ged in violent controversy with the Roman Catholics. After undergoing
persecution and flying to Flanders, he was brought back by Edward VI. and
made Bishop of Ossory. On the death of Edward he was again persecuted,
and had to escape from Ireland to Holland, but returned on the accession
of Elizabeth, who made him a Prebendary of Canterbury. His chief work is
a Latin _Account of the Lives of Eminent Writers of Great Britain_.
Besides this he wrote some dramas on scriptural subjects, and an account
of the trial and death of Sir John Oldcastle. He wrote in all 22 plays,
of which only 5 have come down, the names of certain of which give some
idea of their nature, _e.g._, _The Three Leaves of Nature_, _Moses and
Christ_, and _The Temptacyon of Our Lord_.

BALLANTINE, JAMES (1808-1877).--Artist and author, _b._ in Edinburgh,
began life as a house painter. He studied art, and became one of the
first to revive the art of glass-painting, on which subject he wrote a
treatise. He was the author of _The Gaberlunzie's Wallet_ (1843), _Miller
of Deanhaugh_ (1845), _Poems_ (1856), _100 Songs with Music_ (1865), and
a _Life of David Roberts, R.A._ (1866).

BALLANTYNE, ROBERT MICHAEL (1825-1894).--Writer of tales for boys, _b._
in Edinburgh, was a connection of the well-known printers. As a youth he
spent some years in the service of the Hudson's Bay Co., and was then a
member of Constable's printing firm. In 1856 he took to literature as a
profession, and _pub._ about 80 tales, which, abounding in interesting
adventure and information, and characterised by a thoroughly healthy
tone, had great popularity. Among them are _The Young Fur Traders_
(1856), _The Coral Island_, _Fighting the Flames_, _Martin Rattler_, _The
World of Ice_, _The Dog Crusoe_, _Erling the Bold_, and _Black Ivory_. B.
was also an accomplished water-colour artist, and in all respects lived
up to the ideals he sought to instil into his readers. He _d._ at Rome.

BANCROFT, GEORGE (1800-1891).--American historian, _b._ at Worcester,
Massachusetts, and after _grad._ at Harvard, studied in Germany, where he
became acquainted and corresponded with Goethe, Hegel, and other leaders
of German thought. Returning to America he began his _History of the
United States_ (1834-74). The work covers the period from the discovery
of the Continent to the conclusion of the Revolutionary War in 1782. His
other great work is _The History of the Formation of the Constitution of
the