13S 



BASIL BASLE. 



eastern, ns St Benedict is Uie patriarch of the western 

 orders. 



BASIL, town of. See /?*/<. 



BASILICA ; a royal abode. In the first centuries of 

 Koine, the basil icte were splendid public buildings, of 

 an oblong shape, and four-cornered, commonly adorn- 

 ed with Corinthian CDlinuns and statues, where the 

 citizens collected to consult for their common welfare, 

 the merchants exposed their ware-, the young orators 

 exercised themselves in declamation, &c. Con-taii- 

 line the Great gave some Ixisiliea; to the Christians, 

 in Home, for their worship. Thence it luippciicd, 

 tliat the first Christian churches obtained the name of 

 basilica, and afterwards, when new churches were 

 built, they preserved the shape of the ancient basilica;. 



H \siunus. See Gnosis. 



i : MUSK. The basilisk of the ancients, according 

 to Pliny (lib. 8, cap. 21), was a kind of serpent, found 

 in the African deserts, named /3*<r<A.<f , or little king, 

 because its body was marked with bright spots, and 

 those on the head had the appearance of a crown or 

 diadem. It had a very pointed head, with fiery eyes, 

 and was of a dark colour, verging to blackness. All 

 other snnkes were said to fly from the sound of its 

 hissing ; and, instead of trailing along like other ser- 

 pents, the basilisk raised its body nearly erect, and, 

 as it passed along, killed the herbs and fruits by its 

 touch, and even oy its breath ! Yet this monster was 

 destroyed by weasels. If these fables had reference 

 to any real animal, it is probable that it was a species 

 somewhat similar to the cobra da capello, or the asp 

 viper. The cobra da capello has a mark on the back 

 of its head, though more like a pair of spectacles than 

 a crown : both it and the asp are accustomed to erect 

 a very considerable part of the body, though not to 

 move forward in this way. It is highly probable that 

 the animal was merely a creature of fiction. 



The name of basilisk was arbitrarily applied, by 

 Seba, Linne, and subsequent naturalists, to a genus of 

 saurian or lizard-like reptiles, distinguished by tren- 

 chant crests, supported by long, spinous processes of 

 the vertebrae, extending along the back, or at least 

 upon a part of the tail. These crests are scaly, like 

 the rest of the skin. Two species of basilisk are 

 known the hooded and the Amboyna basilisks. 

 These animals live in or near fresh water, and feed 

 on leaves, grain, insects, &c. The last named species 

 is found four feet long. Its flesh is eatable. 



BASKERVILLK, John; an English artist, deserving 

 of notice for his improvements in printing and type- 

 founding. He was born at Wolverley, in Worcester- 

 shire, in 1706, and, inheriting a small estate, was 

 brought up to no profession. He, however, acquired 

 a particular skill in penmanship and carving letters 

 on stone ; and, at the age of 20, he settled at Bir- 

 mingham as a writing master. He subsequently en- 

 gaged in the manufacture of japanned works ; and, 

 in 1750, commenced his labours in the branch of art 

 which acquired for him so much celebrity. His first 

 great performance, as a printer, was an edition of 

 Virgil, in royal 4to, 1756, which was followed by 

 many of the Latin classics, and some English ones, in 

 4to and smaller sizes. The beauty of his typographi- 

 cal productions was superior to any thing which Iiad 

 previously appeared from an English press ; and when 

 it is considered that the paper and ink, as well as the 

 types and workmanship, were the fruits of one man's 

 skill and ingenuity, it must be admitted that he pos- 

 sessed great merit. He died in 1775 ; and his types 

 and matrices were afterwards sold at Paris, for 3700, 

 to Beaumarchais, who printed with them, at Kehl, a 

 superb edition of Voltaire. B. was an enemy to all 

 outward forms of divine service, which he declared to 

 l>e mere superstition. He ordered, in his will, that 

 his body should not be buried in a burying-ground. 



