tal potassium
0), forms the
n, the B. soda
oxide of lead
feature of a
acid, such as
7.). Thus, the
ric acid (SO,)
sh (KOSO,);
he salt nitrate
onally sulphur
us, the metal
) to form the
1 (KS), which
sulpharsenious
» salt sulphar-
metal half of
but may be a
e, plays the
the compound
ygen to form
B. thus pro-
vith. acids to
or insoluble in
, soda (NaO),
tia (StO), lime
or less soluble
> rust (Fe,0,),
red oxide of
er, bub soluble
oundation), in
, by whatever
he B., next to
, the freest in
Its movement
d, and undis-
circumscribed
v, the B. is the
1ing more fre-
» chords, while
, and effective
(q. v.).—B. is
pest quality of
a B. voice is
. should all be
he old masters
ecially Handel
to shew itself
rally a change
also the name
rom five to six
sic, and played
dle instrument
110, but is now
is the deepest-
Military Man-
e general of an
magazine. An
od, forage, and
consumption 18
indispensable.
accompany the
he commander
some place of
wust have some
ice through the
e advantages, a
BASE-COURT—BASEL.
B. of O.is necessary. It may be a port, a stretch
of sea-coast, a river, a mountain-range, according
to circumstances ; but it must be such as to serve as
a magazine of supply, a place for retreat under
disaster, and the end of a line of open communi-
cation extending to the spot occupied by the army.
When Lord Raglan and Marshal St Arnaud
advanced from the Alma towards Sebastopol, in
September 1854, they intended to attack the great
fortress on the north side; but the tactics of the
Russians prevented this; andithe allies, changing
their plan, resolved on the celebrated flank-march to
Balaklava, by which they secured the whole coast
from Balaklava to Kamiesch as a B. of O. during
the siege of Sebastopol. See Baraxrava. 1In
the military contests arising out of the Indian
mutiny, in 1857 and 1858, Cawnpore was the chief
B. of O. whence Havelock, Outram, and Clyde made
those advances towards Lucknow which led ulti-
mately to the suppression of the revolt. In the
Italian war of 1859, the Austrian B. of O. was very
fluctuating, owing in part to the disaffected state
of the Lombard population around the great for-
tresses of Mantua, Peschiera, &c.; and indeed the
only reliable base was furnished by the Eastern and
Tyrolese Alps. The French and Sardinian base, in
the same war, was virtually Genoa, and the line
of country extending thence to the great stronghold
of Alessandria.
BA'SE-COURT (basse-cour), the outer court of
a feudal mansion, which contained the stable-yard
and accommodation for servants. It was distinct
from the principal quadrangle, and was sometimes
constructed of timber.
BA'SEDOW, Jon. BERNH. (properly, Joh. Berend
Bassedau, or Bernh. von Nordalbingen, as he is
often called), a remarkable educationist of the 18th
c., was born, 8th September 1723, at Hamburg,
where his father was a peruke-maker. He attended
the Johanneum there from 1741 to 1744, and after-
wards studied philosophy and theology in Leipsic,
from which he went in 1746 as a private tutor to
Holstein. In the year 1753, he was appointed a
master in the academy for young noblemen at
Sorde. In 1761 he was removed from the Gymna-
sium at Altona on account of heterodox opinions.
