political revolution. He afterwards, however, submitted to Henry IV. He died, 1596, at Laon, of the plague. His great work is that entitled De la République, in which he gave the first complete essay towards a scientific treatise on politics, and, guided by his own experience, sought to strike out a middle course between the advocates of monarchy and democracy. His Démonomanie, and his Theatrum Universe Natura (Lyons, 1596), show how superstition and learning were united in his character; but the charge of atheism, which is grounded particularly on a work entitled Heptaplomeron, proceeds from the religious indifference which was noticed in him by his contemporaries. BODLEIAN LIBRARY. (See Libraries.) BODLEY, Sir Thomas; the founder of the Bodleian library at Oxford. He was born at Exeter, in 1544, and educated partly at Geneva, whither his parents, who were Protestants, had retired in the reign of queen Mary. On the accession of Elizabeth, they returned home, and he completed his studies at Magdalen college, Oxford. He afterwards became a fellow of Merton college, and read lectures on the Greek language and philosophy. He went to the continent in 1576, and spent four years in travelling. He was afterwards employed in various embassies to Denmark, Germany, France and Holland. In 1597, he returned home, and dedicated the remainder of his life to the reëstablishment and augmentation of the public library at Oxford. This he accomplished, procuring books and manuscripts himself, both at home and abroad, at a great expense, and, by his influence and persuasions, inducing his friends and acquaintance to assist in his undertaking. Sir Robert Cotton, sir Henry Savile, and Thomas Allen, the mathematician, were among the principal contributors on this occasion. The library was so much augmented, that sir Thomas B., who was knighted at the accession of James I, was induced to erect an additional structure for the reception of the increasing quantity of valuable books and manuscripts. He died in London, 1612, and was interred in the chapel of Merton college, in the university. He bequeathed nearly the whole of his property to the support and augmentation of the library, which has been so much enriched by subsequent benefactions, that it is, at present, one of the most magnificent institutions of the kind in Europe. (See Reliquia Bodleiana, London, 1703.) BODMER, John Jacob; a celebrated Ger man poet and scholar, born at Greifensee near Zurich, July 19, 1698. Although he produced nothing remarkable of his own in poetry, he helped to open the way for the new German literature in this department. He was the antagonist of Gottsched, in Leipsic, who aspired to be the literary dictator of the day, and had embraced the French theory of taste, while B. inclined to the English. He has the honor of having had Klopstock and Wieland among his scholars. B. was, for a long time, professor of history in Switzerland. He was a copious and indefatigable writer, entertained many incorrect views, but was of service, as we have already said, to the German literature, which was then in a low and barbarous state. He died at Zürich, 1783. BODONI, Giambatista, superintendent of the royal press at Parma, chief printer of his Catholic majesty, member of several academies of Italy, knight of several high orders, was born, 1740, at Saluzzo, in Piedmont, where his father owned a printing establishment. He began, while yet a boy, to employ himself in engraving on wood. His labors meeting with success, he went, in 1758, to Rome, and was made.compositor for the press of the Propaganda. By the advice of the superintendent, he made himself acquainted with the Oriental languages, in order to qualify himself for the kind of printing required in them. He thereby enabled himself to be of great service to this press by restoring and putting in place the types of several Oriental alphabets, which had fallen into disorder. The infant don Ferdinand, about 1766, had, with a view of diffusing knowledge, established a printing-house in Parma, after the model of those in Paris, Madrid and Turin. B. was placed at the head of this establishment, which he made the first of the kind in Europe, and gained the reputation of having far surpassed all the splendid and beautiful productions of his predecessors in the art. The beauty of his type, ink and paper, as well as the whole management of the technical part of the work, leaves nothing for us to wish; but the intrinsic value of his editions is seldom equal to their outward splendor. His Homer is a truly admirable and magnificent work; indeed, his Greek letters are the most perfect imitations that have been attempted, in modern times, of Greek manuscript. His splendid editions of Greek, Latin, Italian and French classics are highly prized. He died at Padua, Nov. 29, 1813. BOECE. (See Boëthius.) BOEHME-BOOTIA. BOEHME, OF