B A S 



Irenaus's account, Jefus appeared as man, but was not fo 

 in reality, and wrought many miracles : however, he was not 

 crucified ; the Jews having, through miilake, crucified Si- 

 mon the Cyrenian in his ftcad. Many of the ancients iiave, 

 upon the authority oi Irerxus, accnfed Bafilides of detiying 

 the reality of Chnfl's body, and of mai taining tliat Simon 

 %vas crucified in his (lead. But this accufation, as far as it 

 refers to Bafihdcs himfclf, is groundlefs ; for he feems to 

 have coi'.fidtrcd the divine Saviour, as compoundLd of the 

 man Jefus, and Chrift the Son of God. To this purpofe 

 Beaufobre fays, that, thougli Br.filides did not bilieve the 

 ii;carnation, or hypoilatic union of the Son of God with 

 flefli, yet he never denied that Jefus \^as a real perfon, in 

 whom the Underllanding, or Son of God, difplayed his 

 power, whom he filled with his gifts and illuminations, and 

 jnvefted with extraordinary influence. With regard to the 

 ridiculous ftory of Simon transformed into Jefus, and cruci- 

 fied in his ftcad, he reprefents it as a fable which Irenxus 

 derived froM fome unknown fouice. As Bafilides bchcved 

 the death of Jefus, who was a real and moil excellent man, 

 in whom the firft-begotten of the Father chofe to dv.-ell, 

 though not of the Son of God, he probably believed his re- 

 furreftion ; that is, that his foul alcended to heaven, and 

 the body was left to lie in the grsve, or was diflipated into 

 the air, and among the elements of which it was corr.pofed. 

 As the ancient Catholic writers do not particularly fay that 

 Bafilides denied the refurreftion of Jefus, though they alTure 

 us he and his followers denied the refurreftion of the body ; 

 it is not unlikely that he admitted the refurreiflion, or the 

 advancement and glorification of the foul of Jefus. Bafili- 

 des believed the facl of the baptifm of Jefus ; and his fol- 

 lowers, as Clement informs us, celebrated the day of his bap- 

 tifm as a feftival, which was the 15th day of the Egyptian 

 month Tubi, correfponding to the 9th or loth of our Janu- 

 ary, in the 15th year of Tiberius ; and they fpent the whole 

 preceding night in reading, and probably iii prayers. Some 

 perfons have fuppofed that Bafilides denied the neceffity or 

 reafonablenefs of our fuffering martyrdom for Jefus ; and 

 yet it appears from the teftimony of Clement, that he 

 cfteemed martyrdom an honourable fuffering, though it is 

 the punifhraent of fins committed either in this life, or in a 

 pre-exillent (late. Bafilides taught, that the foul only would 

 be faved ; but that the body is in its nature corruptible, 

 and incapoWe of immortality. As for the fpirits of the dif- 

 obcdient, it is faid to have been his opinion, or that of his 

 followers, that they would pafs fucceliively into other bodies. 

 Bafilides has been faliely accufed of believing that actions 

 are indilftrent in their own nature, and of allowing and en- 

 couraging the pradlice of wickednefs. On the contrary, he 

 is repref;;nted by thofe whofe tellimonics are mod credible, 

 as ftrongly recommending the practice of virtue an,d piety, 

 and condemning not only the aClual commifilon of iniquity, 

 but even evei-j' inward propenfity or the mind to a vicious 

 conduii. However, fome of his pradlical opinions gave of- 

 fence to the orthodox Chriftians ; for he allowed men to 

 conceal their religion, and even to deny Chrift, when their 

 lives were in danger, and to partake of the fealls of the 

 Gentiles that were inftituted in confequence of the facrifices 

 oifered to idols : not to add, that the irregular liveo of fome 

 of hii dilciples feemed to juiUfy the unfavourable opinion 

 that was entertained concerning their mailer. The Bafili- 

 dians have been alfo accufed of magical practices : but Ter- 

 tuUian fays nothing of this kind ; and the paDTage of Ire- 

 nxus upon which this charge is founded, is fuppofed to have 

 been corrupted. Befides, the ancient fathers perpetually 

 confound aftronomy and aftrology with magic ; and hence 

 Lardner is induced to be very doubtful about the truth of 



B A S 



this accufation. Irenasus fays, that the Bafilidians called 

 the pri.ice of the heavens Abraxas, that name having in it 

 the number 365 ; and the gems, or figures, bearing this 

 name are fuppofed to have originated from Bafilides. How- 

 ever, many of thefe Egyptian talifmans appear to have an 

 earlier date ; and the magic of this feft was probably no 

 more than the practice of certain fuperftitions, rather of a 

 fooh(h than of a malignant nature. See Abraxas. 



