Page:Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography Volume 1.pdf/735

BOS the use to be made of his guns, he ventured respectfully to oppose the plan, and to suggest a manœuvre by which the column could be extricated with very little loss. The plan was adopted, and the young lieutenant was charged with the movement. The result justified his calculations, and did honour to his military talent and judgment. The enemy was repulsed, and Bosquet thus laid the foundation of the high reputation which he ultimately enjoyed. Intended for the decoration of the legion of honour, his name was erased from the list proposed to the minister, and he did not receive the decoration. This flagrant injustice excited the generous indignation of his brother officers, who presented themselves in a body to the governor of Algeria, and demanded reparation. This energetic remonstrance succeeded, and Bosquet was decorated with the ribbon and star of the order by a special decision. Having attained the rank of a first lieutenant in 1836, and that of captain in 1839, he was appointed to the battalion of pontooners. Re-entering the artillery in 1841, he was soon afterwards promoted to the rank of chief of battalion of the native sharpshooters of Oran. In 1845 he attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and was appointed to the 15th light infantry. After some further changes, in 1848 we find him in command of the 16th regiment of the line; and having given his adhesion to the republican government then inaugurated, he was named general of brigade, and placed at the disposal of the governor of Algeria. He was present in most of the engagements which took place in Algeria during the last twenty years of the French occupation of that country. He was wounded in the battle of Sidi-Zackhdar in 1841, and again on the 11th of April, 1851, in forcing the pass of Ménagel, at the head of his brigade. By this brilliant achievement he inaugurated the war against the Kabyles, in a manner which at once gave earnest of success. Of all the French generals. Bosquet was the best acquainted with Algeria, and the wild hordes which so long occupied the French arms. Intimately acquainted with Arabic, he made the manners of the people and the physical constitution of the country the subjects of profound study. His aim was to insure the continued submission of the fierce spirits opposed to him by moderation and justice, when he had subdued them by his energy and courage in the field. When he left Algeria, one of the native tribes which had submitted to French domination presented him with a pair of richly-damascened spurs, made in the European style, as a mark of their friendship and esteem. No greater proof can be desired of his moderation and uprightness in power. He was scarcely less deserving of notice, in fact, for his courage and capacity as a military commander, than for the inflexible rectitude and elevated sentiment of his character. In 1853 he became a general of division, and was sent by Marshal St. Arnaud in the following year, in command of the second division of the expeditionary army on the banks of the Danube, in spite of his well-known republican sentiments; for he was one of those who most strongly opposed the establishment of the imperial regime in France. He shared with St. Arnaud, Canrobert, and Pelissier, the dangers and trials of the Crimean campaign of 1854-55. He was foremost in forcing the passage of the Alma, and was one of the two generals (the other being General Macmahon) whose successful assault on the Malakoff forced the Russians to evacuate Sebastopol. His conduct at the battle of Inkermann drew forth from Lord Raglan the highest commendation, and was honoured with a special vote of thanks by the British parliament. Made G.C.B. in 1855, he was, in 1857, created Marshal of France. Bosquet died in 1861.—E. W.  BOSQUILLON,, born at Montdidier in 1744, and died in 1816. Educated first by his father, and afterwards at a jesuit establishment in Paris, he took a degree in medicine. In 1774 he was appointed professor of Greek at the college of France. Bosquillon possessed one of the most valuable medical libraries in the world, the catalogue of which fills four hundred closely-printed octavo pages. His translations, chiefly from English medical and surgical books, are highly prized. His notes often exceed the text in extent, and are said to render his translations of more value to a student than the originals. Bosquillon's benevolence makes his name remembered among the poor.—J. A., D.  