BOEHM, Jacob; one of the most renowned mystics of modern times; born, in 1575, at Altseidenberg, a village in Upper Lusatia, near Görlitz; was the son of poor peasants; remained to his 10th year without instruction, and employed in tending cattle. The beautiful and sublime objects of nature kindled his imagination, and inspired him with a profound piety. Raised by contemplation above his circumstances, and undisturbed by exterior influences, a strong sense of the spiritual, particularly of the mysterious, was awakened in him, and he saw in all the workings of nature upon his mind a revelation of God, and even imagined himself favored by divine inspirations. The education which he received at school, though very imperfect, consisting only of writing, spelling and reading the Bible, supplied new food for the excited mind of the boy. He became afterwards a shoemaker; and this sedentary life seems to have strengthened his contemplative habits. He was much interested in the disputes which prevailed on the subject of Cryptocalvinism in Saxony; though he never took a personal part in sectarian controversies, and knew no higher delight than to elevate himself, undisturbed, to the contemplation of the infinite. B. withdrew himself more and more from the world. If we take into view his retirement, his piety, his rich and lively imagination, his imperfect education, his philosophical desire for truth, together with his abundance of ideas, and his delusion in considering many of those ideas as immediate communications of the Deity, we have the sources of his doctrine and his works. His writings are very unequal, but always display a profound feeling, and must be judged with indulgence for the causes just mentioned. In 1594, B. became a master shoemaker in Görlitz, married, and continued a shoemaker during his life. Several visions and raptures, that is, moments of strong enthusiasm, led him to take the pen. His first work appeared in 1616, and was called Aurora. It contains his revelations on God, man and nature. This gave rise to a prosecution against in; but he was acquitted, and called upon, from all sides, to continue writing. He did not, however, resume his pen until 1619. One of his most important works is, Description of the three Principles of the Divine Being. His works contain profound and lofty ideas, mingled with many absurd and confused no 151 tions. He died, after several prosecutions and acquittals, in 1624. Abraham von Frankenberg (who died in 1652), his biographer and admirer, has also published and explained his writings. The first collection of them was made in Holland, in 1675, by Henry Betke; a more complete one, in 1682, by Gichtel (10 vols., Amsterdam); from whom the followers of B., a religious sect highly valued for their silent, virtuous and benevolent life, have received the name Gichtelians. Another edition appeared in Amsterdam, in 1730, under the title Theologia revelata, 2 vols. 4to.; the most complete, in 6 vols. In England, also, B.'s writings have found many admirers. William Law published an English translation of them, 2 vols., 4to. A sect, taking their name from B., was likewise formed in England, and in 1697, Jane Leade, an enthusiastic admirer of his, established a particular society for the explanation of his writings, under the name of the Philadelphists. It is said that such a society still exists. John Pordage, an English physician, is also well known as a commentator on B. BEOTIA; a country of ancient Greece, bounded N. by Phocis and the country of the Opuntian Locrians; E. by the Euripus, or strait of Euboea; S. by Attica and Megaris; and W. by the Alcyonian sea and Phocis; but the boundaries were not always the same. In the north, it is mountainous and cold, and the air is pure and healthy, but the soil is less fertile than that of the other portion, which, however, is infested by unhealthy vapors. The mountainous part in the north was called, in earlier times, Aonia. Among its mountains are several remarkable in history and mythology: Helicon (now Sagara), the mountain of the Sphinx, the Taumessus, Libethrus and Petrachus.— The chief occupation of the inhabitants was agriculture and the raising of cattle. It was first occupied by Pelasgian tribes. In the time of Bootus (son of Itonus and grandson of Amphictyon, from whom it is said to have derived its name), these were subject to the Hellenists. It was divided into small states, until Cadmus the Phoenician founded the government of Thebes. In later times, all Greece worshipped the Hercules of Thebes. After the death of the Theban king Xanthus, most of the cities of B. formed a kind of republic, of which Thebes was the chief city. Epaminondas and Pelopidas raised Thebes, for a short time, to the rank of the most powerful states of Grecce. In B. are several celebrated ancient battle fields, the former glory