He was a kind and honest man, though of a stern 

 exterior. 



BASLE, BALE, or BASIL ; the largest city of Switzer- 

 land, capital of the canton of the same name, which 

 contains 47,500 inhabitants of the reformed religion, 

 on 275 square miles, and furnishes 401) troops to the 

 Swiss confederacy. The city lies in 11 beautiful conn. 

 try, in Ion. 7 31' E., and hit. 47 40" N. ; is, in -cncral, 

 well built ; has 2119 houses, and 10,-HX) inhabitants, 

 and is divided by the Rhine into the greater and : 

 tow MS, which are united by a bridge 730 feet lonff. 

 From the remotest times, an enmity lias existed be- 

 tween the inliabitants of the two parts, which is not 

 yet entirely eradicated. B. was formerly a tree impe- 

 rial city, but joined the Swiss confederacy in 1501. 

 (Ecolampadius,GrynaMis,Buxtorf,Wetsicin, Hermann. 

 theBernouillisandEuler were born in B. Erasmus also 

 lived there several years, and lies buried in the cathe- 

 dral. Among the institutions of the city are, the uni- 

 versity, founded in 1459, with an excellent library ; a 

 cabinet of medals ; fifteen collections of paintings ; a 

 seminary for missionaries ; the German Bible society, 

 which prints stereotype, Bibles, and distributes seve- 

 ral hundred copies of every edition to the poor ; 

 several other remarkable institutions, and flourishing 

 manufactories. It was formerly a peculiarity of li. 

 that the clocks were an hour in advance of those of 

 other places ; and the streets of the city were not 

 lighted until March, 1826. The administration of 

 the city is in the hands of a large council of 280 

 members, from which the smaller council is chosen, 

 consisting of GO persons. The trade of B. is exten- 

 sive, principally in silk ribbons ; also silk stuffs, cot- 

 ton, paper, linen, and gloves. The bleacheries and 

 the dye-houses are also very important. In recent 

 times, the university of B. has excited particular at- 

 tention, since several famous professors, who were 

 proscribed in Germany on account of their political 

 opinions, as de Wette, Snell, Oken, and others, found 

 a reception there. 



Basle, treaties of peace at, April 5 and July 22, 

 1795. The former was signed by the Prussian am- 

 bassador, afterwards chancellor of state, baron Har- 

 denberg (q. v.) ; the latter by the Spanish ambassa- 

 dor, marquis D. Domingo d'Yriarte; and both by 

 the minister plenipotentiary of the French republic 

 in Switzerland, the citizen Barthclemy. By these 

 treaties, Prussia and Spain separated themselves 

 from the coalition against France;, and acknowledged 

 the republic. The republic retained the Prussian 

 provinces on the left bank of the Rhine until the 

 general peace, and accepted the mediation of Prussia 

 when any German princes wished to conclude sepa- 

 rate treaties of peace with it. The secret articles of 

 this peace are not yet made known ; we are only 

 acquainted with the treaty of B., May 17, 1795, 

 which confirmed the neutrality of northern Germany. 

 The landgrave of Hesse-Cassel afterwards concluded 

 a treaty with the French republic, at B., Aug. 28, 

 1795, by which the latter retained possession of the 

 territories of Hesse-Cassel on the left bank of the 

 Rhine until the general peace. By the peace of B., 

 all the conquests of the republican army beyond the 

 Pyrenees were restored to Spain, in exchange for 

 which it ceded to France the Spanish part of the 

 island of St Domingo. The Spanish prime minister, 

 D. Eman. Godoy, duke of Alcudia, received, as a 

 reward for this treaty of peace, the title of prince of 

 peace. 



Basle, council of. This council was announced at 

 the council of Constance, and convoked by pope 

 Martin V., and his successor, Eugenius IV. It com- 

 menced its sittings, Dec. 14, 1431, under the presi- 

 dency of the cardinal legate Juliano Caesarini of St 

 Angelo. The objects of its deliberations were U' 



