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BONIFACIO BONINGTON 67 Pope Gregory II. an apostolic mission to Ger- many. He entered Friesland, where he preached during three years, then passed into Hesse, and founded there a monastery, around which in the course of time grew up the city of Marburg, and which now remains as a uni- versity. In 723 Gregory II. called him to Rome and consecrated him as a bishop, and on this occasion his name of Winifrid was changed to Boniface. In 732 Gregory III. made him archbishop and primate of Germany, and in 738, after a third journey to Rome, papal legate. He erected various bishoprics, and established numerous churches in different parts of the country. He also exercised a great influence over the last Merovingians, and over Pepin and Oarloman. He was named arch- bishop of Mentz by Pepin, and founded the celebrated abbey of Fulda, and also those of Fritzlar and Hammelburg. Boniface finally gave np his see of Mentz, in order the better to preach to the Frisians. In one of his jour- neys across the savage country where now is Dokkum, near Leeuwarden, he was attacked by the natives and slain, together with some 50 of his converted companions, whom he for- bade to use any means of defence. His body was buried in Utrecht, afterward removed to Mentz, and finally to Fulda, where a copy of the Gospels in his handwriting is still preserved. A complete edition of his letters was pub- lished at Mentz in 1789. His other writings (De Rebut Ecclesiastic-is, Instituta, Synodal-ia, and De suis in Oermanin Rebus) were pub- lished at Oxford in 1845, in 2 vols. A monu- ment to him was erected in 1811 on the spot (near Altenberga, Thuringia) where the first Christian church was built by him in 724. Another was erected at Fulda in 1842. BONIFACIO, Strait of (It. Bocea di Bonifacio), the passage between Corsica and Sardinia, about 7 m. wide in the narrowest part. The land is mountainous and the shores steep on either hand. Several small islands lie at the eastern entrance. The strait is difficult of navigation. The town of Bonifacio, an ancient seaport on the southern extremity of Corsica (pop. about 3,000), has important coral fish- eries. A submarine telegraph connects it with Longo Sardo on the opposite Sardinian coast. BOXI.V. I. Eduard Wilhelm Lndwig TOD, a Prus- sian general, born at Stolpe, March 3, 1793, died in Coblentz, March 13, 1865. He was the son of a general, and enlisted in his 13th year; captured by the French at the taking of Lu- beck, Nov. 6, 1806, he was immediately re- leased on account of his youth. He was re- warded with the iron cross for his gallantry at the battle of Lutzen, gradually rose in rank from 1817 to 1848, when he became brigadier general, and acquired celebrity in the first Schleswig-Holstein war. In 1849 he was com- mander-in-chief of the federal as well as of the Schleswig-Holstein troops. He relinquished these commands in 1850, was Prussian minister of war in 1852-'4, and again in 1858-'9, and spent the rest of his life in Coblentz as com- manding general of the eighth army corps. II. idolf von, a Prussian soldier, born Nov. 11, 1803, died in Berlin, April 16, 1872. He en- tered the army in 1821, became in 1858 adju- tant general of the king, which post he retained till 1863, when he rose to the command of the first army corps, and in 1864 to the rank of general of infantry. He distinguished himself at the battle of Sadowa, July 3, 1866, and sub- sequently acted as commander of the Prussian forces in Saxony, and as governor of Dresden till May 28, 1807. In August, 1870, he was appointed governor general of Lorraine, where he displayed tact and moderation. In March, 1871, he resumed his position on the royal staff. BONIN ISLANDS, a group of 70 islands and 19 rocks in the north Pacific, composed of three small clusters, between lat. 26 30' and 27 44' N. and Ion. 142 and 145 E. The northern cluster was named by Capt. Beechey Parry's group, and the southern, Baily's group, while Chasm near Port Lloyd. to the islands of the middle cluster he gave the separate names of Peel, Buckland, and Staple- ton. Peel island (the only one inhabited) has long been visited by whalers for supplies. From 1675 to 1725 the Bonin islands were used by the Japanese as penal colonies. In 1826 the first settlement was made by two English sail- ors, and in the same year Capt. Beechey ar- rived to take possession of the islands for the British crown. By the treaty of 3854, Port Lloyd on Peel island was opened to American and Britisli shipping. The Bonin islands are volcanic ; the water around them is very deep, and the shores are precipitous and abound in singular chasms, one of the most remarkable of which is through a headland near Port Lloyd. Timber is scarce. The few inhabitants, chiefly natives of the Sandwich islands, adopted a con- stitution, ' Aug. 28, 1853, and are ruled by a magistrate who is elected for two years. BONINGTON, Richard Parkes, an English paint- er, born at Arnold, near Nottingham, Oct. 25, 1801, died in London, Sept. 23, 1828. He was the son of an artist, and was educated in Paris. Having achieved some reputation there he went to Venice, where he made many sketches, and