BAYLY, ADA ELLEN (d. 1903).—­Novelist, wrote several stories under the name of “Edna Lyall,” which were very popular.  They include Autobiography of a Slander, Donovan, Hope the Hermit, In the Golden Days, To Right the Wrong, We Two, and Won by Waiting.

BAYLY, THOMAS HAYNES (1797-1839).—­Miscellaneous writer, s. of a wealthy lawyer in Bath.  Originally intended for the law, he changed his mind and thought of entering the Church, but abandoned this idea also, and gave himself to writing for the stage and the periodical press.  He is chiefly known for his songs, of which he wrote hundreds, which, set to the music of Bishop and other eminent composers, found universal acceptance.  Some were set to his own music.  He also wrote several novels and a number of farces, etc.  Although making a large income from his writings, in addition to that of his wife, he fell into embarrassed circumstances.  Among the best known of his songs are I’d be a Butterfly, Oh, no, we never mention Her, and She wore a Wreath of Roses.  He may be regarded as, excepting Moore, the most popular song writer of his time.

BEACONSFIELD, BENJAMIN DISRAELI, 1ST EARL of (1804-1881).—­Statesman and novelist, was the s. of Isaac D. (q.v.).  Belonging to a Jewish family settled first in Spain, whence in the 15th century they migrated to Italy, he was b. in London in 1804 and privately ed. His f. destined him for the law, and he was articled to a solicitor.  The law was, however, uncongenial, and he had already begun to write.  After some journalistic work, he brought himself into general notice by the publication, in 1827, of his first novel, Vivian Grey, which created a sensation by its brilliance, audacity, and slightly veiled portraits of living celebrities.  After producing a Vindication of the British Constitution, and some political pamphlets, he followed up his first success by a series of novels, The Young Duke (1831), Contarini Fleming (1832), Alroy (1833), Venetia and Henrietta Temple (1837).  During the same period he had also written The Revolutionary Epic and three burlesques, Ixion, The Infernal Marriage, and Popanilla.  These works had gained for him a brilliant, if not universally admitted, place in literature.  But his ambition was by no means confined to literary achievement; he aimed also at fame as a man of action.  After various unsuccessful attempts to enter Parliament, in which he stood, first as a Radical, and then as a Tory, he was in 1837 returned for Maidstone, having for his colleague Mr. Wyndham Lewis, whose widow he afterwards married.  For some years after entering on his political career, D. ceased to write, and devoted his energies to parliamentary work.  His first speech was a total failure, being received with shouts of laughter, but with characteristic courage and perseverance