ship, only over works of less than 20 sheets, and journals, is at present the law in the states of the German confederation. (See Press, Liberty of the.)

BOONE, Daniel, one of the first adventurers who penetrated into the wilds of Kentucky, was born in Virginia. He was, almost from his infancy, addicted to hunting in the woods. He emigrated early to North Carolina, then recently settled. Having determined to cross the wilderness bordering on the Cumberland mountains, in quest of the region of Kentucky, then little known, he set out on his expedition, with five companions, May 1, 1769. June 7, they arrived at Red river, north of the Kentucky. A short time afterwards, B. and one of his companions, John Stewart, were captured by a party of savages. They soon escaped, but could discover no traces of their friends, who had returned home. B. and Stewart would have been constrained to follow them, had not Squire B., the brother of Daniel, pursued their track from North Carolina, and relieved them with a few necessaries. Shortly afterwards, Stewart was killed by the Indians, and the two Boones were left the only white men in the wilderness. They passed the winter in a cabin. In May, 1770, B.'s brother returned home. In July of the same year, however, he came back, according to agreement. They then traversed the country to the Cumberland river, and, the following year, returned to their families, with a determination of removing with them to Kentucky. In September, 1773, B. commenced his removal to Kentucky, with his own, and five other families, and was joined by 40 men, who placed themselves under his guidance. Being attacked by the Indians, 6 of his men were slain, and the cattle belonging to the party dispersed. The survivors returned, in consequence, to the settlements on Clinch river, about 40 miles from the scene of action. A company of North Carolina, having formed a plan of purchasing the lands on the south side of the Kentucky river from the southern Indians, employed B. to buy a tract of country, the limits of which were described to him. He performed the service, and, soon after, made a road from the settlements on the Holston to the Kentucky river, notwithstanding the incessant attacks of the Indians, in which 4 of his men were killed and 5 wounded. In Apr., 1775, he built a fort at a salt-spring, on the southern bank of the Kentucky, where Boonesborough is now situated. 17

VOL. II.

It consisted of a block-house and several cabins, enclosed with palisades. In 1777, he sustained two sieges in Boonesborough from the Indians, but repulsed them. In the following year, however, Feb. 7, B. was taken prisoner by the savages, while hunting, with a number of his men. In May, they were conducted to Detroit, where they experienced great kindness from governor Hamilton, the British commander of that post. He even offered the Indians £100 for their prisoner, in order that he might liberate him on parole, but they would not part with him, having conceived for him sentiments of great affection and respect. On his return, he was adopted by one of the principal chiefs at Chilicothe, and might have been happy in this situation, had not the thoughts of his wife and children continually kept alive the desire of escape. This he effected one morning, having risen at the usual hunting hour, and departed, apparently for the woods, but in reality for Boonesborough. He arrived there on the 20th of June, after a journey of 160 miles, which he performed in 4 days, having eaten, it is said, but one meal during that time. On the 8th of August, a body of savages, to the number of 450, commanded by Canadian Frenchmen and some of their own chiefs, invested the fort, with British colors flying. B. was summoned to surrender, but announced his determination, and that of the garrison, who amounted to but 50 men, "to defend the fort as long as a man of them was alive.” The enemy then resolved to obtain it by stratagem, and requested that nine of the principal persons of the garrison would come out and treat with them, promising terms so favorable, that the invitation was accepted. After the articles of the treaty had been signed, B. and his companions were told that it was customary, upon such occasions, among the Indians, for two of them to shake each white man by the hand, in order to evince the sincerity of their friendship. This was also agreed to; and, accordingly, two Indians approached each of the nine, and, taking his hand, grappled him, with the intent of making him prisoner. Their object being then immediately perceived, B. and his party extricated themselves, and retreated into the fort, amid a heavy fire from the savages. An attack was then quickly commenced, and continued until the 20th of August, when the enemy abandoned the siege. This was the last attempt of the Indians to possess themselves of Boonesborough. In October, as B. was

