656 



BOYLE -BKABANT. 



nn astronomical instrument, invented by Mr George 

 Graham, whom he patronised. 



BOYLE, John, earl of Cork and Orrery, only son of 

 the subject of the preceding article, was lx>rn in 1707. 

 His early tutor was Elijah Fenton the poet, and at a 

 proper age he was sent to Westminster, and thence. 

 to Christchurch, Oxford. In 1728, he married lady 

 Harriet Hamilton, daughter of the earl of Orkney ; 

 and in 1732, took his seat in the house of peers, and 

 distinguished himself us the opponent of Sir Robert 

 VValpole. He, however, attached himself more to 

 literature than to politics, and a temporary residence 

 on his estate in Ireland brought him acquainted with 

 Dr Swift. He published in 1739, an edition of the 

 dramatic works of his great grandfather, Roger earl 

 of Orrery, and in 1742, his " State Letters." His 

 own earliest publication was a tnmslation of two odes 

 of Horace in 1742, which work was followed in 1762, 

 by his " Translation of the Epistles of Pliny the 

 Younger, with Observations on each Letter, and an 

 Essay on Pliny's Life." This translation advanced 

 his reputation as a polite scholar, but has since been 

 eclipsed by the superior version of Melmoth. In the 

 same year he gave the world his very popular pro- 

 duction, entitled u Remarks on the Life and Writings 

 of Dr Swift," in a series of letters to his second son. 

 It takes some freedoms with an old friend, but ap- 

 pears to be veracious, if not flattering. In 1753, he 

 succeeded to the earldom of Cork, by the death of 

 the earl of Burlington and Cork, and continued to 

 amuse himself and the world with occasional commu- 

 nications to the " World'' and " Connoisseur." In 

 1754, he made the tour of Italy, and employed him- 

 self in collecting materials for a history of Tuscany, 

 which he intended to write in a series of letters, 

 twelve only of which have been published since his 

 death. They are written in an agreeable manner, 

 and contain some curious information respecting the 

 Medici family. The remainder of his life was em- 

 bittered by the death of his second wife and eldest 

 son, added to much suffering on his own part from 

 the gout. He died 1762, aged fifty-six, leaving be- 

 hina him a very amiable character as a nobleman, a 

 writer, and a rational and disinterested lover of 

 liberty. 



BOYLSTON, Zabdiel, was born at Brookline, Massa- 

 chusetts, in 1684. He studied medicine at Boston, 

 where, in a few years, he rose into extensive practice, 

 and accumulated a considerable fortune. In 1721, 

 when the small-pox broke out in Boston, and filled 

 the whole country with alarm, doctor Cotton Mather 

 pointed out to the physicians of the town an account 

 of the practice of inoculation in the East, contained 

 in a volume of the Transactions of the royal society. 

 This communication was received with great con- 

 tempt by the whole faculty, with the exception of B. 

 Although this practice was unexampled in America, 

 and not known to have been introduced into Europe, 

 he immediately inoculated his own son, a child of six 

 years of age, and two servants. Encouraged by his 

 success, he began to extend his practice. This in- 

 novation was received with general opposition. The 

 physicians of the town gave their unanimous opinion 

 against it, and the select-men of Boston passed an 

 ordinance to prohibit it. But, supported by the con- 

 viction of the utility of this invention, and the coun- 

 tenance of several intelligent clergymen, he perse- 

 vered ; and, in 1721 and 1722, inoculated 247 

 persons ; 39 more were inoculated by others, and of 

 the whole number (286), only six died. During the 

 same period, of 5759, who had the small-pox the 

 natural way, 844, nearly one seventh, died. Still, 

 however, his opponents maintained that his practice 

 was wilfully spreading contagion ; that, as the disease 

 was a judgment from God on the sins of the people, 



all attempts to avert it would but provoke him the 

 more; and that, as there was a time appointed to 

 every man for death, it was impious to attempt to 

 stay or to avert the stroke. Religious bigotry, being 

 thus called into action, so exasperated many of the 

 ignorant against B., that attempts were threatened 

 against his life, and it became unsafe for him to leiive 

 his house after dusk. Time and experience at length 

 came in to the aid of truth, opposition died away, and 

 B. had the satisfaction of seeing inoculation in general 

 use, in New England, for some time Iwfbre it became 

 common in Great Britain. In 1725, he visited Eng- 

 land, where he received much attention, and \\as 

 elected a fellow of the royal society. Upon his re- 

 turn, he continued at the head of his profession for 

 many years, but yet found time for literary and phi- 

 losophical pursuits, and contributed several valuable 

 papers to the Transactions of the royal society. He 

 died March 1, 1766. His only publications, besides 

 his communications to the royal society, are, Some 

 Account of what is said of Inoculating, or Trans- 

 planting the Small-pox, by the learned doctor Emanuel 

 Timonius, and Jac. Pylarinus (a pamphlet, Boston, 

 1721), and An Historical Account of the Small-pox 

 inoculated in New England, &c. (London, 1726.) 



BOYNE ; a river of Ireland, running into the Irish 

 channel, near which was fought a celebrated battle 

 between the adherents of James II. and William III., 

 in 1690 ; the latter was victorious, and James was 

 obliged to flee to the continent. 



BOZZARIS. See Greece. 



BRABANT, duchy of; in the ex-kingdom of the 

 Netherlands, having Holland on the north, Liege 

 and Limburg on the east, Flanders on the west, and 

 Hainault and Namur on the south. North B. con- 

 tains 252,000 inhabitants, and South B. 366,000. B. 

 was erected into a duchy in the seventh century. 

 For some ages, it belonged to the Frankish monarchy, 

 and subsequently became a German fief. At all 

 periods in the history of the Belgic provinces, it ap- 

 pears to have been pre-eminent among the states, in 

 the general assemblies of which its deputies held the 

 first place, and gave their votes before the others. 

 The last duke, a descendant of Charlemagne, dying 

 in 1005, the duchy devolved on Lambert 1., count of 

 Louvain, his brother-in-law. Through his posterity, 

 it descended to Philip II., duke of Burgundy, and 

 afterwards came, in the line of descent, to the em- 

 peror Charles V. In the seventeenth century, the 

 republic of Holland took possession of the northern 

 part, which was thence called Dutch B. The other 

 part belonged to Austria, and was occupied by the 

 French in 1746, but restored at the peace of Aix-la- 

 Chapelle. It was again occupied by them in 1797, 

 and their possession confirmed by the treaties of 

 Campo Fonnio (1797) and Luneville (1801). Dutch 

 B. was united to the French empire in 1810. Aus- 

 trian B., while under the dominion of Austria, had 

 its own states, consisting of two bishops and eleven 

 abbots, with the barons, and seven deputies, chosen 

 by the cities of Brussels, Louvain, and Antwerp. 

 Since the formation of the kingdom of the Nether- 

 lands in 1815, North B. sends seven, and South B. 

 eight members to the representative assembly. The 

 province of Antwerp, which formerly belonged to the 

 duchy, sends five. Much of the soil, especially in 

 the southern part, is fertile, produces large quantities 

 of grain, and affords excellent pasturage. In the 

 north, considerable tracts are covered with moss, 

 heath, and woods; but others yield large crops of 

 wheat, hops, and flax. There are manufactures of 

 cloth, lace, linen, &c. The chief rivers are the 

 Dommel. the Demer, the Dyle, and the Nethe, 

 which, with the canals, facilitate the internal com- 

 merce of the duchy Jn the northern part, the in- 



