Pache, Jean, Swiss adventurer, who became Mayor of Paris, and evenMinister of War during the French Revolution, “the sleek Tartuffe that hewas,” is credited with the authorship of the famous revolutionary motto,Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, or Death (1746-1823).

Pachomius, St., an Egyptian hermit, the founder of conventualmonachism, who established the first institution of the kind at Tabenna,an island in the Nile; he also established the first nunnery under hissister (292-348). Festival, May 14.

Pachydermata, hoofed animals with thick skins and non-ruminant, suchas the elephant and the hog.

Pacific Ocean, the largest sheet of water on the globe, occupies athird of its whole surface, as much as all the land put together. It is awide oval in shape, lying between Australia and Asia on the W., and Northand South America on the E. Except from Asia it receives no largerivers. On its American shores the Gulf of California is the onlyconsiderable indentation; the Okhotsk, Japanese, Yellow, and ChineseSeas, on the Asiatic coast, are rather wide bays shut in by islands thaninland seas. Its innumerable islands are the chief feature of the PacificOcean. The continental islands include the Aleutian, Kurile, Japan, andPhilippine Islands, and the archipelago between the Malay Peninsula andAustralia; the Oceanic Islands include countless groups, volcanic andcoral, chiefly in the southern hemisphere, between the Sandwich Islandsand New Zealand. Commerce on the Pacific Ocean is only beginning, butwill increase vastly with the extension of the United States westward,the colonisation of Australia, and the opening of Chinese and Japaneseports. San Francisco and Valparaiso on the E., Hong-Kong and Sydney onthe W., are just now the chief centres of trade.

Packhard, distinguished American entymologist and naturalist, bornin Maine; his classification of insects is accepted;b. 1839.

Pactolus, a small river of Lydia, famous for the gold contained inits sand, due, it was alleged, to Midas washing the gold off him in itswaters, and the alleged source of the wealth of Croesus; its modern nameis Sarabat. SeeMidas.

Pacuvius, an old Latin dramatist, nephew ofEnnius (q. v.);wrote dramas after the Greek models (220-130 B.C.).

Padang (15), a town and free port on the W. coast of Sumatra, thelargest town on the island, and the Dutch official capital.

Paderewski, Ignace Jan, a celebrated pianist, born at Podolia, inRussian Poland; master of his art by incessant practice from earlychildhood, made hisdébut in 1887 with instant success; his firstappearance created quite afurore in Paris and London; has twicevisited the United States; is a brilliant composer as well as performer,and has composed numerous pieces both for the voice and the piano;b.1860.

Padilla, Juan Lopez de, a celebrated Castilian noble, who headed arebellion against Charles V., which he heroically maintained till hisdefeat at Villalos in 1521, and which his wife, Donna Maria, no lessheroically maintained against a strong besieging force after his captureand execution.

Padishah, from two Persian words meaning “protector prince,” is atitle given to the Shah of Persia and the Sultan of Turkey, and at onetime applied, among others, to the Emperors of Austria and Russia.

Padua (79), a walled city of Venetia, 23 m. by rail W. of Venice,has some manufactures of leather and musical-instrument strings, but ischiefly interesting for its artistic treasures; these include themunicipal buildings, cathedral, and nearly fifty churches, innumerablepictures and frescoes, and Donatello's famous equestrian statue ofGattamelata; there is also a renowned university, library, museum, andthe oldest botanical garden in Europe; after very varied fortunes it washeld by Venice 1405-1797, then by Austria till its incorporation in Italy1866. Livy was a native, as also Andrea Mantegna.

Pæstum, an ancient Greek city of Lucania, in South Italy, withremains of Greek architecture second only to those of Athens.

Pagan, Isabel, Scotch poetess, authoress of the plaintive song “Ca'the Yowes to the Knowes” (1740-1821).

Paganini, Nicolo, a celebrated Italian violinist, born at Genoa ofhumble origin; widely famous for his astonishing feats on asingle-stringed instrument; was a composer of musical pieces for bothviolin and guitar; died rich (1784-1840).

Paganism,heathenism (q. v.), so called as lingering amongthe “pagani” or country people, after Christianity had taken root in thelarge towns.

Pagoda, an Indian or Chinese temple, associated chiefly withBuddhism, of a more or less pyramidal form and of several storeys, themost imposing being the Greek Pagoda of Tanjore; the name is applied alsoto a gold coin worth 7s. 6d. stamped with a pagoda.

Pahlevi, name given to a translation of theZendavesta (q.v.) in the Zend dialect for the use of the priesthood.

Paine, Thomas, a notorious free-thinker and democrat, born inThetford; emigrated to America, contributed, as he boasted, by hispamphlet “Common Sense,” to “free America,” by rousing it to emancipateitself from the mother-country; wrote the “Rights of Man” against Burke's“Reflections”; had to emigrate to France; took part in the Revolution toaid in its emancipation also, offended Robespierre, and was put inprison, where he wrote the first part of his “Age of Reason,” a bookwhich offended the Christian world and procured him ignominy and evenexecration in many quarters; died in New York, but his bones wereconveyed to England by Cobbett in 1819 (1737-1809).

Painter, William, author of “Palace of Pleasure,” a collection oftales chiefly from Italian sources, which proved suggestive in furnishingthe dramatists with interesting subjects for representation (1540-1594).

Paisiello, Giovanni, an Italian composer, born at Taranto; his greatwork, the opera “Il Barbiere di Seviglia”; composed besides other operas,cantatas, requiems, &c.

Paisley (66), a Renfrewshire town, 7 m. W. of Glasgow, on the WhiteCart. It is the chief centre of manufacture of cotton thread in theworld, and its other industries include dyeing, bleaching, woollen goods,and engineering. There are several fine buildings, a Baptist Church issaid to be the finest modern ecclesiastical building in Scotland. Theornithologist Wilson, Professor Wilson ( Christopher North), andTannahill were born here.

Palacky, Francis, distinguished Bohemian historian and politician,born in Moravia, author of a “History of Bohemia,” in 5 vols., his chiefwork and a notable (1798-1876).

Paladin, the name given to the peers of Charlemagne, such as Roland,and also to knights-errant generally.

Palæography, the name given to the study and the deciphering ofancient manuscripts.

Palæologus, the name of a Byzantine family, several members of whichattained imperial dignity, the last of the dynasty dying in 1453; theycame into prominence in the 11th century.

Palæontology, the name given to the study of fossil remains, abranch of geology.

Palafox, Don Joseph, a Spanish soldier, born of a noble Aragonesefamily, who immortalised himself by his heroic defence of Saragossaagainst the French in 1808-9; on the fall of the place was taken toFrance and imprisoned till 1813; on his release was created Duke ofSaragossa and promoted to other high honours at home (1780-1847).

Palais Royal, a pile of buildings in Paris, of which the nucleus wasa palace built in 1629 by Lemercier for Richelieu, and known afterwardsas the Palais Cardinal, and which at length by gift of Louis XIV. becamethe town residence of the Orleans family; these buildings suffered muchdamage in 1848 and in 1871, but have been restored since 1873.

Palamedes, one of the chiefs of the Greeks at the siege of Troy, aman of inventive genius; discovered the assumed madness of Ulysses, butincurred his resentment in consequence, which procured his death.

Palanquin, in India and China a covered conveyance for one personborne on the shoulders of men.

Palatinate, the name of two States, originally one, of the oldGerman empire, one called the Lower Palatinate or the Palatinate of theRhine, partitioned in 1815 among the States of Baden, Bavaria, Prussia,and Hesse-Darmstadt, and the other called the Upper Palatinate, nownearly all included in Bavaria; the former has for principal towns Spiresand Landau, and the latter Ratisbon.

Palatine, one of the seven hills of ancient Rome, and, according totradition, the first to be occupied, and forming the nucleus of the city;it became one of the most aristocratic quarters of the city, and waschosen by the first emperors for their imperial residence.

Palatine Count, a judicial functionary of high rank under the earlyFrankish kings over what was called a palatinate.

Palatine Counties, certain frontier counties in England, such asChester, Durham, and Lancaster, which possess royal privileges andrights.

Pale, The, that part of Ireland in which after the invasion of 1172the supremacy of English rule and law was acknowledged, the limits ofwhich differed at different times, but which generally included all theeastern counties extending 40 or 50 m. inland.

Palenque, a town in the State of Chiapas, Mexico, discovered in1760, buried under a dense forest with extensive structures in ruins.

Palermo (273), capital of Sicily, picturesquely situated in themidst of a beautiful and fertile valley called the Golden Shell; is ahandsome town, with many public buildings and nearly 300 churches inMoorish and Byzantine architecture, a university, art school, museum, andlibraries; industries are unimportant, but a busy trade is done withBritain, France, and the United States, exporting fruits, wine, sulphur,&c., and importing textiles, coals, machinery, and grain.

Pales, in Roman mythology the tutelary deity of shepherds and theirflocks, the worship of whom was attended with numerous observances, as inthe case of the nature divinities generally.

Palestine, or theHoly Land, a small territory on the SE.corner of the Mediterranean, about the size of Wales, being 140 m. fromN. to S., and an average of 70 m. from E. to W., is bounded on the N. byLebanon, on the E. by the Jordan Valley, on the S. by the SinaiticDesert, and on the W. by the sea; there is great diversity of climatethroughout its extent owing to the great diversity of level, and itsflora and fauna are of corresponding range; it suffered much during thewars between the Eastern monarchies and Egypt, and in the wars betweenthe Crescent and the Cross, and is now by a strange fate in the hands ofthe Turk; it has in recent times been the theatre of extensive exploringoperations in the interest of its early history.

Palestrina, an Italian town, 22 m. SE. of Rome, on a slope of theApennines, 2546 ft. above sea-level, on the site of the ancient Præneste,with the remains of Cyclopean walls, with a palace of theBarberini (q. v.).

Palestrina, Giovanni Pierluigi de, celebrated composer of sacredmusic, surnamed the Prince of Music, born at Palestrina; resided chieflyat Rome, where he wrought a revolution in church music, produced a numberof masses which at once raised him to the foremost rank among composers;was the author of a well-knownStabat Mater (1524-1594).

Paley, Frederick Althorp, classical scholar, grandson of thesucceeding, born near York; became a Roman Catholic, contributed toclassical literature by his editions of the classics of both Greece andRome, remarkable alike for their scholarship and the critical acumen theyshow (1816-1886).

Paley, William, “one of the most masculine and truly English ofthinkers and writers,” born at Peterborough; studied at Christ's College,Cambridge, where he was Senior Wrangler, and obtained a Fellowship, heldafterwards various Church preferments, and died archdeacon of Carlisle;was a clear writer and cogent reasoner on common-sense lines, and waslong famous, if less so now, as the author of “Horæ Paulinæ,” “Evidencesof Christianity,” and “Natural Theology,” as well as “Moral and PoliticalPhilosophy”; they are genuine products of the time they were written in,but are out of date now (1743-1806).

Palgrave, Sir Francis, historian, born in London, of Jewish parentsof the name of Cohen; was called to the bar in 1827, and becameDeputy-Keeper of Her Majesty's Records in 1838; was the author of ahistory of the “Rise and Progress of the English Commonwealth” and of a“History of England,” tracing it back chiefly to the Anglo-Norman period,among other works (1788-1861).

Palgrave, Francis Turner, poet, son of preceding, born in London,professor of Poetry at Oxford, editor of “Golden Treasury of Songs andLyrics,” as well as author of lyrics, rhymes, &c.;b. 1824.

Palgrave, William Gifford, Arabic scholar, born at Westminster,brother of preceding; after a brief term of service in the army joinedthe Society of Jesus, and served as a member of the order in India, Rome,and in Syria, where he acquired an intimate knowledge of Arabic, by meansof which he contributed to our knowledge of both the Arabic language andthe Arab race; wrote a narrative of a year's journey through Arabia(1826-1888).

Pâli, the sacred language of the Buddhists, once a living language,but, like Sanskrit, no longer spoken.

Palimpsest, the name given to a parchment manuscript written on thetop of another that has been erased, yet often not so thoroughly that itcannot be in a measure restored.

Palingenesia, name equivalent to “new birth,” and applied both toregeneration and restoration, of which baptism in the former case is thesymbol; in the Stoic philosophy it is preceded by dissolution, as in therejuvenescence process ofMedea (q. v.).

Palinurus, the pilot of one of the ships of Æneas, who, sleeping athis post, fell into the sea, and was drowned.

Palissy, Bernard, the great French potter and inventor of a newprocess in the potter's art, born in Périgord, of humble parentage;celebrated for his fine earthenware vases ornamented with figuresartistically modelled, but above all for his untiring zeal and patiencein the study of his art and mastery in it, making fuel of his veryfurniture and the beams of his house in the conduct of his experiments;he was a Huguenot, but was specially exempted, by order of Catherine de'Medici, from the massacre of St. Bartholomew in 1672, although he was in1585, as a Huguenot, imprisoned in the Bastille, where he died(1510-1590).

Palk's Strait, the channel which separates Ceylon from the mainlandof India, 100 m. long and 40 m. wide, generally shallow. SeeAdam's Bridge.

Palladio, Andrea, an Italian architect, born at Vicenza, of poorparents; was precursor of the modern Italian style of architecture, andauthor of a treatise on architecture that has borne fruit; his works,which are masterpieces of the Renaissance, consist principally of palacesand churches, and the finest specimens are to be met with in Venice andin his native place (1518-1580).

Palladium, a statue of Pallas in Troy, on the preservation of whichdepended the safety of the city, and from the date of the abstraction ofwhich by Ulysses and Diomedes the fate of it was doomed; it was fabled tohave fallen from heaven upon the plain of Troy, and to have after itsabstraction been transferred to Athens and Argos; it is now applied toany safeguard of the liberty of a State.

Palladius, St., is called the “chief apostle of the Scottishnation,” but his connection with Scotland during his lifetime isdoubtful; he was sent to Ireland by Pope Celestine in A.D. 430, whence,after his death, his remains were brought by St. Ternan to Fordoun,Kincardineshire.

Pallas, one of the names ofAthena (q. v.) considered asthe goddess of war; a name of uncertain derivation.

Pallas, Peter Simon, a German traveller and naturalist, born inBerlin, professor of Natural History in St. Petersburg; explored Siberia,and contributed to the geographical knowledge of the Russian empire(1741-1811).

Pallavicino, Ferrante, Italian patriot, who gave offence by hispasquinades to the Papal Court and the Barberini; was betrayed andbeheaded (1618-1644).

Pallavicino, Sforza, cardinal and historian, born at Rome; was ofthe Jesuit order, and wrote a “History of the Council of Trent,” incorrection of the work of Paul Sarpi (1607-1667).

Pallice, La, port of La Rochelle, from which it is 3 m. distant,with harbourage for ocean-going steamers.

Palm, Johann Philipp, a Nürnberg bookseller, tried by court-martialat the instance of Napoleon, and shot, for the publication of a pamphletreflecting on Napoleon and his troops, an act, from the injustice of it,that aroused the indignation of the whole German people against him;“better,” thinks Carlyle, “had he lost his best park of artillery, or hisbest regiment drowned in the sea, than shot that poor German bookseller”(1768-1806).

Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, is so called from its beingcommemorative of Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem; it is observedby the Greek and Roman Churches; in the latter palm branches are blessedby the priest before mass, carried in procession, distributed to thecongregation, carried home by them, and kept throughout the year.

Palma, 1, capital of the Balearic Islands (61), on the Bay of Palma,SW. coast of Majorca; has a Gothic cathedral, a Moorish palace, and acollection of pictures in the old Town Hall; manufactures silks,woollens, and jewellery, and does a busy trade. 2, One of the CanaryIslands (39), 67 m. NW. of Teneriffe; grows sugar, and exports honey,wax, and silk manufactures.

Palma, Jacopo, or The Old, a celebrated painter of the Venetianschool, was a pupil of Titian; painted sacred subjects and portraits, allmuch esteemed (1480-1548).

Palma, Jacopo, The Young, nephew of the preceding, also a painter,but of inferior merit, though he aimed to be the rival of Tintoretto andPaul Veronese (1544-1628).

Palmer, the name given to a pilgrim to the Holy Land who hadperformed his vow, in sign of which he usually bore a palm branch in hishand, which he offered on the altar on his return home.

Palmer, Edward Henry, Oriental scholar, born at Cambridge; had anaptitude for languages, and was especially proficient in those of theEast; by his knowledge of Arabic contributed to the success of exploringexpeditions to S. Palestine and Sinai; was appointed professor of Arabicat Cambridge in 1871; produced a Persian-English Dictionary, an ArabicGrammar, and a translation of the Korân, and in 1882 undertook twomissions to Egypt, in the latter of which he and his party were betrayedand murdered; he was a man of varied gifts and accomplishments, and theloss in scholarship to his country by his fate is incalculable(1840-1882).