returning from the Blue Licks, with his brother, the latter was slain, and B. pursued by a party of Indians for three miles, by the aid of a dog; but, having killed the animal, he escaped. In 1782, the depredations of the savages increasing to an intolerable extent, B., with other militia officers, collected 176 men, and went in pursuit of a large body, who had marched beyond the Blue Licks to a bend of the main fork of the Licking river, 40 miles from Lexington. They overtook them August 19, but, being much inferior in numbers, were obliged to retreat. General Clark, then at the falls of the Ohio, immediately assembled a consider able number of men, and commenced the pursuit of the savages, accompanied by B. From that time until 1798, B. resided alternately in Kentucky and in Virginia. In that year, he removed to Upper Louisiana, where he received a grant from the Spanish authorities of 2000 acres of land. His children, friends and followers were also presented with 800 acres each. He settled with them on the Missouri river, at Charette, some distance beyond the inhabited parts of the country, where he followed his usual course of life-bunting, and trapping for bears-until Sept., 1822, when he died, at the residence of his son, major A. Boone, in Montgomery county, in the 85th year of his age. He had been gradually declining for some years previous to his decease. It is related, that, some time before that event, he had two coffins made out of a favorite cherry-tree, the first of which, not fitting, he gave to a son-in-law; in the second he was buried, having bestowed on it a fine polish by a course of rubbing for several years. His sons and daughters still reside in Mis

souri.

BOORS. The peasants of Russia are divided into two classes-free boors and vassal boors. The former cannot be alienated or sold. The latter are mere slaves, not being capable of possessing property, but, with their families, being at the disposal of their lords. They are of three sorts the crown boors, the mine boors and the private boors. The crown boors are, some of them, considered as absolute property; others are attached to the mines or soil, while many are only obliged to perform a certain quantity of labor, or to pay a certain proportion of the produce of it. Their condition is superior to that of the other two classes, as they usually pay an annual abrock, or rent, of about five rubles each, and enjoy the rest of their earnings undisturbed. They are allowed also to

purchase from noblemen lands or villages, with the vassals belonging to them. The mine boors are unalienably attached to particular mines, and may be transferred with them to different masters. The third sort, or private boors, are those belonging to the nobles. Their condition depends on the character of their masters: it is sometimes very comfortable, but often most wretched. In the richest provinces, according to the testimony of doctor Clarke, you may find them dying of hunger, or pining from bad food. Pastures, covered with cattle, yield no milk for them. The harvest supplies no bread for their children. The lord claims all the produce. Some attempts were made by Alexander (q. v.) to alleviate their condition, but private interests interfered with the benevolent intentions of the government.

BOOTAN; an extensive region of Northern Hindostan, lying between Bengal and Thibet. It is about 250 miles from east to west, and 90 from north to south; but its eastern boundaries are imperfectly known. It forms a portion of the declivity of that stupendous Alpine chain, of which Thibet occupies the table land. Notwithstanding it is mountainous, and, in many parts, extremely cold, the country is productive, and highly cultivated, the slope of the mountains being cut into terraces for this purpose. As it is situated without the tropics, it is free from periodical rains; and the climate is, in general, moderate, calculated to bring forth both European and Asiatic fruits and vegetables. Thus we find the trees and shrubs of Northern Europe, in sight of the large forests, and a rank vegetation of plants strictly tropical. The Deb Rajali, who resides at Tassisudon, is the prince of the country, but is tributary to the grand lama of Thibet. The inhabitants are robust, active and ferocious. They have the Tartar features. They are of the Boodh religion, and leave most of the labor to the women. Their houses are, in general, of only one story, but the palace of the rajah is a lofty pile. From the precipitous nature of the country, they are obliged to use numerous bridges, many of which are constructed with ropes and iron chains. B. produces a hardy breed of horses, about 13 hands high, called tangans. A caravan is sent annually by the prince Deb Rajah, who is the only merchant in the dominions, to Rungpore, in Bengal. The goods which are carried by the tangans are coarse woollen cloths, cow-tails from Thibet, bees-wax,

ivory, musk, gold dust, silver ingots, with silks, tea, paper and knives from China, with which B. has a close intercourse. The current coin is the Narainy rupee of Couch Behar, worth about 20 cents. The customs of the inhabitants resemble those of the Birmans or inhabitants of Ava, more than they do those of their nearer neighbors of Thibet or Assam.

