soon appeared in a translation from the Hebrew, with historical and critical notes and dissertations, of "The Rabbi Benjamin's Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa, containing an Account of the State of the Jews in the twelfth Century." This work was published, in two volumes 8vo. at Amsterdam, in 1734, the author's thirteenth year. The whole is said to have been finished in four months.

This wonderful youth, in the midst of his philological pursuits, had found leisure for the study of mathematics and astronomy: and such were his attainments in these sciences, that he devised a method of discovering the longitude at sea, which he laid before the royal academy of sciences at Berlin, in a long letter, dated January 21, 1735, the day in which he completed his fourteenth year. Baratier, find ing that his letter was well received, resolved to support his project in person, and, in March, set out for Berlin. On his way thither he passed with his father through Hall, where the chancellor of the university, Ludewig, offered to confer upon him the honorary degree of master of arts. Flattered by this proposal, Baratier, on the spot, and in the presence of many professors, drew up fourteen theses, in philology, ecclesiastical history, and philosophy, which he caused to be printed that night, and the next day supported them for three hours with great applause; upon which he was received master of arts in philosophy. He arrived a few days afterwards in Berlin. On the 24th of March, the mathematical class being assembled, with all the heads of the university, and many members of other classes, Baratier was called in. M. de Vignoles, the rector, suggested to him some difficulties attending his project, to which he replied with great readiness in French. After this, he proposed, in Latin, the plan of an astronomical instrument, which he proposed to execute. M. Jablonski, the president, reported that he had examined Baratier, in the king's presence, and had found him well acquainted with rabbinical learning, the oriental languages, and ecclesiastical history. Baratier was then, with the usual forms, admitted a member of the society.

Returning to Hall with his father, on whom the king of Prussia at this time bestowed the charge of the French church in that city, Baratier turned his attention to theology, and wrote an answer to Crellius, who, under the signature of Artemonius, had given a Socinian interpretation to the introduction to the gospel of John. The work, which was written in Latin, and entitled "Anti-Artemonius," was

published in 8vo. at Nuremberg, in 1735. It was accompanied with a "Dissertation on the three Dialogues, commonly attributed to Theodoret," intended to invalidate their authenticity. This piece Baratier afterwards, in 1737, defended against the strictures of the journalists of Trevoux, in another dissertation on the subject, printed in the forty-eighth volume of the

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Bibliotheque Germanique." In the fortieth volume of the same Journal will be found another dissertation of Baratier, in the form of a letter, "On two Works attributed to St. Athanasius." The king of Prussia, to try the extent of this youth's knowledge, asked him whether he understood the public law: Baratier was obliged to confess that he did not. "Then," said the king, "go and study it before you call yourself a learned man." The young man's literary ambition was insatiable renouncing for a time all other studies, he applied himself to this with such diligence, that after fifteen months he was able to support a thesis in the public law with great credit. Hard study, and the uninterrupted exertion of faculties, vigorous and active in a degree almost preternatural, speedily destroyed a constitution naturally feeble and delicate. After languishing in a decline for several months, this wonderful young man died in 1740, aged only nineteen years, eight months, and seven days. Notwithstanding his wonderful attainments, it is said that before he was ten years old, it was his custom to lie in bed twelve hours, and ten hours from that time to his death. It is difficult to conceive the possibility of crowding so much learning into so small a space : yet the truth of the leading facts concerning this extraordinary youth does not rest upon individual testimony, but upon public records. Such singular instances of intellectual precocity are rather to be gazed at with astonishment as "lusus naturæ," than contemplated with delight as models of perfection. To be encouraged by such rare examples, to hasten prematurely the growth of promising genius, would be injudicious. The poplar, which soon becomes a lofty tree, will soon decay; the strong and sturdy oak, whose majestic trunk stands unimpaired through centuries, requires a century to bring it to maturity. Formey's Life of Baratier. Bibl. Germ. tom. xvii. xix. Moreri. Nouv. Dict. Hist.-E.

BARBADINO, a learned Portuguese of the present century, who, desirous of promoting the progress of science, so much neglected in his native country, published "Verdadero Methodo de Estudiar para ser util à la Republica y a la Iglesia;" Valencia (Paris), 1746. The

picture which he drew in the above work of the wretched state of literature in Portugal, excited against him many enemies and antagonists, among whom was the Jesuit Joseph Fran. de Ila, who attacked him with great violence in his "History of Brother Gerundio." He was, however, defended by don Joseph Maymo, in "Difese del Barbadino," 1758, 4. who published also a Spanish translation of all the writings which had appeared, till the year 1750, for and against Barbadino. Adelung's Cont. of Iöcher's Gelchrt. Lex.-J.

