Bassa'no, Hugues

BERNARD MARET, DUKE DE, a cele brated French publicist and statesman, B. at Dijon, 1763. On the first outburst of the French revolution he enthusiastically embraced its principles, published the Bulletin de l'A emblée, and soon after was appointed editor of the Moniteur. He became acquainted with Bonaparte, and was made by him chef de division in the ministry of foreign affairs. In 1792 he was sent te England, ostensibly to secure the neutrality of the British government, but in reality to hoodwink that government until the moment should arrive at which it could be efficiently a ailed. But the English minister of that day was too clear-sighted even for French diplomacy. Both Maret and the French amba ador, Chauvelin, were peremptorily ordered out of England; and the former, soon after his return home, was sent as amba ador to Naples, but was captured on his way thither by the Austrians, and detained as prisoner till 1795. Maret took an active part in the intrigues set on foot for the overthrow of the Directory, and when the establishment of the Consulate crowned the succe of these intrigues, he was made secretary to the council of state. Subsequently he was private secretary to Napoleon, to whose dictation, it is said, not a few of the articles in the Moniteur were written. In 1811, Maret was created Duke de Ba ano, and appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs; and in 1812 he conducted and signed the treaties between France, Austria, and Pru ia, preparatory to the fatal expedition to Ru ia. When the emperor was sent to Elba, in 1814, B. retired from public life; but immediately after Napoleon's return he joined him, and was very nearly being taken prisoner at Waterloo. On the emperor's final overthrow, the Duke was banished from France, but at the revolution of July, 1830, he was recalled, and restored to all his honors. In 1838 he was made Minister of the Interior, and President of the Council, but the ministry of which he formed a part of the prison, in such a manner as to cover the victim survived only three days. D. 1839. Ba e, n. ( Zool .) See Ba . Ba e-Chantante, ( bās's han -täng, n. [Fr.] (Mus.) The higher of the two ba es in a score, partaking of more melody, and performed by the violoncello. Bas's ein, a seaport of Hindostan, prov. of Aurunga- bad; separated from Salsette by a narrow channel, and about 50 m. N. of Bombay. Lat. 19° 20′ N.; Lon. 72°56′ E. It was ceded to the English by the Peishwa in 1862. Bas's ein, a British seaport town of Burmah, on the left bank of the Birman river (the right branch of the Ira- waddy); Lat. 16° 49′ N.; Lon. 94° 45′ E.; 100 m. W. of Rangoon, and 360 S.S.W. of Ava. Pop . about 5,000. Ba et'to, n. [It., Counter-tenor.] ( Mus . ) A small ba - viol; a tenor instrument. Bas's ett's Creek, in Alabama , takes a S.W. course through Clark co., into Tombigbee River. Bas's ett's Station, in Wisconsin, a post-office of Kenosha co. with blood. On the 18th Aug., 1849, a little before dawn, B. was taken to a deserted field adjoining the cemetery of Bologna, to be shot. He was pale but firm; and while the soldiers were taking aim, he said, "I die in- nocent-I die for liberty-I forgive my murderers. Viva Jesu! viva Maria! viva"- but the word "Italia" was lost, stifled by the bullets of the Croats. His mother heard of her son's fate without a tear. Three times she repeated his name, and then expired.- B. was the author of a work on The Church after the Image of Christ, and an unfinished poem called, Const an tine, or the Triumph of the Cro . His talents were universal. He was an accomplished musician and composer, wrote his own language in remarkable perfection, and was a perfect master of Greek, Latin, English, and French. He was equally remarkable for his personal beauty, and his eloquence as an improvisatore, while his memory was so prodigious, that he is said to have been capable of reciting the whole of Dante's Divina Com media. Ba ia, ( bas'se -a,) n. ( Bot .) A genus of plants, order Sapotacea. The species are trees; natives of tropical or sub-tropical regions. They are remarkable for their fleshy flowers and oily seeds. In India, the fatty oils procured from the ripe kernels of B. latifolia , the Madhuca-tree, and B. long i folia , the Elloopa-tree, are made use of for burning in lamps, for culinary purposes, for making soap, and, medicinally, for external