of which has been increased by late events, namely, Platæa (now the village Kokla), where Pausanias and Aristides established the liberty of Greece by their victory over the 300,000 Persians under Mardonius; Leuctra (now the village Parapogia), where Epaminondas checked the ambitious Spartans; Coronea, where the Spartan Agesilaus defeated the Thebans; and Chæronea (now Capranu), where Philip founded the Macedonian greatness on the ruins of Grecian liberty. Near Tanagra, the birthplace of Corinna (q. v.), the best wine was produced; here, also, cocks were bred, of remarkable size, beauty and courage, with which the Grecian cities, passionately fond of cock-fighting, were supplied. Refinement and cultivation of mind never made such progress in B. as in Attica. The Boeotians were vigorous, but slow and heavy. Several Thebans, however, were worthy disciples of Socrates, and Epaminondas distinguished himself as much in philosophy as by his military talents. The people were particularly fond of music, and excelled in it. They had also some great poets and artists. Hesiod, Pindar, the poetess Corinna, and Plutarch, were Boeotians. BOERHAAVE, Hermann, one of the most celebrated physicians of the 18th century, was born, Dec. 13, 1668, at Woorhout, near Leyden, and received from his father a liberal education. Before he was 11 years old, he was well acquainted with Latin and Greek. An obstinate ulcer on his left thigh, which, for 7 years, resisted all medical remedies, was the means of directing his thoughts and inclinations to the study of medicine. In 1682, he was sent to Leyden to study theology. Here he gave, at the age of 20, the first public proof of his learning and eloquence. He pronounced an academic oration before Gronovius, with whom he studied Greek, Quá probatur, bene intellectam a Cicerone, et confutatam esse Sententiam Epicuri de summo Bono (Leyden, 1690, 4to.) In this, B. attacked the doctrine of Spinoza with so much talent, that the city rewarded him with a gold medal. In 1689, he received the degree of doctor of philosophy, and maintained an inaugural dissertation, De Distinctione Mentis a Corpore (Leyden, 1690). He now commenced, at the age of 22, the study of medicine. Drelincourt was his first and only teacher. From him he received only a little instruction; and it is worthy of notice, that B. learned by his own solitary study a science on which he was afterwards to exert so importan an influence. He first studied anatomy, but rather in the works then in vogue, of Vesale, Bartholin, &c., than in the dissecting room. He was present, indeed, at most of the dissections of Nuck, but still the want of a practical study of anatomy is evident in all his writings. The influence which he had in improving anatomy, notwithstanding the defect we have noticed, must be traced to the close connexion of this mechanical science with physiology and medicine. As, in these last, he made use of mechanical illustrations, his example induced the anatomists to apply themselves to an accurate study of the forms of the organs, as may be noticed in all the anatomists of that time-Santorini, Morgagni, Valsalva, Winslow, Albinus, &c. After this preliminary study, which, in fact, is the groundwork of medical science, B. read all the works, ancient and modern, on medicine, in the order of time, proceeding from his contemporaries to Hippocrates, with whose superior excellence and correct method he was forcibly struck in this course of reading. He also studied botany and chemistry, and, although still preparing himself for the clerical profession, was made, in 1693, doctor of medicine at Harderwick. His dissertation was De Utilitate explorandorum Excrementorum in Ægris, ut Signorum. After his return to Leyden, some doubts being raised as to his orthodoxy, he finally determined to follow the profession of medicine. In 1701, the university of Leyden chose him, on the death of Drelincourt, to deliver lectures on the theory of medicine; on which occasion, he pronounced his dissertation De commendando Studio Hippocratico. In this, with an enthusiasm excited by the study of Hippocrates, he demonstrates the correctness of the method pursued by that great man, and establishes its exclusive superiority: it had been well if he himself had never deviated from it. B. now began to develope those great and peculiar excellences, which make him a pattern to all who undertake the office of instruction. Pupils crowded from all quarters to hear him. In 1703, he delivered another dissertation, De Úsu Ratiocinii mechanici in Medicina, Leyden, 1703. In this, he began to deviate from the Hippocratic method, and to introduce the first principles of a defective system, to which his eminent talents gave afterwards exclusive currency. In 1709, the university of Leyden was at length enabled to reward BOERHAAVE-BOETHIUS. him for his services, by