BARBARO, FRANCIS, a noble and learned Venetian, born in the year 1398, was equally distinguished by his love of literature, and his talents for public affairs. He was a pupil of the learned Grecian Chrysoloras, under whom he acquired a profound knowledge both of the Greek and Latin languages. Of his Greek learning, his translations of Plutarch's Lives, of Aristides, and Cato, afford a good specimen. He wrote, in Latin, an elegant moral work, entitled "De Re Uxoria," which was first published with the author's name, in 4to. at Paris, in 1515. This work, which gives much good advice on the choice of a wife, and treats judiciously on the duties of wives and mothers, has passed through many editions. He was also the author of some orations and letters which discover good taste and an amiable temper. The public offices which he occupied were numerous, and in all he displayed eminent virtues. He was, successively, governor of several cities in the Venetian territory. In Brescia, his courage and discretion enabled him to extinguish the flames of civil discord, and to defend the city against the Milanese forces, under the great commander Piccinino. During this siege, he had to contend with enemies both within and without the walls. He prevailed upon the two violent factions into which the city was divided to unite, and act in concert for the public good: and, after a siege of three years, during which the people had suffered much by famine and disease, he obliged the enemy to retire. (Vianoli's History of Venice, tom. i. book 18, 20.) Francis Barbaro died, regretted by his countrymen, in 1454, aged fifty-six years. His Letters were collected and printed at Brescia, in 1743. Bayle. Moreri. Tiraboschi.-E.

BARBARO, ERMOLAO, the elder, nephew of the preceding, was an early and diligent student of the Greek language, and at twelve years old translated many of Esop's fables into Latin. Pope Eugenius, his fellow-citizen, appointed him apostolic proto-notary, and, at

thirty years of age, advanced him to the episcopal see of Trevigi, from which, ten years afterwards, he was translated to that of Verona. He died at Verona in 1470, sixty years of age. He left translations of Greek authors. Tiraboschi.-E.

BARBARO, ERMOLAO, the younger, grandson of Francis Barbaro, was born in 1454. In his childhood he was instructed by his uncle the bishop of Verona, and was afterwards sent to Rome, and put under the tuition of Pomponio Leto. At fourteen he had given such proofs of genius, that he received from the hand of the emperor Frederic the poetic crown. At sixteen he undertook the translation of Themistius, which he published seven years afterwards. In the school of Padua he graduated in jurisprudence and philosophy. Returning to Venice, he entered upon public life, and so diligently occupied himself in the service of the state, as almost entirely to neglect his favourite studies. He resumed, them, however, after an interval of twelve years, with fresh ardour. The study of the Greek language was his particular delight; and to diffuse this branch of learning, he read lectures without gratuity, in his own house, upon Demosthenes, Theocritus, and Aristotle. On these occasions, his doors were open to all who chose to attend, and his lectures were so much frequented, that few Greek masters could boast of more scholars. His acquaintance was universally sought by men of letters, and the grandson had scarcely less authority in the republic of letters, than the grandfather in the state. At thirty-two years of age, he was sent embassador to the emperor Frederic, who, in addition to the honour he had conferred upon him eighteen years before, now granted him that of knighthood. Deputed afterwards on an embassy from the state to pope Innocent VIII. that pontif created him patriarch of Aquileia. The laws of Venice forbid its ministers to receive any dignity, temporal or spiritual, from any foreign prince, without the consent of the republic. Ermolao overlooked or forgot this prohibition, and accepted the patriarchate without soliciting permission from the state. The Venetians resented this neglect, and pronounced upon him a sentence of perpetual exile. (Bembi Hist. Venet. lib. i. p. 18.) In order to prevent the execution of this sentence, he was desirous to relinquish the patriarchate, but the pope refused to accept the renunciation. From this time, Ermolao resided at Rome. The plague came into the city: the patriarch withdrew into the country: but that fatal destroyer pursued him, and hurried him

