FLAVIUS ANIMUS MANLIUS TOR QUATUS SEVERINUS, the most •eminent of the la ter Romans, was born at Rome about the year 470, and flourished in the reigns of the Emperors Zeno and Thcodoric. He was deprived of his fa. ther at an early age, and thus succeeded to the pa trimony and honours of a family so illustrious, that even kings and emperors ambitiously assumed its name. Several years of his youth were spent at Athens, where he prosecuted his studies under the direction of Proclus, with such indefatigable assidui ty, as to make himself master of all the learning of the age. His sound and vigorous judgment preser ved him from the affectation of mystery and magic, which then disgraced the Grecian schools ; but he caught the spirit, and imitated the example, of Pro clus and his predecessors; who endeavoured to recon cile the nervous sense and acute subtlety of Aristotle with the sublime but fanciful contemplations of Plato. On his return to Rome, he continued to pursue his studies with an eagerness unabated by the splendour and the numerous avocations of his exalted situation.; and soon gave proofs, in various publications, of the extent of his erudition, and the amazing versatility of his genius. I-Tis first work appears to have been a defence of the orthodox creed against the Arian, Eutychian, and Nestorian heresies ; and he afterwards published a formal treatise upon the Trinity, which abounds not only with philosophical terms, but with metaphysical subtleties. Boethius appears to have been the first who employed the Aristotelian philo sophy to explain the mysteries of religion : a .plan which was afterwards very eagerly adopted by the school divines, and which, in their injudicious hands, became the source of such endless wrangling and error, as completely destroyed the spirit, and clouded the beauty, of the mild and pure religion of the gos pel.
His next object was to make his countrymen ac quainted with the arts and sciences, which had long flourished, though they were now on the deCline, in Greece. With this view he translated, and illustra ted by commentaries, the geometry of Euclid, the music of 'Pythagoras, the arithmetic of Nicomachus, the mechanics of Archimedes, the astronomy of Pto lemy, the theology of Plato, and the logic of Aris totle : " And he alone," says Gibbon, " was esteem ed capable of describing the wonders of art, a sun dial, a water-clock, or a sphere which represented the motions of the planets." In the midst of these important studies, Boethius never forgot his more essential duties as a citizen, and master of a family : his coffers, almost inexhaustible, were ever open for the relief of the indigent ; and his eloquence, at that time unrivalled, was uniformly exerted in the cause of innocence, humanity, and justice. He now saw him self in possession of every thing requisite to his pub lic respectability and private happiness. Allied by birth to the first nobles in the empire, his family grandeur was increased by his marriage with the daughter of Symmachus, who possessed every quali ty that could give pleasure to the nuptial union. his ingnity and his acquirements well entitled him to aspire to the highest offices in the state ; and his claims were felt and recognised by the Emperor Theodoric. He was exalted to the rank of consul and patrician the important station of master of the offices, gave an honourable and useful employment to his talents ; and when his two sons had grown up to manhood, he enjoyed the singular satisfaction of seeing them united in the consulship.
Universally esteemed and respected, caressed by his sovereign, and adored by his dependants, one cir cumstance alone threw a shade over his happiness, and at last completely reversed the fair scene which we have described. With the generous and inde pendent spirit of a Roman patriot, Boethius could not see without deep regret the misfortunes of his country, ruled by a foreigner, and oppressed and in sulted by barbarian conquerors. His authority had often checked the pride and tyranny of the royal officers ; and his influence had rescued Paulianus from the dogs of the palace. The provincials, whose for tunes had become the prey of public and private ra pacity, bad often been relieved by his generosity ; and he was the only person who was bold enough to oppose the insolence, of the barbarians, elated by conquest, excited by avarice, and encouraged by im punity. " In these honourable contests," says the
historian quoted above, " his spirit soared above the consideration of danger, and perhaps of prudence ; and we may learn from the example of Cato, that a character of pure and inflexible virtue is the most apt to .be misled by prejudice, to be heated by en thusiasm, and to confound private enmities with pub lic justice." When age had converted into a tyrant the wise and tolerant Theodoric, Boethius magnanimously re solved that he should not be degraded to the condi tion of a slave, and opposed, without fear, the sullen barbarian, who thought the safety of the senate in compatible with the stability of his throne. When the senator Albinus was accused, and already con victed of the liberty of Rome, the eloquence of Boethius, animated by all the warmth of friend ship and patriotism, was exerted in his defence. " If Albinos," lie exclaimed, " be guilty, the senate and myself arc all guilty of the same crime. If we are innocent, Albinus is equally entitled to the protec tion of the laws." If merely to hope for the liberty of Rome was criminal in the eyes of the tyrant, Boe thius could not fail to incur his mortal resentment by the less equivocal avowal, that if he had known of a conspiracy, Theodoric never should. He was ac cordingly involved in the same charge with his client Albinus ; their signature, which they denied as a for gery, was exhibited in the senate, affixed to the ori ginal address inviting the Greek emperor, Justin, to deliver Italy from the dominion of the Goths; and Trigilla, Congiastus, and Cyprianus, persons of the most infamous character, though of high rank, were suborned to attest the treasonable designs of the pa trician. The senate, overawed by the power of the tyrant, yet unwilling too severely to condemn the most respected and illustrious of their members, pro nounced against him a reluctant sentence of banish ment ; while Boethius, lamenting the servility and degeneracy of his countrymen, predicted, that none, after him, should be found guilty of the same of fence. He was conveyed to the tower of Pavia, where he was closely imprisoned and loaded with fetters, expecting every moment the fatal mandate of his sovereign. It was in this dismal situation that he experienced the chief advantage of those studies to which lie had devoted his youth. He beguiled the tedious interval between his imprisonment and death, by composing the Consolation 9f Philosophy, an incomparable treasure of sublime and delieate mo- . ral sentiments, but still more admirable, considering the barbarism of the age, and the situation of the author when it was written, for the classical purity and elegance of its style. The most judicious critics have not hesitated to compare the Consolation of Philosophy with the happiest productions of Plato and of Tully; and Berms, one of the editors and commentators of Boethius, in a still loftier strain of panegyric, endeavours to account for the superior excellence of this performance by supposing, that, as men approach nearer their death, they feel something divine within them, and passing beyond the ordinary limits of mankind, speak, see, and think much nobler things than they could ever do before. This.
work, written partly in prose, and partly in verse, ' is thrown iwo the form of a conference between the Author and Philosophy, who endeavours to soothe him in his afflictions. He begins by complaining of the miserable state to which he is reduced, when his divine instructor, to assuage his distresss, reminds him of the instability of fortune, and of the large portion of happiness which he had so long enjoyed. Yet the supreme good, she assures him, consists not in the wealth, the honour, or even the safety which he had lost, but in the enjoyment of God alone. Hence it follows that the good alone are in posses sion of real happiness ; and although the wicked may often enjoy apparent felicity, and the virtuous may sink in occasional distress, this is only the na tural result of the moral government of the Deity over beings free and accountable, whose actions and motives he now watches attentively, and whom he will afterwards equitably judge, to reward and punish them according deeds.