B A S 



BASSUEL, Peter, in Bio^mphy, born In Paris in 

 1106, was early initiated in the knowledge cf furgery, by 

 attci»ding the h')fpital3 and the lc6hiies of the principal 

 teachers there. In 1730 he was admitted to practice ; and 

 tlie academy of furtrery being inftitutcd the following year, 

 he was nominated by the king one of the firft members. 

 In 1744, he was chofcn dcmonllrator royal in therapeutics. 

 He took part in the difpute on a queiUon then much agi- 

 tated, tVheihtrtlie heart was fliortcncd in its fyllole, or 

 Cont/aAion, to expel the blood from the ventricles .' But 

 his opinion was formed, Haller fays, fron\ theory only, 

 nis dilTertation on the fubjeift was publifiied in one of the 

 medical journals of the time. He died June 4th 1757. 

 Haller. liib. Chir. Eloy. Dift. Hill. 



BASS-VIOL, m Mufic. See Base-Viol. 



BASSITM, in Geogriiphy, a town of Germany, in the 

 circle of Wellphalia, in the county of Hoya, with a noble 

 abbey ; 16 miles weft of Hoya. 



B ASSURE Sand, begins at Ambleteufe, a little to 

 the fouth of St. John's, on the coail of France, clofe to 

 the (bore, and ftrctches out S. W. by S. and S.W. by W. 



BAST Island, is fituated on the coall of Norway, 5 

 leagues N. W. by W. from the Sifters' ifland, which lies 4 

 leagues at W. by N. from Acker found. 



BASTA, George, Count, in Btog>\iphy, an Epirote 

 by defcent, was born at La Rocca, a village near Taren- 

 tum ; and devoting himfclf to the military profeffion, he 

 was commander of an Epirote or Albanefe regiment of 

 horfe, when the prince of Farma aftumed the government of 

 the Low Countries in 1579. Under this great general he 

 perfefted himfelf in the military art, and was preferred by 

 him to the poft of commifTary-general of cavalr)', and alfo 

 employed in many important enterprifes. The principal 

 theatre on which his talents were exhibited, was the war in 

 Tranfylvania and Hungary, where in 1601, he gained a 

 fignal viftory over Sigifmund Battori, and took the town 

 of Claufenburg. Having completed the ruin of Battori, 

 he granted him peace on condition of his renouncing all 

 rights over Tranfylvania. However, the feverities exercifed 

 by Bafta againft the proteftants of that country did great 

 injury to the caufe of the emperor ; and the Imperialifts, 

 under the .count Belgiofo, were defeated. Although Bafta, in 

 1605, could not prevent the Turks from, taking Strigonium 

 or Gran, he made a judicious arrangement before Comorra, 

 which hindered their further advances. Having made a 

 peace, he foon after died in 1607. Bafta was th.e author 

 of two profcfllonal works that are much efteemed : the 

 " Maeftro di campo generale" -(Quarter-mafter general), 

 printed at Venice, in 1606 ; and " Governo della cavalleria 

 laggiera" (Difcipline of the Light Horfe), Frankf. 1612. 

 Gen. Dia. 



Basta, in yliicicnt Geography, a town of Italy, in lapy- 

 gia, en the eaftern coaft, at a fmall diftance N. E. of the 

 Salentine promontory. . 



Basta, in Geography, a town of Egypt, 40 miles N. E. 

 of Cairo, and 31 S.S.E. of Manfora. 



Basta, or Bajloiv, a place of trade on the coaft of 

 Africa, before which is a road with 20 to 23 fathoms of 

 water, and tolerably good ground. 



Basta, in Natural H'tftory, a fpecies of Spongia, 

 found in the Indian fea, and called by Rumpfius bajla ma- 

 rina, lajla-laut. It is fomevvhat rigid, blackifh, with un- 

 dulated divifions ; ftcm round. Pallas. Found adhering to 

 (tones, and is about the thicknefs of a finger. Gmelin, 

 &c. 



