Balmes, Jaime

BALMES, bɑ̄l´´mês´, JAIME (LUCIANO). Spanish politico-religious writer; b. at Vich (37 m. n.n.e. of Barcelona), Catalonia, Aug. 28, 1810; d. there July 9, 1848. He studied at his native place and at the University of Cervera, and was ordained priest 1833; became teacher of mathematics at Vich 1837. After 1840 he acted as associate editor of La Civilizacion and sole editor of La Sociedad, journals of Barcelona, in which he had opportunity to express his political views; visited France and England 1842, and after returning to Spain settled in Madrid, where from Feb., 1844, to Dec. 31, 1846, he published El Pensamiento 430 de la Nacion in the interest of the Catholic party. He hailed the accession of Pius IX and the last thing he published was a brilliant work in his praise (Pio IX, Madrid, 1847). He gained his greatest fame by his Protestantismo comparado con el Catolicismo en sus relaciones con la civilizacion europea (4 vols., Barcelona, 1842-44; Eng. transl., from the French, by C. J. Hanford and R. Kershaw, Protestantism and Catholicity Compared in their Effects on the Civilization of Europe, London, 1849; 31st American edition, Baltimore, 1899), a work modeled on Guizot’s History of Civilization, and an able presentation from the Roman Catholic point of view. He also wrote La Religion demostrada al alcance de los niños (Barcelona, 1841, Eng. transl., by Canon Galton, The Foundations of Religion Explained, London, 1858); Cartas á un esceptico en materia de religion (Madrid, 1845; Eng. transl., by W. M’Donald, Letters to a Skeptic on Religious Matters, Dublin, 1875); El Criterio (Madrid, 1845; Eng. transl., Criterion: or how to detect error and arrive at truth, New York, 1875); Filosofia fundamental (4 vols., Barcelona, 1846; Eng. transl., by H. F. Brownson, 2 vols., New York, 1856); Curso de Filosofia elemental (4 vols., Madrid, 1847). He published a collected edition of his political writings at Madrid, 1847.

Bibliography: B. Garcia de los Santos, Vida de Balmes, estracto y analisis de sus obras, Madrid, 1848; A. de Blanche-Raffin, Jacques Balmès, sa vie et ses ouvrages, Paris, 1849.