Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/797

 BOERS BOETHIUS 777 ors) and heemraden. In May, 1870, diamonds were found on the banks of the Vaal river, near the missionary station of Pniel in the district of Winburg, and also north of the river in ter- ritory claimed by the Transvaal Republic. A large population was at once attracted to these diamond fields, and although the region was claimed by both republics, the miners organ- ized a government of their own. Their prin- cipal settlement is Du Toil's Pan, said to con- tain in 1872 a population of 16,000. By a proclamation promulgated in Capetown in October, 1871, the British government annex- ed the diamond fields to Cape Colony, in spite of the protest of the Free State authorities. The territory was divided into the districts of Klipdrift, Pniel, and Griqua Town. THE TRAXSVAAL REPUBLIC, between hit. 22 30' " and 28 S., is bounded E. by the Quathlam- ba mountains, S. by the Vaal river, W. by the Hart river, and N. W. and N. by the Limpopo river; area, 77,964 sq. m. ; pop. 140,000. The physiognomy of the country is nearly the same, viz., an elevated table land, intersected by parallel mountain ranges in the east. The soil, consisting of sand, clay, and loam, is more fer- tile than that of the Orange river country. Its rolling prairies are covered with excellent tall grass, interspersed with shrubs and magnificent trees. In the mountainous region there are primeval forests. The climate is similar to that of southern Europe, and all European and many tropical vegetables are raised without difficulty. The rivers, of which the country has a good number, are not navigable, and communication with the seashore is difficult. Grasshoppers are a constant plague to the farmer, while flies and other venomous in- sects often destroy hundreds of cattle. The form of government is a pure democracy. A volksrad, elected by ballot (every white man of 21 years being entitled to vote), meets four times every year at different places. This body unites all legislative and executive pow- ers. It appoints for each district or church parish military and civil officers, viz., com- manders-in-chief, commanders, field cornets (colonels, majors, and captains), landdrosts, and heemraden. The landdrosts have admin- istrative as well as judicial powers ; they and their messengers are the only salaried officers. Every white man is entitled to a homestead of 3,000 acres from the public lands. Slavery, properly speaking, has no legal existence, but the Boers keep a number of semi-civilized Hottentots as laborers and herdsmen. The principal settlements are Potchefstrom, con- taining 1,500 inhabitants, Rustenburg, Orich- stadt, and Zoutpansberg. These towns are laid out very regularly, and are well supplied with water. The Boers are represented by those who have sojourned among them as plain, honest, straightforward, pious, and hos- pitable, but distrustful of foreigners, especially Englishmen. They live in the most patriarchal way on their plants or cattle farms, in comfort- able and spacious, though unpretending dwell- ings. Besides cattle breeding, their favorite oc- cupation is hunting. Inns are unknown, and no Boer ever denies hospitality to a stranger. BOErHUS, Anidus Dlanlins Torquatus Severinns, a Roman philosopher, born between A. D. 470 and 475, executed at Pavia about 525. His grandfather Flavius, prefect of the pratorians, was murdered by order of Valentinian III., in 455. His father was consul in 487, but died while the son was yet a child, and Boethius was brought up by some of the principal men in Rome, among whom were Festus and Sym- machus. He attained the rank of patrician while under the legal age, was consul in 510, and subsequently princeps senatus. In the mean time he had married Rusticiana, the daughter of his guardian Symmachus, who bore him two sons, Aurelius Anicius Symmachus and Anicius Mahlius Severinus, both of whom were after- ward consuls. Amid his public duties he found leisure to translate several mathematical and philosophical works from the Greek, to in- dulge his talent for the construction of curious machines, and to bestow charity upon the poor of Rome. His reputation attracted the atten* tion of Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, who appointed him rnagister officiorum at his court. For some years Boethius enjoyed the friendship of this monarch, and on the occasion of the in- auguration of his two sons in the consulate in 522, he pronounced a glowing panegyric on his patron. His bold advocacy of the cause of the weak had raised him up many enemies at the court of Theodoric, who eagerly watched for an opportunity to effect his ruin. At length Albinus, a noble Roman, having been accused of treason by the dictator Cyprianus, Boethius undertook his defence with such zeal that he was accused of plotting with Symmachus to free Rome from the barbarians. He was ac- cordingly by command of Theodoric arrested with Symmachus, and, without being allowed to defend themselves, they were stripped of their property and sentenced to death. Boe- thius was taken to Pavia, imprisoned for some time in the baptistery, and executed. In 722 a cenotaph was erected in his honor, in the church of San Pietro Cielo d'Oro, by Liutprand, king of the Lombards ; and in 990 a still more magnificent one, with an epitaph by Pope Syl- vester II., was raised to his memory by the emperor Otho III. He was long regarded as a saint and a martyr, and in after times many traditions were current about his intimacy with St. Benedict, and the miracles which he had wrought during his life and at his death. It is, however, now considered an established fact that he was not a Christian at all, and that the theological compilations ascribed to him were written by another person of the same name. The greatest of his works is that which he composed in 'prison at Pavia while awaiting execution, and entitled De Consolatione Phi- losophic. It is an imaginary dialogue, alter- nately in prose and verse, between the author