BOOTES; a northern constellation, called, also, by the Greeks, Arctophylax, and, by the English, Charles's Wain. Arcturus was placed, by the ancients, on his breast; by the moderns, on the skirt of his coat. Fable relates that Philomelus, son of Ceres and Jasion, having been robbed by his brother Plutus, invented the plough, yoked two bulls to it, and thus supported himself by cultivating the ground. Ceres, to reward his ingenuity, transferred him, with his cattle, under the name of Bootes, to the heavens.

BOOTH, Barton, an actor of great celebrity in the reigns of queen Anne and George I, was born in 1681, and placed, under doctor Busby, at Westminster school. An early attachment for the drama was fostered by the applause he met with while performing a part in one of Terence's plays, at the annual exhibition in that seminary. He eloped from school at the age of 17, and joined Ashbury's company of strolling players, with whom he went to Dublin. After performing three years in the Irish capital with great applause, he returned, in 1701, to London, and, engaging with Betterton, met with similar success. On the death of that manager, he joined the Drury lane company, and, on the production of Cato, in 1712, raised his reputation as a tragedian to the highest pitch, by his performance of the principal character. It was on this occasion that lord Bolingbroke presented him from the stage-box with 50 guineas an example which was immediately followed by that nobleman's political opponents. Declamation, rather than passion, appears to have been his forte, though Cibber speaks of his Othello as his finest character. He became a patentee and manager of the theatre in 1713, in conjunction with Wilks, Cibber and Doggett, and died May, 1733. He was buried in Westminster abbey, where there is a monument to his memory. He was the author of Dido and Æneas, a mask, various songs, &c., and the translator of several odes of Horace.

BOPP, Francis, born in 1791, at Mentz, went to Paris, in the autumn of 1812, in order to become acquainted with the Ori

ental, and, in particular, with the Indian language and literature. While studying these, he did not neglect Arabian and Persian, and found in Elmina von Chezy and Sylvestre de Sacy, as well as in Augustus William von Schlegel, friends who willingly assisted him in his investigations. With a small pension from the king of Bavaria, he lived five years in Paris, afterwards in London, then in Göttingen, devoted to his favorite studies with the greatest perseverance. He was now made professor of the Oriental languages in Berlin. He wrote on the system of conjugation in the Sanscrit language, compared with that of the Greek, Latin, Persian and German tongues, and accompanied his remarks with translations of extracts from Indian poems (Frankfort on the Maine, 1816). He also published works with the following titles: Srimahábharate Nalopakhajanam. Nalas, carmen Sanscritum, e Mahabharato, edidit, Latine vertit et adnot. illust., Fr. Bopp, London, Paris and Berlin; Complete System of the Sanscrit Language; Indralokagamȧnan, Voyage of Ardschura to the Sky of Indra; together with other Episodes of Masabsarah, published for the first Time in the original Language, and translated in Metre, with a Commentary.

BORA, Catharine von, wife of Luther, was born in 1499. Her birth-place is not known, and of her parents we only know that her mother, Anna, was descended from one of the most ancient families of Germany, that of Hugewitz (Haugewitz). The daughter took the veil, very early, in the nunnery of Nimptschen, near Grimma. Notwithstanding her devout disposition, she soon felt very unhappy in her situation, and, as her relations would not listen to her, applied, with eight other nuns, to Luther, whose fame had reached them. Luther gained over a citizen of Torgau, by the name of Leonard Koppe, who, in union with some other citizens, undertook to deliver the nine nuns from their convent. This was done the night after Good Friday, April 4, 1523. He brought them to Torgau, and from thence to Wittenberg, where Luther provided them a decent abode. At the same time, to anticipate the charges of his enemies, he published a letter to Koppe, in which he frankly confessed that he was the author of this enterprise, and had persuaded Koppe to its execution; that he had done so in the confident hope that Jesus Christ, who had restored his gospel, and destroyed the kingdom of Antichrist, would be 'their protector, though it might cost them

