Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/401

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BATAVIA BATES 381 BATAVIA, a village, capital of Genesee coun- ty, N. Y., 30 m. W. S. W. of Rochester, on Ton- awanda creek, the New York Central railroad, which here joins the Canandaigua, Batavia, and Tonawanda branch, the Batavia and Attica railroad, and the Buffalo division of the Erie road ; pop. in 1870, 3,890. It contains churches of various denominations, 2 banks, and 3 news- paper offices. The state institution for the blind, erected here in 1869, is one of the finest public edifices of the state. BATAVIAN REPl'BLIC, the name given to Hol- land after its conquest by the French in 1795, and the organization of a republic, May 16, by the French faction in that country. The new republic was obliged to cede to its conquerors some of the southern portions of its territory, included in which were the cities of Maestricht and Venloo, to pay France 100,000,000 florins, and to receive French garrisons into its for- tified places. The Batavian constitution was modified in 1801 and 1805, and at length the legislative body, urged by Napoleon, changed the republic into a kingdom, and offered the crown to Louis Bonaparte, who, on June 5, 1806, was proclaimed king of Holland. BATCHIAJV, or Hal.jan. one of the northern group of the Molucca or Spice Islands, in lat. 35' S., Ion. 127 85' E., between the islands of Gilolo and Tawali, separated from the latter by a narrow strait ; area, 800 sq. m. A low isthmus, on which is the small town of Batchian, connects the N. and S. parts of the island, both of which are mountainous, while the S. portion is volcanic. There are some navigable streams, alluvial plains, and luxuriant palm forests. The clove tree grows wild. The interior of the island is uninhabited, but on the coast there are a few Portuguese, Malays, and Indians driven from neighboring islands. Gold, cop- per, and coal are found in the north. The Dutch extend their authority over the island, but the government is administered by a native sultan. BATEMAN, Kate Josephine, an American ac- tress, born in Baltimore, Md., Oct. 7, 1843. At three years of age she made her d6but upon the stage at Louisville, Ky., as one of the "Babes in the Wood" in a piece of that name; and during the next 10 years, in company with her younger sister Ellen, she acted with great suc- cess in many parts of the United States and England. The children developed remarkable talent, and in such juvenile pieces as "The Gay Couple," written specially for them, in- variably drew large audiences. In 1856 Kate retired from the stage, but reappeared as a star actress in New York in 1860 in "Evange- line," a drama written by her mother. In December, 1862, she made her first appear- ance in Boston as Leah, a part peculiarly iden- tified with her, and which she subsequently frequently performed in Great Britain and the United States. In London it was repeated 211 nights in 1863-'4. In October, 1866, she was married to George Crowe, M. D., of London. In 1872 she appeared in London with marked success as Medea in a play of that name. BATEJflTES. See ASSASSINS. BATES, a W. county of Missouri, on the Kan- sas frontier, watered by the Osage river and its tributaries ; area, 1,000 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 15,960, of whom 120 were colored. The sur- face is chiefly rolling prairie. The chief pro- ductions in 1870 were 104,533 bushels of wheat, 910,266 of Indian corn, 168,621 of oats, 47,118 of potatoes, and 25,350 Ibs. .of wool. There were 7,331 horses, 1,038 mules and asses, 5,507 milch cows, 11,798 other cattle, 11,294 sheep, and 21,701 swine. Capital, Butler. BATES, Barnabas, a promoter of cheap postage in the United States, born at Edmonton, Eng- land, in 1785, died in Boston, Oct. 11, 1853. He came to America at an early age, became a Baptist preacher in Rhode Island, and was for a time collector of the port of Bristol. In 1825 he established in New York the " Chris- tian Inquirer," a weekly journal. Afterward, while acting as assistant in the post office at New York, he became interested in the ques- tion of cheap postage. He investigated the subject for years, wrote, published pamphlets, and lectured, and finally effected a material re- duction in the rates of land postage. He was endeavoring to obtain a corresponding reform in ocean postage at his death. BATES, Edward, LL. D., an American states- man and jurist, born in Goochland co., Va., Sept. 4, 1793, died in St. Louis, Mo., March 25, 1869. He emigrated in 1814 to Missouri with his elder brother Frederick, then secretary of the territory, commenced the practice of law, and became eminent at the bar. He was a leading member of the legislature of Missouri for many years, nnder the territorial and state govern- ments, as well as of the convention which framed the constitution of the state, and he represented the state in the 20th congress (1827-'9). He was however but little known out of his own state when the internal im- provement convention met at Chicago in 1847, before which he delivered an address which gave him a national reputation. Efforts were made to bring him back to political life, but he would neither be a candidate for office in Mis- souri, nor accept a place offered him in the cabinet of President Fillmore. Mr. Bates was the friend of Henry Clay in 1824, and followed him in supporting the administration and in advocating the reelection of Mr. Adams. In 1854 he was an opponent of the repeal of the Missouri compromise, and afterward opposed the admission of Kansas under the Lecompton constitution. He presided at the whig national convention at Baltimore in 1856, was strongly supported as a candidate for president in the republican national convention at Chicago in 1860, and was United States attorney general under the administration of President Lincoln, which office he resigned in 1864. BATES, Joshua, an English banker, born at Weymouth, Mass., in 1788, died in London,