Jaime Lneio Balmes, a Spanish theologian and philosopher, born at Vich, Catalonia, Aug. 28, 1810, died there, July 9, 1848. He was ordained in 1832, and was for a time professor at the university of Cervera. He resisted the movements of the revolutionary party in Spain, though he sympathized with liberal institutions. In his opinion, the hope of the future lay in the union between Catholicity and political liberty. His principal works are: El Protestantism) comparado con el Catolicismo en sits relaciones con la civilizacion europea (4 vols., Barcelona, 1842-'4), which passed through several editions, and has been translated into English and other languages; El criterio (Madrid, 1845; French and German translations, 1850-'52); and Filosofia fundamental (4 vols., Barcelona, 1846; French translation, 3 vols., 1852; English version by Henry F. Brownson, 2 vols., New York, 1857). A complete edition of his political writings appeared in 1847, and biographies of Balmes have been published in Spanish, French, and German.

Balm of Gilead.