Rousseau’s Hmile awakened in him, in 1762, the
thought of improving the method of education, and of
reducing to practice Rousseau’s maxims and those of
Comenius. Contributions from princes and private
persons, amounting to 15,000 thalers (about £2171
sterling), covered the cost of his Elementarwerk,
which, after the most pompous announcements,
appeared as an Orbis Pictus, with 100 copper-plates
by Chodowiecki, and was translated into French
and Latin. Therein the young receive a large num-
ber of representations of the actual world, whereby
B. sought at once to delight the eyes, and to awaken
a sentiment of cosmopolitanism, at which his whole
method aimed. As a model school on this method,
he established in 1774 the Philanthropin at Dessau,
to which place he had been called in 1771. His rest-
lessness of disposition, and the quarrels in which he
was involved, especially with his active but capri-
cious coadjutor Wolke, caused him to leave the
Philanthropin; but he proceeded with as much
eagerness as ever in endeavours to give effect to
his ideas by educational works, which, however,
aimed more at popularity than solidity, until, after
many changes of residence, he died at Magdeburg,
25th July 1790. His influence on the public mind
of his age, particularly in Germany, was very
great. He has been justly reproached with disparag-
Ing the ancients, a consequence chiefly of his own
want of sound scholarship, and with a multitude of
exaggerations, mistakes, and conceits; yet it cannot
be disputed that his numerous philosophical and
educational works powerfully awakened attention
and interest in the much-neglected subject of educa-
tion, and that he set many excellent ideas and
weighty truths in rapid circulation among men.
BA'SEL, or BA'SLE (Fr. Bdle), a city and canton
of Switzerland. The canton was divided in 1833
into two sovereign half-cantons, called Basel-city
(Basel-stadt, or Basle-ville) and Basel-country
(Basel-landschaft, or Basle-campagne), each having
half a vote in the diet. The half-canton of Basel-
city consists only of the city, with its precincts, and
three villages on the right bank of the Rhine; the
remainder of the canton forms the half-canton of
Basel-country. The canton of B. is bounded by
France and Baden, and by the cantons of Aargau,
Soleure, and Berne, and has, according to different
estimates, an extent of from 170 to about 200 square
miles. Lying on the northern slope of the Jura, it
is a country of hills and valleys. The mountains
attain an elevation of from 2000 to 3000 feet. The
chief rivers of B. are the Rhine (which flows through
the north part of the canton) and its tributaries, the
Birz, and Ergloz. The soil is fertile and well culti-
vated. The climate, except in elevated situations,
is very mild. The inhabitants are chiefly employed
in agriculture, the cultivation of fruit-trees and of
the vine, cattle-husbandry, fishing, salt-works, the
manufacture of ribbons (which are manufactured to
the value of #£400,000 sterling annually), paper,
woollens, linens, and leather. The transit trade is
very considerable.
The city of B. arose out of the Roman fortified post
of Basilia or Basiliana, near Augusta Rauracorum,
of which once more important place the little village
of Augst, near B., exhibits a few ruins. On the divi-
sion of the Frank Empire, the district of B. fell to
Louis or Ludwig the German. The Emperor Henry
I, in the earlier part of the 10th c., rebuilt the
town, which had been destroyed. It then became a
place of importance, and belonged for a time to Bur-
gundy, but after 1032 formed part of the German
empire. It became at an early period the seat of a
bishop, who, from the 11th c., shared in the supreme
power with the imperial governor, a number of
noble families, and the burgesses. Amidst many
internal and external disturbances, the power of the
nobility was gradually broken, that of the bishop
restricted, and the authority of the burgesses
extended. Surrounding towns were also destroyed,
or conquered, and purchased, along with their terri-
tories, so that the city extended its dominion over a
country district which until very recently was kept
in a state of dependence and subjection. Involved
in many feuds with the House of Hapsburg, B.
closely allied itself to the Swiss confederacy; and
after the peace between the Emperor Maximilian I.
and the confederacy, B. formally joined it in 1501.
From 1519 onwards, the writings of Luther were
printed in B.; and at the end of twenty years from
that time, the reformed doctrine had become gene-
rally prevalent, the chapter of the cathedral had
left the city, and the convents had been suppressed.
After the union with Switzerland, the triumph of the
burgess party became also more complete, part of the
nobility emigrated, and those who remained were
placed upon the same level with the freemen of the
municipal corporation. Orderly industry, economy,
and an external severity of manners, became the
characteristics of the citizens; but the peace of the
city was not unfrequently disturbed by strifes con-
sequent upon the assertion of what was deemed
undue authority by the magistrates. The govern-
ment of the city, to which the whole canton was
subject, was intrusted to a Great and 3_21541tt1e