ber of other Turks likewise resorted to Algiers for the exercise of piracy; so that he soon found himself in a condition to secure his dominion against his domestic and neighbouring enemies, and to undertake expeditions against the Christian powers. His first exploit was to drive the Spaniards from a fort they possessed in an island opposite Algiers. This, after a furious cannonade of a fortnight, he effected. He then built a mole for the improvement of the harbour, and strengthened it with fortifications, so as to render Algiers a very strong and commodious port; and he may be considered as the founder of the dangerous power that seat of piracy has ever since possessed. Such was his reputation for naval and military talents, that the Turkish emperor Soliman II. appointed him in 1533 captain basha, or chief commander of his fleet. In this situation he distinguished himself beyond most of the admirals of his time. He ravaged the coast of Italy, surprised Fundi, and was near taking the celebrated beauty Julia Gonzaga. Next, sailing to the coast of Africa, he made himself master of Biserta and Tunis; but his whole fleet at this place was destroyed, and the city stormed, by Charles V. in 1536. Escaping to Algiers, he repaired to Constantinople, where he was received again to favour, and sent with fleet to ravage Calabria. He then persuaded Soliman to make war upon the Venetians; and he committed great devastations in the isle of Corfu, which, however, in the end resisted the Turkish arms. Afterwards he made an expedition to the coast of Arabia Felix, where, in conjunction with the general Soliman basha, he reduced all Yeman under the Turkish dominion. War again breaking out between the Turks and Venetians, Barbarossa took many islands in the Archipelago. On the surrender of one of these by some traitors, who had massacred their brave commander, he showed his abhorrence of their villany by punishing them with death. He crossed over to Candia in 1538, and attacked Canea, but without success. Thence he retired to the Ambracian gulf, where he was overtaken by the Christian fleet under the famous Andrew Doria. By his skilful manœuvres he not only avoided the danger, but in a partial engagement gained some advantages, and caused Doria to make a hasty retreat to Corfu. In 1539 he recovered Castel Nuovo, which had been taken by the confederates. Soon after, the Venetians, wearied with the expenses of the war, purchased peace of Soliman.

In 1543, Francis I. having made a league with Soliman, Barbarossa left Constantinople with a powerful fleet, with the French embas

sador on board; and proceeding to the Faro of Messina, took Reggio, and sacked the coast of Italy. He then, in conjunction with the French, besieged and took Nice; but the citadel was succoured by the marquis del Vasto. Doria approaching with his fleet, Barbarossa avoided him; and indeed these two great commanders do not seem at any time to have been very desirous of fairly trying each other's strength. Barbarossa remained in those seas during the winter, refitted at Toulon, and next spring, after ravaging the coasts and islands of Italy, returned with many prisoners to Constantinople. At the isle of Elba he demanded the restoration of the son of his old friend Sinan the Jew, detained there as a prisoner, and obtained it by force; but the unexpected sight of the youth had such an effect upon the father, that he died in his embraces.

From this time Barbarossa seems to have remained at home, superintending the naval affairs of the grand signior, and to have committed more active services to Dragut, and the younger commanders. He indulged himself in the voluptuous life to which he had been accustomed, amid a number of fair captives, and died at the age of eighty, in 1547, leaving his son Hassan in possession of the viceroyalty of Algiers, and heir to all his property. With the ferocity of a Turk and a corsair, Barbarossa possessed some generous sentiments, and obtained a character for honour and fidelity to his engagements. Paruta, Hist. Venez. Ünivers. Hist.-A.

BARBERINO, FRANCIS DA, one of the early Italian poets, was born in 1264 at Barberino, a castle of Valdessa, and was brought up to the profession of civil and canon law, which he studied at Padua and Bologna. He appears to have acted as a notary in the latter city in 1294, whence he removed to Florence. Here he served two bishops in his legal capacity, and made various journeys to the papal court at Avignon. Clement V. honoured him with the degree of doctor of laws; and he was present at the general council of Vienne in 1311. His professional pursuits, however, did not deprive him of leisure to cultivate poetry, of which he gave proof by a work, entitled " Documenti. d'Amore." This is not, as might be supposed, an amorous performance, but a treatise of moral philosophy, divided into twelve parts, each of which treats of some virtue or its rewards. Its style does not excel in ease or eloquence, and savours too much of the provençal poetry; yet the author is reckoned ainong the good writers and founders of the language. It was first

printed at Rome in 1640, adorned with fine figures. Barberino wrote another work in verse, on the manners of women, of which a MS. is preserved in the Vatican. He died of the plague at Florence, in 1348, aged eightyfour. Tiraboschi.-A.