Palmer, Samuel, English landscape-painter, chiefly in water-colours(1805-1881).

Palmerston, Henry John Temple, Viscount, English statesman, born, ofan Irish family, at Broadlands, Hants; was educated at the universitiesof Edinburgh and Cambridge; succeeded to his father's title, an Irishpeerage, in 1802, and entered Parliament in 1807 as member for Newport,Isle of Wight; during his long career he subsequently representedCambridge University (1811-1831), Bletchingly, South Hampshire, andTiverton; from 1809 to 1828 under five Premiers he was Junior Lord of theAdmiralty and Secretary at War; and separating himself finally from theTory party, he joined Earl Grey's Cabinet as Foreign Secretary in 1830;contrary to all expectation he kept the country out of war, and duringthe next 11 years he associated England's influence with that of Francein Continental affairs; returning to office in 1846, he remained at hisold post till 1851, steering England skilfully through the Spanishtroubles and the revolutionary reaction of 1848; a vote of censure on hispolicy was carried in the Lords in 1850, but, after a five hours' speechfrom him, the Commons recorded their approval; he resigned owing todifferences with the Premier, Lord John Russell; in 1852 joined LordAberdeen's coalition ministry, and on its fall became himself PrimeMinister in 1855; he prosecuted the Crimean War and the Chinese War of1857, and suppressed the Great Mutiny in India; defeated in 1858, hereturned to office next year with a cabinet of Whigs and Peelites; hissecond administration furthered the cause of free trade, but made themistake of allowing theAlabama to leave Birkenhead; he was PrimeMinister when he died; a brusque, high-spirited, cheery man, sensible andpractical, unpretending as an orator, but a skilful debater, he was agreat favourite with the country, whose prosperity and prestige it washis chief desire to promote (1784-1865).

Palmistry, the art of reading character from the lines and marks onthe palm of the hand, according to which some pretend to read fortunes aswell.

Palmy`ra, a ruined city of Asia Minor, 150 m. NE. of Damascus, oncesituated in an oasis near the Arabian desert; a place of importance, andsaid to have been founded by Solomon for commercial purposes; of imposingmagnificence as it ruins testify, as notably under Zenobia; it was takenby the Romans in 272, and destroyed by Aurelian, after which it graduallyfell into utter decay; its ruins were discovered in 1678; it containsthe ruins of a temple to Baal, 60 of the 300 columns of which were stillstanding.

Palo Alto, 33 m. SE. of San Francisco; is the seat of a remarkableuniversity founded by Senator Stanford, and opened in 1891, to provideinstruction, from the Kindergarten stage to the most advanced and varied,to students and pupils boarded on the premises; of these there were 1000in 1897.

Paludan-Müller, Frederick, distinguished Danish poet, born in Fünen;his greatest poem, “Adam Homo,” a didactico-humorous composition; was anearnest man and a finished literary artist (1809-1876).

Pamela, a novel of Richardson's, from the name of the heroine, agirl of low degree, who resists temptation and reclaims her would-beseducer.

Pamirs, The, or the “Roof of the World,” a plateau traversed bymountain ridges and valleys, of the average height of 13,000 ft., NW. ofthe plateau of Thibet, connecting the mountain system of the Himalayas,Tian-Shan, and the Hindu Kush, and inhabited chiefly by nomad Kirghizbands; territorial apportionments have for some time past been in thehands of Russian and British diplomatists.

Pampas, vast grassy, treeless, nearly level plains in South America,in the Argentine State; they stretch from the lower Paraná to the S. ofBuenos Ayres; afford rich pasture for large herds of wild horses andcattle, and are now in certain parts being brought under tillage.

Pampeluna orPamplona (31), a fortified city of Northern Spain,is 80 m. due SE. of Bilbao. It has a Gothic cathedral and a surgicalcollege, with manufactures of pottery and leather, and a trade in wine.Formerly capital of Navarre, it has suffered much in war; has thiscentury several times resisted the Carlists.

Pan, in the Greek mythology a goat-man, a personification of rudenature, and the protector of flocks and herds; originally an Arcadiandeity, is represented as playing on a flute of reeds joined together ofdifferent lengths, called Pan's pipes; and dancing on his cloven hoofsover glades and mountains escorted by a bevy of nymphs side by side, andplaying on his pipes. There is a remarkable tradition, that on the nightof the Nativity at Bethlehem an astonished voyager heard a voiceexclaiming as he passed the promontory of Tarentum, “The great Pan isdead.” The modern devil is invested with some of his attributes, such ascloven hoofs, &c.

Panama (15), a free port in the State of Colombia, on the Pacificcoast of the isthmus of the same name, and an oppressively hot and humidplace, is the terminus of the Panama railroad and the seat of a greattransit trade. It has a Spanish cathedral. The population, of Indian andnegro descent chiefly, is only half what it was when the canal works werein full operation.

Panama Canal Geographers were familiar with the idea of connectingthe two oceans by a canal through Central America as early as thebeginning of the 16th century, and Dutch plans are said to exist datingfrom the 17th century. The first practical steps were taken by Ferdinandde Lesseps in 1879; two years later work was begun; the cost wasestimated at £24,000,000, but on January 1, 1889, the company was forcedinto liquidation after spending over £70,000,000, and accomplishing but afifth of the work. Extravagance and incapacity were alleged among thecauses of failure; but the apparently insurmountable difficulties weremarshes, quicksands, and the overflow of the Chagres River, theprevalence of earthquakes, the length of the rainy season, the cost oflabour and living, and the extreme unhealthiness of the climate.

Panathenæa, a festival, or rather two festivals, the Lesser and theGreater, anciently celebrated at Athens in honour of Athena, thepatron-goddess of the city.

Panchatantra, an old collection of fables and stories originally inSanskrit, and versions of which have passed into all the languages ofIndia, have appeared in different forms, and been associated withdifferent names.

Pancras, St., a boy martyr of 16, who suffered under the Diocletianpersecution about 304, and is variously represented in mediæval legend asbearing a stone and sword, or a palm branch, and trampling a Saracenunder foot, in allusion to his hatred of heathenism.

Pandects, the digest of civil law executed at the instance of theEmperor Justinian between the years 530 and 533.

Pandora (i. e. the All-Gifted) in the Greek mythology a woman ofsurpassing beauty, fashioned by Hephæstos, and endowed with every giftand all graces by Athena, sent by Zeus toEpimetheus (q. v.) toavenge the wrong done to the gods by his brother Prometheus, bearing withher a box full of all forms of evil, which Epimetheus, though cautionedby his brother, pried into when she left, to the escape of the contentsall over the earth in winged flight, Hope alone remaining behind in thecasket.

Pandours, a name given to a body of light-infantry at one time inthe Austrian service, levied among the Slavs on the Turkish frontier, andnow incorporated as a division of the regular army.

Pandulf, Cardinal, was the Pope's legate to King John of England,and to whom, on his submission, John paid homage at Dover;d. 1226.

Pange Lingua, a hymn in the Roman Breviary, service of CorpusChristi, part of which is incorporated in every Eucharistic service; waswritten in rhymed Latin by Thomas Aquinas.

Pánini, a celebrated Sanskrit grammarian, whose work is of standardauthority among Hindu scholars, and who lived some time between 600 and300 B.C.

Panipat (29), a town in the Punjab, 53 m. N. of Delhi; was the sceneof two decisive battles, one in 1526 to the establishment of the Moguldynasty at Delhi, and another in 1701 to the extinction of the Mahrattasupremacy in North-West India.

Panizzi, Antonio, principal librarian of the British Museum from1850 to 1866, born at Modena; took refuge in England in 1821 asimplicated in a Piedmontese revolutionary movement that year; procuredthe favour of Lord Brougham and a post in the Museum, in which he rose tobe one of the chiefs (1797-1879).

Pannonia, a province of the Roman empire, conquered between 35 B.C.and A.D. 8; occupied a square with the Danube on the N. and E. and theSave almost on the S. border; it passed to the Eastern Empire in the 5thcentury, fell under Charlemagne's sway, and was conquered by the modernHungarians shortly before A.D. 1000.

Panopticon, a prison so arranged that the warder can see everyprisoner in charge without being seen by them.

Panslavism, the name given to a movement for union of all theSlavonic races in one nationality, a project which lags heavily owing tothe jealousy on the part of one section or another.

Pantagruel, the principal character of one of the two great works ofRabelais, and named after him; he and his father Gargantua figured astwo enormous giants, being personifications of royalty with itsinsatiable lust of territory and power.

Pantheism, the doctrine or creed which affirms the immanency of Godin nature, or that God is within nature, but ignores or denies Histranscendency, or that He is above nature; distinguished from deism,which denies the former but affirms the latter, from theism, whichaffirms both, and from atheism, which denies both.

Pantheon, a temple in Rome, first erected by Agrippa, son-in-law ofAugustus, circular in form, 150 ft. in height, with niches all round forstatues of the gods, to whom in general it was dedicated; it is now achurch, and affords sepulture to illustrious men. Also a building inParis, originally intended to be a church in honour of the patron saintof Paris, but at the time of the Revolution converted into a receptaclefor the ashes of the illustrious dead, Mirabeau being its first occupant,and bearing this inscription,Aux grands hommes la patriereconnaissant; it was subsequently appropriated to other uses, but underthe third republic it became again a resting-place for the ashes ofeminent men.

Pantograph, the name given to a contrivance for copying a drawing ora design on an enlarged or a reduced scale.

Panurge, one of the principal characters in the “Pantagruel” ofRabelais, an exceedingly crafty knave, a libertine, and a coward.

Panza, Sancho, Don Quixote's squire, a squat, paunchy peasantendowed with rude common-sense, but incapable of imagination.

Paoli, Pasquale de, a Corsican patriot; sought to achieve theindependence of his country, but was defeated by the Genoese, aided byFrance, in 1769; took refuge in England, where he was well received andgranted a pension; returned to Corsica and became lieutenant-generalunder the French republic, raised a fresh insurrection, had George III.proclaimed king, but failed to receive the viceroyalty, and returned toEngland, where he died a disappointed man (1726-1807).

Papal States, a territory in the N. of Italy extending irregularlyfrom Naples to the Po, at one time subject to the temporal sovereignty ofthe Pope, originating in a gift to his Holiness of Pepin the Short, andtaking shape as such about the 11th century, till in the 16th and 17thcenturies the papal power began to assert itself in the general politicsof Europe, and after being suppressed for a time by Napoleon it wasformally abolished by annexation of the territory to the crown ofSardinia in 1870.

Paphos, the name of two ancient cities in the SW. of Cyprus; theolder (now Kyklia) was a Phoenician settlement, in which afterwards stooda temple of Venus, who was fabled to have sprung from the sea-foam closeby; the other, 8 m. westward, was the scene of Paul's interview withSergius Paulus and encounter with Elymas.

Papias, bishop of Hierapolis, in Phrygia, who flourished in themiddle of the 2nd century, and wrote a book entitled “Exposition of theLord's Sayings,” fragments of which have been preserved by Eusebius andothers; he was, it is said, the companion of Polycarp.

Papier-Mâche is a light, durable substance made from paper pulp orsheets of paper pasted together and variously treated with chemicals,heat, and pressure, largely used for ornamental trays, boxes, lightfurniture, &c., in which it is varnished and decorated to resemblelacquer-work, and for architectural decoration, in which it is made toimitate plaster moulding; the manufacture was learned from the Easternnations. Persia, India, and Japan having been long familiar with it;America has adapted it to use for railroad wheels, &c.

Papin, Denis, French physicist, born at Blois, practised medicine atAngers; came to England and assisted Boyle in his experiments, made aspecial study of the expansive power of steam and its motive power,invented a steam-digester with a safety-valve, since called after him,for cooking purposes at a high temperature; became professor ofMathematics at Marburg (1647-1712).

Papinianus, Æmilius, a celebrated Roman jurist; was put to death byCaracalla for refusing, it is said, when requested, to vindicate hisconduct in murdering his brother (142-212).

Papirius, a Roman pontiff to whom is ascribed a collection of lawsconstituting the Roman code under the kings.

Pappenheim, Count von, imperial general, born in Bavaria; played aprominent part in the Thirty Years' War; was distinguished for his zealas well as his successes on the Catholic side; was mortally wounded atLützen, expressed his gratitude to God when he learned that GustavasAdolphus, who fell in the same battle, had died before him (1594-1632).

Pappus of Alexandria, a Greek geometer of the third or fourthcentury, author of “Mathematical Collections,” in eight books, of whichthe first and second have been lost.

Papuans, the name of the members of the negro race inhabitingcertain islands of Oceania, including New Guinea, New Hebrides, NewCaledonia, Fiji Islands, &c.

Papy`rus, the Greek name of the Egyptianpapu, is a kind of sedgegrowing 10 ft. high, with a soft triangular stem, the pith of which iseasily split into ribbons, found still in Egypt, Nubia, Abyssinia, &c.;the pith ribbons were the paper of the ancient Egyptians, of the Greeksafter Alexander, and of the later Romans; they were used by the Arabs ofthe 8th century, and in Europe till the 12th; at first long strips wererolled up, but later rectangular pages were cut and bound together bookfashion; though age has rendered the soft white pages brown and brittle,much ancient literature is still preserved on papyrus; the use of papyruswas superseded by that of parchment and rag-made paper.

Pará (40), a Brazilian port at the mouth of the Guama, on the E.shore of the Pará estuary, is a compact, regularly-built, thriving town,with whitewashed buildings, blue and white tiled roofs, tree-shadedstreets, tram-cars, telephones, theatre, and cathedral; it is theemporium of the Amazon trade, exporting india-rubber and cacao, andsending foreign goods into the interior; though hot, it is healthy.

Parable, a short allegorical narrative intended to illustrate andconvey some spiritual instruction.

Parabola, a conic section formed by the intersection of a cone by aplane parallel to one of its sides.

Paracelsus, a Swiss physician, alchemist, and mystic, whose realname was Theophrastus Bombastus, born at Einsiedeln, in Schwyz; was aviolent revolutionary in the medical art, and provoked much hostility, sothat he was driven to lead a wandering and unsettled life;notwithstanding, he contributed not a little, by his knowledge andpractice, to inaugurate a more scientific study of nature than till histime prevailed (1493-1541).

Paraffin, name given by Baron Reichenbach to a transparentcrystalline substance obtained by distillation from wood, bituminouscoal, shale, &c., and so called because it resists the action of thestrongest acids and alkalies.

Paraguay (400), except Uruguay the smallest State in South America,is an inland Republic whose territories lie in the fork between thePilcomayo and Paraguay and the Paraná Rivers, with Argentina on the W.and S., Bolivia on the N., and Brazil on the N. and E.; it is less thanhalf the size of Spain, consists of rich undulating plains, and, in theS., of some of the most fertile land on the continent; the climate istemperate for the latitude; the population, Spanish, Indian, andhalf-caste, is Roman Catholic; education is free and compulsory; thecountry is rich in natural products, but without minerals; timber,dye-woods, rubber, Paraguay tea (a kind of holly), gums, fruits, wax,honey, cochineal, and many medicinal herbs are gathered for export;maize, rice, cotton, and tobacco are cultivated; the industries includesome tanning, brick-works, and lace-making; founded by Spain in 1535,Paraguay was the scene of an interesting experiment in the 17th century,when the country was governed wholly by the Jesuits, who, excluding allEuropean settlers, built up a fabric of Christian civilisation; they wereexpelled in 1768; in 1810 the country joined the revolt against Spain,and was the first to establish its independence; for 26 years it wasunder the government of Dr. Francia; from 1865 to 1870 it maintained aheroic but disastrous war against the Argentine, Brazil, and Uruguay, asa consequence of which the population fell from a million and a half to aquarter of a million; it is again prosperous and progressing. The capitalis Asunçion (18), at the confluence of the Pilcomayo and Paraguay.

Paraguay River, a South American river 1800 m. long, the chieftributary of the Paraná, rises in some lakes near Matto Grosso, Brazil,and flows southward through marshy country till it forms the boundarybetween Brazil and Bolivia, then traversing Paraguay, it becomes theboundary between that State and the Argentine Republic, and finallyenters the Paraná above Corrientes; it receives many affluents, and isnavigable by ocean steamers almost to its source.

Paraklete, the Holy Spirit which Christ promised to His discipleswould take His place as their teacher and guide after He left them. Alsothe name of the monastery founded by Abelard near Nogent-sur-Seine, andof whichHeloïse (q. v.) was abbess.

Parallax, an astronomical term to denote an apparent change in theposition of a heavenly body due to a change in the position or assumedposition of the observer.

Paramar`ibo (24), the capital of Dutch Guiana, on the Surinam, 10 m.from the sea, and the centre of the trade of the colony.

