Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/458

442 reflect immortal honour on the British name. But his personal regard for Lord Somers, president of the council, suffered no abatement, although they were of different opinions in politics; and when Somers was deprived of office, Bathurst acted with such tenderness and delicacy as to preserve his esteem in a private station. In con sideration of his zeal and services, the queen, in 1711, advanced him to the peerage by the title of Baron Bathurst, of Battlesden, in Bedfordshire. In the Upper House he distinguished himself by impeaching the directors of the notorious South Sea scheme, and by resisting the bill brought in against Atterbury. He was a determined opponent of Sir Robert Walpole ; and when, after an obstinate struggle, that minister was forced to resign his various posts, Lord Bathurst was sworn of the privy council, and made captain of the gentlemen pensioners, an office which he resigned in 1744. In 1757 he was appointed treasurer to George III. (then Prince of Wales), and con tinued in the list of privy councillors at that monarch s accession to the throne ; but, on account of his advanced age, he declined to take any further part in politics. Lord Bathurst was not less distinguished as a patron of literature than as an active statesman. Congreve, Vanburgh, Swift. Prior, Howe, Addison, Pope, Arbuthnot, Gay, and most of the men of genius of his own time, cultivated his friendship, and were proud of his correspondence. . Pope, in his Epistle on the Use of Riches, which is addressed to Lord Bathurst, compliments his friend in some highly char acteristic lines. Sterne also speaks of him in terms of affectionate admiration. He received further elevation to an earldom in 1772, and lived to see his second son Henry promoted to the peerage by the title of Baron Apsley, and several years lord high chancellor of Great Britain. By his marriage with Catherine, daughter of Sir Peter Apsley, Lord Bathurst had four sons and five daughters. He died after a few days illness, at his seat near Cirencester, Sep tember 16, 1775, in the ninety-first year of his age.  BATHURST,, uncle of the preceding, was born in the year 1620. He studied divinity in Trinity College, Oxford ; but, on the breaking out of the civil war, he changed the course of his studies, and, applying himself to medicine, took the degree of doctor in that faculty. By dint of assiduous application, he soon rose to eminence in his profession; and in the time of the Commonwealth was appointed physician to the state. At the Restoration, however, he quitted the practice of physic ; was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, and president of his college ; and, having entered holy orders, was made chaplain to the king, and afterwards dean of Wells. Soon after, he filled the office of vice-chancellor of Oxford, and was nominated by King William and Queen Mary to the see of Bristol ; but this honour he declined. To the accomplishments of an orator, philosopher, and poet, he added an inexhaustible fund of wit. Ridicule of which he was an absolute master was the weapon with which he used to correct the delinquents of his college. His poetical pieces in the Musa Anglicanai are excellent of their kind ; he wrote also several other poems, both in English and Latin. He died June 14, 1704, in his eighty-fourth year. (Life and Remains, by Th. Warton, 1761.)  BATHYCLES, a Greek sculptor, born at Magnesia on the Mæander, known for his sculptures on the throne of the statue of Apollo at Amyclse near Sparta, which Pausanias saw and describes (iii. 18, 6). His date is uncertain, but cannot well be later than between 5G3-549 B.C. The statue itself existed before his time. For an attempt to reconstruct this throne see Brunn, Rhein. Museum (new series), vol. v. p. 325.  BATON-ROUGE, a town in the state of Louisiana, North America, situated on a bluff on the left bank of the Mississippi, 120 miles above New Orleans. It has a court house, state penitentiary, national arsenal and barracks, military hospital, deaf and dumb asylum, and state univer sity. Baton-Rouge was one of the first settlements of the French. In 1849 it was made the capital of the state, but has since given place to New Orleans. Occupied by the Federal troops after the capture of that city, it was defended in 1862 by General Williams against the attack of the Confederates under Breckenridge. Population in 1870, 6498.  BATONI,, a native of Lucca, who was regarded in Italy as a great painter in the 18th century, and who unquestionably did much to rescue the art from the intense mannerism into which it had fallen during the century preceding. His paintings, however, are not of the highest order of merit, though they are generally graceful, well designed, and harmoniously coloured. His best production is thought to be his group of Peace and War. Batoni painted an unusual number of pictures, and was also celebrated for his portraits. He was born in 1708, and died at Rome in 1787.  BATRACHIA. See, ..  BATRACHUS, according to Pliny (xxxvi. 42), the name of a Greek architect who, along with Sauras (both natives of Sparta), was employed by Metellus in the construction of certain temples in Rome. The story goes that, being forbidden to inscribe their names on the buildings, these two architects gained their end by placing the figures of a frog (batrachos) and a lizard (saura) on the base of the columns. But it is possible that the fanciful use of such figures for ornament in later times may have led to the invention of both the names.  BATTALION is the tactical unit of infantry. It is the term applied to the most numerous body of dismounted men which one commanding officer can personally superintend. It consists of from four to ten companies, is always commanded by a field officer, and has a normal war strength of about 1000 men. Two or more battalions con stitute a regiment ; two or more regiments a brigade ; two or more brigades a division; two or more divisions a corps d armce; and two or more corps d armee an army. In the British service, however, there are several regiments con sisting of but one battalion. See. <section end="BATTALION"/> <section begin="BATTAS"/>BATTAS, a people in the northern portion of Sumatra, which regards itself as the oldest in the island, and is dis tinguished by a pertinacious adherence to ancient customs. The Batta is of middle height, his colour is a light brown, and his hair is black and is worn long. He is dirty in his dress and dwelling, and eats any kind of food that presents itself, though he lives chiefly on rice. A little iron-work,, earthenware, and cloth constitute the only industrial products of the tribe. The houses are of wood, roofed with palm-leaf ribs ; and the villages are defended by earthen walls and bamboo palisades. The people show a very peaceful disposition, but are valorous when occasion demands. Cannibalism is practised.

Batta or Batak Language.—Up to the publication of Dr H. N. van der Tuuk s essay Over schrift en iiitspraak der Tobasche taal (1855), the first fruits of an eight years residence amongst the Battas, our knowledge of the Batak language was confined to lists of words more or less complete, chiefly to be found in Marsden s Miscellaneous Works, in Junghuhn s Battiilander, and in the Tijdschrift van het Bataviaasch Genootsclmp, vol. iii. (1855). By his exhaustive works (Bataksch Leesboek, in 4 vols., 1861-2; Bataksch-nederduitsch Woordenbock, 1861; Tobasche Spraak- kunst, 1864-7) that eminent Dutch savant has made the Batak language the most accessible of the various tongues spoken in Sumatra. According to him, the Batak language is nearest akin to the Old Javanese and Tagal, whereas a recent writer (A. Schreiber, Die Battas in ihrem VerJidltnis<section end="BATTAS"/>