Chapter Barton to Beaconsfield of B by Biographical Dictionary of English Literature

Barton to Beaconsfield

Barton, Bernard (1784-1849).—Poet, born of Quaker parentage, passed nearly all his life at Woodbridge, for the most part as a clerk in a bank. He became the friend of Southey, Lamb, and other men of letters. His chief works are The Convict’s Appeal (1818), a protest against the severity of the criminal code of the time, and Household Verses (1845), which came under the notice of Sir R. Peel, through whom he obtained a pension of £100. With the exception of some hymns his works are now nearly forgotten, but he was a most amiable and estimable man—simple and sympathetic. His daughter Lucy, who married Edward Fitzgerald, the translator of Omar Khayyam, pub. a selection of his poems and letters, to which her husband prefixed a biographical introduction.

Baynes, Thomas Spencer (1823-1887).—Philosopher, son of a Baptist minister, born at Wellington, Somerset, intended to study for Baptist ministry, and was at a theological seminary at Bath with that view, but being strongly attracted to philosophical studies, left it and went to Edinburgh, when he became the favourite pupil of Sir W. Hamilton (q.v.), of whose philosophical system he continued an adherent. After working as editor of a newspaper in Edinburgh, and after an interval of rest rendered necessary by a breakdown in health, he resumed journalistic work in 1858 as assistant editor of the Daily News. In 1864 he was appointed Professor of Logic and English Literature at St. Andrews, in which capacity his mind was drawn to the study of Shakespeare, and he contributed to the Edinburgh Review and Fraser’s Magazine valuable papers (chiefly relating to his vocabulary and the extent of his learning) afterwards collected as Shakespeare Studies. In 1873 he was appointed to superintend the ninth edition of the Encyclopœdia Britannica, in which, after 1880, he was assisted by W. Robertson Smith (q.v.).

Baxter, Richard (1615-1691).—Divine scholar and controversialist, was born of poor, but genteel, parents at Rowton in Shropshire, and although he became so eminent for learning, was not educated at any university. Circumstances led to his turning his attention to a career at court under the patronage of the Master of the Revels, but a short experience of this sufficed; and giving himself to the Christian ministry, he was ordained in 1638, and, after being master of a school at Dudley, exercised his ministry successively at Bridgnorth and Kidderminster. His learning and capacity for business made him the leader of the Presbyterian party. He was one of the greatest preachers of his own day, and consistently endeavoured to exert a moderating influence, with the result that he became the object of attack by extremists of opposing views. Though siding with the Parliament in the Civil War, he opposed the execution of the King and the assumption of supreme power by Cromwell. During the war he served with the army as a chaplain. On the return of Charles II., Baxter was made one of his chaplains, and was offered the see of Hereford, which he declined, and his subsequent request to be allowed to return to Kidderminster was refused. He subsequently suffered persecution at the hands of Judge Jeffreys. After the Revolution he had a few years of peace and quiet. His literary activity was marvellous in spite of ill-health and outward disturbance. He is said to have written 168 works, the best known of which are The Saints’ Everlasting Rest (1650), and Call to the Unconverted (1657), manuals of practical religion; and, among his controversial writings, Methodus Theologiœ (1681), and Catholic Theology (1675), in which his theological standpoint—a compromise between Arminianism and Calvinism—is set forth. Dr. Isaac Barrow says that “his practical writings were never mended, and his controversial seldom confuted,” and Dean Stanley calls him “the chief English Protestant schoolman.” Baxter left an autobiography, Reliquiœ Baxierianœ, which was a favourite book with both Johnson and Coleridge. Other works by him are The Life of Faith (1670), Reasons of the Christian Religion (1672), and Christian Directory (1675). Practical Works in 23 vols. (1830) edited with memoirs by W. Orme, also Lives by A. B. Grosart (1879), Dean Boyle (1883), and J. H. Davies (1886).

Bayly, Ada Ellen (died 1903).—Novelist, wrote several stories under the name of “Edna Lyall,” which were very popular. They include Autobiography of a Slander, Donovan, Hope the Hermit, In the Golden Days, To Right the Wrong, We Two, and Won by Waiting.

Bayly, Thomas Haynes (1797-1839).—Miscellaneous writer, son of a wealthy lawyer in Bath. Originally intended for the law, he changed his mind and thought of entering the Church, but abandoned this idea also, and gave himself to writing for the stage and the periodical press. He is chiefly known for his songs, of which he wrote hundreds, which, set to the music of Bishop and other eminent composers, found