely, where his name occurs at the election of a prior of that house March 22nd, 1515 (MS. Cole, Brit. Mus. from Reg. Elien.), and where he continued till the suppression of the monastery in 1539. Bishop Tanner (Bibl. Brit. Hib. p. 74), from one of Bale's manuscripts, says he afterwards became a Franciscan at Canterbury. There seems no doubt that he subsequently temporised with the changes in religion. On February 7th, 1546, we find him instituted to the vicarage of Great Badow in Essex (Newcourt, Repert. Eccles. vol. ii. p. 25), and on March 30th following to the vicarage of Wokey in Somersetshire. (Tann. Bibl. Brit. from Regist. Wellen.) On the 30th April, 1552, he was presented by the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury to the rectory of Allhallows, Lombard-street, in London, but did not enjoy that preferment above the space of six weeks. He died in the June following at Croydon, in Surrey, where he was buried in the church. His will was proved on the day of his burial, June 10th, 1552. (Newcourt, Repert. vol. i. p. 254.) In several passages of his works he alludes to the passing of some of his younger years at Croydon. (See Warton, ut supr. note i.) We also learn from them that John Vesey, Bishop of Exeter, Sir Giles Alington, Richard Earl of Kent, who died in the fifteenth of Henry VIII., and Thomas Duke of Norfolk, were among his patrons, The population of Barcelona before the war with France in 1808 was 130,000 souls. In 1810 the town was in the possession of the French, and many of the inhabitants consequently emigrated. In 1820 the population was computed at 140,000, and it may now be calculated at 160,000. The increase during the last ten years is attributed in part to the civil wars, which have occasioned many families who lived in the interior to choose the town for their residence, as offering greater security from personal violence. The suburb of Barceloneta is a small and pleasant town on the south-east of the city, between the port and the lighthouse. It consists of twenty-four parallel streets, intersected by fifteen others at right-angles, all twenty feet wide. The houses are all uniform, built of brick and one story high. This suburb was built in 1754 under the direction of the then Capitan-general Marques de la Mina, whose sepulchre is in the church of Barceloneta. The place is chiefly inhabited by sailors and other men employed in the navy or merchant-vessels. Its population is 5000. (See Capmani, Memorias Antiguas sobre la Marina, Comercio, y Artes de Barcelona; Miñano; La Borde, Itineraire de l'Espagne, and Vue Pittoresque, &c.) BARCELONNETTE, a town in France, in the department of Basses Alpes. It is situated on the right bank of the Ubaye, which flows into the Durance, and is in the midst of the mountains from which the department takes its name, at an elevation of 3805 feet above the level of the sea. It was built in 1230 by Raymond Berenger V., Count of Provence, who gave to it the name of Barcelonnette, because his family had come from Barcelona in Spain. Some inscriptions found in the neighbourhood have led to the supposition that the Romans had some post, or even a city here. For 158 years the town and the valley, of which it is the capital, remained under the Counts of Provence; but in 1388 the inhabitants recognized the Duke of Savoy as their sovereign, and continued, for the most part, under the dominion of the Princes of Savoy till the peace of Utrecht, in 1713, when the town and valley were ceded to France. It appears, indeed, to have been conquered by Francis I., and to have remained in the possession of the French for some years, till the peace of Château Cambresis in 1559, when it was restored to the Dukes of Savoy. Towards the beginning of the fourteenth century a Dominican convent was founded here, but the house was afterwards given to the Pères de la Doctrine Chrétienne, who converted it into a college. There are in the town some establishments for fulling cloth. The machinery is chiefly moved by water conducted to the place in channels of considerable length. Some trade in corn and in sheep is carried on. Sheep are reared in vast numbers in the fine pasturage of the adjacent valley. The population of Barcelonnette, in 1832, was 1789 for the town, or 2144 for the whole commune. It is in 44° 24' N. lat., 6° 37' E. long. The arrondissement contains 472 square miles, or 302,080 acres, and had in 1832 a population of 18,783. It includes the valley of Barcelonnette and some other districts. The valley is watered in its whole extent by the river Ubaye. It yields slate and coal, but the working of the latter has been given up on account of the expense attending it. The inhabitants of this neighbourhood used to resort to Paris and elsewhere, the women as musicians, and the men as showmen with magic lanterns. (Dictionnaire Universelle de la France, &c.; Voyages dans les Départemens de la France, par J. A. La Vallée, &c.) Bale (Script. Illustr. edit. 1557, cent. ix. p. 66) has treated the memory of Barclay with great indignity. He says, he remained a scandalous adulterer under colour of leading a single life. His words are 'cœlibatus fuco fœdus adulter perpetuò mansit.' Pits, on the contrary, assures us that Barclay employed all his study in favour of religion, and in reading and writing the lives of the saints. Both accounts are probably tinctured with partiality. That Barclay was one of the refiners of the English language, and left many testimonies behind him of his wit and learning, cannot be denied. The following is a list of Alexander Barclay's works as far as they are known:-1. 