BACH BACKGAMMON. 



367 



Fontanes was patronized by Napoleon, chiefly through 

 her recommendation. Conscious of her intellectual 

 superiority, she kept her husband in a very subordi- 

 nate situation. It was' she, in fact, who governed 

 the principalities of Lucca and Piombino, and, as 

 grand duchess of Tuscany, she enacted the part of a 

 queen. When this Semirumis of Lucca, as a witty 

 vriter styles her, reviewed the troops of the duchy, 

 her husband discharged the office of aid-de-camp. 

 She introduced many improvements, though not pro- 

 perly assisted by the officers intrusted with her confi- 

 dence. In 1814, she retiued to Bologna, but was 

 obliged, in the following year, to reside in Austria. 

 Here she lived, at first, with her sister Carolina ; af- 

 terwards, with her family, under the inspection of 

 the government, at Trieste, where she called herself 

 the countess Compignano. Elisa Bacciocchi died of 

 a nervous fever, August 1, 1820, at her country seat, 

 Villa Vicentina, near Trieste. She was deposited in 

 the chapel of her own palace, in a tomb built by her- 

 self. In Trieste, she was distinguished for charity 

 and benevolence. Notwithstanding her wish, that 

 her daughter Napoleona Elisa, born June 3, 1806, 

 and her son, should be put under the care of her 

 brother Jerome, her husband remained their legal 

 guardian. 



BACH, John Sebastian ; among the German musical 

 composers of the last century, one of the most famous, 

 and the greatest of this name, so distinguished in 

 musical literature, was born in 1685, at Eisenach; 

 died in 1750, at Leipsic. He received his first in- 

 struction on the harpsichord at Ordruff, from his elder 

 brother, John Christopher. After the death of his 

 brother, he studied music at Luneburg, and made 

 himself familiar with the French style, while in the 

 chapel of the duke at Halle ; in 1703, entered into 

 the service of the duke of Weimar ; went, in 1704, 

 to Arnstadt, where he made great proficiency ; was, 

 in 1707, organist at Muhlhausen ; in 1708, organist 

 of the court in Weimar; and, in 1714, master of the 

 concert at the same place; afterwards, in 1717, cha- 

 pel-master at Cothen ; in 1723, chanter and director 

 of music at St Thomas's school at Leipsic ; and, in 

 1736, composer at the royal and electoral court of 

 Saxony. His life has been written by Forkel. As a 

 player on the harpsichord and organ, Sebastian Bach 

 had no equal among his contemporaries. His com- 

 positions breathe an original inspiration, and are 

 chiefly of the religious kind. They consist of canta- 

 tas and motettos, and many pieces for the organ and 

 the piano. B.'s family came from Presburg, in Hun- 

 gary, which Sebastian's father, himself a good musi- 

 cian, left on account of religious difficulties and set- 

 tled in Germany. More than fifty musical performers 

 have proceeded from this family. Sebastian himself 

 liad eleven sons, all distinguished as musicians. The 

 most renowned were the following : Wilhelm Friede- 

 mann, born in 1710, at Weimar, died master of the 

 chapel of Hesse-Darmstadt, at Berlin, in 1784. He 

 was one of the most scientific harmonists, and most 

 skilful organists. Charles Philip Emanuel, born 

 in 1714, at Weimar, died in 1788, at Hamburg. Af- 

 ter having studied law at Leipsic, he went to Berlin, 

 as a musician in the Prussian service, and was finally 

 director of the orchestra at Hamburg. He has com- 

 posed mostly for the piano, and has published melo- 

 dies for Gellert's hymns. His vocal compositions are 

 excellent. His essay on the true manner of playing 

 on the harpsichord is, even now, a classical work in 

 its kind. John Christopher Frederic, born at Wei- 

 mar, 1732, died in 1795, master of the chapel at 

 Buckeburg, a great organist, is known also by the 

 music he has published. John Christian, born in 

 1735, at Leipsic, died in London, 1782, was, on 

 account of the graceful and agreeable style in 



which he wrote, a favourite composer \\ith tLe 

 public. 



BACHARACH ; a small place, of 1200 inhabitants on, 

 the Rhine, three leagues from Bingen. It contains 

 the ruins of the castle Stahlek, also those of a church, 

 and another church, still existing, in the true Byzan- 

 tine style. It produces excellent wine, which was 

 once so highly esteemed, that pope Pius 11. (JSneas 

 Sylvius) ordered every year a quantity to Rome, and 

 the emperor Wenceslaus granted to Nuremberg some 

 important privileges for a moderate quantity of this 

 delicious beverage. The view from the ruins of the 

 castle is one of the sublimest on the Rhine. 



BACHAUMONT, Frangois le Coigneux de, born at Pa- 

 ris, 1624, died there, 1702, was early employed as coun- 

 sellor of the parliament of Paris, of which his father 

 was president. In the disturbances of 1648, he took 

 part against the court, and from him originated the 

 name of the Fronde. He said that the parliament re- 

 minded him of the schoolboys who played with slings 

 in the boulevards of Paris, and dispersed at the sight 

 of a police officer, but collected again as soon as he 

 was out of sight. The comparison pleased ; the enemies 

 of Mazarin adopted hat-cords in the form of a sling 

 (fronde), and were called Frondeurs. In the war 

 of the Fronde, B. found frequent occasion to exercise 

 his wit, in epigrams, against the court. After the 

 troubles were past, he devoted himself to pleasure 

 and to poetry. Similarity of taste and character pro- 

 duced an intimate friendship between him and La- 

 Chapelle, and they composed in common that charm- 

 ing account of a Journey, which met with so much 

 favour among the friends of light and sportive poe- 

 try. He has written, also, many gay songs, which, 

 however, are too much scattered to allow of a com- 

 plete collection being made. M. Lefevre de St Marc 

 has published one, but does not pretend that all the 

 pieces are genuine. 



BACHELOR. See Baccalaureus. 



BACK ; a word often used in sea terms. To lack 

 an anchor ; to carry out a small anchor, ahead of 

 the large one, in order to support the latter. To 

 back and fill, is an operation generally performed in 

 narrow rivers, when the vessel has the tide in her 

 favour, and the wind against her. To back the sails, 

 is to arrange them in a situation that will occasion the 

 vessel to retreat, or to move astern, in consequence 

 of the tide current being in her favour, and the wind 

 contrary, but light. Back the main top sail ; the 

 command to brace that sail in such a manner, that 

 the wind may exert its force against the fore part of 

 the sail, and, by thus laying it aback, materially re- 

 tard the vessel's course. 



BACKEREKL, or BACO.UERELLI, William; a Dutch 

 historical painter, born at Antwerp, and a disciple of 

 Rubens at the same time with Vandyke. Sandrart 

 observes, that, in his time, there were seven or eight 

 eminent painters of this name in Italy and the Low 

 Countries. 



BACKGAMMON ; a game played with dice, by two 

 persons, on a table divided into two parts, upon which 

 there are 24 black and white spaces, called points. 

 Each player has fifteen men, black and white, to dis- 

 tinguish them. The word is of Welsh origin, signi- 

 fying little battle. Laws of the Game. 1. If a man 

 is taKen from any point, it must be played. 2. A man 

 is not played, till it is placed upon a point and quitted. 

 3. If a player has only fourteen men in play, there is 

 no penalty attending it. 4. If he bears any num- 

 ber of men before ne has entered a man taken up, 

 and which, of course, he was obliged to enter, such 

 men, so borne, must be entered again in the adver- 

 sary's table, as well as the man taken up. 5. If he 

 has mistaken his throw, and played it, and his adver- 

 sary lias thrown, it is not in the choice of either of the 