BOSSCHA,, born in 1775; died in 1819; conducted a Latin school for several years; and in this capacity moved from time to time from one Dutch city to another, finally occupying a chair as professor at Amsterdam. He published some occasional poems in Dutch and in Latin. He translated into Dutch Blair's Lectures, and Plutarch's Lives. He wrote a history of the revolution of Holland in 1813, which is still referred to occasionally.—J. A., D.  BOSSCHAERT,, a Dutch painter, born at Bergen-op-Zoom in 1613. He studied at Rome, and under Segers. His style much resembles Vandyck. In 1646 he was made director of the Antwerp academy, and died in 1656.  BOSSE,, a French engraver, born at Tours about 1610. He imitated Callot in his more careless and ragged manner, worked chiefly from his own designs, and published a work on engraving, afterwards republished with additions by M. Cochin. He executed portraits of Cardinal Richelieu and Callot, and a scene of the marriage of Louis XIV.—W. T.  BOSSECK,, a German physician, was born at Leipzig on 27th October, 1726, and died 30th January, 1776. He prosecuted his medical studies in his native town, and then travelled in France. Besides some medical works, he has written dissertations on the stems of plants, the nodes of plants, and the anthers.—J. H. B.  * BOSSELET,, a political writer, born at Paris in 1824. Although esteemed for his talents, he has not written any work by which to be fairly judged.—J. F. C.  BOSSI,. This celebrated writer and artist was born at Busto Arsizio, near Milan, on the 11th of August, 1777. Having completed his classical education at the college of Monza, in which he highly distinguished himself, and unable to resist any longer his love for the fine arts, he went to the academy of Brera, and under the direction of Appiani and Traballesi he studied drawing and painting. So rapid was the progress made in those arts, that his masters urged on him the necessity of going to Rome, and studying there the chef-d'œuvres of the old masters. It was in Rome he met Canova, who took the promising youth by the hand, directed him in his studies, and soon conceived for him the warmest friendship, which was never interrupted during Bossi's life, unfortunately but too short. Bossi, Canova, and two or three other artists, represented then with honour, and even with eclat, the Italian school in the fine arts. On Bossi returning to Milan he was appointed secretary of the Academy of Painting, and his talents both as a painter and a poet won the admiration of Napoleon I., who created him a knight of the iron crown, and president of the academies of Milan, Venice, and Bologna. His fame as a writer commenced in 1810, when he published his great work in four books, entitled "Il Cenacolo di Leonardo da Vinci." This work has been eulogized by Giuseppe Maffei, who considers Bossi one of the greatest prose writers of Italy; and Goëthe proclaimed it a masterpiece of erudition and taste. Bossi was also one of the collaborators to the biography of Leonardo da Vinci, to which more than sixty literary men from all parts of Italy contributed their share of information. When resting from his artistic occupations, Bossi devoted many leisure hours to poetry, and some hymns, canzones, and sonnets from his muse, fertile in lyric beauties, have been published in various collections. His poem, written in the Milanese dialect on the marriage of Prince Eugene Beauharnais, has enhanced Bossi's fame as a poet. A marble bust by Canova, and a magnificent sarcophagus, have been erected in Milan by the numerous pupils and admirers of this eminent artist and distinguished writer He died on the 15th of December, 1815.—A. C. M. <section end="735H" /> <section begin="735Zcontin" />BOSSI,, baron de. This celebrated diplomatist was born at Turin on the 15th of November, 1758. Having finished his collegiate education, he devoted himself to the study of the law, and attended for five years the lectures on jurisprudence delivered in the university of Turin by the celebrated historian. Carlo Denina, who became afterwards his warmest friend. Bossi was scarcely fifteen years of age when he published two tragedies, "Rea Silvia" and "I Circassi," both of which met with general approbation. When Joseph II., emperor of Austria, published in 1781 his famous edict of forgiveness, Bossi composed for the occasion an ode full of philosophical ideas and liberal suggestions, quite at variance with the spirit of the subalpine government. Its author was requested to leave Turin, and Bossi chose Genoa as his retreat during his undeserved ostracism. After a residence of six months in that city, the portfolio of the home secretary being vacant, Bossi was appointed first secretary of legation, and then minister ad interim. It was during his summer vacations he composed the greater <section end="735Zcontin" />