BASTAGARII, in Ant'tqulty, a college or company at 

 Rome, who carried the fil'cal ipccies out of the provinces to 

 Kome or CoDftantinople. Tiic diredlors of thefe were 



B A S 



called fr^rpnf.t't hiylagnriim. The word is derived from 

 lujlaga, which properly imports the office of carringe or 

 conveyance ; from ,Sx5-a^iiv, porlare, to carry. The dcnouM- 

 nation baftagarii has alio been given to thofe wlio carry the 

 imatjes of faints at proccflions. Du-Cange. 



BASTAL, ill Geography, the name of a romantic and 

 fertile vale of SwifTcrland, lying in the direft road from 

 Bade to Solcure, through the midft of the Jura mountains. 



BASTAN, a town of Afiatic Turkey, in the province 

 of Natolia, 30 miles S.W. of Amaiia. 



BASTARD, Thot-ias, in Biography, a clergyman and 

 poet of the fixteenth century, was born at Blandford in 

 Dorfetfliire, and educated at \Vinchefter fchool ; whence he 

 was removed to New college Oxford, and chofen perjietual 

 fcUiijv in 15S8 : but indulging too much his talent tor iatire, 

 he was expelled the college for a libel. He afterwards became 

 chaplain to Thomas earl of Suff^olk, lord-trealiirer of Eng- 

 land, and, by his interelt, vicar of Bere- Regis, and redtor of 

 Hamer in his native county. He was a perfon of great 

 natural endowments, and ikilled in the learned languages, a 

 celebrated poet, and, in his later years, an excellent preacher. 

 Towards the clofe of his life, he was deranged and involved in 

 debt ; and being confined in prifou at Dorcheiler, he died in an 

 obfcure and mean condition in 161 8. He was thrice married ; 

 firtt, as he informs us in one of his epigrams, in his youth for 

 love ; again, in maturer age, for money ; and a third time, 

 in his old age, for a nurle. His poetical performances, 

 which were admired in that age, were " Epigrams," and a 

 Latin poem, entitled, " Magna Britannia," London 1605, 

 4to. He alfo publiftied a coUeftion of " Five Sermons ;" 

 and another of " Twelve Sermons," Lond. 1615, 4to. 

 Biog. Brit. 



Bastard, in Laiu, a natural cliild, or one that is not 

 only begotten, but born, out of lawful wedlock. 



The word is of Saxon etymology, and is compounded of 

 lafi, vile or ignoble, andjiart, or Jleart, original. 



According to the civil and canon laws, acliild doth not remain 

 baftard, if the parents afterwards intermarry ; but it is an in- 

 difpenfable condition oi legitimacy, according to our law, 

 that it fkall be born after lawful wedlock. In this refpett our 

 law is far fuperior to the Roman ; becaufe marriagcbeingprin- 

 cipally defigned for afcertaining fome perfon to whom the pro- 

 tedioii, maintenance, and education of the children fliould 

 belong, this endisbetteranfwered by legitimating all ifTue born 

 after wedlock than by legitimating all ilTueof thefame parties, 

 even born before wedlock, fo as wedlock afterwards enfues; in 

 proof of which, Blackftonc alleges the following arguments. 

 I . Becaufe great uncertainty will generally attend the evidence, 

 that the iffue was really begotten by the fame man ; whereas, 

 by confining it to the birth, and not to the begetting, our 

 law has rendered it perfcdly certain, what child is legitimate, 

 and who is to take care of the child. 2. Becaufe the 

 Roman law, by which a child may be continued a baftard, 

 or made legitimate, at the option of the father and mother, 

 by a marriage " ex poft fafto," opens a door to many 

 frauds and partialities which our law prevents. 3. Becaufe 

 by thofe laws a man may remain a baftard till forty years of 

 age, and then become legitimate by the fubfequent marriage 

 ot his parents ; and thus the main end of man-iage, or the 

 proteftion of infants, is totally fruftrated. 4. Becaufe this 

 rule of the Roman law admits of no limitations as to the 

 time or number of baftards fo to be legitimated ; but a 

 dozen of them may, 20 years after their birth, by the fub- 

 fequent marriage of their parents, be admitted to all the 

 privileges of legitimate children. This is plainly a great 

 difcouragement to the matrimonial ftate ; to which one 

 principal inducement is ufually not only the defire of having 

 childnui but alfo the defire of procreating lawful heirs. 



Whereas 



