Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/423

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

BAVAY BAXTER 403 clared war against Prussia in ] 870, ho counted upon the aid'or at least the neutrality of the southern states of Germany ; but Bavaria speedily entered into a close alliance with North Germany, placing her whole military force at the disposal of the Prussian king, and the Bavarian corps bore a distinguished part in the whole campaign. King Louis took the initiative in the measures which led to the establishment of the German empire. Toward the close of the year he wrote to the king of Saxony and several other princes, urging the consolidation of Germany under the king of Prussia as emperor. In becoming a part of the empire, January, 1871, Bavaria reserved some special rights as to her domestic autono- my, the control of her army, and representa- tion abroad. The opposition among the Cath- olic clergy to the decision of the oecumenical council found in 1870 its foremost exponent in Dr. Dollinger, now rector of the university of Munich, and Bavaria has since been the prin- cipal battle ground of Old Catholicism. BAVAY, or Baval, a town of France, in the department of Nord, 13 m. E. S. E. of Valen- ciennes; pop. in 1866, 1,646. The town occu- pies the site of the ancient Bagacum or Baga- num, the capital of the Nervii before the con- quest of Gaul by Caesar, and an important mil- itary post under the Romans till the end of the 4th century. The remains of an aqueduct, an amphitheatre, and ruined fortifications are among its many remarkable relics of the past ; and it is the point of union of seven still existing Roman roads, called the Chaussees de Brune- haut. Its manufactures are glass, earthen and hardware, iron implements, and sugar. l!Am (Malay, tabi, hog; Javanese, bavi, hog's abode), an island about 50 m. N. of Java and Madura, in lat. 5 49' 8., Ion. 112 44' E. ; area, 42 sq. m. ; pop. about 35,000, or more than 800 to the sq. m. The soil is of volcanic formation, like that of Java, and equally pro- ductive, and yet the island imports annually from Java and Bali about 2,000 tons of rice for the consumption of the inhabitants, who are chiefly fishermen and traders. The inhabitants speak a Madura dialect, and are undoubtedly descendants of colonists from that island. They are a simple, industrious people, and crimes against person and property are rare. Their chief exports are small horses for Java, and tripang for China, for which they take in ex- change tools, unwrought iron, and coarse do- mestic cloths. The wild hog is abundant, but not a single carnivorous animal is to be found except the tansgidung, a species of civet cat. Hot springs abound, and here grows the valu- able teak tree. There is a roadstead in a small bay on its S. coast, near the town of Sangya- pura (city of imagination). It IU It. Alexandrine Sophie Conry de fhampgrand, baroness de, a French dramatist and novelist, born in Stuttgart in 1773, died in Paris, Jan. 1, 1861. She received lessons in musical com- position from Gretry. She married when still young the count de St. Simon, the founder of the Saint Simonian school. Her husband, thinking her unfit to be the wife of the first man in the world, sued for a divorce, which was granted. Left to her own resources, Alex- andrine composed songs (romances), and after- ward wrote plays under the assumed name of M. Francois. In 1800 she married the wealthy baron de Bawr, with whom she lived for a few months in happy retirement; but a frightful accident carried him off suddenly ; and a little later her fortune having been lost, she wrote some novels and plays which brought her both money and fame. Some of her plays are still occasionally performed, and her novels, Le no- tice, Baoul, ou Vfineide, &c., were successful. BAXTER, Andrew, a Scottish metaphysician and philosopher, born at Aberdeen in 1686 or 1687, died at Wittingham in 1750. He was a teacher of private pupils, gentlemen of rank, with whom he frequently travelled on the con- tinent, spending some years in Utrecht. His greatest work is " An Inquiry into the Nature of the Human Soul, wherein its Immateriality is evinced from the Principles of Reason and Philosophy" (4to, 1730; 3d and best ed., 2 vols. 8vo, London, 1745; appendix, 1750). In this treatise some opinions are advanced which were more thoroughly argued by Priestley. In a later work, entitled Matho, sive Cosmotheoria Puerilis (2 vols. 8vo and 12mo), he attempted to simplify questions of science, and adapt them to the capacity of children. He left behind him many unfinished treatises. As a student he was indefatigable, spending whole nights in literary toil. BAXTER, Richard, an English nonconformist clergyman and theological writer, born at Row- ton, Shropshire, Nov. 12, 1615, died in Lon- don, Dec. 8, 1691. His early bias was toward religious meditation and exercises of piety; and this bias was confirmed by his research in the library of Mr. Wickstead, chaplain of the Ludlow council. A brief trial of life at court confirmed him in his determination to become a preacher ; and after a short interval of teach- ing, during which his preparatory studies were diligently prosecuted, he was ordained at Dud- ley, at the age of 23. Two years later he be- came the minister of the important town of Kidderminster, where he was held in high es- teem, notwithstanding his refusal to take the ecclesiastical oath. In the civil wars which soon after broke out, he took sides with the parliament, was chaplain in Whalley's regi- ment, and led for some years an unsettled life. He had no sympathy with the assumption of supreme power by Cromwell, and advocated the return of Charles II. to his father's throne. In return for his services to the cause of legiti- macy, he was made one of the chaplains of the restored monarch, and was offered a bishopric, which his conscientious scruples about con- formity compelled him to decline. His favor with the king, however, could not shield him from persecution. He was prohibited from