athize with
nonconformity and he soon joined the Independents. In 1801 the assistance
of party friends enabled him to buy the _Leeds Mercury_. Provincial
newspapers did not at that time possess much influence; it was no part of
the editor's duty to supply what are now called "leading articles," and the
system of reporting was defective. In both respects Baines made a complete
change in the _Mercury_. His able political articles gradually made the
paper the organ of Liberal opinion in Leeds, and the connexion of the
Baines family with the paper made their influence powerful for many years
in this direction. Baines soon began to take a prominent part in politics;
he was an ardent advocate of parliamentary reform, and it was mainly by his
influence that Macaulay was returned for Leeds in 1832; and in 1834 he
succeeded Macaulay as member. He was re-elected in 1835 and 1837, but
resigned in 1841. In parliament he supported the Liberal party, but with
independent views. Like his son Edward after him, he strongly advocated the
separation of church and state, and opposed government interference in
national education. His letters to Lord John Russell on the latter question
(1846) had a powerful influence in determining the action of the
government. He died in 1848. His best-known writings are:--_The History,
Directory and Gazetteer of the County of York_; _History, Directory and
Gazetteer of the County of Lancaster_; _History of the County Palatine and
Duchy of Lancaster_. He was also the author of a _History of the Wars of
Napoleon_, which was continued under the title of _A History of the Reign
of George III_.

His _Life_ (1861) has been written by his son, Sir Edward Baines
(1800-1890), who was editor and afterwards proprietor of the _Leeds
Mercury_, M.P. for Leeds (1859-1874), and was knighted in 1880; his
_History of the Cotton Manufacture_ (1835) was long a standard authority.
An elder son, Matthew Talbot Baines (1790-1860), went to the bar, and
became recorder of Hull (1837). He became M.P. for Hull in 1847, and in
1849 president of the Poor Law Board. In 1852 he was returned for Leeds,
and again became president of the Poor Law Board (till 1855). In 1856 he
entered the cabinet as chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster.

BAINI, GIUSEPPE (1775-1844), Italian priest, musical critic and composer of
church music, was born at Rome on the 21st of October 1775. He was
instructed in composition by his uncle, Lorenzo Baini, and afte