Paramo, the name given to an elevated track of desert on the Andes.

Paraná River, a great river of South America, formed by theconfluence of the Rio Grande and the Paranahyba, in SE. Brazil, flows SW.through Brazil and round the SE. border of Paraguay, then receiving theParaguay River, turns S. through the Argentine, then E. till the junctionof the Uruguay forms the estuary of the Plate. The river is broad andrapid, 2000 m. long, more than half of it navigable from the sea; at theconfluence of the Yguassu it enters a narrow gorge, and for 100 m. formsone of the most remarkable rapids in the world; the chief towns on itsbanks are in the Argentine, viz. Corrientes, Santa Fé, and Rosario.

Parcæ, the Roman name of theThree Fates (q. v.), derivedfrom “pars,” a part, as apportioning to every individual his destiny.

Parchment consists of skins specially prepared for writing on, andis so called from a king of Pergamos, who introduced it when the exportof papyrus from Egypt was stopped; the skins used are of sheep, for fineparchment or vellum, of calves, goats, and lambs; parchment for drumheadsis made from calves' and asses' skins.

Parcs-aux-Cerfs, the French name for clearings to provide huntingfields for the French aristocracy prior to the Revolution.

Paré, Ambroise, great French surgeon, born at Laval; was from theimproved methods he introduced in the treatment of surgical casesentitled to be called, as he has been, the father of modern surgery, forhis success as an operator, in particular the tying of divided arteriesand the treatment of gunshot wounds; he was in the habit of saying of anypatient he had successfully operated upon, “I cared for him; God healedhim”; his writings exercised a beneficent influence on the treatment ofsurgical cases in all lands (1517-1590).

Pariah, a Hindu of the lowest class, and of no caste; of the classthey are of various grades, but all are outcast, and treated as such.

Paris (2,448), the capital of France, in the centre of the northernhalf of the country, on both banks of the Seine, and on two islands (LaCité and St. Louis) in the middle, 110 m. from the sea; is the largestcity on the Continent, and one of the most beautiful in the world. Nocity has finer or gayer streets, or so many noble buildings. The Hôtel deCluny and the Hôtel de Sens are rare specimens of 15th-century civicarchitecture. The Palace of the Tuileries, on the right bank of theSeine, dates from the 16th century, and was the royal residence till theRevolution. Connected with it is the Louvre, a series of galleries ofpainting, sculpture, and antiquities, whose contents form one of therichest collections existing, and include the peerless “Venus de Milo.”The Palais Royal encloses a large public garden, and consists of shops,restaurants, the Théâtre Français, and the Royal Palace of the Orleansfamily. South of the river is the Luxembourg, where the Senate meets, andon the Ile de la Cité stands the Palais de Justice and the Conciergerie,one of the oldest Paris prisons. St.-Germain-des-Prés is the most ancientchurch, but the most important is the cathedral of Notre Dame, 12thcentury, which might tell the whole history of France could it speak.Saint-Chapelle is said to be the finest Gothic masterpiece extant. ThePantheon, originally meant for a church, is the burial-place of the greatmen of the country, where lie the remains of Voltaire, Rousseau, andCarnot. The oldest hospitals are the Hôtel Dieu, La Charité, and LaPitié. The University Schools in the Quartier Latin attract the youth ofall France; the chief are the Schools of Medicine and Law, the ScotchCollege, the College of France, and the Sorbonne, the seat of thefaculties of letters, science, and Protestant theology. Triumphal archesare prominent in the city. There are many museums and charitableinstitutions; the Bibliothèque Nationale, in the Rue Richelieu, rivalsthe British Museum in numbers of books and manuscripts. The Palace ofIndustry and the Eiffel Tower commemorate the exhibitions of 1854 and1889 respectively. Great market-places stand in various parts of thecity. The Rue de Rivoli, Rue de la Paix, Rue du Faubourg St.-Honoré, andthe Rue Royale are among the chief streets; beautiful squares arenumerous, the most noted being the Place de la Concorde, between theChamps Elysées and the Gardens of the Tuileries, in the centre of whichthe Obelisk of Luxor stands on the site of the guillotine at which LouisXVI. and Marie Antoinette, Philippe Egalité, Danton, and Robespierredied. Boulevards lined with trees run to the outskirts of the city. Themany roads, railways, canals, and rivers which converge on Paris havemade it the most important trading centre in France, and the concourse ofwealthy men of all nations has given it a high place in the financialworld. It is a manufacturing city, producing jewellery, ornamentalfurniture, and all sorts of artistic “articles de Paris.” The centre ofFrench, and indeed European, fashion, it is noted for its pleasure andgaiety. The concentration of Government makes it the abode of countlessofficials. It is strongly fortified, being surrounded by a ring of forts,and a wall 22 m. long, at the 56 gates of which the octroi dues arelevied. The Préfect of the Seine, appointed by the Government, andadvised by a large council, is the head of the municipality, of thepolice and fire brigades, cleansing, draining, and water-supplydepartments. The history of Paris is the history of France, for thenational life has been, and is, in an extraordinary degree centred in thecapital. It was the scene of the great tragic drama of the Revolution,and of the minor struggles of 1830 and 1849. In recent times its greathumiliation was its siege and capture by the Germans in 1870-71.

Paris, the second son of Priam and Hecuba; was exposed on Mount Idaat his birth; brought up by a shepherd; distinguished himself by hisprowess, by which his parentage was revealed; marriedOenonë (q.v.); appealed to to decide to whom the “apple of discord” belonged, gaveit to Aphrodité in preference to her two rivals Hera and Athena; waspromised in return that he should receive the most beautiful woman in theworld to wife, Helen of Sparta, whom he carried off to Greece, and whichled to theTrojan War (q. v.); slew Achilles, and was mortallywounded by the poisoned arrows of Hercules.

Paris, Matthew, English chronicler; a Benedictine monk of St.Albans; author of “Chronica Majora,” which contains a history written inLatin of England from the Conquest to the year in which he died(1195-1259).

Park, Mungo, African traveller, born at Foulshiels, near Selkirk;was apprenticed to a surgeon, and studied medicine at Edinburgh; 1791-93he spent in a voyage to Sumatra, and in 1795 went for the first time toAfrica under the auspices of the African Association of London; startingfrom the Gambia he penetrated eastward to the Niger, then westward toKamalia, where illness seized him; conveyed to his starting-point by aslave-trader, he returned to England and published “Travels in theInterior of Africa,” 1799; he married and settled to practice at Peebles,but he was not happy till in 1805 he set out for Africa again atGovernment expense; starting from Pisania he reached the Niger, andsending back his journals attempted to descend the river in a canoe, but,attacked by natives, the canoe overturned; and he and his companions weredrowned (1771-1805).

Parker, John Henry, archæologist and writer on architecture;originally a London publisher, his chief work the “Archæology of Rome,”in nine vols., a subject to which he devoted much study (1800-1884).

Parker, Joseph, an eminent Nonconformist divine, born in Hexham;minister of the City Temple; a vigorous and popular preacher, and theauthor of numerous works bearing upon biblical theology and the defenceof it; hismagnum opus is the “People's Bible,” of which 25 vols. arealready complete;b. 1830.

Parker, Matthew, archbishop of Canterbury, born at Norwich; was aFellow of Cambridge; embraced the Protestant doctrines; became Master ofCorpus Christi College, Oxford; was chaplain to Anne Boleyn, and madeDean of Ely by Edward VI.; was deprived of his offices under Mary, butmade Primate under Elizabeth, and the Bishop's Bible was translated andissued under his auspices (1504-1575).

Parker, Theodore, an American preacher and lecturer; adopted andprofessed the Unitarian creed, but discarded it, like Emerson, for astill more liberal; distinguished himself in the propagation of it by hislectures as well as his writings; was a vigorous anti-slavery agitator,and in general a champion of freedom; died at Florence while on a tourfor his health (1810-1860).

Parkman, Francis, American historian, born in Boston; his writingsvaluable, particularly in their bearing on the dominion of the French inAmerica, its rise, decline, and fall (1823-1893).

Parlement, the name given to the local courts of justice in Franceprior to the Revolution, in which the edicts of the king required to beregistered before they became laws; given by pre-eminence to the one inParis, composed of lawyers, or gentlemen of the long robe, as they werecalled, whose action the rest uniformly endorsed, and which played animportant part on the eve of the Revolution, and contributed to furtherthe outbreak of it, to its own dissolution in the end.

Parliament is the name of the great legislative council of Britainrepresenting the three estates of the realm—Clergy, Lords, and Commons.The Clergy are represented in the Upper House by the archbishops andbishops of sees founded prior to 1846, in number 26; the rest of theUpper House comprises the dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts, and baronsof the peerage of Great Britain who sit in virtue of their titles, andrepresentatives of the Scotch and Irish peerages elected for life; thetotal membership is over 550; the House of Lords may initiate any billnot a money bill, it does not deal with financial measures at all exceptto give its formal assent; it also revises bills passed by the Commons,and may reject these. Of late years this veto has come to be exercisedonly in cases where it seems likely that the Commons do not retain theconfidence of the people, having thus the effect of referring thequestion for the decision of the constituencies. The Lords constitute thefinal court of appeal in all legal questions, but in exercising thisfunction only those who hold or have held high judicial office take part.The House of Commons comprises 670 representatives of the people; itsmembers represent counties, divisions of counties, burghs, wards ofburghs, and universities, and are elected by owners of land and byoccupiers of land or buildings of £10 annual rental who are commoners,males, of age, and not disqualified by unsoundness of mind, convictionfor crime, or receipt of parochial relief. The Commons initiates most ofthe legislation, deals with bills already initiated and passed by theLords, inquires into all matters of public concern, discusses anddetermines imperial questions, and exercises the sole right to votesupplies of money. To become law bills must pass the successive stages offirst and second reading, committee, and third reading in both Houses,and receive the assent of the sovereign, which has not been refused fornearly two centuries.

Parliament, The Long, the name given to the last English Parliamentconvoked by Charles I. in 1640, dissolved by Cromwell in 1653, andrecalled twice after the death of the Protector before it finally gave upthe ghost.

Parliament of Dunces, name given to a parliament held at Coventry byHenry IV. in 1494, because no lawyer was allowed to sit in it.

Parliamentarian, one who, in the English Civil War, supported thecause of the Parliament against the king.

Parma (44), a cathedral and university town in N. Italy, on theParma, a tributary of the Po, 70 m. NE. of Genoa; is rich in arttreasures, has a school of music, picture-gallery, and museum ofantiquities; it manufactures pianofortes, silks, and woollens, and has acattle and grain market; Parma was formerly the capital of the duchy ofthat name; it was the residence of Correggio as well as the birthplace ofParmigiano.

Parmenion, an able and much-esteemed Macedonian general,distinguished as second in command at Granicus, Issus, and Arbela, butwhom Alexander in some fit of jealousy and under unfounded suspicioncaused to be assassinated in Media.

Parmenides, a distinguished Greek philosopher of the Eleatic school,who flourished in the 5th century B.C.; his system was developed by himin the form of an epic poem, in which he demonstrates the existence of anAbsolute which is unthinkable, because it is without limits, and which heidentifies with thought, as the one in the many.

Parmigiano, a Lombard painter whose proper name was GirolamoMazzola, born at Parma; went to Rome when 19 and obtained the patronageof Clement VII.; after the storming of the city in 1527, during which hesat at work in his studio, he went to Bologna, and four years laterreturned to his native city; failing to implement a contract to paintfrescoes he was imprisoned, and on his release retired to Casalmaggiore,where he died; in style he followed Correggio, and is best known by his“Cupid shaping a Bow” (1504-1540).

Parnassus, a mountain in Phocis, 10 m. N. of the Gulf of Corinth,8000 ft. high, one of the chief seats of Apollo and the Muses, and aninspiring source of poetry and song, with the oracle of Delphi and theCastalian spring on its slopes; it was conceived of by the Greeks as inthe centre of the earth.

Parnell, Charles Stuart, Irish Home-Ruler, born at Avondale, inWicklow; was practically the dictator of his party for a time and carriedmatters with a high hand, but at the height of his popularity he suffereda fall, and his death, which was sudden, happened soon after (1846-1891).

Parnell, Thomas, English minor poet of the Queen Anne period, bornin Dublin, of a Cheshire family; studied at Trinity College, took orders,and became archdeacon of Clogher; is best known as the author of “TheHermit,” though his odes “The Night-Piece on Death” and the “Hymn toContentment” are of more poetic worth; he was the friend of Swift andPope, and a member of the Scriblerus Club (1679-1718).

Paros (7), one of the Cyclades, lying between Naxos and Siphanto,exports wine, figs, and wool; in a quarry near the summit of Mount St.Elias the famous Parian marble is still cut; the capital is Paroekia (2).

Parr, Catherine, sixth wife of Henry VIII., daughter of Sir ThomasParr of Kendal, was a woman of learning and great discretion, acquiredgreat power over the king, persuaded him to consent to the succession ofhis daughters, and surviving him, married her former suitor Sir ThomasSeymour, and died from the effects of childbirth the year after(1512-1548).

Parr, Samuel, a famous classical scholar, born at Harrow; becamehead-master of first Colchester and then Norwich Grammar-School and aprebend of St. Paul's; he had an extraordinary memory and was a greattalker; he was a good Latinist, but nothing he has left justifies thehigh repute in which he was held by his contemporaries (1747-1825).

Parr, Thomas, calledOld Parr, a man notable for his long life,being said to have lived 152 years and 9 months, from 1483 to 1635.

Parramatta (12), next to Sydney, from which it is 14 m. W., theoldest town in New South Wales; manufactures colonial tweeds andParramatta cloths, and is in the centre of orange groves and fruitgardens.

Parrhasius, a gifted painter of ancient Greece, born at Ephesus;came to Athens and became the rival of Zeuxis; he was the contemporary ofSocrates and a man of an arrogant temper; his works were characterised bythe pains bestowed on them.

Parry, Sir William Edward, celebrated Arctic explorer, born at Bath;visited the Arctic Seas under Ross in 1818, conducted a second expeditionhimself in 1819-20, a third in 1821-23, a fourth in 1824-26 with unequalsuccess, and a fifth in 1827 in quest of the North PoleviâSpitzbergen, in which he was baffled by an adverse current; receivedsundry honours for his achievements; died governor of Greenwich Hospital,and left several accounts of his voyages (1790-1855).

Parsees (i. e. inhabitants of Pars or Persia), a name given to thedisciples of Zoroaster or their descendants in Persia and India, andsometimes called Guebres; in India they number some 90,000, are to befound chiefly in the Bombay Presidency, form a wealthy community, and areengaged mostly in commerce; in religion they incline to deism, and payhomage to the sun as the symbol of the deity; they neither bury theirdead nor burn them, but expose them apart in the open air, where they areleft till the flesh is eaten away and only the bones remain, to beremoved afterwards for consignment to a subterranean cavern.

Parsifal, the hero of the legend of theHoly Grail (q. v.),and identified withGalahad (q. v.) in the Arthurian legend.

Parson Adams, a simple-minded 18th-century clergyman in Fielding's“Joseph Andrews.”

Parsons, Robert, English Jesuit, born in Somersetshire, educated atOxford and a Fellow of Balliol College; he became a convert to RomanCatholicism and entered the Society of Jesus in 1575; conceived the ideaof reclaiming England from her Protestant apostasy, and embarked on theenterprise in 1580, but found it too hot for him, and had to escape tothe Continent; after this he busied himself partly in intrigues to forceEngland into submission and partly in organising seminaries abroad forEnglish Roman Catholics, and became head of one at Rome, where he died;he appears to have been a Jesuit to the backbone, and to have served thecause of Jesuitry with his whole soul (1546-1610).

Parthenogenesis, name given to asexual reproduction, that is, toreproduction of plants or animals by means of unimpregnated germs or ova.

Parthenon, a celebrated temple of the Doric order at Athens,dedicated to Athena, and constructed under Phidias of the marble ofPentelicus, and regarded as the finest specimen of Greek architecturethat exists; it is 228 ft. in length and 64 ft. in height. Parthenonmeans the chamber of the maiden goddess, that is, Athena.

Parthenope, in the Greek mythology one of the threeSirens(q. v.), threw herself into the sea because her love for Ulysses wasnot returned, and was drowned; her body was washed ashore at Naples,which was called Parthenope after her name.

Parthia, an ancient country corresponding to Northern Persia; wasinhabited by a people of Scythian origin, who adopted the Aryan speechand manners, and subsequently yielded much to Greek influence; afterbeing tributary successively to Assyria, Media, Persia, Alexander theGreat, and Syria, they set up an independent kingdom in 250 B.C. In twogreat contests with Rome they made the empire respect their prowess;between 53 and 36 B.C. they defeated Crassus in Mesopotamia, conqueredSyria and Palestine, and inflicted disaster on Mark Antony in Armenia;the renewal of hostilities by Trajan in A.D. 115 brought more variedfortunes, but they extorted a tribute of 50,000,000 denarii from theEmperor Macrinus in 218. Ctesiphon was their capital; the Euphrates laybetween them and Rome; they were over thrown by Ardashir of Persia in224. The Parthians were famous horse-archers, and in retreat shot theirarrows backwards often with deadly effect on a pursuing enemy.

