320 



BASLE. 



Bail*. and now threatened their capital, were obliged to 

 ~~ v ' submit without a struggle. On the 21th of January 

 1798, the tree of liberty was planted on the walls of 

 the city ; and on the 5th of February, the magis- 

 trates resigned their authority, and sixty delegates, 

 appointed by the people, were invested with tempo- 

 rary power, till the new constitution should be pro- 

 perly organized. With the addition of the lower 

 part of the Frickthal to Seckingen, Basle forms one 

 of the departments into which Swisserland was divi- 

 ded by the constitution of the 29th of May 1801, 

 with the right of sending three representatives to the 

 diet. See Dictionaire de la Suisse, and Coxe's 

 'J'ravels in Switzerland, vol. i. p. 66. of the intro- 

 duction, and Letters 15 and 16. (ft) 



BASLE, or Basil, the capital of the above can- 

 ton, is beautifully situated on the banks of the Rhine, 

 about 60 miles south of Strasburg, and 120 north- 

 cast of Geneva. The river, which is here in its great- 

 est beauty, broad, deep, and rapid, divides the city 

 into two parts, called the large and small town ; which 

 are joined by a noble bridge of 14 arches, and about 

 600 feet in length. Each of these divisions is sur- 

 rounded with walls and a ditch. Without the com- 

 pass of the large town there are fine extensive suburbs, 

 which form so many distinct quarters, and are all en- 

 closed by a regular rampart. Basle is the largest 

 and was once the most populous town in Swisserland. 

 It is capable of containing upwards of 100,000 in- 

 habitants, though its present population does not ex- 

 ceed 14,000. To account for this decrease, we may 

 observe, that the natives of Basle, like the rest of the 

 Swi6s, have always been fond of emigration, and 

 that here, as in all great cities, the number of births 

 is inferior to that of burials. It is evident, therefore, 

 that if the loss of numbers, thus produced, be not 

 supplied by a regular accession of new inhabitants, 

 the population must be rapidly diminished. Now 

 the Basilians are so proud and so jealous of their 

 rights and privileges as burghers, that they very sel- 

 dom deign to confer them on strangers, who, thus 

 deprived of the power of engaging in commerce, or 

 practising any trade in the capital, have no induce- 

 ment to resort thither to supply the vacancies made 

 in the population, by the emigration or death of the 

 native citizens. A more enlightened and liberal po- 

 licy might have rendered this city extremely po- 

 pulous and flourishing ; for it is most favourably si- 

 tuated for commerce, and enjoys besides several in- 

 ternal advantages peculiar to itself. No place can 

 boast of a greater number of fountains, some of 

 which have even their source within the town ; be- 

 sides the Birs, a stream which falls into the Rhine, 

 a little above the city, supplies it by means of a ca- 

 nal with water, particularly well adapted to various 

 purposes of trade. 



This city is adorned with many noble streets and 

 spacious squares. Its houses are in general built of 

 stone, in a neat and elegant taste. Except some 

 splendid mansions, in which a few rich manufacturers 

 display their wealth, there are no buildings in Basle 

 whose magnificence can offend the republican spirit 

 of its inhabitants ; but in every house there appears 

 that air of neatness and f comfort, which is the 

 truest enjoyment, and the natural privilege of easy 



and independent circumstances. The cathedral is a 

 superb Gothic structure, but is much disfigured by v 

 the rose-coloured paint with which it is bedaubed. 

 It contains the monuments of many illustrious per- 

 sons, and is particularly consecrated by tiiat of the 

 great Erasmi*, who made this town his principal re- 

 sidence, and published here many of his valuable 

 works. The terrace of this cathedral, which serves 

 as a public promenade, commands a very rich and ex- 

 tensive view ; but on another side there is a covered 

 gallery, full of tombs and monuments, the unseemly 

 appearance of which is as indecorous for the dead, as 

 its noisome exhalations are pernicious to the living. 

 Besides the cathedral, this town contains six parochial 

 churches, and seven convents, which were secularised 

 by the Reformation. 



The public library is more remarkable for the 

 rare and valuable editions of the books which it 

 contains, than for the number of its volumes : it j s, 

 enriched with numerous manuscripts, the most cu- 

 rious of which are the letters of the first reformers, 

 and of other learned men in the 15th, 16th, and 17th 

 centuries ; and an account of the proceedings at the 

 council of Basle. Here, too, are preserved, with 

 great veneration, the hanger and seal of Erasmus, 

 some of his letters, and his last testament, in his own 

 handwriting.. There is a suite of apartments con- 

 nected with the library, which contain a cabinet of 

 petrifactions, some ancient medals and gems, a few 

 antiquities found at Augst, a large collection of 

 prints, and 6ome admirable drawings and paintings, 

 consisting chiefly of originals by Holbein, who was 

 a native of Basle, and the favourite painter of Hen- 

 ry VIII. to whom he was introduced by Erasmus. 

 In these paintings, which are in high preservation, 

 the progress of Holbein may be traced, from the ear- 

 best efforts of his pencil till he attained that perfec- 

 tion in the art for which he has been so generally 

 admired. Some pictures are preserved which he 

 paiuted before he had reached his 16th year; and 

 one, particularly curious, which he drew upon a sign 

 for a writing-master. The most esteemed of hi? 

 productions is an altar-piece, in eight compartments, 

 which represents the passion of our Saviour : a per- 

 formance which, for brilliancy of colouring, cannot 

 be exceeded. The Dance of Death on the walls of 

 an ancient convent of Dominicans, pointed out to 

 strangers as a production of Holbein's, has been 

 proved, from incontestible authority, to have been 

 painted before he was born. 



The hall still remains in which were conducted the 

 deliberations of the famous council of Basle, which, 

 after sitting for many years, came to the resolution of 

 deposing the pope ; and published many edicts for the 

 reformation of the church. A picture is still to be seen 

 on the staircase of the zeal of the council-house, sup- 

 posed to have been suggested by these pious fathers, 

 in which the devil is represented as driving the pope 

 and several church dignitaries before them into hell. 

 Basle is the seat of an university, which once ranked 

 among the most eminent seminaries of learning in Eu- 

 rope. It was founded in the 1460, by Pope Pius II. 

 and its fame will be perpetuated in literary history by 

 the illustrious names of Oecolampadius, Amerbach, the 

 three Bauhins, Grynaeus, Buxtorf, Wetstein, Iselin, the 

 .3 



Baslf. 



