Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 01.djvu/550

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BAVABIA 450 BAXTER tution, adopted on Aug. 14, 1919, Ba- varia became a free state, with universal, equal, direct, secret and proportional suffrage. There is one Chamber, elected for 4 years, one member for every 40,000 inhabitants. The supreme power lies with the people and is exercised by the Cabinet as a whole. The church is sep- arated from the state. Hlstoi-y. — The Bavarians take their name from the Boii, a Celtic tribe whose territory was occupied by a confedera- tion of Germanic tribes, called after their predecessors, Boiarii. These were made tributary first to the Ostrogoths, and then to the Franks; and on the death of Charlemagne his successors governed the country by lieutenants, with the title of Margrave, afterward converted (in 921) into that of Duke. In 1070 Bavaria passed to the family of the Guelphs, and in 1180 by imperial grant to Otho, Count of Wittelsbach, founder of the dynasty that reigned until 1918. In 1623 the Duke was made one of the Electors of the Empire. Elector Maximilian II. joined in the war of the Spanish succession on the side of France, and this led, after the battle of Blenheim, 1704, to the loss of his dominions for the next 10 years. His son, Charles Albert, likewise lost his dominions for a time to Austria, but they were all recovered again by Charles' son, Maximilian III. (1745). In the wars following the French Revolution, Bavaria was in a difficult position be- tween France and Austria, but latterly joined Napoleon, from whom its Elector, Maximilian IV., received the title of King (1805), a title afterward confirmed by the treaties of 1814 and 1815. King Maximilian I. was succeeded by his son, Ludwig (or Louis) I., under whom vari- ous circumstances helped to quicken a de- sire for political change. Reform being refused, tumults arose in 1848, and Lud- wig resigned in favor of his son, Max- imilian II., under whom certain modifica- tions of the constitution were carried out. At his death in 1864, he was succeeded by Ludwig II. In the war of 1866, Bavaria sided with Austria, and was compelled to cede a small portion of its territory to Prussia, and to pay a war indemnity of $12,500,000. Soon after, Bavaria en- tered into an alliance with Prussia, and in 1867 joined the Zollverein. In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, the Bavarians took a prominent part, and it was at the request of the King of Ba- varia, on behalf of all the other princes and the Senates of the free cities of Germany, that the King of Prussia agreed to accept the title of Emperor of Germany. Since January, 1871, Ba- varia has been a part of the German Empire. The eccentricity early dis- played by Ludwig II. developed to such an extent that in June, 1886, he was placed under control, and a regency es- tablished under Prince Luitpold. The change was almost immediately fol- lowed by the suicide of the King, and as Prince Otto, the brother and heir of the late King, was insane, his uncle Luitpold became regent. His son Louis succeeded him December, 1912, and was proclaimed King as Ludwig III, in 1913. In November, 1918, a revolutionary up- rising forced Ludvdg to abdicate and Bavaria became a republic. BAX, ERNEST BELFORT, an Eng- lish socialist, born in Leamington, July 23, 1854; was educated in London and Germany; followed journalism in Ger- many as foreign correspondent in 1880- 1881; and returning to England, became one of the founders of the English so- cialist movement. In 1885 he aided in starting the Socialist League. Subse- quently, he resigned from the league and joined the Social Democratic Federation, and for a time also edited its organ, "Justice." His publications include "Jean-Paul Marat" (1878); "Kant's Prolegomena, etc." (1882) ; "Religion of Socialism" (1886) ; "Ethics of Social- ism" (1889) ; "French Revolution" (1890); "Outlooks from the New Stand- point" (1891); "The Problem of Real- ity" (1893) ; "German Society at the Close of the Middle Ages" (1894); "Outspoken Essays on Social Subjects" (1897) ; "The Peasants' War in Ger- many" (1899) ; "Impressions and Reflec- tions" (1918); etc. BAXTER, RICHARD, an English Nonconformist preacher and theological writer, born in Shropshire in 1615. He early entered the Church, and, taking sides with the Parliamentary party, be- came chaplain to one of the regiments of the Commonwealth, accompanyin.^ the troops in every conflict in the Civil War. It was while so employed that he wrote his first book, the "Saint's Rest." The Restoration and the Act of conformity drove Baxter into retirement, and shut him out of the pulpit, during which time he wrote his second book, **The Call." After much persecution, he. then 70 years old, was brought before Judge Jeffreys, who fined him £500, with im- prisonment till paid. His most popular books are the "Saint's Everlasting Rest," "Dying Thoughts," and "Call to the Unconverted." His theological views are set forth in the "Methodus Theologise," and "Catholic Theology"; and he has left an account of his life in the "Reliquiae Baxterianffi." He died Dec. 8, 1691.