B A C 



17G 



B A C 



Uachrlors. three years more before he can be made master ; and 

 v seven more to become bachelor of divinity. The 



degree of bachelor of law may be obtained after the 

 candidate has spent six years in that study. 



At Paris, before a person is enabled to pass 

 bachelor in theology, he must have attended for two 

 years to the study of philosophy, and for three years 

 to that of theology, and have held two acts of exa- 

 mination in the Sorbonne. In the canon law none 

 can be admitted bachelor till he has employed two 

 years in the study of that science, and sustained an exa- 

 mination according to the prescribed forms; and to 

 become bachelor of physic, it is necessary to have 

 been four years master of arts, and afterwards to have 

 studied medicine for two years : the student is tlu-n 

 invested with the fur, as a preliminary- step to his 

 license. Previous to the foundation of divinity pro- 

 fessorships in the university of Paris, those who had 

 studied divinity six years were admitted to enter upon 

 their course, and were called baccalarii cursores. 

 There were two courses, in the first of which they 

 were engaged, during three successive years, in ex- 

 plaining the Bible, whence they were denominated 

 baccalarii biblici; in the second, they were employed 

 for one year in explaining the matter of the sentences ; 

 they were then called baccatarii s,-ii/eiiliarii : when 

 they had completed both courses, they were styled 

 baccalarii formati, formed bachelors. The title of 

 formed bachelor is now given to one who has regu- 

 larly obtained his degree, after going through the 

 course of study and exercises required by the sta- 

 tutes ; in contradistinction to the current bachelor, 

 who is admitted through special favour. 



The etymology of the word bachelor has been 

 much controverted. It is even extremely uncertain 

 whether it was first employed as a term of military 

 or of literary honour. Among those who suppose 

 it to have been originally a military term, we may 

 mention Cujas, Ducange, Caseneuve, and Altaferra. 

 Cujas derives the word from bucccllarius, a kind of 

 cavalry once held in great esteem : Ducange main- 

 tains that it comes from baccalaria, a kind of fees or 

 farms, consisting of several pieces of ground of about 

 twelve acres each, or as much as two oxen could 

 plough ; the possessors of which baccalaria were 

 called bachelors : Caseneuve and Altaferra deduce it 

 from bacillus, or bacillus, a staff, because the young 

 cavaliers exercised themselves in righting with staves. 

 Martinus, however, with perhaps more probability, 

 maintains, that this word was, in its primitive appli- 

 cation, restricted to those poets who, according to 

 the custom of Italy, were crowned with laurels, and 

 were thence called baccalaurei, or bachelors, (p) 



BACHELORS, in the livery companies of Lon- 

 don, are those who, though members of the com- 

 pany, are not yet admitted to the livery. These 

 companies generally consist of a master, two war- 

 dens, the livery, and the bachelors, who are yet only 

 expectants of preferment in their company, (p) 



BACHELORS, in the six companies of mer- 

 chants in Paris, are those elders, who, having served 

 the offices, are entitled to assist the wasters and war- 

 dens in some of their duties, particularly in judging 

 of the chef d'teuvres of those who stand candidates 

 for the honour of masters. 



1 



BACHELOR, in its most general acceptation, 

 is applied to a man, who remains in a state of ce- 

 libacy. 



Almost all nations have regarded bachelors as a 

 set of delinquents, who withhold from the state an 

 important part of its due advantages, and who are 

 therefore fairly liable to peculiar penalties. It is 

 one of the 613 precepts of the Rabbins, that all per- 

 sons (with very few exceptions) are bound to marry 

 at the age of twenty; and it is a maxim frequent 

 among these casuists, that he who does not endea- 

 vour to leave children behind him ought to be ac- 

 counted a homicide. 



Among the Lacedemonians, bachelors were brand- 

 ed with infamy, excluded from all civil and military 

 offices, and even debarred from the public spectacles 

 and amusements. They were obliged to appear at 

 certain festivals, to be led naked round the market- 

 place, and thus exposed to the public derision. These 

 insults were sometimes accompanied with blows and 

 scourging; and, to complete the affront, they were 

 forced to sing certain songs composed for their own 

 disgrace. Among the Romans, too, celibacy, though 

 frequent, was always greatly discouraged. Fines 

 were often imposed by the censors on old bachelors; 

 and Dionysius of Halicarnassus mentions an old sta- 

 tute, by which all persons were commanded to marry 

 as soon as they reached the age of maturity. A 

 direct law against celibacy was proposed, at the de- 

 sire of Augustus, by the consuls Papius and Pop- 

 pseus, from whom it received the name of Lex Pupia 

 l'oppaa. This law, the immediate design of which 

 was to repair the desolation occasioned by the civil 

 wars, met with great opposition from the nobility. 

 It provided, that whoever in the city should have 

 three children, in other parts of Italy four, and in 

 the provinces five, should be entitled to certain pri- 

 vileges and immunities; and that they who lived in 

 celibacy should be incapable of succeeding to an in- 

 heritance, except of their nearest relations, unless 

 they married within 100 days after the deed of the 

 testator. 



In this country taxes have occasionally been levied 

 on bachelors; and at present, by statute '25 Geo. III. 

 cap. 43, the taxes imposed on the public in general 

 are, in some cases, increased with regard to bachelors, 

 particularly the duty on servants, (ft) 



BACK-GAMMON, the name of a popular and 

 interesting game, played by two persons, with a box 

 and dice, upon a table divided into two parts, upon 

 which there are 12 black and 12 white points. Each 

 adversary has 15 men, black and white, to distinguish 

 them, which are arranged thus : Supposing you play 

 into the right-hand table, two upon the ace-point in 

 your adversary's table, five upon the six-point in the 

 opposite table, three upon the cinque point in the 

 hithermost table, and five on the six-point in your 

 own table : the grand object is to bring the men 

 round into your own table ; all throws that contri- 

 bute towards it, and prevent your adversary doing 

 the same, are advantageous, and vice versa. The 

 first best throw upon the dice J6 esteemed aces, as it 

 stops the six-point in the outer table, and secures the 

 cinque in your own, in consequence of which your 

 adversary's two men upon your ace-point cannot get 



Bachelor, 



