were dated 22d May 1G1 1, and begin with tliat given to Sir Nicholas Bacon (son of the lord keeper) whose descendant still retains the position of premier baronet of England.
Baronets take precedence according to the dates of their patents, conformably to the terms of which no intermediate honour between baron and baronets can be established, and they rank above all knights except those of the Garter. The title or prefix of Sir is granted them by a peculiar clause in their patents, and until 1827 they could claim for themselves and the heirs male of their bodies the honour of knighthood. All baronets are entitled to bear in their coats-of-arms, either in a canton or an escutcheon at their choice, the arms of Ulster, viz., a bloody hand.
Baronets of Scotland, called also Baronets of Nova Scotia.—This order of knights-baronets was instituted by Charles I. in the year 1G25, when the first person dignified with the title was Sir Robert Gordon of Gordonstone, a younger son of the earl of Sutherland. The professed object of the institution was to encourage the plantation and settlement of Nova Scotia in North America ; hence the king granted to each of them a certain portion of land in that province, which they were to hold of Sir William Alexander, after wards earl of Stirling, with precedency to them and their heirs-male for ever, before all knights called equites aurati, all lesser barons called lairds, and all other gentlemen, except Sir William Alexander, his Majesty s lieutenant in Nova Scotia, his heirs, their wives and children. It was further provided that the title of Sir should be prefixed to their Christian name, and Baronet added to their surname ; and that their own and their eldest sons wives should enjoy the title of Lady, Madam, or Dame. The baronets of Scotland had assigned to them as an addition to their armorial bearings the ensign of Nova Scotia, viz., argent, a cross of St Andrew, azure, to be borne in a canton or in escutcheon; but in 1629, after Nova Scotia was sold to the French, this privilege was changed into permission to wear a badge about their necks pendent from an orange- tawny silk ribbon.
Malone has given the following curious note upon this subject, in his learned Life of Dryden, prefixed to his edition of the prose works of that writer:—
"When the order of baronets was first established in 1611, King James engaged that they should not exceed two hundred. However, towards the close of his reign, that number being completed, and the creation of baronets being found a useful engine of Government (the courtier by whose influence the title was obtained receiving usually 1000 for the grant), it was not lightly to be parted with. A scheme, therefore, of creating Baronets of Scotland was devised, which, it was conceived, would be no infraction of the original com pact to confine the grants to a limited number ; and as the English baronets were created under the great seal of England, for the re duction of Ulster in Ireland, so the Scottish baronets were created under the great seal of Scotland, for the reduction of Acadia, or Nova Scotia. The scheme, however, was not carried into execution by King James ; but early in the reign of his successor several Scot tish baronets were made. From this statement it appears that there is no more necessity for calling a baronet created under the great seal of Scotland (whether he be an Englishman or Scotchman), a Baronet of Nova Scotia, than there is to denominate one created under the great seal of England a Baronet of Ulster." (Malone s Dryden, vol. i. pp. 28, 29.)
After the Union with England in 1707 the baronets of Scotland charged their arms with the Ulster badge, being created as baronets of the United Kingdom.
Baronets of Ireland.—This order was likewise instituted by King James I. in the 18th year of his reign, for the same purpose and with the same privileges within the kingdom of Ireland as had been conferred on the analogous order in England; for which also the Irish baronets paid the same fees into the treasury of Ireland.
(c. j. n.)
BARONIUS, Cæsar, the great church historian, was born on the 31st October 1538 in the district of Naples. His parents, Camillo de Barouo or Baronio and Porcia Trebonia, were of noble birth. He was educated at Yeroli and Naples, where his favourite studies were theology and jurisprudence. In 1557 he accompanied his father to Rome, and found himself in the midst of the reactionary enthusiasm which did much to restore Italy, in spite of tho efforts of her reformers, to the papal authority. There he was brought in contact with Philip Neri, a man who then and since has done much to reconcile the speculative student with the Church of Rome, and to provide for him work in her service to which he can give his whole heart. Neri had just founded the Italian Oratory, the model cf many another, and he and his monks had vowed to devote themselves to student lives, and to dedicate their whole power of study to the Roman Catholic Church. Among the theological studies pursued in the oratory, church his tory and ecclesiastical biography held a prominent place, the greater part of every forenoon being set apart for these subjects. In this small congregation Baronius found a congenial home, and his superior, Philip Neri, soon saw that he had secured a coadjutor who would make his ora tory all he had hoped it would become. The alarm caused by the first Protestant church history, the Magdelurg Centuries, gave his studies a special direction, and, as he told Pope Sixtus V., he was urged by his own desires, and the encouragement of Neri, to attempt to answer tho Magdeburg divines. This was the origin of the Annales Ecdesiastid, his great work, which occupied thirty laborious years. These Annales, the first and in many respects the most important historical work which the Roman Catholic Church has produced, begin with the birth of Christ and end with the year 1198. The book is not properly history ; it is annals rather, as everything is subordinated to chro nology. The year is first given, then the reigning Pope and the year of his reign, then the emperors of the East and West, and, after its institution, the name and year of tho emperor of the Holy Roman empire. This chronological form had one advantage theology was kept as much as possible in the background, and the facts of history were the most important part. The Annales have thus become very important to every student of church history whether Protestant or Roman Catholic. While Baronius was engaged in his great work he was encouraged by several marks of papal favour. He was named pronotarius of the papal chair; in 1596 he was elected a cardinal; and he was afterwards chosen to fill the much-coveted post of librarian of the Vatican. He died on the 30th of June 1607. The best and most useful edition of his works is that of Mansi, in 38 vols. fol. ; it gives Pagrs critica historico-theologica, or corrections of Baronius, at the foot of each page. The best text is the Antwerp edition of 1610.
BARQUISIMETO, a city of Venezuela, and since 1830 the capital of the province of Nueva Segovia, is situated on a confluent of the Portuguesa, which belongs to the northern part of the Orinoco system. The surrounding district is fertile, and produces excellent coffee, cocoa, and sugar; and the climate is healthy and pleasant. Bar- quisimeto was founded in 1522 by Juan de Villegas, principally for the exploration and working of gold-mines supposed to exist in the neighbourhood; and at first it received the name of Nueva Segovia in honour of his native city. The commercial advantages of its situation soon raised it to considerable prosperity. In 1807 it had about 15,000 inhabitants ; but on the 26th of March 1812, it was totally destroyed by an earthquake. It has since been regularly rebuilt, and, in spite of the disastrous effects of the revolutionary wars, has recovered its position. Among its public buildings may be mentioned a college and several schools. The inhabitants are partly engaged in tho rearing of horses and mules. Population in 1873, 25,664.
