BAR

BAR ARCLAY (Robert), the celebrated quaker, was born at Edinburgh, in 1648, and sent by his father, colonel Barclay, to Paris, under the care of his uncle, who was principal of the Scots' college. He was drawn over to the Romish religion, on which his father fetched him home to his own country, and having himself embraced the opinions of the quakers, persuaded his son to do the same. In 1670, he published a defence of his new religion at Aberdeen; and in 1675, he printed a catechetical discourse, or system of faith, according to the opinions of his sect. But his greatest work is, An Apology for the true Christian Divinity, as the same is held forth and preach ed by the People called, in scorn, Quakers, which was printed in Latin, at Amsterdam, in 1676, and translated into English, in 1678. This apology was dedicated to king Charles II.; the dedication is remarkable for the frankness and simplicity with which it is written; the following passage is extracted: "There is no king in the world who can so experimentally testify of God's providence and goodness; neither is there any who rules so many free people, so many true Christians; which thing renders thy government more honourable, thyself more considerable, than the accession of many nations filled with slavish and superstitious souls. Thou hast tasted of prosperity and adversity; thou knowest what it is to be banished thy native country, to be overruled as well as to rule and sit upon the throne; and being oppressed, thou hast reason to know how hateful the oppressor is both to God and man: if, after all those warnings and advertisements, thou dost not turn unto the Lord with all thy heart, but forget him who remembered thee in thy distress, and give up thyself to follow lust and vanity, surely VOL. II.

BAR

great will be thy condemnation." He not only benefited his party by his writings, but travelled through various countries, particu larly Germany and Holland, to obtain converts, and his missions were attended with success. He spent the latter part of his life on his own estate at Ury, and died there in 1690.

BARCOCHEBAS or BARCOCHAB, which signifies "the son of a star," a famous impostor among the Jews, who pretended to be the star predicted by Balaam. This new prophet gained many followers, and took many fortresses in Judea, putting the Romans to the sword. The emperor Adrian sent against him Julius Severus, who slew Barchocab, and near 600,000 Jews, so great was their infatuation at that time. This hap pened A. D. 134.

BARDA, an island of the coast of Malabar, in the East Indies; it is populous, abounds with cocoa-nuts, and belongs to the Portuguese.

BARDANA, (bàrdana, from bardus, foolish; because silly people are wont to make garments of its burrs, that they might stick to whatever they come near). Happa major. Personata. Burdock. Arctium lappa of Linnéus. Arctium foliis cordatis inermibus. petiolatis. Syngenesia. Polygamia æqualis. A plant which grows about waste grounds, and in hedges. The pharmacopoeia directs the root for medicinal use: it has no smell, but tastes sweetish, and mixed, as it were, with a slight bitterness and roughness. It does not appear to possess those qualities which have been attributed to it; yet, as a diuretic and pectoral, in form of decoction, it has some claim to our attention. See ARCTIUM.

BARDARIOTÆ, in antiquity, were