'The Castell of Labour, wherein is Rychesse, Vertue, and Honour,' an allegorical poem in seven-line stanzas, translated from the French, 4to. London, W. de Worde, 1506. 2. The Shyp of Folys of the Worlde,' fol. Lond. R. Pynson, 1509: reprinted, fol. J. Cawood, 1570. This work was partly a translation and partly an imitation of a German work of the same title, published in 1494 by Sebastian Brandt, afterwards translated into French, and then into Latin. From this original, and the two translagleaned from the follies of his countrymen: it was finished tions, Barclay formed his poem with considerable additions in 1508. 3. The Treatyse entituled the Myrrour of good Maners,' translated from the Latin of Domynike Mancyn, fol. R. Pynson, n. d.: reprinted with the Ship of Fools' in 1570. 4.Egloges, or the Miseries of Courts and Courtiers,' 4to. Lond. R. Pynson and W. de Worde, n. d.: 4to. J. Herforde, about 1548, 4to.: Humph. Powell, n. d.: and fol. 1570, Treatise against Skelton the Poet' (Biogr. Brit. edit. 1788, with the preceding work and the Ship of Fools. 5. A vol. i. p. 587, note D), but which is not at present known to be extant either in print or manuscript. 6. The Lyfe of the glorious Martyr Saynt George, from Mantuan. 4to. Pynson, n. d. dedicated to Nicholas West, Bishop of Ely. compyled compendiously at the commaundement of Thomas, 7.The Introductory to write and to pronounce French, Cronycle of the Warre which the Romaynes had against Duke of Norfolke,' fol. R. Coplande, 1521. 8. 'The famous Jugurth, compyled in Latyn by the renowned Sallust, and translated into Englysshe at commaundement of Thomas, (See Tanner, Bibl. Brit. Hib. ut supra; Wood's Athenæ Oxon.; Herbert's edit. of Ames's Typogr. Antiq. pp. 144, 253, 287, 289, 292, 293, 579, 731, 750, 797, 798, 1783, 1785; Biogr. Brit.; Warton's Hist. Engl. Poetry, 4to. edit. vol. ii. pp. 240, 253; Lysons's Env. of London, edit. 1811, vol. i. p. 136.) BARCLAY, ROBERT, a distinguished writer of the Society of Friends, was born December 23, 1648, at Gordonstown, in the shire of Moray, and not in Edinburgh, as stated by William Penn. His father was Colonel David Barclay, of Ury, the lineal representative of a family which traced its ancestry to Theobald de Berkely, a gentleman of Norman extraction, whose descendants always held a rank among the landed proprietors of Scotland: his mother was the daughter of Sir Robert Gordon, of Gordonstown, by whom he was connected with the house of Huntly. The name was changed to Barclay in the fifteenth century, by one of the family who has the reputation of having been a scholar and a poet. A matrimonial alliance with the heiress of Mathers having added to the patrimonial property a considerable estate, it became the residence of the family, who were afterwards known, for several centuries, as the Barclays of Mathers. The grandfather of Robert was so impoverished by his extravagancies, that he was compelled to sell estates that had been in the family for upwards of five hundred years, and along with the rest the lands of Mathers, in consequence of which the designation which had so long been affixed to the name was lost. Duke of Norfolke,' fol. R. Pynson (two editions): reprinted | distinguishing badge certain eccentricities of dress, man with Paynell's translation of the 'Conspiracy of Catiline,' ners, and conversation. The Friends, at their origin, did 8vo. J. Walley, 1557. 9. The Figure of our Mother Holy not adopt any peculiar marks; they only dressed like all Church oppressed by the French King,' 4to. R. Pynson. the sober religious people of that day, and abstained from (See Herbert's edit. of Ames, Hist. Print. vol. i. p. 287, from all extravagancies; they kept strictly to this plainness, Maunsel's Catalogue.) Bale, Pits, and Warton, also men- when all other people were frightened out of it, after the tion translations by Barclay of the lives of St. Catharine, restoration of Charles II., under the stigma of puritanism. St. Margaret, and St. Etheldreda. But the vicinity of Aberdeen was not more free than other parts of Britain from that misjudging spirit which affected to discover, under this garb and plainness of manners, a deep-rooted aversion to religion and civil government. The meetings of the Society, which, when not silent, breathed nothing but charity and meekness, were prohibited, and those who attended them were taken before magistrates, and committed to prison. From such intolerance even the family respectability of the Barclays did not preserve them. They bore their share in the sufferings of those times. Robert Barclay no sooner saw how much of this ill-will arose from the misapprehensions of the public concerning the principles of the Quakers, than he set himself to correct them. A book having been written by a Scotch clergyman, embodying the principal charges which had been brought against the doctrines and views of the Quakers, he endeavoured to vindicate them, in a treatise published at Aberdeen in the year 1760, under the title of Truth cleared of Calumnies. A reply being made to this publication, in which all the offensive statements were repeated, Barclay put forth a rejoinder, entitled William Mitchell Unmasked, a performance replete with learning, which silenced his adversary, and refuted the calumnies with which the community to which he belonged had been so unjustly assailed. In the same year that Robert Barclay became an author he married