Partick (36), a western suburb of Glasgow, has numerous villas, andits working population is very largely engaged in shipbuilding.

Partington, Mrs., an imaginary lady, the creation of the Americanhumorist Shillaber, distinguished for her misuse of learned words; alsoanother celebrity who attempted to sweep back the Atlantic with her mop,the type of those who think to stave back the inevitable.

Pascal, Blaise, illustrious French thinker and writer, born atClermont, in Auvergne; was distinguished at once as a mathematician, aphysicist, and a philosopher; at 16 wrote a treatise on conic sections,which astonished Descartes; at 18 invented a calculating machine; heafterwards made experiments in pneumatics and hydrostatics, by which hisname became associated with those of Torricelli and Boyle; an accidentwhich befell him turned his thoughts to religious subjects, and in 1654he retired to the convent ofPort Royal (q. v.), where he spentas an ascetic the rest of his days, and wrote his celebrated “ProvincialLetters” in defence of the Jansenists against the Jesuits, and his noless famous “Pensées,” which were published after his death; “his greatweapon in polemics,” says Prof. Saintsbury, “is polite irony, which hefirst brought to perfection, and in the use of which he has hardly beenequalled, and has certainly not been surpassed since” (1623-1662).

Pas-de-Calais, the French name for the Strait of Dover; also thename of the adjacent department of France.

Pasha, a Turkish title, originally bestowed on princes of the blood,but now extended to governors of provinces and prominent officers in thearmy and navy.

Pasiphaë, the wife ofMinos (q. v.) and mother of theMinotaur (q. v.).

Paskievitch, a Russian general, born at Poltava; took part inrepelling the French in 1812, defeated the Persians in 1826-27 and theTurks in 1828-29; suppressed a Polish insurrection in 1831 and a Magyarrevolution in 1849; was wounded at Silistria in 1854 and resigned(1782-1856).

Pasquino, a cobbler or tailor who lived in Rome at the end of the15th century, notable for his witty and sarcastic sayings, near whoseshop after his death a fragment of a statue was dug up and named afterhim, on which, as representing him, the Roman populace claim to this day,it would seem, the privilege of placarding jibes against particularly theecclesiastical authorities of the place, hence Pasquinade.

Passau (17), a Bavarian fortified town, situated at the confluenceof the Inn and the Danube, 105 m. E. of Münich by rail; is a picturesqueplace, strategically important, with manufactures of leather, porcelain,and parquet, and trade in salt and corn.

Passing-bell, a bell tolled at the moment of the death of a personto invite his neighbours to pray for the safe passing of his soul.

Passion Play, a dramatic representation of the several stages in thepassion of Christ.

Passion Sunday, the fifth Sunday in Lent, which is succeeded by whatis called the Passion Week.

Passion Week is properly the week preceding Holy Week, but in commonEnglish usage the name is given to Holy Week itself,i. e. to the weekimmediately preceding Easter, commemorating Christ's passion.

Passionists, an order of priests, called of the Holy Cross, foundedin 1694 by Paul Francisco, of the Cross in Sardinia, whose mission it isto preach the Passion of Christ and bear witness to its spirit andimport, and who have recently established themselves in England andAmerica; they are noted for their austerity.

Passover, the chief festival of the Jews in commemoration of thepassing of the destroying angel over the houses of the Israelites on thenight when he slew the first-born of the Egyptians; it was celebrated inApril, lasted eight days, only unleavened bread was used in itsobservance, and a lamb roasted whole was eaten with bitter herbs, thepartakers standing and road-ready as on their departure from the land ofbondage.

Passow, Franz, German philologist, born in Mecklenburg, professor atBreslau; his chief work “Hand-Wörterbuch der Griechischen Sprache”; anauthority in subsequent Greek lexicography (1786-1833).

Pasta, Judith, a famous Italian operatic singer, born near Milan, ofJewish birth; her celebrity lasted from 1822 to 1835, after which sheretired into private life; she had a voice of great compass (1798-1865).

Pasteur, Louis, an eminent French chemist, born at Dôle, in dep. ofJura, celebrated for his studies and discoveries in fermentation, andalso for his researches in hydrophobia and his suggestion of inoculationas a cure; the Pasteur Institute in Paris was the scene of his researchesfrom 1886 (1822-1895).

Paston Letters, a series of letters and papers, over a thousand innumber, belonging to a Norfolk family of the name, and published by SirJohn Fenn over a century ago, dating from the reign of Henry V. to theclose of the reign of Henry VII.; of importance in connection with thepolitical and social history of the period.

Pastoral Staff, a bishop's staff with a crooked head, symbolical ofhis authority and function as a shepherd in spiritual matters of thesouls in his diocese.

Patagonia is the territory at the extreme S. of South America, lyingbetween the Rio Colorado and the Strait of Magellan. Chilian Patagonia isa narrow strip W. of the Andes, with a broken coast-line, many rockyislands and peninsulas. Its climate is temperate but very rainy, and muchof it is covered with dense forests which yield valuable timber; coal isfound at Punta Arenas on the Strait. The population (3) consists chieflyof migratory Araucanian Indians and the Chilian settlers at Punta Arenas.Eastern or Argentine Patagonia is an extensive stretch of undulatingplateaux intersected by ravines, swept by cold W. winds, and rainless foreight months of the year. The base of the Andes is fertile andforest-clad, the river valleys can be cultivated, but most of the plainsare covered with coarse grass or sparse scrub, and there are some utterlydesolate regions. Lagoons abound, and there are many rivers runningeastward from the Andes. Herds of horses and cattle are bred on thepampas. The Indians of this region (7) are among the tallest races of theworld. There are 2000 settlers at Patagones on the Rio Negro, and a Welshcolony on the Chubut.

Patanjali is the name of two ancient Indian authors, of whom one isthe author of the “Yoga,” a theistic system of philosophy, and the otherof a criticism on the Sanskrit grammarian Pánini.

Patchouli, a perfume with a strong odour, derived from the driedroots of an Indian plant introduced into the country in 1844.

Pater, Walter Horatio, an English prose-writer, specially studiousof word, phrase, and style, born in London; studied at Oxford, and becamea Fellow of Brasenose College; lived chiefly in London; wrote studies inthe “History of the Renaissance,” “Marcus the Epicurean,” “ImaginaryPortraits,” “Appreciations,” along with an essay on “Style”; literarycriticism was his forte (1839-1894).

Paterculus, Marcus Velleius, a Latin historian of the 1st century,author of an epitome, especially of Roman history, rather disfigured byundue flattery of Tiberius his patron, as well as of Cæsar and Augustus.

Paterson, Robert, the original of Scott's “Old Mortality,” astone-mason, born near Hawick; devoted 40 years of his life to restoringand erecting monumental stones to the memory of the Scotch Covenanters(1712-1801).

Paterson, William, a famous financier, born in Tinwald parish,Dumfriesshire; originated the Bank of England, projected the ill-fatedDarien scheme, and lost all in the venture, though he recoveredcompensation afterwards, an indemnity for his losses of £18,000; he was along-headed Scot, skilful in finance and in matters of trade (1658-1719).

Pathos, the name given to an expression of deep feeling, andcalculated to excite similar feelings in others.

Patlock, Robert, English novelist, author of “Peter Wilkins,” anexquisite production; the heroine, the flying girl Youwarkee (1697-1767).

Patmore, Coventry, English poet, born in Essex, best known as theauthor of “The Angel in the House,” a poem in praise of domestic bliss,succeeded by others, superior in some respects, of which “The UnknownEros” is by many much admired; he was a Roman Catholic by religiousprofession (1823-1896).

Patmos, a barren rocky island in the Ægean Sea, S. of Samos, 28 m.in circuit, where St. John suffered exile, and where it is said he wrotethe Apocalypse.

Patna (165), the seventh city of India, in Bengal, at the junctionof the Son, the Gandak, and the Ganges; is admirably situated forcommerce; has excellent railway communication, and trades largely incotton, oil-seeds, and salt. It is a poor city with narrow streets, andexcept the Government buildings, Patna College, a Roman Catholiccathedral, and a mosque, has scarcely any good buildings. At Dinapur, itsmilitary station, 6 m. to the W., mutiny broke out in 1857. It is famousfor its rice, but this is largely a re-export.

Patois, a name the French give to a corrupt dialect of a languagespoken in a remote province of a country.

Paton, John Gibson, missionary to the New Hebrides, son of astocking-weaver of Kirkmahoe, Dumfriesshire; after some work in GlasgowCity Mission was ordained by the Reformed Presbyterian Church, andlaboured in Tanna and Aniwa for twenty-five years; his account of hiswork was published in 1890;b. 1824.

Paton Sir Joseph Noel, poet and painter, born at Dunfermline; becamea pattern designer, but afterwards studied in Edinburgh and London, anddevoted himself to art; his early subjects were mythical and legendary,later they have been chiefly religious; he was appointed Queen's Limnerfor Scotland in 1865, knighted in 1867, and in 1876 received his LL.D.from Edinburgh University; his “Quarrel” and “Reconciliation of Oberonand Titania” are in the National Gallery, Edinburgh; the illustrations ofthe “Dowie Dens o' Yarrow,” and the series of religious allegories,“Pursuit of Pleasure,” “Lux in Tenebris,” “Faith and Reason,” &c., arefamiliar through the engravings; “Poems by a Painter” appeared in 1861;b. 1821.

Patras (37), on the NW. corner of the Morean Peninsula, on theshores of the Gulf of Patras; has a fine harbour; is the chief westernport of Greece, shipping currants, olive-oil, and wine, and importingtextiles, machinery, and coal; it is a handsome city, in the presentcentury rebuilt and fortified.

Patriarch, in Church history is the name given originally to thebishops of Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria, and later to those also ofConstantinople and Jerusalem, who held a higher rank than other bishops,and exercised a certain authority over the bishops in their districts.The title is in vogue in the Greek, Syrian, Armenian, and other Churches.It was originally given to the chief of a race or clan, the members ofwhich were called after him.

Patricians and Plebeians, the two classes into which, from theearliest times, the population of the Roman State was divided, the formerof which possessed rights and privileges not conceded to the latter, andstood to them as patrons to clients, like the baron of the Middle Ages tothe vassals. This inequality gave rise to repeated and often protractedstruggles in the commonalty, during which the latter gradually encroachedon the rights of the former till the barrier in civic status, and even insocial to some extent, was as good as abolished, and members of theplebeian class were eligible to the highest offices and dignities of theState.

Patrick, Order of St., an Irish order of knighthood, founded in 1783by George III., comprising the sovereign, the Lord-Lieutenant, andtwenty-two knights, and indicated by the initial letters K.P.

Patrick, St., the apostle and patron saint of Ireland; hisbirthplace uncertain; flourished in the 5th century; his mission, whichextended over great part of Ireland, and over thirty or forty years oftime, was eminently successful, and at the end of it he was buried inDownpatrick, henceforth a spot regarded as a sacred one. Various miraclesare ascribed to him, and among the number the extirpation from the soilof all venomous reptiles.

Patrick, Simon, English prelate; distinguished himself, when he wasrector of St. Paul's, by his self-denying devotion during the Plague ofLondon; became bishop in succession of Chichester and Ely, and was theauthor of a number of expository works (1652-1707).

Patristic Literature, the name given to the writings of the earlyFathers of the Christian Church.

Patroclus, a friend of Achilles, who accompanied him to the TrojanWar, and whose death by the hand of Hector roused Achilles out of hissullenness, and provoked him to avenge the deed in the death of Hector.

Patteson, John Coleridge, bishop of Melanesia, grand-nephew ofColeridge; a devoted bishop, in material things no less than spiritual,among the Melanesian islanders; was murdered, presumably through mistake,by the natives of one of the Santa Cruz groups (1827-1871).

Patti, Adelina, prima donna, born in Madrid, of Italian extraction;made her first appearance at New York in 1859, and in London at CoventGarden, as Amina in “La Somnambula,” in 1861, and has since made theround once and again of the Continent and America, North and South; hasbeen married three times, being divorced by her first husband, and livesat Craig-y-nos Castle, near Swansea, Wales;b. 1843.

Pattison, Mark, a distinguished English scholar, born at Hornby,Yorkshire; studied at Oxford, and was for a time carried away with theTractarian Movement, but when his interest in it died out he gave himselfto literature and philosophy; wrote in the famous “Essays and Reviews” apaper on “The Tendency of Religious Thought in England”; became rector ofLincoln College, Oxford; wrote his chief literary work, a “Life of IsaacCasaubon,” a mere fragment of what it lay in him to do, and left anautobiography, which revealed a wounded spirit which no vulnerary knownto him provided by the pharmacopoeia of earth or heaven could heal(1813-1889).

Pattison's Process, the name of a process for desilverising lead,dependent on the fact that lead which has least silver in it solidifiesfirst on liquefaction.

Pau (31), chief town of the French province of Basses-Pyrénées, onthe Gave de Pau, 60 m. E. of Bayonne; is situated amid magnificentmountain scenery, and is a favourite winter resort for the English; linenand chocolate are manufactured; it was the capital of Navarre, and has amagnificent castle; it stands on the edge of a high plateau, and commandsa majestic view of the Pyrenees on the S.

Pauillac, a port for Bordeaux, on the left bank of the Gironde.

Paul, the name of five Popes:Paul I., Pope from 757 to 797;Paul II., Pope from 1464 to 1471;Paul III., Pope from 1534 to1549, was zealous against the Protestant cause, excommunicated HenryVIII. in 1536, sanctioned the Jesuit order in 1540, convened and convokedthe Council of Trent in 1545;Paul IV., Pope from 1555 to 1559,originally an ascetic, was zealous for the best interests of the Churchand public morality, established the Inquisition at Rome, and issued thefirstIndex Expurgatorius;Paul V., Pope from 1605 to 1621, hispontificate distinguished by protracted strife with the Venetianrepublic, arising out of the claim of the clergy for immunity from thecivil tribunals, and which was brought to an end through the interventionof Henry IV. of France in 1607; it need not be added that he was zealousfor orthodoxy, like his predecessors.

Paul, St., originally called Saul, the great Apostle of theGentiles, born at Tarsus, in Cilicia, by birth a Jew and a Roman citizen;trained to severity by Gamaliel at Jerusalem in the Jewish faith, and fora time the bitter persecutor of the Christians, till, on his way toDamascus, in the prosecution of his hostile purposes, the overpoweringconviction flashed upon him that he was fighting against the cause that,as a Jew, he should have embraced, and which he was at once smitten withzeal to further, as the one cause on which hinged the salvation, not ofthe Jews only, but of the whole world. He did more for the extension, ifnot the exposition, of the Christian faith at its first promulgation thanany of the Apostles, and perhaps all of them together, and it isquestionable if but for him it would have become, as it has become, theprofessed religion of the most civilised section of the world.

Paul I., Czar of Russia, son of the Empress Catharine II., and hersuccessor in 1796; was a despotic and arbitrary ruler; fought with theallies against France, but entered into an alliance with Napoleon in1799; was murdered by certain of his nobles as he was being forced toabdicate (1734-1801).

Paul and Virginia, a celebrated novel by Saint-Pierre, written onthe eve of the French Revolution, in which “there rises melodiously, asit were, the wail of a moribund world: everywhere wholesome Nature inunequal conflict with diseased, perfidious art; cannot escape from it inthe lowest hut, in the remotest island of the sea”; it records the fateof a child of nature corrupted by the false, artificial sentimentalitythat prevailed at the time among the upper classes of France.

Paul Samosata, so called as born at Samosata, on the Euphrates, aheresiarch who denied the doctrine of three persons in one God, wasbishop of Antioch, under the sway of Zenobia, but deposed on her defeatby Aurelian in 272.

Paulding, American writer, born in New York State; author of“History of John Bull and Brother Jonathan,” and the novels “TheDutchman's Fireside” and “Westward Ho” (1779-1860).

Pauli, Reinhold, German historian of England, born in Berlin;studied much in England, and became professor of History at Göttingen;wrote “Life of King Alfred,” “History of England from the Accession ofHenry II. to the Death of Henry VII.,” “Pictures of Old England,” and“Simon de Montfort” (1823-1882).

