569 



BASNAQE. 



BASSANO, GIACOMO DA PONTE. 



adherence to the reformed religion, fled to England, and became the 

 minister of a congregation at Norwich. He afterwards returned to 

 France, and became pastor of a reformed church at Carentan. 



2. BENJAMIN BASNAGE, the son of Nicholas, born in 1580, was, 

 during fifty-one years, pastor of the church which his father had held 

 at Careutan. Benjamin Basnage was successively a provincial deputy 

 of the Protestant churches in Normandy, and head of the assembly 

 held at Rochelle in 1622. He also signed the project of defence under 

 the title of ' Mod<!rateur Ajoint,' and went to England to solicit aid. 

 The expectations which the French Protestants had entertained of 

 help from James I. not being realised, Basnage proceeded to Scotland 

 to gain the interest of his private friends in that country. On the 

 termination of active hostilities against the Protestants, Basnaga 

 returned to France, and was appointed deputy for Normandy in the 

 national synod which was held at Charenton in 1623. The vigour 

 aud zeal with which he maintained the interests of the reformed reli- 

 gion rendered him an object of increasing suspicion to the court. 

 The king, by a decree, forbade him to exercise the ministerial functions, 

 and refused him permission to appear as a deputy, and to take a part 

 in the synod held at Charenton in 1631. This synod commenced its 

 session by remonstrances against this decree, which were so forcibly 

 expressed, that the court yielded, and Basuage was admitted to the 

 synod, in the deliberations of which assembly he exercised great 

 influence. He was elected president of the national synod held at 

 Alencon in 1637. Benjamin Basnage died in 1652. His principal 

 work, treatise on the church (' Trait<5 de I'Eglise '), was printed at 

 Rochelle, 1612. He left imperfect a work against the worship of the 

 Virgin. 



3. ANTOINE BASNAHE, the eldest son of Benjamin, was born in 1610. 

 He adopted the profession of his father, and was minister at Bayeux. 

 During the renewed persecutions of the Protestants he was, at the 

 age of sixty-five, placed in the prison of Havre de Qrace ; but his 

 firmness remained unshaken. After the revocation of the edict of 

 Nantes, he escaped to Holland in 1685, and died in 1691 at Zutphea, 

 in which place he had held a pastoral charge. 



4. SAMUEL BASNAQE de Flottemanville, son of Antoine, was born 

 at Bayeux in 1638. He preached at first in his native place, but 

 escaped with his father to Holland in 1685. He died a preacher at 

 Zutphen in 1721. The principal works of Samuel Basnage were 

 'L'Histoire de la Religion dea Eglises Reforme'es,' Rotterdam, 1690, 

 2 vols , folio, republiahed in 1699 ; ' De Rebus Sacris et Ecclesiasticu 

 exercitationes Historicocriticce, in quibus Cardinalis Baronii Annales 

 ab an. XXXV. in quo Casaubonus desiit expenduntur,' Traject. 1692, 

 1717, 4to; 'Annales Politico-Ecclesiastici annorum DCXLV. a Cassare 

 Augusto ad Phocam usque in quibus res imperil ccclesiieque observatu 

 digniores subjiciuntur oculis erroresque eveliuntur Baronio,' Rotterdam, 

 1706, 3 vols. folio. 



5. HENRI BASNAGE du Franquenay, the youngest son of Benjamin 

 Damage, was born on the 16th of October 1615, at St. More Eglise, 

 in Lower Normandy. He studied for the bar, and became one of 

 the most able and eloquent advocates in the parliament of Rouen, 

 where he took the oaths in 1636. In nearly all the more important 

 causes he was either retained or consulted. His learning was immense 

 and his integrity unsullied. He died in 1695, and left three sous, 

 two of whom will be subsequently noticed ; the third, who was in 

 the service of the States-General, died in 1732. His daughter, Mag- 

 dalen, married, in 1682, M. Paul Baldry, or Baudri, who leaving France 

 after the revocation of the edict of Nantes, was made professor of eccle- 

 siastical history at Utrecht. Henri Basnage' B works are, ' Coutumes 

 da Pays et Ducho" de Nortnandie, aveo vommentiires,' 2 vols. fol., 

 1678, 1681, 1694 ; ' Traite" des Hypothecs,' 1687, 1724, 4to. The 

 complete works of Basnage were published in 2 vols. fol., Rouen, 

 1776. 



