To and threatened him with the severest papal censures. which Fulk replied, "The king and the pope, though they cannot justly, yet, as being stronger than me, may force my bishopric from me; they may take away the mitre, but the helmet will remain :" and this steadiness, and the decree of the council, totally disconcerted the scheme. In 1256, this prelate began to build the church of St. Faith, near St. Paul's, on the spot which king John had formerly given to the bishops and chapter of Loudon for a market. In the latter part of his life he is said to have inclined to the side of the barons. But we have only the authority of Matthew Paris for this, while bishop Godwin informs us that our other historians, who acknowledge Basset to have been a good man, and a wise, pious, and vigilant pastor, censure him for not joining the barons, but remaining faithful to his prince. He died of the plague in 1259, having sat near fifteen years from the time of bis consecration, and was buried May 25, in St. Paul's church. Bishop Basset founded two chantries in his cathedral church, near the altar of the blessed virgin, for himself and his father and mother. He also bequeathed to his church a golden apple, two rich chests for relics, some ecclesiastical vestments, and several books relating to church matters.1 BASSET (PETER), esq. a gentleman of a good family, and a writer in the fifteenth century, was chamberlain, or gentleman of the privy chamber, to king Henry V. on whom he was a constant attendant and an eye-witness of most of his glorious actions both at home and abroad; all which he particularly described. Beginning at his tenderest years, he gave a full and exact account of Henry's several expeditions into France; his glorious victories, large conquests, and illustrious triumphs in that kingdom; his advantageous and honourable peace with Charles VI.; his marriage with the princess Catherine, his coronation at Paris: and, finally, his death, and the coronation of king Henry VI. his son and successor. These several remarkable events Peter Basset comprized in one volume, which he entitled "The Actes of King Henry V." This book was never printed; and was said to be extant in manuscript in the college of heralds, and perhaps in some other 1 Biog. Brit. places; but upon the closest examination it appears that he is originally quoted only by Edward Hall, in his Chronicle, and perhaps by Bale. What has been quoted out of his writings, either by Mr. Thomas Goodwin in his "History of the Reign of Henry the Fifth," or by other historians within that period, is visibly borrowed from Hall. Dr. Nicolson mentions Basset only upon the authority of Pits, who had taken his account from Bale. In one particular he differs from the rest of king Henry the Fifth's historians: for whereas Monstrelet says that that prince died of a St. Anthony's fire; others, of a fever and dysentery; or of the disease of St. Fiacre, which is a flux accompanied with the hæmorrhoids; Basset, who was with him at the time of his decease, affirms that he died of a pleurisy. Basset flourished about the year 1430, under the reign of Henry VI.1 BASSEVILLE (N. I. HUGON DE), a Frenchman, who was, unfortunately for him, sent to Rome as ambassador. At the commencement of the revolution he was editor of the journal called the "Mercure," with Mallet-Dupan, and afterwards of the "Journal d'etat et du citoyen," begun by Carra. Having made diplomatic affairs his particular study, he was sent to Rome, in 1792, as envoy extraordinary, but was so unpopular as to be insulted in that city whenever he made his appearance. At length, on Jan. 13, 1793, the populace, irritated at his wearing the French cockade, pelted him with stones until he reached the house of the banker, Monette, where he received a wound from one of the mob, which proved fatal in about twenty-four hours. Not content with this murder, the insurgents set fire to the French academy des eleves in Rome, and insulted many of the students. It is said that this insurrection was occasioned by the substitution of a new coat of arms, probably in the taste of the French revolutionists. Basseville was a member of several academies, and wrote: 1. "Elemens de Mythologie," 8vo. 2. "Precis historique sur la vie du Genevois Lefort, principal ministre de Pierre-le-Grand, grand amiral de Russie," 1786. 3. "Memoires historiques et politiques sur la Revolution de France," 1790, 2 vols. 8vo. BASSI. See POLIZIANO. BASSI (LAURA MARIA CATHERINA), the wife of Dr. Joseph Verati, a very ingenious lady, was born in 1712, 2 Dict. Historique. 1 Biog. Brit. 1 and died at Bologna, of which she was a native, in 1778. Such were her acknowledged talents and learning, that, in 1732, she was honoured with a Doctor's degree, after having disputed publicly in Latin, and her reputation became afterwards completely established by a course of lectures on experimental philosophy, which she delivered from 1745 to the time of her death. Madame de Bocage, in her "Letters on Italy," informs us that she attended one of those lectures, in which Madame Bassi developed the phenomena of irritability, with precision and depth. The greater part of the literati of Europe, to whom she was well known, bore testimony to her learning, particularly in the Greek, Latin, French, and Italian; nor was she less distinguished for her numerous exertions of charity to the poor and the orphan. We do not find that she published any thing, but was the theme of much poetical praise. A collection of these tributes of applause appeared in 1732, with her portrait, and an inscription, "L. M. C. Bassi, Phil. Doct. Coll. Academ. Institut. Scientiar. Societ. Etat. Ann. xx." and with the following allusion to Petrarch's Laura: Laura, vale, ingenio quæ et carmine nota Petrarchæ. BASSIANUS. See LANDUS. 