Paulicians, a heretical sect founded by Constantine of Mananalisabout A.D. 660 in Armenia, and persisting in spite of severepersecution, were transferred to Thrace in 970, where remnants were foundas late as the 13th century; they held that an evil spirit was thecreator and god of this world, and that God was the ruler of the next;they refused to ascribe divinity to Christ, to worship Mary, to reverencethe cross, or observe the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist; their namewas derived from the special regard in which they held the writings ofSt. Paul, from which they professed to derive their tenets; they werecharged with Manichæism, but they indignantly repudiated the imputation.

Pauline, Browning's first poem, written at 19 and published at 21,“breathless, intense, melodramatic,” says Professor Saintsbury,“eschewing incident, but delighting in analysis, which was to be one ofthe poet's points throughout, and ultimately to prevail over the others.”

Paulinus, the first archbishop of York, sent in company withAugustin from Rome by Gregory to Britain in 601: laboured partly in Kentand partly in Northumbria, and persuaded Edwin of Northumbria to embraceChristianity in 629;d. 644.

Paulus, Heinrich, one of the founders of German rationalism, bornnear Stuttgart; held in succession sundry professorships; denied themiraculous in the Scripture history, and invented ingenious rationalexplanations, now out of date (1761-1851).

Pausanias, a famous Spartan general, the grandson of Leonidas, who,as commander-in-chief of the Greeks, overthrew the Persian army underMardonius at Platæa in 479, but who, elated by this and other successes,aimed at the sovereignty of Greece by alliance with Xerxes, and beingdiscovered, took refuge in a temple at Athens, where he was blockaded andstarved to death in 477 B.C., his mother throwing the first stone of thepile that was cast up to bar his exit.

Pausanias, a Greek traveller and topographer, lived during thereigns of Antoninus Pius and M. Aurelius; wrote an “Itinerary of Greece”in 10 books, the fruit of his own peregrinations, full of descriptions ofgreat value both to the historian and the antiquary.

Pavia (30), on the Ticino, in Lombardy, is an imposing “city of a hundred towers,” with little industry or commerce; in its unfinished cathedral St. Augustine was buried; San Michele, where the early kings of Italy were crowned, dates from the 7th century; the University was founded by Charlemagne, and has now attached to it colleges for poorstudents, a library, museum, botanic garden, and school of art; stormed by Napoleon in 1796, Pavia was in Austrian possession from 1814 till its inclusion in the kingdom of Italy 1859.

Paxton, Sir Joseph, architect of the Crystal Palace, born inBedfordshire, was originally a gardener in the service of the Duke ofDevonshire, and promoted to the charge of the duke's gardens atChatsworth, where he displayed the architectural ability in theconstruction of large glass conservatories which developed itself in theconstruction of the Great Exhibition of 1851, for which he received thehonour of knighthood (1803-1865).

Payn, James, English novelist, born at Cheltenham; editedChambers's Journal andCornhill Magazine; his novels were numerousand of average quality, “Lost Sir Massingberd” and “By Proxy” among themost successful (1830-1899).

Payne, John, actor and playwright, born in New York; resided inLondon from 1813 to 1832; most of his days a stranger in a strange land,immortalised himself as the author of “Home, Sweet Home”; only hisremains buried at home 30 years after his death at Tunis (1792-1852).

Peabody, George, philanthropist, born at Danvers, now Peabody, inMassachusetts, U.S.; made a large fortune as a dry-goods merchant inBaltimore and as a stockbroker as well in London; gave away forbenevolent purposes in his lifetime a million and a half of money, andleft to his relatives one million more; died in London; his body was laidbeside his mother's at South Danvers, U.S. (1795-1869).

Peace Society, a society founded in 1816 for the promotion ofpermanent and universal peace; advocates a gradual, proportionate, andsimultaneous disarmament of all nations and the principle of arbitration.

Peacock, Thomas Love, English novelist, born at Weymouth; was prettymuch a self-taught scholar, and no mean one, as his literary activityover half a century abundantly showed; held a post in the India House,his predecessor being James Mill and his successor John Stuart Mill; wasan intimate friend of Shelley and the father-in-law of George Meredith;he made his first literary appearance as a poet in two small volumes ofpoems, and his first novel was “Headlong Hall” as his latest was “GryllGrange,” all of them written in a vein of conventional satire, and moreconspicuous for wit than humour; Thackeray owed not a little to him,little as the generality did, he being “too learned for a shallow age”(1785-1866).

Pearson, John, English prelate, born in Norfolk; held a successionof preferments in the Church, and in the end the bishopric of Chester,author of a very learned work “Exposition of the Creed,” of which Bentleysaid, “its very dross is gold” (1612-1686).

Peasant War orBauernkrieg, revolt of the peasantry in the S.and W. of Germany against the oppression and cruelty of the nobles andclergy which broke out at different times from 1500 to 1525, and which,resulting in their defeat, rendered their lot harder than before. Thecause of the Reformation, held answerable for the movement, suffereddamage as well, but indeed the excesses of the insurgents were calculatedto provoke the retribution that was meted out to them.

Pechili, Gulf of, a great land-locked bay opening in the NW. of theYellow Sea, receives the waters of the Hoang-ho, and on opposite tonguesof land at the mouth of it stand Port Arthur and Wei-hai-Wei.

Pecksniff, a pronounced hypocrite in Dickens's “Martin Chuzzlewit,”and who lies and cants whether he is drunk or sober.

Pecock, Reginald, bishop in succession of St. Asaph and Chichester,born in Wales; the author, among other works, of the “Repressor of OverMuch Blaming of the Clergy” and the “Book of Faith”; he wrote on behalfof the Church against Lollards, but he offended Churchmen as well as thelatter—Churchmen because he agreed with the Lollards in regard to theBible as the rule of faith, and the Lollards because he appealed toreason as the interpreter of the Bible; he displeased the clergy also byhis adoption in theological debate of the mother-tongue, but figuressince in literature as the first English theologian; he was accused oftreating authority with disrespect as well as setting up reason aboverevelation, obliged to recant in a most humiliating manner, deprived ofhis bishopric, and condemned to solitary confinement, away from hisbooks, all to a few, and denied the use of writing materials (1390-1460).

Pedro I., emperor of Brazil, second son of John VI. of Portugal;reigned from 1822 to 1831, when he abdicated in favour of his son(1798-1834).

Pedro II., emperor of Brazil, son of preceding, ascended the thronein 1831; reigned peacefully till 1889, when a sudden revolution obligedhim to resign, and retire to Europe and take up his abode in France,where he indulged his taste for science and learning (1825-1891).

Peebles, Peter, a character in Scott's “Redgauntlet.”

Peeblesshire (19), a lowland Scottish county bordered by Lanark,Midlothian, Selkirk, and Dumfries; comprises hilly pastoral land wateredby the upper Tweed; Windlestraw, Hartfell, and Broadlaw are the highestof its grassy hills; among the lesser rivers are the Leithen and Quair;some crops are grown, but most of the land is devoted to sheep grazing; alittle coal is found in the N.; the only towns are Innerleithen (3) andPeebles (5), the county town, engaged in Tweed manufacture. Thecounty is known also by the name of Tweeddale; its representation inParliament is united with that of Selkirk.

Peel (4), a fishing town and holiday resort on the W. coast of theIsle of Man, 12 m. NW. of Douglas; it is noted for its castle.

Peel, Sir Robert, English statesman, born near Bury, Lancashire, theson of a wealthy cotton-spinner, to whose large fortune and baronetcy hesucceeded; graduated at Oxford in 1808, and next year entered Parliamentas Tory member for Cashel; he afterwards sat for his own university, andafter 1832 for Tamworth; he was appointed Under-Secretary for theColonies in 1811. and from 1812 till 1818 was Secretary for Ireland; in1822 he became Home Secretary, but seceded from the Government whenCanning became Premier in 1827; the question at issue was CatholicEmancipation, and it was characteristic of Peel that in the Governmentwhich succeeded Canning's he had the courage, having changed hisopinions, to introduce the measure which removed the disabilities;opposed to Reform he became leader of the Conservative opposition in theParliament of 1833; called to the Premiership in 1834 he could notmaintain his administration, and it was not till 1841 that the victory ofprotection over the free-trade agitation gave him a stable majority inthe Commons; his first measure was a modification of the corn laws onprotectionist principles, 1842; then followed the 7d. income-tax andgeneral tariff revision; in 1845 the agitation for free-trade in corn wasbrought to a crisis by the Irish potato famine; Peel yielded, and nextyear carried the final repeal of the corn laws; his “conversion” splitthe Tory party and he retired from office, becoming a supporter of theWhig ministry in its economical and ecclesiastical policy; he was amaster of finance, an easy speaker, slow to form but conscientious to actupon his convictions, a man of the highest character; his death was theresult of a fall from horseback (1788-1850).

Peel Towers, the name given to fortresses of the moss-troopers onthe Scottish border.

Peele, George, dramatist, of the Elizabethan period, born in London;author of “Arraignment of Paris” and “David and Bathsabe,” full ofpassages of poetic beauty; has been charged with having led the life of adebauchee and to have died of a disease brought on by his profligacy, butit is now believed he has been maligned (1548-1597).

Peeping Tom of Coventry. SeeGodiva.

Peers, The Twelve, the famous warriors or paladins at the court ofCharlemagne, so called from their equality in prowess and honour.

Pegasus, the winged horse, begotten of Poseidon, who sprung from thebody of Medusa when Perseus swooped off her head, and who with a strokeof his hoof broke open the spring of Hippocrene on Mount Helicon, andmounted on whom Bellerophon slew the Chimera, and by means of which hehoped, if he had not been thrown, to ascend to heaven, as Pegasus didalone, becoming thereafter a constellation in the sky; this is the wingedhorse upon whose back poets, to the like disappointment, hope to scalethe empyrean, who have not, like Bellerophon, first distinguishedthemselves by slaying Chimeras.

Pegu (6), a town of Lower Burma, in the province and on the river ofthe same name, 46 m. NE. of Rangoon, is a very ancient city; the province(1,162) is a rice-growing country, with great teak forests on themountain slopes.

Pei-ho, a river of North China, 350 miles long; formed by thejunction of four other rivers, on the chief of which stands Pekin; has ashort navigable course south-eastward to the Gulf of Pechili, where it isdefended by the forts of Taku.

Peirce, Benjamin, American mathematician and astronomer, born inMassachusetts, U.S.; wrote on the discovery of Neptune and Saturn'srings, as well as a number of mathematical text-books (1809-1880).

Peishwah, the name of the overlord or chief minister of Mahrattachiefs in their wars with the Mohammedans, who had his head-quarters atPoonah, the last to hold office putting himself under British protection,and surrendering his territory; nominated as his successor Nana Sahib,who became the chief instigator of the Mutiny of 1857, on account, it isbelieved, of the refusal of the British Government to continue to him thepension of his predecessor who had adopted him.

Pekin (1,000), the capital of China, on a sandy plain in the basinof the Pei-ho, is divided into two portions, each separately walled, thenorthern or Manchu city and the southern or Chinese. The former containsthe Purple Forbidden city, in which are the Imperial palaces; surroundingit is the August city, in which are a colossal copper Buddha and theTemple of Great Happiness. Outside this are the government offices,foreign legations, the temple of Confucius, a great Buddhist monastery, aRoman Catholic cathedral, and Christian mission stations. The Chinesecity has many temples, mission stations, schools, and hospitals; but itis sparsely populated, houses are poor, and streets unpaved. Pekin hasrailway communication with Hankow, and is connected with other cities andwith Russia by telegraph. Its trade and industry are inconsiderable. Itis one of the oldest cities in the world. It was Kubla Khan's capital,and has been the metropolis of the empire since 1421.

Pelagius, a celebrated heresiarch of the 5th century, born inBritain or Brittany; denied original sin and the orthodox doctrine ofdivine grace as the originating and sustaining power in redemption, aheresy for which he suffered banishment from Rome in 418 at the hands ofthe Church. A modification of this theory went under the name ofSemi-Pelagianism, which ascribes only the first step in conversion tofree-will, and the subsequent sanctification of the soul to God's grace.

Pelasgi, a people who in prehistoric times occupied Greece, theArchipelago, the shores of Asia Minor, and great part of Italy, and whowere subdued, and more or less reduced to servitude, by the Hellenes, andsupplanted by them. They appear to have been, so far as we find them, anagricultural people, settled and not roving about, and to have hadstrongholds enclosed in cyclopean walls, that is, walls consisting ofhuge boulders unconnected with cement.

Peleus, the son of Æacus, the husband of Thetis, the father ofAchilles, and one of the Argonauts, after whom Achilles is named Pelides,i. e. Peleus' boy.

Pelew Islands (10), twenty-six in number, of coral formation, andsurrounded by reefs; are in the extreme W. of the Caroline Archipelago inthe North Pacific, and SE. of the Philippines. They belong to Spain; aresmall but fertile, and have a healthy climate. The natives are Malays,and though gentle lead a savage life.

Pelham, a fashionable novel by Bulwer Lytton, severely satirised byCarlyle in “Sartor” in the chapter on “Dandies” as the elect of books ofthis class.

Pelias, king of Iolchus, and son of Poseidon, was cut to pieces byhis own daughters, which were thrown by them into a boiling caldron inthe faith of the promise of Medea, that he might thereby be restored tothem young again. It was he who, to get rid of Jason, sent him in questof the golden fleece in the hope that he might perish in the attempt.

Pelican, a bird, the effigy of which was used in the Middle Ages tosymbolise charity; generally represented as wounding its breast to feedits young with its own blood, and which became the image of the Christwho shed His blood for His people.

Pelides, a patronymic of Achilles, as the son of Peleus.

Pelion, a range, or the highest of a range, of mountains in the E.of Thessaly, upon which, according to Greek fables, the Titans hoisted upMount Ossa in order to scale heaven and dethrone Zeus, a strenuousenterprise which did not succeed, and the symbol of all such.

Pelissier, a French marshal, born near Rouen; was made Duc deMalakoff for storming the Malakoff tower, which led to the fall ofSebastopol in 1855; rose from the ranks to be Governor-General ofAlgeria, the office he held when he died (1794-1864).

Pella, the capital of Macedonia, and the birthplace of Alexander theGreat, stood on a hill amid the marches NW. of Thessalonica.

Pellegrini, Carlo, a caricaturist, born in Capua; came to London;was distinguished for the inimitable drollery of his cartoons(1838-1889).

Pellico, Silvio, Italian poet and patriot, born in Piedmont;suffered a fifteen years' imprisonment in the Spielberg at Brünn for hispatriotism, from which he was liberated in 1830; he wrote an account ofhis life in prison, which commanded attention all over Europe, both forthe subject-matter of it and the fascination of the style (1789-1854).

Pellisson, Paul, a man of letters and a wit of the age of LouisXIV.; spent some five years in the Bastille, but after his release wasappointed historiographer-royal; in his captivity he made a companion ofa spider, who was accustomed to eat out of his hand (1624-1693).

Pelopidas, a Theban general, and leader of the “sacred band”; thefriend of Epaminondas; contributed to the expulsion (379 B.C.) of theSpartans from the citadel of Thebes, of which they had taken possessionin 380, after which he was elected to the chief magistracy; gained avictory over Alexander of Pheræ the tyrant of Thessaly, but lost his lifein 362 while too eagerly pursuing the foe.

Peloponnesian War, a war of thirty years' duration (431-404 B.C.)between Athens and Sparta, which ended in the supremacy of the latter,till the latter was overthrown at Leuctra by the Thebans underEpaminondas in 371 B.C. This war is the subject of the history ofThucydides.

Peloponnesus (lit. the Isle of Pelops), the ancient name of theMorea of Greece, the chief cities of which were Corinth, Argos, andSparta; it was connected with the rest of Greece by the Isthmus ofCorinth.

Pelops, in the Greek mythology the grandson of Zeus and son ofTantalus, who was slain by his father and served up by him at a banquethe gave the gods to test their omniscience, but of the shoulder of whichonly Demeter in a fit of abstraction partook, whereupon the gods orderedthe body to be thrown into a boiling caldron, from which Pelops was drawnout alive, with the shoulder replaced by one of ivory.

Pembrokeshire (89), a maritime county, the farthest W. in Wales; iswashed by St. George's Channel except on the E., where it borders onCardigan and Carmarthen. It is a county of low hills, with much indentedcoast-line. Milford Haven, in the S., is one of the best harbours in theworld. The climate is humid; two-thirds of the soil is under pasture;coal, iron, lead, and slate are found.St. David's is a cathedralcity; the county town isPembroke (18) on Milford Haven, and near itis the fortified dockyard and arsenalPembroke Dock (10).

Pemmican, a food for long voyages, particularly in Arcticexpeditions, consisting of lean meat or beef without fat dried, pounded,and pressed into cakes. The use of it is now suppressed.

Penance, in the Roman Catholic Church an expression of penitence aswell as the sacrament of absolution; also the suffering to which apenitent voluntarily subjects himself, according to the schoolmen, as anexpression of his penitence, and in punishment of his sin; the threesteps of penitence were contrition, confession, and satisfaction.