appointing him professor of medicine and botany in Hotton's place. It is remarkable, that, on this occasion, he delivered a dissertation, Quâ repurgata Medicina facilis asseritur Simplicitas, which deserves to be placed by the side of those in which he recommends the study of Hippocrates. In this dissertation, he is for carrying back the science to its original simplicity-to observation and experience-quite contrary to the spirit which guided his own system. The course of instruction, to which B. was now devoted, induced him to publish two works, on which his fame still rests, viz. Institutiones Medica in Usus annua Exercitationis domesticos; and Aphorismi de cognoscendis et curandis Morbis in Usum Doctrine Medicina. In the former, which is a model of comprehensive erudition and clear method, he unfolds his system in its full extent: in the latter, he undertakes the classification of diseases, and discourses separately on their causes, nature and treatment. The professorship of botany, which he also filled, contributed no less to his reputa tion. He rendered essential services to botany by his two catalogues of plants in the garden of Leyden, the number of which he had very much increased. We are indebted to him for the description and delineation of several new plants, and the introduction of some new species. In 1714, he was made rector of the university, and, at the close of his term of office, delivered an oration, De comparando certo in Physicis, one of his best pieces. At the end of this year, he took Bidloo's place in the office of practical instruction, in which he was employed more than 10 years. Anticipating the great advantages of clinical institutions, and wishing to unite practice with theory, he opened an hospital, where he lectured to his pupils twice a week, on the history of the diseases before them, confining himself to the particular phenomena in each case presented to their observation. Busily occupied as he already was, the university conferred on him, at the death of Lemort, the professorship of chemistry, which science he had taught since 1703. On this occasion he delivered his dissertation De Chemia suos Errores expurgante. Although the relations which B. supposes to exist between chemistry and medicine are ill-founded, he deserves credit for rendering the science intelligible and familiar in his excellent works on this subject. His Elements of Chemistry is, perhaps, his finest production, and, 153 notwithstanding the entire revolution which has taken place in this branch of science, is still highly valuable. His experiments are remarkable for their accuracy. The part which treats of organic bodies is exceedingly good for that period. So extensive a sphere of action gained for B. a fame that few learned men have enjoyed. People came from all parts of Europe to ask his advice. His property amounted, at his death, to 2,000,000 florins a very extraordinary fortune for a man of his profession in Europe. Peter the Great visited him on his travels, and a Chinese mandarin wrote to him with the address, "To Boerhaave, the celebrated physician in Europe." In 1722, an attack of the gout, accompanied with a stroke of the apoplexy, obliged him to remit his active pursuits. New returns of his disorder, in 1727 and 1729, compelled him to resign the professorships of chemistry and botany, which he had held for 20 years. In 1730, he was again appointed rector, and, at the close of his term, delivered a celebrated address, De Honore, Medici Servitute, perhaps the best of all those essays, in which he represents the physician as the servant of nature, whose activity he is to awaken and direct. In this he returned, in some measure, to the principles of Hippocrates, from which, indeed, he had never departed far in practice. In 1738, his disorder returned with increased violence, and, after a few months, put an end to his life, at the age of 70. The city erected a monument to him in St. Peter's church, with his favorite motto upon it—Simplex sigillum veri. BOETHIUS, Anicius Manlius Torquatus Severinus, a man celebrated for his virtues, services, honors and tragical end, was born about 470 A. D., in Rome or Milan, of a rich, ancient and respectable family; was educated in Rome, in a manner well calculated to develope his extraordinary abilities; afterwards went to Athens, which was still the centre of taste and science, and studied philosophy under Proclus and others. Returning to Rome, he was graciously received by Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, then master of Italy, loaded with marks of favor and esteem, and soon raised to the first offices in the empire. He exerted the best influence on the administration of this monarch, so that the dominion of the Goths promoted the welfare and happiness of the people who were subject to them. He was long the oracle of his sovereign and the idol of the people. The highest honors were thought inadequate to reward his virtues and services. But Theodoric, as he grew old, became irritable, jealous, and distrustful of those about him. The Goths now indulged in all sorts of oppression and extortion, while B. exerted himself in vain to restrain them. He had already made many enemies by his strict integrity and vigilant justice. These at last succeeded in prejudicing the king against him, and rendering him suspicious of B. The opposition of B. to their unjust measures was construed into a rebellious temper, and he was even accused of a treasonable correspondence with the court of Constantinople. He was arrested, imprisoned and executed, A. D. 524 or 526.