even life. He also exhorted the parents and relations of the nine virgins to admit them again into their houses. Some of them were received by citizens of Wittenberg; others, who were not yet too old, Luther advised to marry. Among the latter was Catharine, whom Philip Reichenbach, at that time mayor of the city, had taken into his house. Luther proposed to her (by his friend Nicholas von Amsdorf, minister in Wittenberg) doctor Kaspar Glaz and others in marriage. She declined these proposals, but declared her willingness to bestow her hand on Nicholas von Amsdorf, or on Luther himself. Luther, who, in 1524, ⚫ had laid aside the cowl, was not averse to matrimony, yet appears to have been led to the resolution of marrying by reason rather than by passion. Besides, he was not then favorably inclined towards Catharine, because he suspected her of worldly vanity. He says, however, that he found in her a pious and faithful wife. There could be no want of disadvantageous rumors on this occasion, some of them as shameful as they were unfounded. The domestic peace of the pair was also drawn into question, and Catharine, in particular, was accused of being peevish and domineering, so that her husband was often obliged to correct her. Although this last story is without foundation, yet Luther seems not to have been fully satisfied with her; for he speaks with great sincerity of the sufferings, as well as of the happiness, of his marriage. When, after Luther's death, in 1547, Charles V entered Wittenberg in triumph, Catharine saw herself obliged to leave this place, and to remove to Leipsic, where she was compelled to take boarders for her support. She afterwards returned to Wittenberg, and lived there till 1,552 in want. When the plague broke out in this place, and the university was removed to Torgau, she went thither also, arrived there sick, and died soon after (Dec. 27, 1552). In the church of Torgau her tomb-stone is still to be seen, on which is her image, of the natural size.

BORACIC ACID, uncombined, exists in several small lakes in Tuscany, at Volcano, one of the Lipari islands, and in the hot springs near Sasso, in the Florentine territory, from whose waters it is deposited by natural evaporation. It is easily obtained also from borax, a native salt, composed of this acid and soda, by dissolving it in boiling water, and gradually adding sulphuric acid to engage the soda: the boracic acid is in this manner set at

liberty, and is deposited in crystals on the cooling of the liquid: these, when washed with cold water and dried, are perfectly pure. In this state, it presents the form of brilliant, white, hexagonal scales, soft and greasy to the touch, and having a specific gravity of 1.479. Its taste, when first taken into the mouth, is sourish; afterwards it becomes bitter, and finally leaves a sweetish impression upon the tongue. It is slightly soluble in water, and much more so in alcohol, to which, when burning, it communicates a green color. It contains 43 per cent. of water, which it parts with, on being heated to redness, when it melts into a transparent glass, and is called calcined boracic acid.-Boracic acid was discovered by sir H. Davy to be a compound of a peculiar base, which he called boron, and oxygen, in the proportion of 8 parts of the former to 16 of the latter. Its principles are separated both by means of galvanism and by the action of potassium. Boron is a tasteless and inodorous substance, in the form of a greenish-brown powder. It is insoluble in water, ether, alcohol and oils; nor does it fuse when subjected to the strongest heats. By exposure to common air, it gradually becomes oxygenated, and, when heated in oxygen gas, burns vividly, and is converted into boracic acid. --Boracic acid is sometimes employed in the analysis of minerals, and for soldering metals in the arts; and, since its discovery in such abundance in the Italian springs and lakes, it has also been used in the manufacture of borax, being united with soda.-The most important combination formed by boracic acid is that with soda, commonly called borax. It is brought into Europe, in an impure state, from the East Indies, under the name of tincal, and is understood to occur principally in certain lakes, from whence it is obtained by evaporation. It is also reported to be dug from the earth in Thibet, and to exist in the mines of Riquintipa and Escapa, in South America. A knowledge of its manufacture was, for a long time, confined to the Venetians and Hollanders. This is now known to consist in boiling carbonate of soda with the calcined tincal, in order to saturate its excess of acid: 12 pounds of carbonate of soda are requisite for every 100 pounds of washed tincal, in the water: the lie is left to cool gradually and crystallize. The French nation manufacture their borax (of which they consume about 25 tons annually) from the boracic acid found in the Italian lakes; in consequence of which the price of this