Penang orPrince of Wales Islands (91), a small fertile islandnear the northern opening of the Straits of Malacca, off the Malay coast,and 360 m. NW. of Singapore; is one of the British Straits Settlements,of value strategically; it is hilly, and covered with vegetation; thepopulation are half Chinese, a fourth of them Malays; figs, spices, andtobacco are exported. The capital isGeorgetown (25), on the island.Province Wellesley (97), on the mainland, belongs to the samesettlement; it exports tapioca and sugar. TheDindings (2), 80 m.S., are another dependency.

Penates, the name given by the Romans to their household deities,individually and unitedly, in honour of whom a fire, in charge of thevestal virgins, was kept permanently burning.

Penda, a Mercian king of the 7th century, who headed a reactionarymovement of heathenism against the domination of Christianity in England,and for a time seemed to carry all before him, but Christianity, underthe preaching of the monks, had gained too deep a hold, particularly inNorthumbria, and he was overpowered in 665 in one final struggle andslain.

Pendennis, the name of a novel by Thackeray, from the name of thehero, and published in 1849-50 in succession to “Vanity Fair.”

Pendleton, a NW. suburb of Manchester, in the direction of Bolton,with extensive manufactures and collieries.

Pendragon, a title bestowed on kings by the ancient Britons, andespecially on the chiefs among them chosen by election, so called fromtheir wearing a dragon on their shields or as a crest in sign ofsovereignty.

Penelope, the wife of Ulysses, celebrated for her conjugal fidelityduring his twenty years' absence, in the later half of which an army ofsuitors pled for her hand, pleading that her husband would never return;but she put them all off by a promise of marriage as soon as she finisheda web (called after Penelope's web) she was weaving, which she wove byday and undid at night, till their importunities took a violent form,when her husband arrived and delivered her.

Peninsular State, the State of Florida, from its shape.

Peninsular War, a war carried on in Spain and Portugal during theyears 1808 and 1814, between the French on the one hand and the Spanish,Portuguese, and British, chiefly under Wellington, on the other, andwhich was ended by the victory of the latter over the former at Toulousejust after Napoleon's abdication.

Penitential Psalms orPsalms of Confession, is a name givenfrom very early times to Psalms vi., xxxii., xxxviii., li., cii., cxxx.,which are specially expressive of sorrow for sin. The name belongedoriginally to the fifty-first Psalm, which was recited at the close ofdaily morning service in the primitive Church.

Penitents, Order Of, a religious order established in 1272 for thereception to the Church of reformed courtesans.

Penn, William, founder of Pennsylvania, the son of an admiral, bornin London; was converted to Quakerism while a student at Oxford, and fora fanatical attack on certain fellow-students expelled the University;his father sent him to travel in France, and afterwards placed him incharge of his Irish estates; his religious views occasioned severaldisputes with his father, and ultimately brought him into conflict withthe Government; he spent several periods of imprisonment writing books indefence of religious liberty, among them “The Great Cause of Liberty ofConscience” (1671); then travelled in Holland and Germany propagating hisviews; his father's death brought him a fortune and a claim upon thecrown which he commuted for a grant of land in North America, where hefounded (1682) the colony of Pennsylvania—the prefix Penn, by command ofCharles II. in honour of the admiral; here he established a refuge forall persecuted religionists, and laying out Philadelphia as the capital,governed his colony wisely and generously for two years; he returned toEngland, where his friendship with James II. brought many advantages tothe Quakers, but laid him under harassing and undeserved prosecutions fortreason in the succeeding reign; a second visit to his colony (1699-1701)gave it much useful legislation; on his return his agent practicallyruined him, and he was a prisoner in the Fleet in 1708; the closing yearsof his life were clouded by mental decay (1644-1718).

Pennant, Thomas, traveller and naturalist, born near Holywell,Flintshire; studied at Oxford, but took no degree; in 1746 he made a tourof Cornwall; among his subsequent journeys, of which he publishedaccounts, were tours in Ireland (1754), the Continent (1764), Scotland(1769 and 1772), and Wales; he wrote several works on zoologicalsubjects, and published an amusing “Literary Life of the late ThomasPennant, Esq., by Himself,” 1793 (1726-1798).

Pennsylvania (5,258), most populous but one of the American States,lies N. of Mason and Dixon's Line, separated by New Jersey, on the E. bythe Delaware River, with Ohio on the W., New York on the N., and LakeErie at the NW. corner. The country is hilly, being traversed by the BlueMountains and the Alleghany ranges, with many fertile valleys between thechains, extensive forests, and much picturesque scenery. The CumberlandValley in the W. is one of the best farming lands in New England. TheAlleghany River in the W. and the two branches of the Susquehanna in thecentre water the State. Pennsylvania is the greatest mining State in theUnion; its iron-mines and petroleum-wells supply half the iron and mostof the oil used in the country; its bituminous coal-beds in the W. areextremely rich, and the anthracite deposits of the E. are unrivalled; inmanufactures, too, it ranks second among the States; these are veryvaried, the most valuable being iron, steel, and shipbuilding. Founded bySwedes, it passed to English settlers in 1664; the first charter wasgranted to William Penn in 1681. In the Revolution it took a prominentpart, and was among the first States of the Union. Education is welladvanced; there are 20 State colleges. The mining population includesmany Irish, Hungarian, and Italian immigrants, among whom riots arefrequent. Of the agriculturists many are of Dutch descent, and about twomillions still speak a Low Germanpatois known as Pennsylvanian Dutch.Harrisburg (39) is the capital; the metropolis isPhiladelphia(1,047), the second largest city in the country; whilePittsburg(239),Alleghany (105),Scranton (75), andReading (59)are among the many large towns.

Penny, originally a silver coin, weighed in the 7th century 1/240-thof a Saxon pound, but decreased in weight till in Elizabeth's time it was1/63 of an ounce troy. It was at first indented with a cross so as to bebroken for halfpennies and farthings, but silver coins of thesedenominations were coined by Edward I. Edward VI. stopped the farthings,and the halfpence were stopped in the Commonwealth. Copper coinage wasestablished in 1672. The present coins were issued first in 1860. Theyare half the size of their predecessors, and intrinsically worthone-seventh of their nominal value.

Penny Wedding, a wedding at which the guests pay part of the chargesof the festival.

Penrith (9), a market town of Cumberland, and tourist centre for theEnglish lakes; contains a very old church and school, and ruins of apicturesque castle. Brewing, iron-founding, and timber-sawing are itsindustries.

Penryn (3), a Cornish market town at the head of Falmouth harbour;has manufactures of paper, woollen cloth, and gunpowder. It hasconsiderable fishing industry, and ships the Penryn granite quarriednear.

Penseroso, II, a famous Italian poem by Milton, written in 1633.

Pensionary, the Grand, a State functionary of Holland, whose office,abolished in 1795, it was to superintend State interests, registerdecrees, negotiate with other countries, and take charge of the revenues,&c.

Pentacle. SeePentagram.

Pentagram, a symbol presumed to possess a magical influence,particularly to charm away evil spirits, formed by placing the figure ofan equilateral triangle athwart another.

Pentamerone, a collection of tales in the Neapolitan dialect,supposed to be told during five days by ten old women to apseudo-princess, and published at Naples 1637; is of great value tostudents of folk-lore.

Pentateuch, the name given by Origen to the first five books of theBible, which the Jews call the Law or Five-fifths of the Law, thecomposition of which has of late years been subjected to keen criticalinvestigation, and the whole ascribed to documents of different dates anddiverse authorship, to the rejection of the old traditional hypothesisthat it was the work of Moses, first called in question by Spinoza, andshown to be untenable byJean Astruc (q. v.).

Pentecost (i. e. fiftieth), a great feast of the Jews, so calledas held on the fiftieth day after the second of the Passover. It iscalled also the Feast of Harvest, or Weeks of First-Fruits, the Passoverfeast being connected with the commencement and this with the conclusionof harvest. It is regarded by the Jews as commemorative of the giving ofthe law on Mount Sinai, and will never cease to be associated in theChristian memory with the great awakening from which dates the firstbirth of the Christian consciousness in the Christian Church, the momentwhen the disciples of Christ first realised in common that their Masterwas not dead but alive, and nearer to them than He had been when presentin the flesh.

Pentelicus, a range of mountains in Attica between Athens andMarathon, famous for its quarries of fine white marble.

Penthesilea, the daughter of Ares and the queen of the Amazons; onthe death of Hector she came to the assistance of the Trojans, but wasslain by Achilles, who mourned over her when dying on account of herbeauty, her youth, and her courage.

Pentheus, a king of Thebes, opposed to the introduction of theBacchus worship into his kingdom, was driven mad by the god, and torn inpieces by his mother and sisters, who, under the Bacchic frenzy, mistookhim for a wild beast.

Penthièvre, Duc de, the father-in-law of Philippe Egalité, and theprotector of Florian (1725-1793).

Pentland Firth is the strait between the Orkneys and the Scottishmainland connecting the North Sea with the Atlantic, 12 m. long by 6broad, and swept by a rapid current very dangerous to navigation; 5000vessels traverse it annually.

Pentonville, a populous district of London, in the parishes of StJames's, Clerkenwell, and Islington, where is the Pentonville ModelPrison, built in 1840-42 on the radiating principle to accommodate 520prisoners.

Penumbra, the name given to the partial shadow on the rim of thetotal shadow of an eclipse, also to the margin of the light and shade ofa picture.

Penzance (14), the largest town in Cornwall, most westerly boroughin England, and terminus of the Great Western Railway, is beautifullysituated on the rocky W. shore of Mount's Bay; its public buildingschiefly of granite. It has a fine harbour and docks, and is the centre ofthe mackerel and pilchard fishing industries. Its mild climate makes it afavourite watering-place.

People's Palace, Mile End Road, London, is an institution for therecreation and instruction of the East-end population, opened by theQueen in May 1887, and owing its origin to the impulse given by Sir W.Besant's “All Sorts and Conditions of Men.” In it are a library, artgalleries, concert and reading rooms, baths, gymnasium, &c., andtechnical classes and handicraft schools are held; these are attended by5000 pupils, and the institution is visited by a million and a quarterpeople annually.

Pepin the Short, king of the Franks, was the son of Charles Martel,and at first shared with his brother Carloman the viceroyalty of thekingdom under Hilderik III.; in 747 Carloman retired to a monastery, andfive years later Pepin deposed Hilderik and ascended the throne; hiskingdom embraced the valleys of the Rhine, the Rhône, and the Seine; heunited his interests with those of the Church, and in 756 entered Italyto rescue the Pope from the threatened domination of the Lombards;reduced Aistulf of Lombardy to vassalage, assumed the title of Patricianof Rome, and by bestowing on Pope Stephen III. the “Exarchate” of theRoman empire, laid the foundation of papal temporal sovereignty, fivecities being placed under his jurisdiction; his subsequent exploitsincluded the conquest of the Loire Valley and the expulsion of the Moorsfrom France; his fame was overshadowed by that of his son Charlemagne;d. 678.

Pepsin, an essential constituent of the gastric juice extracted fromthe stomach of the calf, sheep, and pig, and used in medicine to supplyany defect of it in the stomach of a patient.

Pepys, Samuel, author of a famous Diary, a scholarly man andrespected as connected with different grades of society; held a clerkshipin the Admiralty, and finally the secretaryship; kept a diary of eventsfrom 1660 to 1669, which remained in MS. till 1826, when it was publishedin part by Lord Braybrooke, and is of interest for the insight it givesinto the manners of the time and the character of the author; the latestand completest edition of this Diary is that of H. B. Wheatley, publishedin 1893-96, in eight vols. (1633-1703).

Pera, a suburb of Constantinople, on the N. side of the Golden Horn,and the foreign diplomatic quarter.

Peræa, “the country beyond,” designated that part of Palestinebeyond or E. of the Jordan.

Perceval, a hero of the legends of chivalry, famed for hisadventures in quest of the Holy Graal.

Perceval, Spencer, English statesman, born in London, son of theEarl of Egmont; bred to the bar; entered Parliament as a supporter ofPitt, and held a succession of posts under different administrations,attaining the Premiership, which he held from 1800 to 1812, on the 11thof May, of which year he was shot dead by a madman of the name ofBellingham in the lobby of the House; he was devoted to the throne, and aman of upright character but narrow sympathies (1762-1812).

Percival, James Gates, American poet and geologist, born atKensington, Connecticut; took his degree at Yale in 1815, and qualifiedas a medical practitioner; he was for a few months professor of Chemistryat West Point, but retired and gave himself to literature and geology;his scientific works are valuable; “Prometheus and Clio” appeared in1822, “Dream of a Day” in 1843; he died at Hazel Green, Wisconsin(1795-1856).

Percy, a noble English family of Norman origin, the founder of whichaccompanied the Conqueror, and was rewarded with grants of land for hisservices; a successor of whom in the female line, Henry, the father ofthe famous Hotspur, was created Duke of Northumberland in 1377.

Percy, Thomas, English prelate and antiquary, born at Bridgenorth,Shropshire, the son of a grocer; devoted himself to the collection of oldballads, and published in 1765 “Reliques of Ancient English Poetry”; hepublished also ballads of his own, among them “The Hermit of Warkworth,”and was the author of “O Nannie, wilt thou gang wi' me?” he associatedwith Johnson, Burke, and other notables of the period, and was a memberof Dr. Johnson's Literary Club; became bishop of Dromore in 1782, wherehe was held in affectionate regard; was blind for some years before hedied (1729-1811).

Perdiccas, a favourite general of Alexander the Great, who, when onhis deathbed, took his signet ring off his finger and gave it to him; hebecame an object of distrust after Alexander's death, and wasassassinated in Egypt.

Pereira, Jonathan, pharmacologist, born in London; author of the“Elements of Materia Medica,” a standard work; was examiner on thesubject in London University (1804-1853).

Perekop, Isthmus of, connects the Crimea with the S. of Russia; ispierced by a ship-canal.

Perez, Antonio, Spanish statesman, and minister of Philippe II.,born in Aragon; was the tool of the king in the murder of Escoveda, theconfidant of John of Austria; was convicted of betraying State secretsand imprisoned, but escaped; being in possession of royal secrets, whichhe published, Philippe tried every means to arrest him, but Perez evadedcapture, and found refuge in France, where he died in poverty(1539-1611).

Perfectionism, the doctrine that moral perfection is by divine graceattainable in the present life.

Perfectionists, an American sect or society founded by John HumphreyNoyes in 1848 at Oneida, New York State, on Communistic principles, butowning no law save that of the Spirit, and subject to no criticism butthe judgment they freely passed on one another, a system which they wereobliged to modify in 1880 so far as to recognise the rights of matrimonyand the family, and to adopt the principle of a joint-stock limitedliability company, on which lines the community is proving a prosperousone.

Pergamos, the citadel of Troy, a name frequently given by the poetsto the city itself.

Pergamos, an ancient city of Mysia, in Asia Minor; founded by acolony of Greek emigrants in 3rd century B.C., and eventually the centreof a province of the name, which was subject for a time to Macedonia, butthrew off the yoke and became independent, till it became a Romanprovince by bequest on the part of Attalus III. in 133 B.C. The citypossessed a library second only to that of Alexandria, contained one ofthe seven churches mentioned in the Revelation, and gave its name toparchment, alleged to have been invented there.

Peri, in the Eastern mythology a fairy being of surpassing beauty,begotten of fallen spirits, and excluded from Paradise, but representedas leading a life of pleasure and endowed with immortality; there weremale Peris as well as female, and they were intermediate between angelsand demons.

Periander, the tyrant of Corinth from 625 to 585 B.C., was one ofthe seven sages of Greece, and a patron of literature and the arts; Arionand Anacharsis lived at his Court.

Pericles, the great Athenian statesman, born in Athens, of nobleparentage; was a devoted disciple of Anaxagoras; entered public life 467B.C. as a democrat, and soon became head of the democratic party, to theincrease of the power of the citizens and annihilation of the dominationof the oligarchy centred in the Areopagus; hostile to territorialaggrandisement, he sought, as his chief ambition, the unification ofGreece in one grand confederacy, but was defeated in this noble aim bythe jealousy of Sparta; he put down all rivalry, however, in Athensitself, and established himself as absolute ruler with the consent of thecitizens, reforming the laws, adorning the city, and encouragingliterature and the arts, masters, many wise in the one and skilful in theother, he had at his disposal, such as few or none of the cities of theworld had ever before or have had since; the resulting prosperity did butenhance the envy of the other States, Sparta in particular, and two yearsbefore he died the spirit of hostility took shape in the outbreak of thePeloponnesian War (q. v.); he had surrounded the city withwalls, and his policy was to defend it from within them rather than facethe enemy in the field, but it proved fatal, for it tended to damp ratherthan quicken the ardour of the citizens, and to add to this a plaguebroke out among them in 430 B.C., which cut down the most valiant oftheir number, and he himself lay down to die the year after; he was ahigh-souled, nobly-bred man, great in all he thought and did, and hegathered around him nearly all the noble-minded and noble-hearted men ofhis time to adorn his reign and make Athens the envy of the world;d.429 B.C.