applica- tions in cutaneous affections. The fleshy flowers and fruits are used as food, and from the former an alcoholic liquor is distilled. The wood of B. long i folia and other species is very hard and durable. The Shea or Galam butter, which forms an important article of internal commerce in Central Africa, is thought by some to be the produce of a species of ba i a. Bas's ic Acid, n. (Chem.) A crystalline, fatty acid, ex- tracted from the fat of Ba ia latifolia and Cocculus in- dicus . Fusing point, 1590. Bas's inet, n. [Fr.] A kind of hooded wicker-basket, somewhat resembling a cradle, in which infants are placed for repose. Ba Lake, in Minnesota , a post-office of Faribault co. Bas'so. n. [It.] ( Mus . ) A ba -singer. See Ba . Ba o-profundo is the chief singer of deep ba , in oratorio or opera music, . Bas's ock, n. A mat. The same as Ba , q. v. Bas som pierre, ( bas's om - pe - air ,) FRANÇOIS DE, Mar- shal of France, one of the most distinguished and most amiable men of the courts of Henry IV. and Louis XIII., was born in 1579, in Lorraine, and descended from a branch of the family of Cleves. After travelling through Italy, he appeared at the court of Henry IV., where his taste for splendor, play, and gallantry made him conspicuous in the feasts and sports of the capital. In 1602, he made his first campaign against the Duke of Savoy, and fought with equal distinction, in the follow- ing year, in the imperial army, against the Turks. His love of France soon called him back. In 1622, Louis XIII. appointed him marshal of France, and became so much attached to him, that Luynes, the declared favor- ite, alarmed at his growing influence, insisted upon his removal from the court, leaving him the option to ac- cept either an emba y, or the chief command of an army, or the office of a governor. B. decided upon an emba y, and occupied this post succe ively in Spain, Switzerland, and England. After his return, he entered again into the military service, and was present at the sieges of Rochelle and Montauban. Cardinal de Riche- lieu, who soon after obtained entire control of the king and the country, feared the boldne of B. and his se- cret connection with the house of Lorraine; whose machinations served him as a pretext for sending B. , in 1631, to the Bastille, from which he was not released till 1643, after the death of the cardinal. During his deten- tion, he occupied himself with writing his memoirs, and the history of his emba ies, which shed much light on the events of that time. D. 1646. Ba oon, ( bas - soon ',) n. [Fr. ba on , from bas , low, grave; It. ba o .] (Mus) A wind instrument which serves for a ba ; it is made of wood, and played by means of a bent mouth-piece and reed. It is believed to have been first introduced into use by Handel, as an aid to the hautboy, which it so closely resembles in tone as to make it the natural ba of that instrument. The compa of the B. extends from double B flat up to B flat in alt., 3 octaves; including all the intermediate semi- tones except B natural. When the B. ascends very high, the notes are generally written in the tenor clef.- The ba -horn is a modification of this instrument, much lower and stronger in its tones. Ba oon'ist, n. A player or per- former on the ba oon. Bas's ora, Bas'RA, BUS'SORA, or Bus'- RAH, ( bas'o - ra .) [Ar., a margin.] A city of Asiatic Turkey, in the pashalic of Bagdad; the most eastern place of note in the Turkish dominions, and the prin- cipal port of the Persian Gulf, on the S.W. bank of the Euphrates, or, as it is here called, the Shat - ul - Arab , ("River of the Arabs,") 70 m. from its mouth, and 45 below its junction with the Tigris, 270 m. S.E. of Bagdad, and 220 W.N.W. of Bu- shire. Lat. 30° 29′ 30′′ N.; Lon. 47°34′ 15" E. The walls, which are washed by the river, are about 7 m. in circum- ference, within which space are extensive date-tree plan- Ba 's Strait, the name given to the strait separating S. Australia from Tasmania, or Van Diemen's Land. It is so called from Mr. Ba , an English naval surgeon, who explored it in 1798, in an open boat. Where narrowest, it is about 105 m. acro , and is much encumbered with islands and coral reefs, requiring careful navigation. The prevailing winds are from the W. The tide rises from 8 to 12 ft., running at from 14 to 34 m. an hour. Ba -vi'ol, n. (Mus.) See VIOLONCELLO. Ba '-wood, n. ( Bot . ) See TILIA.