1 BASSIUS (HENRY), a surgeon and anatomist of considerable reputation, was born at Bremen in 1690, whence, in 1713, he went to Halle, and studied medicine under the ablest professors. In 1715 he removed to Strasburgh, and afterwards to Basle, where he confined his researches entirely to anatomy and surgery. In 1718 he took his doctor's degree at Halle, and some time after was appointed professor extraordinary of anatomy and surgery, which office he held until his death, in 1754. He pub-, lished: 1. "Disputatio de Fistula ani feliciter curanda," Halle, 1718. This was his inaugural thesis; and Haller thought it so excellent a performance that he inserted it among his "Theses," and Macquart translated it into French, Paris, 1759, 12mo. In this treatise he discovers a considerable degree of conformity between the practice of the ancients and moderns in the cure of the fistula. 2. "Grundlicher Beritcht oon bandagen, Leipsic, 1720, and 1723, 8vo, and translated into Dutch. 3. "Obser 1 Dict. Historique.-Republic of Letters, vol. XII. p. 318. 66 vationes anatomico-chirurgico-medicæ," Halle, 1731, 8vo. In this there are many judicious reflections and cases, accompanied by figures descriptive of some instruments of his invention. 4. Tractatus de morbis venereis," Leipsic, 1764, 8vo, a posthumous work. Bassius published also in German, "Notes on the Surgery of Nuck," Halle, 1728, 8vo.1 BASSOL (JOHN), a native of Scotland in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, applied in youth to the study of polite literature and philosophy, after which he studied divinity at Oxford, under Duns Scotus, with whom he went to Paris, in 1304. After continuing his studies for some time at that university, he entered into the order of the Minorites, in 1313. Being sent by the general of the order to Rheims, he studied medicine, and taught there for seven or eight years, with much credit, upon "the Master of the Sentences." In 1322 he was sent to Mechlin, in Brabant, where he spent the remainder of his days in teaching theology, and died in that city in the year 1347. We have of his, "Commentaria seu Lecturæ in quatuor Libros Sententiarum," Paris, 1517, fol. a work which was in such high reputation in his day as to procure him from his brethren the schoolmen the title of "Doctor Ordinatissimus," in allusion to his method and perspicuity. In the same volume are "Miscellanea Philosophica et Medica." BASSOMPIERRE (FRANÇOIS DE), colonel-general of the Swiss guards, and marshal de France in 1622, was born in Lorraine of a family of distinction, April 22, 1579. He served in the war of the Savoy in 1600, and in 1603 went into Hungary, where he was solicited to serve under the emperor, but he preferred the service of France. In 1617 he commanded the ordnance at the siege of ChateauPorcien, and a short time after was wounded at the siege of Rhetel. He served afterwards, as marshal of the camp, at the battle of Pont-de-Ce, the sieges of St. John d'Angeli, of Montpellier, &c. In 1622, when made a marshal of France, he was colonel of the Swiss, and at the same. time sent as ambassador extraordinary to Spain. In 1625 he served in the same capacity in Swisserland, and in 1626 in England. He was also at the siege of Rochelle, and, as on all other occasions, was distinguished for skill and 1 Dict. Hist.-Haller, Bibl. Anat. • Mackenzie's Scotch Writers, vol. I.—Cave, vol. II.-Dupin. 66 bravery, but the cardinal de Richelieu, who had to complain of his caustic tongue, and who dreaded all those by whom he thought he might one day be eclipsed, caused him to be imprisoned in the Bastille in 1631. Bassompierre had foreseen the ascendancy which the capture of Rochelle, the bulwark of the Protestants, would give to that minister; and therefore was heard to say on that occasion: "You will see that we shall be fools enough to take Rochelle." He passed the time of his confinement in reading and writing. One day as he was busily turning over the leaves of the Bible, Malleville asked him what he was looking for? "A passage that I cannot find," returned the marechal, "a way to get out of prison." Here also he composed his Memoirs," printed at Cologne in 1665, 3 vols. Like the generality of this sort of books, it contains some curious anecdotes, and a great many trifles. They begin at 1598, and terminate in 1631. His detention lasted twelve years, and it was not till after the death of Richelieu that he regained his liberty. There is also by him a "Relation of his Embassies," much esteemed, 1665 and 1668, 2 vols. 12mo; likewise "Remarks on the History of Louis XIII." by Dupleix, in 12mo, a work somewhat too satirical, but curious. Bassompierre lived till the 12th of October 1646, when he was found dead in his bed. He was a great dealer in bons mots, which were not always delicate. On his coming out of the Bastille, as he was become extremely corpulent, for want of exercise, the queen asked him, “Quand il accoucheroit ?" Quand j'aurais trouvé une sage femme," answered he; which will not bear a translation, as the wit turns on the double meaning of sage femme, which signifies either a midwife, or a sensible woman. Louis XIII. asked him his age, almost at the same time: he made himself no more than fifty. The king seeming surprised: "Sir," answered Bassompierre, "I subtract ten years passed in the Bastille, because I did not employ them in your service." Although he had been employed in embassies, negociation was not his principal talent; but he possessed other qualities that qualified him for an ambassador. He was a very handsome man, had great presence of mind, was affable, lively, and agreeable, very polite and generous. After his liberation from the Bastille, the duchess of Aiguillon, niece of the cardinal de Richelieu, offered him five hundred thousand livres to dispose of as he should think proper: "Madam," said Bassompierre, |