BARBEYRAC, CHARLES, a very eminent physician in France during the seventeenth century, was the son of a gentleman of Cereste, in Provence. He studied physic at Aix and Montpellier, and in the last university was admitted to his doctor's degree in 1649. He set tled at Montpellier; and on a vacancy in the medical professorship in 1658, though incapable of holding the office as being a protestant, he became a candidate, in order to display his knowledge, and acquired great credit in the disputations. His practice and reputation soon arose to an extraordinary height, and he was consulted in difficult cases from various parts of the kingdom, and from foreign countries. Mademoiselle d'Orleans would gladly have engaged him as her physician, but he preferred his liberty to the shackles of a court. He was accompanied in his medical visits at Montpellier by a number of the students in the university there, to whom he gave the most valuable clinical instructions. His practice was novel from its simplicity and energy, his success was astonishing, and he introduced many important reforms in medicine in that country. He was in a high degree charitable and disinterested, and visited equally the poor and the rich. The celebrated Locke, who was particularly acquainted with him at Montpellier, said that he never knew two men more similar in their manners and opinions than Barbeyrac, and his friend Sydenham. After an uninterrupted course of practice for fifty years, he died of a fever in 1699, in his seventieth year, leaving a son of his own profession, and two daughters. So great and fatiguing was his employment, that he had no time to enrich the art with his mature observations; and the only works he published were, "Traités nouveau de Medicine, contenant les Maladies de la Poitrine des Femmes, et quelques autres Maladies selon les nouvelles Opinions,' 12mo. 1654; and "Questiones medicæ duodecim," 4to. 1658. A work, entitled "Medicamentorum Constitutio," &c. published in 1751, is attributed to him upon uncertain authority, according to the editor, Mr. Farjon. Moreri. Haller, Bibl. Med. Pract.-A.

BARBEYRAC, JOHN, nephew of the preceding, was born in 1674 at Beziers, whence, with his father, he withdrew to Lausanne in 1686. He was originally designed for the pro

fession of theology; but his inclination led him to the study of jurisprudence, particularly that branch of it which relates to the law of nature and nations, in which he became very eminent. He first taught the belles lettres in the French college at Berlin; whence he was invited, in 1710, to occupy the new professorship of law and history, founded at Lausanne by the magistrates of Berne. At this university he remained seven years, during which he was twice rector. In 1717 his reputation caused him to be appointed to the chair of public and private law at Groningen, which he long filled with general applause. He displayed his industry and erudition by various works of great labour and value. He gave a translation in French of Puffendorf's "Law of Nature and Nations," and his treatise "On the Duties of a Man and a Citizen;" and on "Grotius on the Rights of War and Peace." These he enriched with learned prefaces and notes, which greatly added to the value of the originals. He likewise translated two discourses of Noodt, "On the Power of the Sovereign;" and "On Liberty of Conscience;" a treatise of Bynkershoek's "On the civil and criminal Powers of Embassadors ;" some of Tillotson's "Sermons ;" and Cumberland's Latin Treatise "On Natural Laws." This last was one of his latest publications, and his notes on it are peculiarly valuable. Barbeyrac was also the author of several original works. Of these, none was so much talked of as his "Treatise on the Morality of the Fathers," 4to. 1728; a work meant as a reply to Dom. Ceillier, the Benedictine's, "Apology for the Fathers," written ten years before, in consequence of Barbeyrac's free strictures on them in his preface to the translation of Puffendorf. The great liberty of his criticism on the eloquence, logic, and moral maxims of these venerable writers, gave much offence to those who were accustomed to bow to the authority of great names and high pretensions, and subjected the author to the suspicion of infidelitya suspicion which he appears no more to have merited, than so many other undoubtedly pious and sincere champions of reason and free inquiry. Other original works of Barbeyrac are,

A Treatise on Gaming," two volumes, 8vo. 1709; " A Defence of the Rights of the Dutch East-India Company against the Pretensions of the People of the Austrian Netherlands," 1725; and "The History of ancient Treaties dispersed in Greek and Latin Authors to the Time of Charlemagne," folio, two parts, 1739. He also inserted literary and critical remarks on various topics, in different journals; and published