—While he was at the helm of state, he found recreation from his toilsome occupations in the study of the sciences, and devoted a part of his leisure to the construction of mathematical and musical instruments, some of which he sent to Clothaire, king of France. He was also much given to the study of the old Greek philosophers and mathematicians, and wrote Latin translations of several of them. His most celebrated work is that composed during his imprisonment, On the Consolations of Philosophy. It is written in prose and verse intermixed. The elevation of thought, the nobleness of feeling, the ease and distinctness of style, which it exhibits, make this composition, short as it is, far superior to any other of the age. (Principal edition, Basil, 1570, folio. A modern one of some value appeared at Glasgow, 1751, 4to.) BOETTCHER, John Frederic, the inventor of the Dresden porcelain, born Feb. 5, 1682, at Schleiz, in the Voigtland, in his 15th year went from Magdeburg, where he received his early education, to Berlin, as apprentice of an apothecary. There he devoted his nights to the art of making gold. His want of sleep rendered him so stupid, during the day, as to draw upon him many reproofs, till, at last, he acquired some consideration by showing little pieces of gold, which he pretended to have made. Oct 1, 1701, he changed, as it is said, in the presence of several witnesses, 18 pieces of silver into fine gold. As this was much talked of, the king desired to see him, and B., believing he was to be arrested as an adept (q. v.), fled to Saxony. The king of Saxony gave him large sums of money, which he wasted, still keeping his employer in suspense. His majesty finally became very impatient to see the gold. B., therefore, in 1704, at He tempted to escape, but was overtaken, and, with the assistance of one Tschirnhausen, who had discovered a kind of porcelain, invented an improved composition of it, with which he hoped to appease the king, who spent immense sums in China ware. In 1705, B. invented the Dresden porcelain, which has since become so famous. made use of a clay found in the vicinity of Meissen. The king, upon this, made him a baron of the empire and director of the new manufactory of porcelain in Meissen, though he was often treated as a prisoner, lest the secret should be betrayed. He was finally removed from his dignity, on account of his immoral life, and died, March 13, 1719, in the greatest poverty, so that he did not even leave sufficient to pay the expenses of his funeral. BOGDANOWITSCH, Hippolyt Federowitsch, the Russian Anacreon, was born in 1743, at Perewolotschna, in White Russia. His father was a physician. He was designed for an engineer; went, for the purpose of studying engineering, to Moscow, in 1754, and entered an academy there; but the sight of a splendid play, and the reading of Lomonossow's poems, turned his inclination to poetry. He wished to become an actor, but the manager of the theatre, Cheraskow, dissuaded him from his purpose. By his advice, he applied himself to the study of the fine arts, and to learning foreign languages. He gained patrons and friends, and, in 1761, was made inspector in the university of Moscow, and afterwards translator in the department of foreign affairs. In 1762, he travelled with count Beloselsky, as secretary of legation, to Dresden, where he devoted his whole attention to the study of the fine arts and of poetry, till 1768. The beautiful pictures in the gallery of that place inspired him to write his Psyche (Duschenka), which appeared in 1775, and fixed his fame on a lasting foundation. After this, he devoted himself to music and poetry, in solitary study at Petersburg, till Catharine called him from his retirement. He then wrote, on different occasions, several dramatic and historical pieces. In 1788, he was made president of the imperial archives. In 1795, he took leave of the court, and lived as a private man in Little Russia. Alexander recalled him to Petersburg, where he lived till 1803. He was as remarkable for modesty as for genius, and a man of childlike goodness and vivacity. BOGOTÁ, at the time of the Spanish |