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without considerable loss on his own side. But in 1397, Tamer-lane, or Timour Beg, the celebrated prince of the Tartars , broughtan army against him of 400,000 horse and 600,000foot; and hav-ing overcome him in a pitched battle, wherein 200,000 Turks wereslain, took Bajazet himself prisoner, and exposed him in an ironcage; the fate he had destined for his adversary if he had beenthe victor . The story of the iron cage, however, so long repeatedas a moral lesson, has been rejected as a fable by modern writers.They appeal to the L’ersian history of Sherefeddin Ali, of which aTrench version has been given, and from which Mr. Gibbon liascollected the following narrative of this memorable transaction.“No sooner was Timour informed that the captive Ottoman wasat the door of his tent, than lie graciously stepped forwards to re-ceive him, seated him by his side, and mingled with just reproachesa soothing pitv for his rank and misfortune. ‘ Alas!’ said the Em-peror , ‘ the de- ree of fate is now accomplished by your ownfault: it is tlie web which you have woven, the thorns of'.he treewhich yourself have planted. I wished to spare, and even to as-sist, the champion of Moslems : you braved our threats, you de-spised our friendship ; you forced us to enter your kingdom withour invincible armies. Behold the event. Had you vanquished,1 am not ignorant of the fate which, you reserved for myself andmy troops. But I disdain to retaliate ; your life and honour aresecured; and l shall express my gratitude to God by my cle-mency to man.’ lie died of an apoplexy at Akshehr, the An-tioch'of Pisidia , about nine months after his defeat. Howeverthe Turkish annals, which have been consulted or transcribed byLcunclavius, Pocock, and Cantemir, unanimously deplore thecaptivity of the iron cage; and some credit maybe allowed tonational historians, who cannot stigmatize the Tartar without un-covering the shame of their king and country.”
BAIKAL, a great lake in Siberia , lying between 52’ and 55’lat. N. it is reckoned to be 500 wersts in length ; hut onlv 20 or30 broad, and in some places not above 15. It is environed on allsides by high mountains. In one part of it, which lies near theriver Bargusin, it throws up an inflammable sulphureous liquid calledmaltha, which the people of the adjacent country burn in theirlamps. It is called by the neighbouring people Swiatole More,or the Holy Lake. Here are plenty of large sturgeons and pikes;with many seals of the black, but none of the spotted kind. Itcontains several islands ; and the borders are frequented by sablesand civet-cats.
BAIL, [from B-/.).Xn v , to deliver,] is the freeing or setting at li-berty one arrested or imprisoned upon action either civil or cri-minal, under security taken for his appearance. 'There is bothcommon and special hail ; common bail is in actions of smallprejudice, or slight proof, where any sureties are taken; whereas,upon causes of greater weight, or apparent speciality, special bailor surety must be taken. ’There is a difference between hail andmainprise ; for lie that is mninprised, is at large, until the day ofhis appearance : but where a man is bailed, he is always accountedby the law to be in their ward and custody for the time: and theymay if they will, keep him in ward or in prison at that time, orotherwise at their will. Bail may be taken either in court, or, insome particular cases, by the sheriff or other magistrate ; hut mostusually by the justices of the'peace. 'I'o refuse or delay to bailanv person bailable, is an offence against the liberty of the subject,in any magistrate, by the common law ; as well as by tiie statuteVestm. 1. 3. Iv.lw. I. c. 15. and the habeas corpus act, 31 Car. II.c. 2. Ami, lest the intention of the law should be frustrated ba-the justices requiring bail to a greater amount Ilian tlie nature ofthe ease demand;, it is expressly declared by statute 1 VY r . A M.st. 2. c. 1. that excessive bail ought not to be required ; thoughwhat bail shall be failed excessive, must be left to the courts, ouconsidering the circumstances of the case, to determne, And ontin: other hand, if the magi,Irate takes insufficient hail lie is liableto be lined, if the criminal does not appear, in civil cases, everydefendant is bailable ; but it is otherwise in criminal matters. Re-gularly all offences, either against tlie common law or act of par-liament, that are below felony, the offender ought to be admittedto bail, unless it be prohibited by some special act of parliament.Bv the ancient common law, before and since the conquest, allfelonies were bailable, till murder was excepted by statute: so thatpersons might be then admitted to bail almost in every case. Butthe statute \V. 1.3. Ed. 1. c. 15. takes away the power of bailing intreason, and in divers instances of felony. The statutes 23 lien.
