BALESTIER, l)rLl'es-ter'.Voi.coTT (IStU-iH). An American journalist, publisher, and author, horn at Rochester, N. Y. He studied at Cornell University and the University of Virginia, and in New York City was editor of Tid Hits, a humorous weekly, whose uanie was afterwards elianyed to Time. In 18S9 he became junior memlier of the firm of Heineniann & lialestier, of London and Leipzis;. His ])ublication3 iu- elude: .1 Patent Philtre (1884); .1 Fair Da-ice (1884); a campaign life of James G. Blaine (1S84); A Victorious Defeat (1880); A Com- mon Story (1891) ; with Rudyard Kipling (his brother-in-law). The 'Saulnhka (1S!J2); and Uene/itfi Forgot, in the Century ilayazine (New York. lS!»;i).
BALESTRA, ba-les'tni, Aktonio (1066-
1740). An Italian engraver and painter, born
at Verona. He was a pupil of Antonio Bellueci
at Venice, and of Carlo llaratti at IJonie, and in
1004 gained the prize at the Academy of Saint
Luke. Though nominally of the Venetian School,
he was for the most part an eclectic. His paint-
ings are of unequal merit : they are found ehiotly
in the churches of Verona, Venice, and Padua.
He also executed some skillful engravings from
his own designs.
BALFE, half. Michael William (1808-70).
A popular English composer of operas. He was
born May 15. 1808, in Dublin. His musical talent received early culture, and several anecdotes are related of his singular ])recoeity. Mien only 7 j-ears old, he played in public one of Viotti's concertos for the violin. At 9 he wrote the ballad entitled "The Lover's Mistake," which acliieved po])ularity through the singing of Madame Vestris. At Hi he made his debut in London as a violinist, in the Drury Lane Orches-
tr-. In 182.5 he went to Italy, where he studied
counterpoint wider Federici at Rome, and singing
under Filippo Galli at Milan, and began his suc-
cessful career as a composer, with music for the
ballet La Pcronse, performed at La Scala, in
Milan. In 1827 he sang in the Italian Opera at
Paris with Malibran and Sontag. and gained
great applause and many warm friends. He
liowever returned to Italy, and devoted himself
to composition, producing in rapid succession
some thirty operas, of which the most popular
are: The Bohemian Girl (1843); The Pose
of Castile (1857); Satanella (18,58); and
the posthumous II Tnlismano (1874), his most
serious eft'ort. Balfe lacks depth, serious musical
discipline, and individuality; his style is a mix-
ture of English-ballad sentimentality and the
Italian manner of the Rossinian ])eriod. But his
gift of simple melody, his strong comic vein, his
facility of writing, his peculiarly English half-
spoken, half-sung dialogue, and his feeling for
effect have won for him a ])romiiicnt place among
English composers. He died at Rownev Abbey,
Hertfordshire, October 20, 1870. Consult: C. L.
Kenney, Memoir (London, 1875) ; and W. A.
Barrett, Balfe: His Life and Work (London,
1882).
BALFOUR, bal'foTir or b.al'fer. Authur James (1848 — ). An English statesman. He was born
Julv 2,5, 1848, and studied at Eton and Cam-
bridge. From 1878 to 1880 he held the odiee of
private secretary to his uncle, the Marquis of
Salisbury, ilinister of Foreign Affairs. and was
present at the Congress of Berlin. He repre-
sented Hertford in the House of Commons in
1874-85, and ilanchester from 188(5. .Always a
stanch Conservative, Balfour was appointed to
the presidency of the Local CJovernment Board in
1885; in 1886 he became Secretary of State
for Scotland, and in 1887, Chief Secretary for Ire-
land. I'nder the second and third Salisbury ad-
ministrations, he was First Lord of the Treasury
and Government leader of the House of Com-
mons, and in 1893 led the ojiposition against
Gladstone's Home-Rule Bill. During Lord Salis-
bury's absence in 1898, through illness, Balfour
was at the head of foreign affairs; and in July,
1902, on Lord Salisbury's resignation, lie was
made premier.
When his political career began, it was fashion- able to regard him as a dilettante, a mere lite- rary man, with no genius for practical work; and his first parliamentary prominence was as a member of the irresponsible group of four led by Lord Randolph Churchill and known a* the 'Fourth Party.' His appointment to the Irish secretaryship, the most difficult administrative post in the Government, surprised every one ; but his conduct of the office won the praise even of his most decided opponent.^. Despite his lack of enthusiasm and passion, and a turn for sarcasm not always restrained, he made one of the most popular leaders the House of Commons ever had. In his philosophic writings the naturally skepti- cal bent of his mind is clearl_y displayed; he is one to whom disbelief, or a contemptuous sus- pension of judgment, comes more easily than faith. As a writer, his highest merits are sub- tlety and originality — a directness of thought, a freshness of point of view, which make liis work powerful, though his style has few technical merits, and though Spencer and others wliose conclusions he impugns have accused his dia- lectic of sophistry. His works are .1 Defense of Philosophic Doubt (1879) ; Essays and Addresses (189.3) ; The Foundations of Belief (1895; new ed. 1900).
BALFOUR, Francis Maitlano (1851-82).
A Scotch embryologist, born at Edinburgh ;
brother of the Rt. Hon. A. J. Balfour. He grad-
uated in 187.'i at Trinity College, Cambridge. In
1876 he was appointed lecturer on, and (1882)
professor of,aninial morphology. His publications
are: The Development of Elasniohraneh Fishes
(1878), made up largely of the results of origi-
nal research conducted at Cambridge and at the
Stazione Zoologica of Naples; and A Text-hook
of Comparative Emhryology (2 vols., 1880-81),
in great part an original work, distinguished
alike for profound learning and clear statement.
He was killed, with his guide, on July 19, 1882,
during either the ascent or descent of the Ai-
guille Blanche de Penteret, Switzerland.
BALFOUR, Gerald William (1853—). A
Conservative member of Parliament for Central
Leeds, England, since 1885. He was born in
Edinburgh, the fourth son of the late James
Maitland Balfour, of Whittingehame. He stud-
ied at Eton and received the degree of M.A.
from Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1885-86 he
served as member of the Commission on Labor,
and was private secretary to his brother, the Rt.
Hon. A. J. Balfour, then president of the Local
Government Board. He became a member of
Parliament in 1885; from 1895 to 1900 was
Cliief Secretary for Ireland and introduced the
Local Governiiient Bill, and in 1900 was ap-
pointed president of the Board of Trade.