Périer, Casimir, a French banker and politician, born at Grenoble;took part in the Revolution of 1830, became Minister of the Interior in1831; suppressed the insurrections at Paris and Lyons; died of cholera(1777-1832).

Perigee, the point in the orbit of the moon or a planet nearest theearth.

Périgord, an ancient territory of France, S. of Guienne, famous forits truffles, of whichPérigueux (q. v.) was the capital; unitedto the Crown of France by Henry IV. in 1589, it is now part of thedepartment of Dordogne and part of Lot-et-Garonne.

Périgueux (31), chief town of the department of Dordogne, France, onthe Isle, 95 m. by rail NE. of Bordeaux, is a narrow irregular town witha cathedral after St. Mark's in Venice, museum of antiquities, andlibrary; iron and woollens are the industries; truffles and truffle piesare exported.

Perihelion, the point on the orbit of a planet or comet nearest thesun.

Perim, a small barren, crescent-shaped island at the mouth of theRed Sea, belonging to Britain, and used as a coaling-station.

Peripatetic Philosophy, the name given to the philosophy ofAristotle, from his habit of walking about with his disciples as hephilosophised in the shady walks of the Lyceum.

Pernambuco (130), a seaport in N. Brazil, consists of three portionsconnected by bridges: Recife, on a peninsula, the business quarter; SanAntonio, the modern quarter, on an intermediate island; and Bon Vista, onthe mainland; manufactures cotton and tobacco, and has shipbuildingyards; the trade chiefly with England, the United States, and France; itis the capital of a province (1,100) of the name, producing sugar andcotton.

Peronella, in fairy legend a pretty country lass who exchangesplaces with an old wizened queen, and receives the homage due to royalty,but gladly takes back her rags and beauty.

Perowne, Stewart, Bishop of Worcester, born at Burdwân, of Huguenotextraction, educated at Cambridge; became a Fellow of Corpus Christi;held several academic and ecclesiastical appointments; an eminent Hebrewscholar and exegete; his chief work a commentary on the Psalms;b.1823.

Perpignan (28), a town on the Têt, 7 m. from the sea; a fortress inthe French department of Pyrénées-Orientales; has a cathedral of the 14thcentury and a bourse in Moorish-Gothic, and manufactures wine and brandy;belonged originally to Aragon; was taken by France in 1475, and retaken,after restoration to Spain, in 1642, since which time it has belonged toFrance.

Perrault, Charles, French man of letters, born in Paris; bred to thebar; distinguished as the author of inimitable fairy tales, which haveimmortalised his name, as “Puss in Boots,” “Cinderella,” “Bluebeard,”&c., as also “Parallel des Anciens et des Modernes,” in which his aim wasto show—an ill-informed attempt—that the ancients were inferior ineverything to the moderns (1628-1703).

Persecutions of the Church, by which are meant those at the hands ofImperial Rome, are usually reckoned 10 in number, viz., those under Neroin 64, Domitian 95, Trajan 107, Hadrian 125, Marcus Aurelius 165, Severus202, Maximinus 235, Decius 249, Valerianus 257, and Diocletian 303;besides these there were others quite as deadly within the Church itselfon the part of orthodox against heterodox, or Catholic againstProtestant, and Established against Nonconformist.

Persephone, in the Greek mythology the daughter of Zeus and Demeter,the Proserpine of the Romans. SeeProserpine.

Persepolis, the ancient capital of Persia, represented now by itsruins, which stand 25 m. from the NW. shores of Lake Niris, on the banksof the Murghab River, though in its palmy days it was described as “theGlory of the East.”

Perseus, in the Greek mythology the son of Zeus and Danaë, and thegrandson of Acrisius, king of Argos, of whom it was predicted before hisbirth that he would kill his grandfather, who at his birth enclosed bothhis mother and him in a chest and cast it into the sea, which bore themto an island where they became slaves of the king, Polydectes, who soughtto marry Danaë; failing in his suit, and to compel her to submission, heordered Perseus off to fetch him the head of the Medusa; who, aided byHermes and Athena, was successful in his mission, cut off the head of theMedusa with the help of a mirror and sickle, brought it away with him ina pouch, and after delivering and marrying Andromeda in his returnjourney, exposed the head before Polydectes and court at a banquet, whichturned them all into stone, whereupon he gave the Gorgon's head to Athenato place on her shield, and set out for Argos; Acrisius hearing of hisapproach fled, but was afterwards killed accidentally by his grandson,who in throwing a discus had crushed his foot.

Persia (7,000), occupies the tableland 5000 ft. high between thePersian Gulf and Arabian Sea on the S., the Caspian Sea and Turkestan onthe N., Armenia on the W., and Afghanistan and Beluchistan on the E., andis a country three times as large as France; lofty mountain rangestraverse it from NW. to SE. and gird its northern boundary; the highestpeak is Mount Demavend, 18,500 ft., in the Elburz, overlooking theCaspian. Most of the rivers evaporate inland; only one is navigable, theKarun, in the SW.; Lake Urumiyah, in the NW., is the largest, a very saltand shallow sheet of water. The eastern half of the country is largelydesert, where the sand is swept about in clouds by the winds. With littlerain, the climate is intensely hot in summer and cold in winter. Forestsclothe the outer slopes of the mountains, and scanty brushwood the innerplains. Wheat and barley are grown on higher levels, and cotton, sugar,and fruits on the lower, all with the help of Irrigation. Agriculture isthe chief industry; there are manufactures of carpets, shawls, andporcelain. The internal trade is carried on by caravans; foreign trade isnot extensive, and is chiefly in Russian hands; the exports includeopium, carpets, pearls, and turquoises. The capital is Teheran (210), anarrow, crooked, filthy town, at the southern foot of the Elburz. Tabriz(180), in the NW., is the emporium of trade. Ispahân (60), Meshed (60),Barfurush (60), and Shiraz (30) are the other important towns. TheGovernment is despotic; the emperor is called the Shah. The people arecourteous and refined in manner, witty, and fluent in speech; they are ofAryan stock and Mohammedan faith. The original empire of Persia wasestablished by Cyrus 537 B.C. A century later decay set in. Revivalunder Parthian and Sassanian dynasties lasted from 138 B.C. till A.D.639. Persia became then a province of the Arabs. From the 14th century itfell under Mongol sway, and again in the 16th century under Turkish. Thepresent dynasty was founded in 1795. The future of the country is inRussian and British hands.

Persian Gulf, a great inland sea lying between Arabia and Persia,and entered from the Indian Ocean through the Gulf of Oman; is 650 m.long and from 50 to 250 m. broad. The Arabian coast is low and sandy, thePersian high. The chief islands are in the W., where also is the GreatPearl Bank. The only river of importance received is the Shat-el-Arab,which brings down the waters of the Euphrates and the Tigris.

Persian Wars, wars conducted by Persia in the three expeditionsagainst Greece, first in 490 B.C. under Darius, and defeated by theAthenians under Miltiades at Marathon; the second, 480 B.C., underXerxes, opposed by Leonidas and his 300 Spartans at Thermopylæ anddefeated by the Athenians under Themistocles at Salamis by sea; and thethird, in 479 B.C., under Xerxes, by the Greeks under the SpartanPausanius at Platæa.

Persians, a name given to sculptured draped male figures used ascolumns.

Persians, The, belonged to the Aryan race, hence Iran, the originalname of their country; they were related rather to the Western than theEastern world, and it is from them that continuous history takes itsstart; they first recognised an ethereal essence, which they calledLight, as the principle of all good, and man as related to it in such away that, by the worship of it, he became assimilated to it himself.Among them first the individual subject stood face to face with auniversal object, and claimed a kinship with it as the light of life. Theepoch thus created was the emancipation of the human being from dependentchildhood to self-dependent manhood, and it constituted the first epochin the self-conscious history, which is the history proper, of the humanrace. The idea the Persians formed of the principle of good came farshort of the reality indeed, but they first saw that it was of purelyilluminating quality and universal, and that the destiny of man was torelate himself to it, to know, worship, and obey it. With the etherealprinciple of good they associated an equally ethereal principle of evil,and, as they identified the one with light, they identified the otherwith darkness. Man they regarded as related to both, and his destiny toadore the one and disown the other as master. As the light had no portionin the darkness, and the darkness no portion in the light, the religionarose which pervades that of the Bible, which requires the children ofthe former to separate from those of the latter.

Persiflage, a French term for a light, quizzing mockery, orscoffing, specially on serious subjects, out of a cool, callous contemptfor them.

Persigny, Fialin, Duc de, a French statesman, a supporter all alongof Louis Napoleon, abetting him in all his efforts to attain the throneof France, from the affair of Strasburg in 1836 to thecoup d'état ofDecember 1851, and becoming in the end Minister of the Interior underhim; had to leave France at his fall (1806-1872).

Persius, the last king of Macedonia; was conquered by PaulusÆmilius, and died captive at Rome 167 B.C.

Persius, Roman satirist, born in Etruria, was a pupil and friend ofCornutus the Stoic; a man much esteemed, who died young, only 28; wrotesix short satires in the purity of a white-souled manhood, of much nativevigour, though not equal to those of Horace and Juvenal, and that havecommanded the regard of all scholars down to the present time; they haveoften been translated (34-62).

Perth (30), the county-town of Perthshire, on the Tay, 22 m. W. ofDundee: is a beautifully situated town, with fine buildings, the onlyold one being the restored St. John's Church. Its industries are dyeingand ink-making. At Scone, 2 m. distant, the kings of Scotland werecrowned; and the murder of James I., the Gowrie conspiracy, and thebattle of Tippermuir are but a few of its many historical associations.“The Five Articles of Perth,” adopted by a General Assembly held there in1618, did much to precipitate the conflict between the Royal power andthe Scottish Church; they enjoined kneeling at the Lord's Supper,observance of Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, and Pentecost,confirmation, and the private administration of the sacraments.

Perth (8), the capital of West Australia, on the Swan River.

Perthshire (122), the most beautiful and varied county in Scotland,occupies the whole of the Tay Valley and part of the Forth, and isbounded by nine other counties. The N. and W. are mountainous, with manyrivers and lakes, and much of the finest scenery in Scotland; theTrossachs and Loch Katrine are world famed. In the E. is extensivewoodland and the Carse of Gowrie, one of the most fertile of Scottishplains. Ben Lawers is the highest mountain, Loch Tay the largest lake.Much of the soil is good only for sheep farms, deer forests, and grousemoors; the county is visited annually by thousands of tourists andsportsmen.

Pertinax, Helvius, Roman emperor in succession to Commodus; rosefrom the ranks by his military services to the imperial dignity, which hewas pressed to accept against his will, and was assassinated by thePrætorian Guards less than three months after, in consequence of thereforms he projected in order to restore the ancient discipline of thearmy (126-193).

Perturbations, name given to irregularities or slight deviations inthe movement of a heavenly body, due chiefly to the neighbourhood ofanother point in its orbit.

Peru (3,000), a country in the W. of South America, twice the sizeof Austro-Hungary, lies between Brazil and Bolivia and the Pacific, withEcuador on the N. and Chile on the S.; it consists of a seaboard plain,hot and rainless, but intersected by rich river courses, in which sugar,cotton, and coffee are grown; the Andes chains, snow-tipped andpresenting every kind of climate and variety of vegetation on theirslopes and in their valleys, rich in minerals and yielding chiefly greatquantities of silver; and the Montana, the eastward slopes of the Andes,clad with valuable forests where the cinchona is cultivated, and theupland basins of the Ucayalé River and the Upper Amazon, very fertile,with great coffee and cacao plantations and abundant rain; the chiefarticles of export are silver, nitre, guano, sugar, and wool. Lima (200),the capital, is 8 m. inland from its port Callao (35); has an oldcathedral, and is the chief centre of commerce; its principal merchantsare Germans. The government is republican; the ruling classes are ofSpanish descent, but half of the population are Inca Indians and aquarter are half-castes. From the 12th to the 16th centuries the Incasenjoyed a high state of civilisation and an extensive empire administeredon socialistic principles; they attained great skill in the industriesand arts. The Spanish conqueror Pizarro, landing in 1532, overthrew theempire and established the colony; after three centuries of oppressionPeru threw off the Spanish yoke in 1824. The history of the republic hasbeen one of continual restlessness, and a war with Chile 1879-84 ended incomplete disaster; recovery is slowly progressing.

Perugia (17), Italian walled city on the right bank of the Tiber,127 m. by rail N. of Rome, with a cathedral of the 15th century, somenoteworthy churches, a Gothic municipal palace, picture gallery,university, and library; is rich in art treasures and antiquarianremains; it has silk and woollen industries; it was anciently calledPerusia, and one of the cities of ancient Etruria, and in its day hasexperienced very varied fortunes; it was the centre of the Umbrian schoolof painting.

Perugino, his proper nameVannucci, Italian painter, born nearPerugia, whence his name; studied with Leonardo da Vinci at Florence,where he chiefly resided; was one of the teachers of Raphael, paintedreligious subjects, did frescoes for churches that have nearly allperished, a “Christ giving the Keys to Peter” being the best extant;Ruskin contrasts his work with Turner's; “in Turner's distinctive work,”he says, “colour is scarcely acknowledged unless under influence ofsunshine ... wherever the sun is not, there is melancholy and evil,” but“in Perugino's distinctive work”—to whom he therefore gives “thecaptain's place over all”—“there is simplyno darkness,no wrong.Every colour is lovely and every space is light; the world, the universe,is divine; all sadness is a part of harmony, and all gloom a part oflight” (1446-1524).

Peschiera, one of the fortresses of theQuadrilateral (q.v.), on an island in the Mincio, 14 m. W. of Verona.

Peshawar orPeshawur (84), a town on the Indian frontier, andcentre of trade with Afghanistan, is 10 m. from the entrance of theKhyber Pass, on the Kabul River, and though ill-fortified is a bulwark ofthe empire, being provided with a large garrison of infantry andartillery.

Peshito (i. e. simple), a version of the Bible in Syriac, executednot later than the middle of the 2nd century for Judaic Christians in theSyrian Church, the version of the Old Testament being executed directfrom the Hebrew and that of the New being the first translation of theGreek of it into a foreign tongue, and both of value in questionsaffecting exegesis and the original text; the New Testament versioncontains all the books now included except the Apocalypse, Jude, 2 Peter,and 2 and 3 John.

Pessimism, a name given now to a habit of feeling, now to a systemof opinion; as the former it denotes a tendency to dwell on the dark orgloomy side of things, culminating in a sense of their vanity andnothingness, while in the latter it is applied to all systems of opinionwhich lay the finger on some black spot in the structure of the life ofthe world or of the universe, which so long as it remains is thought torender it unworthy of existence.

Pestalozzi, Johann Heinrich, a celebrated educationist, born atZurich; founder of a natural system of education, beginning withchildhood, and who, however unsuccessful in the working of it himselffrom his want of administrative faculty, persuaded others by his writingsto adopt it, especially in Germany, and to adopt it both enthusiasticallyand successfully; his method, which he derived from Rousseau, was basedon the study of human nature as we find it born in the child, and itaimed at the harmonious development of all its innate capabilities,beginning with the most rudimentary (1745-1827).

Pesth orBudapest (492), on the left bank of the Danube,forming one municipality with Buda on the right, is the capital ofHungary, and 173 m. by rail E. of Vienna; Pesth is built on a plain,joined to Buda by three bridges, the last on the Danube, and is athriving modern city, with picture galleries, parliament house, library,university, science schools, many baths, and public gardens; it makesmachinery, agricultural implements, cutlery, flour, &c., and does a greattrade in corn, wool, hides, wines, and bacon.

Petalism, banishment in Sparta similar to ostracism in Athens,procured by writing the name on an olive leaf.

Petard, a cone-shaped explosive machine for bursting open gates,barriers, &c., made of iron and filled with powder and ball.

Petasus, the winged-cap of the god Mercury.

Petchora, the largest river in Northern Russia, rises in the UralMountains and flows N. through Vologda and Archangel, then westward andN. again, entering the Arctic Ocean by a large, island-studded estuary,after a course of 1000 m. through sombre forests and wild, sombrescenery.

