aring of its theme and the
imaginative power and moral altitude which it displays, one of the most
notable of the century; as the work of one little past boyhood it is a
prodigy of intellectual precocity. Along with its great qualities it has
many faults in execution, and its final place in literature remains to
be determined. It was _pub._ anonymously, and had great success, but has
fallen into unmerited, but perhaps temporary, neglect. Among its greatest
admirers was Tennyson. The subsequent poems of B., _The Angel World_
(1850), _The Mystic_ (1855), _The Age_ (1858), and _The Universal Hymn_
(1867), were failures, and the author adopted the unfortunate expedient
of endeavouring to buoy them up by incorporating large extracts in the
later editions of _Festus_, with the effect only of sinking the latter,
which ultimately extended to over 40,000 lines. B. was a man of
strikingly handsome appearance, and gentle and amiable character.

BAILLIE, JOANNA (1762-1851).--Dramatist and poetess, _dau._ of the
minister of Bothwell, afterwards Professor of Divinity at Glasgow. Her
mother was a sister of the great anatomists, William and John Hunter, and
her brother was the celebrated physician, Matthew B., of London. She
received a thorough education at Glasgow, and at an early age went to
London, where the remainder of her long, happy, and honoured, though
uneventful, life was passed. In 1798, when she was 36, the first vol. of
her _Plays on the Passions_ appeared, and was received with much favour,
other two vols. followed in 1802 and 1812, and she also produced
_Miscellaneous Plays_ in 1804, and 3 vols. of _Dramatic Poetry_ in 1836.
In all her works there are many passages of true and impressive poetry,
but the idea underlying her _Plays on the Passions_, that, namely, of
exhibiting the principal character as acting under the exclusive
influence of one passion, is artificial and untrue to nature.

BAILLIE, LADY GRIZEL (1665-1746).--Poetess, _dau._ of Sir Patrick Home or
Hume, afterwards Earl of Marchmont, was married to George Baillie of
Jerviswoode. In her childhood she showed remarkable courage and address
in the services she rendered to her father and his friend, Robert Baillie
of Jerviswoode, the eminent Scottish patriot, when under persecution. She
left many pieces both prose and verse in MS., some of which were _pub._
The best known is the beautiful song, _Were na my heart licht I wad die_.

BAILLIE, ROBERT (1599-16