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 BANCROFT BANDEL 267 American Review " and other periodicals, a collection of which has been made under the title of "Miscellanies" (New York, 1855). Mr. Bancroft's " History of the United States " oc- cupies a very prominent place not only in the historical literature of his own country, but in that of the world, since it is everywhere a rec- ognized authority concerning the period which it covers. It is not merely a narrative, but a philosophic treatise, dealing with causes and principles as well as events, and tracing with remarkable skill the progress of enlightenment and liberal ideas. It has been translated into various languages, and is especially popular in Germany. BANCROFT, Richard, an English prelate, born at Farnworth in September, 1544, died in Lon- don, Nov. 2, 1610. He was chaplain to Sir Chris- topher Hatton, and afterward to Archbishop Whitgift, through whose and Lord Burleigh's influence Elizabeth nominated him in 1597 bishop of London. The queen employed him in 1600 on a diplomatic mission to Germany, and he attended on her deathbed. James I. pro- moted him in lf>04 to the archbishopric of Can- terbury. For nearly a generation he preached against popery ; took a prominent part in the disputation before James at Hampton Court between the church of England and the Pres- byterian or Puritan party, the measures of the government being afterward formed according to his views ; became one of the commissioners for regulating the affairs of the established church and repressing the publication of ob- noxious works ; and was a member of the privy council, and shortly before his death chancel- lor of Oxford. He published in 1593 "Dan- gerous Positions and Proceedings, published and practised within this Island of Brytaine, under Pretence of Reformation, and for the Presbyteriall Discipline," and "A Survey of the pretended Holy Discipline." BANDA ISLANDS, a cluster of ten small islands belonging to Holland, in the Molucca group of the Eastern archipelago, in the Banda sea, about 50 m. S. of Ceram, between lat. 3 50' and 4 30' S., and Ion. 128 30' and 130 E. ; area, about 130 sq. m. ; pop. about 6,000, including Papua negroes, Chinese, and Dutch. About 800 of the natives are Christians. Lontoar, or Great Banda, the largest of the group, is about 12m. long and 2| m. wide. It is almost unin- habitable on account of unhealthiness. Neira, or Banda Neira, 120 m. E. S. E. of Amboyna, is the seat of the Dutch authorities, and con- tains the forts Nassau and Voorzigtigheid, and the old castle Belgica, a good harbor, and ex- tensive stores. The Gonong Api or Fire moun- tains, N. of Banda Neira, derive their name from the volcanic cone Api (fire), about 2,000 ft, high, which constantly emits smoke and sometimes cinders and ashes. There have been many disastrous eruptions, and in 1852 an earthquake caused great loss of life and prop- erty, and obliged the inhabitants to seek refuge in Amboyna. The chief value of the islands is for the production of nutmegs. The planta- tions, which cannot be divided or sold, were worked by slaves until the proclamation of emancipation, Jan. 1, 1860, since which time they have been cultivated partly by Java con- victs. The number of persons employed ex- ceeds 2,500, and the trade is virtually monop- olized by the Dutch East India company. The annual average production is estimated at 700,000 Ibs. of nutmegs and 180,000 Ibs. of mace. Sago and cacao are also produced. The islands were discovered in 1512 by Antonio Abreu, a Portuguese, whose countrymen seized them in 1524, hut were expelled in 1600 by the Dutch. Shortly afterward the Dutch ordered the wholesale execution of the indigenous Malay settlers for the murder of Admiral Verhoeven and 45 naval officers. The English conquered them March 8, 1796, restored them to the Neth- erlands after the peace of Amiens in 1801, and reoccupied them from 1810 to 1814; but the final restoration to the Dutch authorities was delayed till 1817, owing to a difference respect- ing the partition of the expenditures which had accrued in the interval. BANDA ORIENTAL. See URUGUAY. BANDARRA, Gonzalo Annes, surnamed the Por- tuguese Nostradamus, born at Trancoso, prov- ince of Beira, died in Lisbon in 1556. He was a cobbler, addicted to improvising religious verses and prophecies, and was in 1541 perse- cuted by the inquisition, but allowed to return to his trade. A clandestine edition of what purported to he his improvisations (7Voa re- rfoa!VAas) was printed in 1581 ; this has been regarded as spurious, and a rival edition appeared in Paris in 1603. A Portuguese missionary in Brazil, Antonio Vieyra, was visited with severe punishment by the inquisition for predicting the resurrection and triumphant reign of John IV., in accordance with Bandarra's prophecies of a fifth empire of the world. This led to new editions of the predictions, especially one issued in Nantes, and they have been asso- ciated with the sect of the Sebastianists, who had many followers at the time of the French invasion, and who from a mystical interpreta- tion of these prophecies predicted the return of King Sebastian to the throne for 1808. Bandarra having been altogether illiterate, the work ascribed to him must have been penned by another hand. Writers of the 17th century called him the holy cobbler (p mpateiro ato). BANDEL, Joseph Ernst TOD, a German sculptor, born at Anspach, May 17, 1800. He studied at Nuremberg, Munich, and Rome, and is best known for his colossal national monument of the German hero Arminius, on the summit of the Grotenberg, near Detmold. The statue is of copper, 95 feet high. The work was begun in 1838, and suspended for want of funds, after a Gothic temple had been erected for the pedes- tal, and the statue itself had been made in de- tached pieces. An association was formed in 1862 for the collection of subscriptions. The king of Prussia in 1869 contributed 2,000 tha-