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294 BAPTISTS BARACOA and to secure liberty of conscience for all. From 1611 they issued appeal after appeal, ad- dressed to the king, the parliament, and the people, in behalf of this "soul liberty," writ- ten with a breadth of view and force of argu- ment hardly since exceeded. Yet, until the Quakers arose in 1600, the Baptists stood alone in its defence, amid universal opposition. In the time of Cromwell they first gained a fair hearing, and, under the lead of Milton and' Vane, would have changed the whole system of the church and the state but for the treason of Monk. In the time of Charles II. the pris- ons were filled with their confessors and mar- tyrs, yet their principles gradually gained ground in the public mind and hastened the revolution of 1688. "The share which the Baptists took," says Dr. Williams, " in shoring np the fallen liberties of England, and in infus- ing new vigor and liberality into the constitu- tion of that country, is not generally known. Yet to this body English liberty owes a debt it can never acknowledge. Among the Baptists Christian freedom found its earliest, its staneh- est, its most consistent, and its most disinterest- ed champions." Not less powerful has been the influence of the Baptists in the United States. Introduced into Rhode Island with Roger Williams and John Clark in 1638, their history for more than a century, in most of the colonies, is that of proscribed and banished men. Yet, persecuted themselves, they never persecuted others. " In the code of laws estab- lished by them in Rhode Island," says Judge Story, " we read, for the first time since Chris- tianity ascended the throne of the Caesars, the declaration that conscience should be free, and men should not be punished for worshipping God in the way they were persuaded he re- quires." The article on religious liberty in the amendments to the American constitution was introduced by the united efforts of the Baptists in 1789. The new impulse given to the spirit of liberty by the revolutionary war was follow- ed by the rapid spread of Baptist principles. Their great prosperity dates from that era. In 1762 there were 56 Baptist churches in Amer- ica; in 1792 there were 1,000; in 1812, 2,433; in 1832, 5,322; in 1852 they exceeded 9,500. At the present time, according to the " Baptist Year Book" for 1872, without including any of the Baptist minor bodies, there are 18,397 churches, 12,013 ministers, and 1,489,181 church members, of whom 85,321 were added the pre- ceding year. Including those of the British provinces, the total number of members was 1,557,449. If those sects be included which agree with the Baptists in their organic prin- ciples, though differing in other points, the number would rise to more than 1,700,000. The total population attached to Baptist views is estimated at nearly 8,000,000. From these statistics it appears that the increase of the Baptists far outruns that of the population of the United States. The rates of increase have been greatest in Massachusetts and Virginia, where they were most persecuted, and in the new states where their zealous ministers were among the earliest pioneers. (See Curtis's "Progress of Baptist Principles for the last One Hundred Years," Boston, 1856.) BAR. See BAR-LE-DUC, BAR-SUB-AUBE, and BAR-SUB-SEINE. BAR, a town of S. W. Russia, government of Podolia, on the Rov, 53 m. N. E. of Kame- netz; pop. in 1867, 8,077. It is famous as the place where a confederation of Polish patriots was formed, chiefly under the lead of the Pu- laskis, with a view to combating Russian influ- ence and the adherents of Russia in Poland, Feb. 29, 1768. The Russians took Bar by storm on the following May 28, together with 1,400 men and 20 pieces of cannon. BAR. I. An enclosure made by a railing or partition for the use of counsel in courts, and to prevent their being incommoded by spectators ; from whence is sometimes supposed to have come the term barrister, applied to those called within the bar. At this bar prisoners were placed for trial. The term is used collectively to designate those who as counsel are entitled to address the court. II. A low partition which in the houses of parliament and legislative halls generally separates from the body of the house a space near the door, beyond which none but members, clerks, and messengers are admitted except on leave. Persons charged with con- tempt are brought to the bar of the house ; and at the opening and close of a session of parliament the commons go to the bar of the house of lords to hear the queen's speech. BARABA, a steppe of Siberia, 300 m. from E. to W. and 450 from N. to S., comprising the S. E. part of the province of Tobolsk, and the S. W. portions of Tomsk. The Altai moun- tains enclose it on the south, and the Irtish and Obi rivers on the west and east. Certain districts are fertile, and there are extensive for- ests; but the whole region abounds in swamps and salt lakes, the waters of which become poisonous during the summer. The inhabit- ants consist of Russian colonists living in vil- lages, and of Barabintzi, a small tribe of Tartar origin, who are chiefly nomadic shepherds or fishermen. BARACOA, a seaport town of Cuba, in the Eastern Department, capital of a district of the same name, on the N. E. coast, 100 m. E. of Santiago de Cuba ; pop. about 5,500. It is on the E. side of a small but deep harbor, on a rocky bluff of coral formation ; and back of the town are high, craggy mountains of curious shape, the highest of which is called the Anvil of Baracoa. The houses are well built of adobe and surrounded with fine gardens. An unusu- ally large quantity of rain falls at Baracoa, and the forests and large orchards of cocoanut palms in the vicinity are very luxuriant. It is the centre of a large fruit trade with the United States ; limes, oranges, lemons, pineapples, and cocoanuts are brought in from the surrounding country on mules and donkeys. The trade in