[Barbour, John], a Scotch poet and chronicler, archdeacon of Aberdeen, a man of learning and sagacity; his only extant work a poem entitled "The Bruce," being a long history in rhyme of the life and achievements of Robert the Bruce, a work consisting of 13,000 octosyllabic lines, and possessing both historical and literary merit; "represents," says Stopford Brooke, "the whole of the eager struggle for Scottish freedom against the English, which closed at Bannockburn, and the national spirit in it full grown into life;" d. 1195.
[Barca] (500), a Turkish province in the N. of Africa, between Tripoli and Egypt; produces maize, figs, dates, and olives.
[Barca], name of a Carthaginian family to which Hamilcar, Hasdrubal, and Hannibal belonged, and determinedly opposed to the ascendency of Rome; known as the Barcine faction.
[Barcelo`na] (280), the largest town in Spain next to Madrid, on the Mediterranean, and its chief port, with a naval arsenal, and its largest manufacturing town, called the "Spanish Manchester," the staple manufacture being cotton; is the seat of a bishopric and a university; has numerous churches, convents, and theatres.
[Barclay, Alex.], a poet and prose-writer, of Scotch birth; bred a monk in England, which he ceased to be on the dissolution of the monasteries; wrote "The Ship of Fools," partly a translation and partly an imitation of the German "Narrerschiff" of Brandt. "It has no value," says Stopford Brooke; "but it was popular because it attacked the follies and questions of the time; and its sole interest to us is in its pictures of familiar manners and popular customs" (1475-1552).
[Barclay, John], born in France, educated by the Jesuits, a stanch Catholic; wrote the "Argenis," a Latin romance, much thought of by Cowper, translated more than once into English (1582-1621).
[Barclay, John], leader of the sect of the Bereans (1734-1798).
[Barclay, Robert], the celebrated apologist of Quakerism, born in Morayshire; tempted hard to become a Catholic; joined the Society of Friends, as his father had done before him; his greatest work, written in Latin as well as in English, and dedicated to Charles II., "An Apology for the True Christian Divinity, as the same is held forth and preached by the People called in scorn Quakers," a great work, the leading thesis of which is that Divine Truth is not matter of reasoning, but intuition, and patent to the understanding of every truth-loving soul (1645-1690).
[Barclay, William], father of John (1), an eminent citizen and professor of Law at Angers; d. 1605. All these Barclays were of Scottish descent.
[Barclay de Tolly], a Russian general and field-marshal, of Scottish descent, and of the same family as Robert Barclay the Quaker; distinguished in successive Russian wars; his promotion rapid, in spite of his unpopularity as German born; on Napoleon's invasion of Russia his tactic was to retreat till forced to fight at Smolensk; he was defeated, and superseded in command by Kutusow; on the latter's death was made commander-in-chief; commanded the Russians at Dresden and Leipzig, and led them into France in 1815; he was afterwards Minister of War at St. Petersburg, and elevated to the rank of prince (1761-1818).