Vi. c. 9. and 1 A 2 I’ll. A Mar. c. 13. gave further regulations inthis matter: and upon the whole we may collect, that no justicesof the peace can bail, 1. l T pon any accusation of treason: nor, 2.Of murder: nor 3. in case of manslaughter, if the prisoner boclearly the slayer, and not barely suspected to be so; or if anv in-dictment be found against him ; nor 4. Such a„, being committed forfelony, have broken prison ; because it not only carries a presump-tion of guilt, but is also superadding onefelouy to another. 5. Personsoutlawed : 6. Such as have abjured the realm: 7. Persons taken withthe mainour, or in the fact of felony : 8. Persons charged with Arson!9. Excommunicated persons,taken by writ de excommunicato capi-endo ; -all which are clearly not admissible to bail by the justices. It isagreed, that the court of Ring’s Bench,,(or any judge thereof in timeot vacation) may bail for any crime whatsoever, be it treason, mur-der, or any otlier offence, according to tlie circumstances of tliecase. To allow hail to be taken commonly for such enormouscrimes, would greatly tend to elude the public justice : and yetthere are cases, though they rarely happen, in which it would "babard arid unjust to coniine a man in prison, though accused evenof the greatest offence. The law lias therefore provided onecourt, and only one, which has a discretionary power of bailing inany case: except only, even to this high jurisdiction, and ofcourse to all inferior ones,, such persons are committed by eitherhouse of parliament, so long as the session last,; or such as are com-mitted for contempts by any of the king’s superior courts of justice.
BAIEE, or BALE, in tlie sea-language. The seamen callthrowing the water.by hand, out of the ship or boat’s-hold, bailing.They also call (hose hoops that bear up the tilt of a boat, its bails.
BAlLEMENT, inlaw,the delivery of tilings, whether writingsor goods, to another, sometimes to be delivered back to the bailer,that is, to him who so delivers them ; sometimes, to the use of himto whom they are delivered ; .and sometimes, to a third person.
BAILEY. N. author of the Universal Etymological EnglishDictionary, a work well known to tlie public, and peculiarly usefulto people deeply immersed in business, who have not leisure toconsult more extensive works.
BAILIE, in Scots law, a judge anciently appointed by the kingover such lands', not erected into a regality, as happened to fall totiie crow n by forfeiture or otherwise, now abolished.
BA1 LITE, Rali.ivvs, [from the Trench bailli, or ha ill if, thatis, prafcctus previnria ::] an officer appointed for tlie administra-tion of justice within a certain district, balled a bailiwick. As therealm is divided into counties, so every county is divided intohundreds; within which, in ancient times, the people had justiceadministered to them by the officers of every hundred. But nowthe hundred courts, except certain franchises, are swallowed in thecountv courts ; and the bailiff’s name and office is grown intocontempt, they being generally officers to serve writs, &c. withintheir liberties. In other respects, however, tlie title is still in es-teem : for the chief magistrates in divers towns are called bailiffsor bailies; and sometimes the persons, to whom the king’s castlesare committed, are termed bailiffs, as the bailiffof Dover castle, Ac.
Bailiffs, Errant, or Bailiffs, Itinerant, are those whomthe sheriff appoints to go up and down the country to serve writsand warrants, summon county courts, sessions, assizes, Ac.
Bailiffs, Water, officers appointed in all port-towns, for thesearching of ships, gathering tlie loti for anchorage, Ac. and ar-resting persons tor debt, Ac. on the water.
BAIL1I, David, painter of perspective views and portraits,the son of Peter Bailii, an artist of some note, \va- born at Ley-den, in 1584. He copied a perspective view of the inside of achurch, by Stenwyek, with such accuracy, that even Steuwyckhimself could scarce determine which was the original. He "tra-velled through several parts of Italy , to see the works of the cele-brated masters, and for a few years resided at Rome . The cor-rectness of his drawing, and tlie delicate finishing of iiispictures,procured him employment, admirers, and friends. In the latterpart of his life lie drew portraits on vellum with a pen, which heheightened with black lead, and gave them wondcruil force androundiiess. He died in 1638.
BAILIWICK, [of Imiltie, Tr. and ivic, Sax.] tlie place oftlie jurisdiction of a bailiff w ithin his hundred, or the lord’s fran-chise.
BA I LLEU L, a town of France , 9 miles S. "VV. of Ypres, Lon.2. 55. E. I.at. 50 45. N.
BAILLI, John Sylvan, the celebrated author of a history of9 Astronomy,.