Christian, daughter of Gilbert Mollison, a merchant of Aberdeen. The character of this lady is extolled by all who speak of her. After his marriage he continued to reside at Ury, where, in patriarchal simplicity, the families lived together in the greatest happiness during the life of his father, which continued until within a short time of his own death. Two years after this event, he took the extraordi. nary resolution of walking through the streets of Aberdeen clothed in sackcloth and ashes. The motive and design or his making himself such a spectacle to men' is thus detailed in what the writer calls A seasonable Warning and serious Exhortation to and Expostulation with the Inhabit ants of Aberdeen, concerning this present Dispensation and day of God's living Visitation towards them.' After a solemn address, he thus explains his motives for this proceeding :'Therefore was I commanded of the Lord to pass through your streets covered with sackcloth and ashes, calling you to repentance, that ye might yet be more awakened and alarmed to take notice of the Lord's voice unto you, and not to despise those things which belong to your peace while the day lasteth, lest hereafter they may be hidden from your eyes. And the command of the Lord concerning this thing came unto me that very morning as I awakened, and the burden thereof was very great; yea, seemed almost insupportable unto me, for such a thing until that moment had never entered me before, not in the most remote consideration. And some whom I called, to declare to them this thing, can bear witness how great was the agony of my spirit; how I besought the Lord with tears that this cup might pass away from me; yea, how the pillars of my tabernacle were shaken, and how exceedingly my bones trembled until I freely gave up to the Lord's will. And this was the end and tendency of my testimony to call you to repentance by this signal and singular step, which I, as to my own will and inclination, was as unwilling to be found in, as the worst and wickedest of you can be averse from receiving or laying it to heart. (See the remarks on this incident of Barclay's life in Jaffray's Diary, 2nd ed. 1834.) Upon these reverses, David, who was the eldest of several sons, went into the army, and served as a volunteer under Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden. Having attained the rank of Major, he remained abroad till the civil wars broke out in his own country, when he returned home, and became Colonel of a regiment of horse, on the side of the Royalists. On the accession of Cromwell's party to power, he retired from his military employments, married, and purchased a house at Ury, near Aberdeen, which became the seat of the family. · This gentleman had three sons. Robert, the eldest, after receiving the rudiments of his education in his native country, was sent to Paris to pursue his studies under the direction of his uncle, who was rector of the Scots College in that capital. Being ambitious of knowledge, and having a certain felicity of understanding, to use his own expressions, his proficiency was so considerable as to obtain him the notice and commendation of all the professors. At the same time, his deportment and character so endeared him to his uncle, that he offered to make him his heir, and to settle a large estate immediately upon him, if he would remain in France. The offer was at once rejected. No temptation could shake his resolution when he found that his father was opposed to his continuance in a country where he had been won over to the Roman Catholic faith. When he left Paris he was in his fifteenth year. While the son was deserting Calvinism for Popery, the father's opinions were undergoing an equally remarkable change. During a short imprisonment, from which he was liberated without anything being laid to his charge, he was converted to the views of a sect which had then existed only ten years. Further deliberation strengthened his former convictions, and he became a member of the Society of Friends. After an interval of a few years Robert followed the example of his father, and, in the year 1667, avowed himself a Quaker. This change of opinion had not been produced without a degree of thought and investigation almost beyond his years, for he was then not more than nineteen. It also gave a decided bias to his future studies. He learned the Greek and Hebrew languages, in addition to the Latin and French, in which he had made great proficiency in France. To his other acquirements he added an acquaintance with the writings of the fathers, and with ecclesiastical history. No sect ever encountered in its origin more persecution and derision than the Quakers; though it is an error to suppose that this was owing to their adopting as a Barclay believed, as the Society of Friends now do, that divine revelation is not incompatible with right reason, yet he believed, as the Friends also now do, that the faculty of reason alone, unassisted by divine illumination, is unable to comprehend or receive the sublime truths relative to that redemption and salvation which came by Jesus Christ. To show that the tenets held by the Society were capable of a rational vindication, Barclay employed all the powers of his vigorous intellect, and produced a succession of works, designed and calculated to accomplish this object. The first was an exposition of the doctrines and principles of the Quakers, bearing the following title, A Catechism and Confession of Faith, approved of and agreed unto by VOL. III.-3 L |