B A S 



■tills origin neither fatlsfied thcorifts nor praftical muficians. 

 And in M. D'Alembert's fecond edition of his " Elements" 

 he changed his ground, and inftead of the chord minor of F, 



lie adopted that of C : ^-^ — ^-^r—^^, hi which G is an 



liarraonic of C as well as of Eb. But this folution of the 

 difficulty, fetched from far, and by no means fatisfaftory, 

 was changed in the article Fondamentale of the 7th volume of 

 the Encyclopedic, to ACE, without fucceeding in proving it 

 to be the work of nature. 



The abbe Feytou, in the new Encycl. methodique, fays, 

 that F is the fundamental bafe of A minor. But thongh 

 am.ong the harmonics of a fmgle bafe note there is, at the 

 top of the chord, a found fomething refcmbling a yth, it 13 

 rot a major -th ; nor can F, or any grave found, produce a 

 major 7th. All the harmonics produced by F, are the fol- 

 lowing, and in the following arithmetic order : 

 I R 12 15 17 1921 22. 

 Ffc f a ceb f- 

 12345678. 



A major "th may be joined to the common chord of F 

 in practice, withoi:t taking from it the title of fundamental ; 

 but it is not one of its harmonics ; ergo, F is not the funda- 

 mental bafe to A minor. Nor does nature give any indica- 

 tion of a minor chord either in the harmonics, or 3d found 

 produced by two trebles. See Terza Suona. 



Base-Viol. This inftrument is now often confounded 

 with the violoncello, though not of the fame kind. In the 

 I-tli century' every mulical family had a chcll of viols ; all 

 with fix llrings, and the finger-board fretted. Thebafe-viol 

 was the largell of thefe inllruments, and called in England 

 the fix-ftringcd bafe ; but in Italy, viol da gamba, on ac- 

 count of its refting on the leg of the performer. The tenor 

 viol, the next in fize of that clafs, is called viol da bracci.a, 

 from its refting on the arm or fhoulder when played on. 

 The fmalleft. and highell of thefe inftruments is called the 

 treble viol. 



A complete cheft of viols contained 8 inftruments ; 2 

 firft trebles, two fecond trebles, two tenors, and two bafes ; 

 ail ftrung and tuned alike, by 4ths and 3ds, and the necks 

 fretted. The accordatura of the open ftrings is as follows. 



Treble Viol. 



^ 



::^ 



W- 



m 



-3- 



Tenor Viol ; 

 I Viol da Braccla. 



^=E^B 



-C7— Q- 



-C. 



Bafe Viol ; 

 or, Vid da Gdmia 



^ 



z;^=z^- 



From the time of queen Elizabeth till that of Charles 

 II., in all private concerts (we had none that were pub- 

 lic then) thel'e, except the common tliitc, were the only 

 inftruments that were admitted into a gentleman's houfe; 

 and indeed from the feeblenefs of the tone they may very 

 properly be called ftromenti da camera, chamber inftru- 

 jnents. At firft wliere voices could not be procured the 

 I'everal parts of full anthems, fervices, and other choral mu- 



VOL. \\l. 



B A S 



fie were adapted to viols. The firft mufic that was com- 

 pofed exprefsly for them was fantafias ; the tafle for which 

 was brought from Italy previous to fonatas and concertos. 

 The paffages given to thefe viols, at this time, difcover 

 no kind of knowlege of the expreffive power of the bow ; 

 and even Orl. Gibbons, who coinpofed fo well for voices 

 in the church, feems very little fuperior to his cotempo- 

 raries in his pioduftions for inftruments. Indeed, his ma- 

 drigals of five parts, as well as thofe of many others, are 

 faid i:i tb.e title page to be apt for viols and voices ; a 

 proof that with us, as well as the ancient Greeks and 

 other nations, there was at firft no mufic e.xprefsly com- 

 pofed for inftruments ; confequently, the powers of thefe 

 inftruments muil have been circurafcribed ; and when this 

 mufic was merely played, without the alfiftance of human 

 voices and of poetry, "Capable of no great cffeds. The 

 fubjefts of Orlando Gibbons' madrigals are fo fimple and 

 tinmaiked, that if they were now to be executed by in- 

 ftruments alone, they would afford v^ry little pltafure to 

 the greateft friends cf his produ£tio;!S and thofe of the 

 fame period. At the time they were publifhed, how- 

 ever, there was nothing better with which to compare 

 them ; and the beft mufic which good ears can obtain, is 

 always delightful till better is produced. Air, accent, 

 grace, and expreffion, were now equally unknov.n to the 

 compofcr, performer, and hearer ; and whatever notes of 

 one inftrument were in harmony with another were wel- 

 come to the player, provided he found himfeif honoured 

 from time to time with a ftiare of the fubjedt, or princi- 

 pal melody ; which happening more frequently in canons 

 and fugues than in any other fpecies of compofition, con- 

 tributed to keep them fo long in favour with performers 

 of limited powers, however tirefome they may have been 

 to the hearers when conftrufted on dull and barren themes. 

 See Fantasia, Sonata, and Concerto. 



Base, in Laiv. — Biife ejltile is that eftate which bafe 

 tenants have in their lands. — Bafe fee denotes a tenure in fee 

 at the will of the lord ; by which it ftands diftinguifhed 

 from focage, or free tenure. (See Fee.) — Bafe court, is ?ny 

 court not'of record. Such, e. gr. is the court-baron — Bafe 

 tenure, haja tenure, denotes holding by villenagc, or other 

 cuftomary fervice ; as diftinguiftied from the higher tenures 

 in capite, or the military fervice. 



Base rocht, refeda, in Botany. See Reseda. 

 Base Kmghts, has chevaliers, denote the inferior order of 

 knights as diftinguiftied fronj barons and bannerets, who 

 were the chief or fuperior knights. 



Base Point, in Heraldry. See Point, and Escutcheon. 

 Base Ring of a Cannon, is the great ring next behind the 

 touch-hole. 



BASEDOW, John Bernard, in Biography, was bora 

 at Hamburgh in 1723; and though the early part of his 

 education was neglefted by reafon of the fevcrity of his 

 father, which obliged him to abfcond, and to live alnioft a 

 year as 3 doir.cftic with a land lurveyor at Holftein, he 

 afterivards returned to his native place, and fuccefsfuUy pur- 

 fucd hts ftudies in the Gymnafium from the year 1741 to 

 I -44, under profefl"or Reimarus. Here his proficiency 

 was fuch, that lie was enabled to fubfift at the age of 16 

 years, independently of his parents. As it was his father's 

 ambition to make his fon a clergyman, he went to Leipfic 

 in 1 744 for the purpofe of ftudying theology. Here he con- 

 tinued two rears, and attended the lectures of profeftbr 

 Crufius. Thefe ledures and the writings of Wolff, which 

 he alfo perufed, unfettled his mind with refpeft to many 

 dodrines which he had imbibed, and excited fome doubts 

 in his mind coi.cerning the truth of the Chriftian revelation ; 

 5 A but 