Bafilides had many followers, and his feft furvived to the 

 fifth century. Beaufobre, and after him Lardner, have given 

 a learned and candid examination of his doftrine, in all its 

 particulars. See Beaufob. Hlft. du Manichcifme, t. ii. 

 Lardner's Works, vol. ix. p. 272 — 307. Moiheim, Eccl. 

 Hift. vol. i. p. 223, &c. 



BASILIDIANS, the followers of Bafilides, of whom an 

 account has been given in the preceding article. 



BASILINEA, in Entomology, a fpecies of Phal^kA 

 that inhabits Auftria. The wings are greyifh-brown undu- 

 lated, with a little black line at the bafe ; crefl: of the thorax 

 bifid. Fabricius. 



BASILINOPOLIS, or Basisopolis, m jincier.t GcO' 

 graphy, an epifcopal town of Afia Minor, in Bithynia. 



BASILIPOTAMO, in Geigraphy, the ancient Eurotas, 

 a river of the iSIorea in European Turkey, which falls into 

 the gulf Calochina. 



BA6IL1PPUM, in Annen- Geography, a town of Bastica 

 in Spain, about 20 m.iles from Hifpalis or Seville j now Can- 

 tillana, a citadel of Andalnfia, on the Guadalquivir. 



BASILIS, a town of Peloponnefus, in Arcadia, found- 

 ed, according to Paufanias, by Cypfelus, and fituated near 

 the Alpheus. In his time it was in ruins, among which was 

 a temple of the Eleufinian Ceres. 



BASILISCUS, in Orniihology, one of the fynonymous- 

 names of the golden-crowned wren, among old writers. 

 This name is a diminutive of the word bafileus, king ; and 

 was given it on account of its golden crown. 



Basiliscus, in Zoology, a fpecies of Lacerta, which, 

 accoi-ding to Linnseus, has the tail long and round ; dorfal 

 fin radiated ; and back of the head crefted. This is the ba- 

 filifli of modern naturalifts, and feems to unite the two ge- 

 nera of Lacerta and Draco. The remarks of Dr. Shaw (in 

 the Gen. Zool.) on this extraordinary- creature are highly 

 intereiling, and ougiit not to efcape attention. It is, accord- 

 ing to this writer, particularly dii1:ingui(hed by a long and 

 broad wing-hke procefs or expanfion continued along the 

 whole length of the back, and to a very confiderable dif- 

 tance on the upper part of the tail, and furnifhed at certain 

 dillances with internal radii analogous to thofe in the fins oF 

 fiili-es, and Hill more fo thofe in the wings of the draco vo- 

 lans, or flying lizard. This procefs is of different elevation 

 in different parts, fo as to appear ftrongly finuated and in- 

 dented, and is capable of being either dilated or contracted 

 at the pleafure of the animal. The occiput, or hind part 

 of the head, is elevated hito a very confpicuous poiiited hood, 

 or hollow ere ft. 



Notwithftanding its formidable appearance, adds this au- 

 thor, the bafiliik is a perfectly harmlefs animal ; and, like 

 many others of the lizard tribe, refides piincipally among- 

 trees, where it feeds on infefts, &c. It ha« long ago been 

 admirably figured in the work of Seba ; and as it is an ex- 

 tremely rare fpecies, has fometimes been confidered, from 

 the ftrangenels of its form, as a liclitious reprefentation. 

 There is, however, in the Brltifti Muicum, a very fine fpe- 

 cimen, well preferved in fpirits, and which fully confirms 

 the exceilencv of Seba's figure ; from which, in all proba- 

 bility, Linnxus himfclf (who never faw the animal) took his 

 fpccific defcription. The colour of the bafiliik is a pale ci- 



nereouf- 