6. JAQCES BASNAGE de Beauvul, the eldest son of Henri, born at 

 Rouen, 8th of August 1653, was the most celebrated member of his 

 family. He was sent when very young to Saumur, to study under 

 the famous Tannequin, or Taunegui, or Tanaquil le FeVre, and became 

 the favourite pupil of his master. At the age of seventeen he went 

 to Geneva, already well read in the best Greek and Latin authors, and 

 acquainted with the Spanish, Italian, and English languages. At 

 Geneva, and afterwards at Sedan, he studied theology ; and on his 

 return to Rouen he was received into the ministry, September 1676, 

 at the age of twenty-three, and became pastor of the reformed church 

 in that city. He married, in 1684, Anne du Moulin, daughter of 

 Cyrus du Moulin, and grand-daughter of Peter du Moulin. 



The church at Rouen being closed by authority in June 1685, 

 Basnage obtained permission from the king to retire to Holland. He 

 settled at Rotterdam, in which place he was a stipendiary minister, 

 until, in 1691, the consistory, influenced by Heinsius, appointed him 

 pastor of a church at the Hague. Here he not only exerted himself 

 in his religious duties with indefatigable zeal, but was also employed 

 in state affairs. He was the medium of a secret negociation carried 

 on by Mar^chal d'Uxelles, plenipotentiary of the French king at the 

 congress of Utrecht, and acquitted himself in this affair with so much 

 ability, that lie was afterwards employed in several important com- 

 missions. His services at length procured for Basnage the restitution 

 of all his former possessions in France. 



Basnage was the personal friend of the Grand Pensionary Heinsius, 



and while in Rotterdam had a weekly meeting with Paots, B;\yle, aud 

 other scholars. He carried on a correspondence with several princes, 

 noblemen, and ministers of state, and with many scholars in France, 

 England, Germany, and Italy. He was scarcely less esteemed by 

 Catholics than by Protestants. Voltaire said that Basuage was fitter 

 x) be a minister of state than of a parish. His health, which till the 

 year 1722 had been remarkably good, then began to decline. He died 

 on the 22ad of September 1723, in his seventy-first year. He left 

 only a daughter, who was married to M. de la Sarraz, minister of war 

 ;o the King of Poland. 



The following are some of his principal works; a complete list 

 would be very long : ' Examen des Mdthodes proposers par Messieurs 

 de I'Assemblee du Clergd de France en 1682,' Cologne, 1684, 12mo. 

 This work was the foundation of his subsequent reputation. It is 

 well written, but he never affixed his name to it.' Response a M. 

 .'EvSque de Meaux, sur sa Lettre Pastorale,' Cologne, 1686, 12mo. 

 This work is against the Pastoral Letter of Bjssuet, addressed to the 

 new Catholics; ' Dissertationes Historico-Theologicao,' Rotterdam, 1694, 

 8vo; 'La Communion Saiute, ou Traitd sur la ne'cessite' et les moyeus 

 de communier dignemeut,' Rotterdam, 1688, 12mo. The fifth edition 

 is very much enlarged, aud contains a third aud fourth book on the 

 conduct of communicants before and after communion, printed at 

 Rotterdam in 1697, in 12mo. There have been several editions of this 

 work, which has been so much admired, even by Roman Catholics, 

 that it has been printed for thorn at Rouen and Brussels. ' Histoire 

 de la Religion des Eglises RcSformees, &c., pour servir de r<5ponse a 

 I' Histoire des Variations des Eglises Protestantes, par M. de Meaux,' 

