utors, had acquired
the honors of martyrdom, and the fame of miracles. [100] In the last
hours of Boethius, he derived some comfort from the safety of his two
sons, of his wife, and of his father-in-law, the venerable Symmachus.
But the grief of Symmachus was indiscreet, and perhaps disrespectful:
he had presumed to lament, he might dare to revenge, the death of an
injured friend. He was dragged in chains from Rome to the palace of
Ravenna; and the suspicions of Theodoric could only be appeased by the
blood of an innocent and aged senator. [101]

[Footnote 98: He was executed in Agro Calventiano, (Calvenzano, between
Marignano and Pavia,) Anonym. Vales. p. 723, by order of Eusebius, count
of Ticinum or Pavia. This place of confinement is styled the baptistery,
an edifice and name peculiar to cathedrals. It is claimed by the
perpetual tradition of the church of Pavia. The tower of Boethius
subsisted till the year 1584, and the draught is yet preserved,
(Tiraboschi, tom. iii. p. 47, 48.)]

[Footnote 99: See the Biographia Britannica, Alfred, tom. i. p. 80, 2d
edition. The work is still more honorable if performed under the learned
eye of Alfred by his foreign and domestic doctors. For the reputation
of Boethius in the middle ages, consult Brucker, (Hist. Crit. Philosoph.
tom. iii. p. 565, 566.)]

[Footnote 100: The inscription on his new tomb was composed by the
preceptor of Otho III., the learned Pope Silvester II., who, like
Boethius himself, was styled a magician by the ignorance of the times.
The Catholic martyr had carried his head in his hands a considerable
way, (Baronius, A.D. 526, No. 17, 18;) and yet on a similar tale, a lady
of my acquaintance once observed, "La distance n'y fait rien; il n'y a
que lo remier pas qui coute." Note: Madame du Deffand. This witticism
referred to the miracle of St. Denis.--G.]

[Footnote 101: Boethius applauds the virtues of his father-in-law, (l.
i. pros. 4, p. 59, l. ii. pros. 4, p. 118.) Procopius, (Goth. l. i. c.
i.,) the Valesian Fragment, (p. 724,) and the Historia Miscella, (l.
xv. p. 105,) agree in praising the superior innocence or sanctity of
Symmachus; and in the estimation of the legend, the guilt of his murder
is equal to the imprisonment of a pope.]

Humanity will be disposed to encourage any report which testifies the
jurisdiction of conscience and the remorse of kings; and philosophy is
not ignorant that the most horrid spectres are sometimes created by the
pow