 Rotterdam, 1690, 8vo, 2 vols. : again in 1721, 2 vols. 8vo, aud in 1725, 

 2 vols. 4to ; tho last edition very much enlarged. This work has 

 been since joined to the History of the Church. ' Trait<5 de la Con- 

 science, dans lequel on examine sa nature, ses illusions, ses cr.u'ntes, 

 ses doutes, ses scrupules, sa paix, et divers cas de conscience, avec des 

 Reflexions sur le Commentaire Philosophique," Amsterdam, 1696, 

 2 vols. 8vo. Two editions of this work have been printed at Lyon 

 in 3 vols. 12mo. 'Histoire de 1'Eglise depuis Je'sus Christ jusques h, 

 present,' Rotterdam, 1699, 2 vols. folio. ' Histoire des Juifs depuis 

 Jesus Christ jusques a pre'sent, pour servir de Supplement a 1'Histoire 

 de Joseph,' Rotterdam, 1706, 5 vols., 12mo. ; a new and enlarged edition 

 at the Hague in 1716, 15 vols. 12mo.; translated into English by 

 Thomas Taylor, 1708, foL ' Histoire des Juifs, reclamee et r(5tablio 

 par son veritable auteur M. Basnage, contre l'e"dition anonyme et 

 tronque"e qui s'en est faite a Paris, ehez Roulland, 1710, avec plusieurs 

 additions pour servir de sixioine tome a cette Histoire,' Rotterdam, 

 1711, 12mo. He attacks M. du Pin, who had printed it at Paris, after 

 having changed what he thought proper, without mentioning the 

 author. 'Annales des Provinces Unies depuis les Negotiations pour 

 la Paix de Munster, avec la Description Historique de leur Gouverne- 

 ment :' this work, which begins in 1646, carries the annals down to 

 1684, and Basnage left a plan for conducting it till 1720. ' Disserta- 

 tion Historique sur les Duels et les Ordres de Chevalerie,' Amster- 

 dam, 1720, 8vo. This is a curious work. He also furnished many 

 pieces to his brother, M. Basnage de Beauval, for his ' Histoire des 

 Ouvrages des Savaus.' 



7. HENRI BASNAGE DE BEAUVAL, the younger sou of Henri Basnage 

 de Franquenay, and brother of Jacques Basnage, born at Rouen, 

 August 7, 1656, followed the profession of his father. On the revo- 

 cation of the Edict of Nantes in 1 687, he took refuge in Holland, and 

 died there, March 29, 1710, aged 54 years. He wrote a ' TraitiS do la 

 Toldrance des Religions,' 1684, 12mo; and edited 'L'Histoiro das 

 Ouvrages des Savans,' a widely-circulated journal, which was com- 

 menced in September 1687, as a continuation of Bayle's ' Nouvelles 

 de la Rj|iublique des Lettres,' and terminated in June 1709 : it con- 

 sists of 24 vols., 12mo. Basnage published in 1701 an improved 

 edition of Furetiere's ' Dictionary ; ' the ' Dictionnaire de Trevoux ' 

 (1704) is only a reprint of this work, without mention of the name of 

 either Furetiore or Basnage. 



BASSA'NO, GIACOMO DA PONTE, was born at Bassano in 1510. 

 He was instructed in the elementary principles of painting by his 

 father, Francesco da Ponte, and was afterwards sent to Venice, where 

 he studied under Bonifazio. In a city which abounded with the 

 works of Titian, Parmegiano, and T iutoret, Bassano stood in littlo 

 need of a particular master ; he applied himself with intense assiduity 

 to the general study of those great artists, and, in all that relates to 

 mechanical practice, with extraordinary success; nor are evidences 

 wanting that even in grandeur of style and conception he exhibited at 

 that time a capacity which none who judge him by his later works 

 would suppose him to have possessed. He painted, in front of the 

 Casa Micheili, a fresco representing Sampson destroying the Philistines, 

 parts of which, especially the figure of the hero himself, approximate 

 to the grandeur of Michel Angelo. In the pictures of a Nativity and 

 the Flight into .Egypt (the latter for the church of St. Girolamo), he 

 emulated tho style of Titian with equal success. But from the time 

 he left Venice his style deteriorated. He no longer even aimed to 

 attain the sober grandeur of the painters under whom he had studied. 

 However lofty the subject, he represented it with a coarse familiarity, 

 often most discordant with tho theme. 



On the death of his father he returned to Bassano and took possession 

 of his paternal residence, situated on the picturesque banks of the 