Peter, the Apostle, originally called Simon, was a fisherman on theSea of Galilee; one of the first called by Christ to become a disciple;the first to recognise, as the foundation-stone of the Church, thedivinity in the humanity of His Master, and the first thereafter torecognise and proclaim that divinity as glorified in the cross, to whomin recognising which, especially the former, was committed the keys ofthe kingdom of heaven, and who accordingly was the first to open the doorof it to the Gentile world. He was the principal figure in the history ofthe early Christian Church, but was soon eclipsed by the overpoweringpresence and zeal of Paul. Tradition, indeed, has something to tell ofhim, but from it little of trustworthy can be gathered except that hefinished his career by martyrdom in the city of Rome. This Apostle isrepresented in Christian art as an old man, bald-headed, with a flowingbeard, dressed in a white mantle, and holding a scroll in his hand, hisattributes being the keys, and a sword in symbol of his martyrdom.

Peter, the First Epistle of, addressed especially to JewishChristians in certain churches of Asia Minor, the members of which weresuffering persecution at the hands of their adversaries as evil-doers;was written to exhort them to rebut the charge by a life of simplewell-doing, and to comfort them under it with the promise of the returnof the Lord.

Peter, the Second Epistle Of, addressed to all who anywhere bore theChristian name; appears to have been written not long before his death tocounteract certain fatal forms of error, at once doctrinal and practical,that had already begun to creep into the Church, and against which wemeet with the same warnings in the Epistle of Jude, the doctrinal errorbeing the denial of Christ as Lord, and the practical the denial of Himas the way, the truth, and the life, to the peril of the forfeiture ofeternal life.

Peter, the Wild Boy, a savage creature of 13 years of age, found in1725 in a forest of Hanover, who was accustomed to walk on all fours, andclimb trees like a squirrel, living on wild plants, grass, and moss, andwho could not be weaned from these habits, or taught to speak more than asyllable or two; he wore a brass collar with his name on it; at lengthrefused all food, and died in 1786.

Peter Martyr, 1, a Dominican notorious for his severity as a memberof the Inquisition, murdered by a mob at Como in 1252, became the patronsaint of the Inquisition. 2, A Protestant reformer, born at Florence,became a monk and abbot at Lucca, from which, on embracing the doctrinesof the Reformation, he was forced to flee, first to Switzerland and thento England in the reign of Edward VI., but had to retreat from thencealso on the accession of Mary to Strasburg, and at length to Zurich,where he died (1500-1562). 3, A historian, born at Arona, rose to becomebishop of Jamaica, wrote on the discovery of America,d. 1525.

Peter the Great, emperor of Russia, son of the Czar Alexei, born atMoscow; succeeded his half-brother Feodor in 1682, but was forced for atime to share the throne with his half-sister Sophia, acting as regentfor her brother Ivan; conscious of his imperfect education, he chose aGenoese named Lefort as his preceptor, and after some years' carefultraining he deposed Sophia, and entered Moscow as sole ruler in 1689;with the help of Lefort and Patrick Gordon, a Scotsman, he proceeded toraise and discipline an army on the European model, and determined alsoto construct a navy; to reach the sea he made war on the Turks, andpossessed himself of the port of Azov, at the mouth of the Don; hither heinvited skilled artificers from Austria, Venice, Prussia, and Holland,and a navy was built; from 1697 to 1698 he visited the countries on theBaltic and England, acquiring vast stores of information, working as ashipwright in the Dutch yards, and finally taking back with him an armyof mechanics; on his return he vigorously reformed the Russian press,schools, and church, introduced European manners and literature, andencouraged foreign trade; desirous now of an opening on the Baltic, hebegan in 1700 a long contest with Sweden, marked first by many defeats,notably that of Narva, then the seizure of Ingria, and founding of thenew capital St. Petersburg 1703, the victory of Pultowa 1712, seizure ofthe Baltic provinces and part of Finland 1713, and finally by the Peaceof 1721, which ceded the conquered territories to Russia; in 1711 theTurks had recovered Azov; in 1722 war with Persia secured him threeCaspian provinces; Peter pursued a vigorous and enlightened policy forthe good of Russia, but his disposition was often cruel; his son Alexeiwas put to death for opposing his reforms, and on his own death he wassucceeded by the Empress Catherine I., the daughter of a peasant, who hadbeen his mistress, and whom he had married in 1712 (1672-1725).

Peter the Hermit, a monk, born in Amiens, of good family, who iscredited with having by his preaching kindled the enthusiasm in Europewhich led to the first Crusade; he joined it himself as the leader of anuntrained rabble, but made a poor figure at the siege of Antioch, wherehe was with difficulty prevented from deserting the camp; he afterwardsfounded a monastery near Liège, where he died (1050-1115).

Peterborough (25), an English cathedral city, on the Nen, partly inHuntingdonshire and partly in Northamptonshire, on the edge of the Fencountry, 76 m. N. of London; has an old town-hall, manufactures of farmimplements, trade in malt and coal, and is a great railway centre; thecathedral is one of the finest in Britain, of very varied architecture,was restored and reopened afterwards in 1890.

Peterborough, Charles Mordaunt, Earl of, saw some active service asa volunteer in Charles II.'s navy, and on the accession of James II.threw himself into politics as an opponent of the king; William III.showed him great favour; he was of the Queen's Council of Regency whenWilliam was in Ireland, but imprudent intriguing brought him a shortconfinement in the Tower in 1697; the war of the Spanish Succession wasthe opportunity which brought him fame; appointed to the command of theBritish and Dutch forces, which fought for Charles of Austria, he reducedBarcelona 1705, and Valencia 1706; retook Barcelona from the French, andbut for Charles's hindrance would have entered Madrid; differences withother generals led to his recall in 1707; the rest of his life was spentin retirement; he was the friend of Pope, and held by him in genuineesteem; he died in Lisbon (1658-1735).

Peterhead (12), a seaport on the E. coast of Aberdeenshire, 30 m.NE. of Aberdeen; built irregularly of reddish granite; has a free libraryand museum, and is the seat of a convict prison; the chief industry isherring-fishing; there are two harbours, and a third, a great harbour ofrefuge, is in course of construction.

Peterhof (14), a town on the Gulf of Finland, 18 m. W. of St.Petersburg, with a palace of the Czar built in 1711 by Peter the Great.

Peterloo, a name, suggested by Waterloo, given to an insurrectionarygathering in 1819 of workers in St. Peter's Field, Manchester, to demandParliamentary reform, and which was dispersed by the military to thesacrifice of 13 lives and the wounding of 600, a proceeding which excitedwide-spread indignation, and contributed to promote the cause which itwas intended to defeat.

Peter's, St., church at Rome, is built, it is alleged, over the tombof St. Peter, and on the site of the basilica erected by Constantine andHelena in 306. The original structure after falling into decay was begunto be rebuilt in 1450, and finally consecrated by Urban XIII. in 1626. Itis the largest and grandest church in Christendom, covers an area of over26,000 square yards, the interior of it in length being 206 yards, thetransept 150 yards, the nave 150, and the dome 465. It contains thirtyaltars, and is adorned with numerous statues and monuments.

Peter's Pence, an annual tribute of a silver penny per household inEngland to support the chair of St. Peter at Rome, and which continuedmore or less to be levied from the end of the 8th century till the daysof Elizabeth, when it ceased. The payment has been revived since 1848 inBritain, France, and Belgium in compensation to the Pope for loss of histerritorial possessions.

Peterwardein (4), a strong Austrian fortress on the right bank ofthe Danube, near the Servian frontier, 40 m. NW. of Belgrade; standsamong unhealthy marshes.

Pétion de Villeneuve, Jérôme, born at Chartres; figured in theFrench Revolution as a zealous republican, member of the Tiers État, oneof the commission to reconduct the royal family from Varennes; was mayorof Paris in the year of the September massacres, 1792; was firstPresident of the Convention, and, though his influence was declining,member of the first Committee of Defence, 1793; his attack on Robespierreproving unsuccessful he committed suicide; his body was afterwards foundon the Landes of Bordeaux half devoured by wolves; was surnamed the“Virtuous,” as Robespierre the “Incorruptible”; was of the Girondistparty; had “unalterable beliefs, not hindmost of them,” says Carlyle,“belief in himself” (1783-1793).

Petite Nature, a French term applied to pictures containing figuresless than life-size, but with the effect of life-size.

Petition of Right, a petition presented to Charles I. by the Commonsin 1628, and that became law by the king's acceptance of it. It soughtfor and obtained the abolition of certain grievances which the countryunconstitutionally suffered from, such as taxation or levying of moneywithout consent of Parliament, imprisonment without cause shown,billeting of troops, and recourse to martial law in a time of peace. Thispetition Charles I. would at first fain have evaded, but the Commonswould be satisfied with nothing less than its acceptance entire.

Petöfi, Sandor, celebrated Magyar poet and patriot, born in thecounty of Pesth, of poor parents; first announced himself as a poet in1844; wrote a number of war-songs; fought in the cause of the revolutionof 1848, and fell in the battle of Schässburg; his poetry inaugurated anew era in the literature of his country (1823-1849).

Petra, a ruined city, and once the rock capital of Edom, andafterwards of Arabia Petræa; was a place of some importance at one timeas a commercial centre; the name Petra signifies rock.

Petrarch, Francesco, the famous Italian lyric poet, born at Arezzo,in Tuscany, whither his father had gone when exiled with Dante fromFlorence; spent his youth in Avignon; intended for the profession of law,devoted his time to the study of Cicero and Virgil; met Laura in thechurch of St. Clare there in 1327, a lady of surpassing beauty; conceiveda passion for her which she could not return, and wrote sonnets in praiseof her, which immortalised both himself and her; after travel in Franceand Germany he retired in 1337 to the valley of Vaucluse, where hecomposed the most of his poems, and his reputation reached its height in1341, when he was crowned laureate in the Capitol of Rome; he was inItaly when tidings reached him of the death of Laura in 1348, on theanniversary of the day when he first met her, upon which he gaveexpression to his feelings over the event in a touching note of it in hisVirgil; we find him again at Rome in 1350, and after moving from place toplace settled in Arqua in 1370, where he died; his Latin works arenumerous, and include an epic on the Second Punic war, Eclogues, Epistlesin verse, and Letters of value giving the details of his life; his famerests on his lyrics; by those alone he still lives, and that more fromthe finished art in which they are written than from any glow of feelingthey kindle in the reader's heart (1304-1374).

Petri, Laurentius, a Swedish Reformer; was a disciple of Luther;became professor of Theology and first Protestant archbishop of Upsala,and superintended the translation of the Bible into Swedish (1499-1573).

Petrie, Flinders, Egyptologist, son of an Australian explorer; afterexplorations at Stonehenge, surveyed the pyramids and temples of Ghizehin 1881-82; excavated for the Egyptian Exploration Fund Nankratis, Am,and Defenneh; has achieved many other important works of the kind, andissued a popular work, “Ten Years' Diggings in Egypt”;b. 1853.

Petrie, George, Irish archæologist, born in Dublin, of Scottishparentage; bred to art; executed Irish landscapes, but is best known forhis “Essay on the Round Towers of Ireland,” a work of no small interest(1790-1866).

Petroleum, is the common name of a series of rock oils found inlarge quantities in the United States and Canada, near Rangoon, and inthe neighbourhood of the Caspian Sea. The oil issues from the rocks, oris drawn from subterranean reservoirs, where its presence is supposed toresult from natural distillation of vegetable and animal substances, andafter refining, put in the market as benzoline, paraffin, and lubricatingoil. It is extensively used in the industries, and has been applied asfuel to steamships.

Pétroleuse, was a name given to certain Parisian women of theCommune of 1871, who poured petroleum on the Hôtel de Ville and otherbuildings to burn them.

Petronius, a Roman satirist and accomplished voluptuary at the courtof Nero, and the director-in-chief of the imperial pleasures; accused oftreason, and dreading death at the hands of the emperor his master, heopened his veins, and by bandaging them bled slowly to death, showing thewhile the same frivolity as throughout his life; he left behind him awork, extant now only in fragments, but enough to expose the abyss ofprofligacy in which the Roman world was then sunk at that crisis of itsfate;d. 63.

Pettie, John, painter, born at Edinburgh; his works, chieflyhistorical, were numerous, and of a high character (1839-1893).

Petty, Sir William, political economist, born in Hampshire; was aman of versatile genius, varied attainments, and untiring energy; wasskilled in medicine, in music, in mechanics, and in engineering, as wellas economics, to which especially he contributed by his pen (1623-1687).

Petty Jury, a jury of 12 elected to try a criminal case after a truebill against the accused has been found by a Grand Jury.

Petty Officers, officers in the navy, consisting of four grades, andcorresponding in function and responsibility to non-commissioned officersin the army.

Petty Sessions, name given to sessions of justices of the peace totry small cases without a jury.

Peutinger, Conrad, an Augsburg antiquary, left at his death a13th-century copy of a 3rd-century map of the Roman military roads, nowin the Imperial Library at Vienna, known as the “Tabula Peutingeriana”(1465-1547).

Pfäfers, hot springs near a village of the same name in the Swisscanton of St. Gall; have been in use for 800 years.

Pfahlbauten, lake dwellings of prehistoric date in Switzerland.

Pfalz, the German name for the Palatinate.

Pfeiffer, Ida, a celebrated traveller, born in Vienna; beingseparated from her husband, and having completed the education of her twosons and settled them in life, commenced her career of travel in 1842, inwhich year she visited Palestine, in 1845 visited Scandinavia, in 1846essayed a voyage round the world by Cape Horn, in 1851 a second by theCape of Good Hope, and in 1856 an expedition to Madagascar, returning atthe end of each to Vienna and publishing accounts of them (1797-1858).

Pffleiderer, Otto, a philosophical theologian, born in Würtemberg,professor at Jena, and afterwards at Berlin; has written on religion, thephilosophy of it and sundry developments of it, in an able manner, aswell as lectured on it in Edinburgh in connection with the Gifford trust,on which occasion he was bold enough to overstep the limits respected byprevious lecturers between natural and revealed religion, to theinclusion of the latter within his range;b. 1830.

Pforzheim (29), manufacturing town in Baden, in the N. of the BlackForest; manufactures gold and silver ornaments, and has chemical andother factories.

Phædrus, a Latin fabulist, of the age of Augustus, born inMacedonia, and settled in Rome; originally a slave, was manumitted byAugustus; his fables, 97 in number, were written in verse, and are mostlytranslations from Æsop, the best of them such as keep closely to theoriginal.

Phaëthon (i. e. the shining one, and so called from his father),the son ofHelios (q. v.); persuaded his father to allow him forone day to drive the chariot of the sun across the heavens, but was tooweak to check the horses, so that they rushed off their wonted track andnearly set the world on fire, whereupon Zeus transfixed him with athunderbolt, metamorphosed his sisters who had yoked the horses for himinto poplars and their tears into amber.

Phalanstery, a body of people living together on the Communisticprinciple of Fourier; also the building they occupy.

Phalanx, among the Greeks a body of heavy infantry armed with longspears and short swords, standing in line close behind one another,generally 8 men deep, the Macedonian being as much as 16; its movementswere too heavy, and it was dashed in pieces before the legions of Rome toits extinction; it was superseded by the Roman legion.

Phalaris, a tyrant of Agrigentum, in Sicily, in the 6th century, whois said, among other cruelties, to have roasted the victims of histyranny in a brazen bull which bears his name; the “Letters of Phalaris,”at one time ascribed to him, have been proved to be spurious.

Phallus, a symbol of the generative power of nature, being arepresentation of the male organ of generation, and associated with ritesand ceremonies of nature-worship in the early stages of civilised life,and the worship of which was supposed to have a magic influence ininducing fertility among the flocks and herds, as well as in the soil ofthe earth.

Pharamond, a Knight of the Round Table, and the reputed first kingof the Franks.

Pharaoh, a name, now proper, now common, given in the Old Testamentto the kings of Egypt, identified with that of the sun-god Phra, andapplied to the king as his representative on earth; some 10 of the nameoccur in the Bible, and it is matter of difficulty often to distinguishone from another.

Pharisees (i. e. Separatists), a sect of the Jews who adopted orreceived this name because of the attitude of isolation from the rest ofthe nation which they were compelled to assume at the time of theirorigin. This was some time between the years 165 and 105 B.C., on theirdiscovery that the later Maccabæan chiefs were aiming at more thanreligious liberty, and in their own interests contemplating the erectionof a worldly kingdom that would be the death of the theocratic, which itwas the purpose of Providence they should establish; this was theseparate ground which they at first assumed alone, but they in the endcarried the great body of the nation along with them. They werescrupulously exact in their interpretation and observance of the Jewishlaw as the rule to regulate the life of the Jewish community in everydepartment, and were the representatives of that legal tendency whichgave character to the development of Judaism proper during the periodwhich elapsed between the date of the Captivity and the advent ofChristianity. The law they observed, however, was not the written law asit stood, but that law as expounded by the oral law of the Scribes, asthe sole key to its interpretation, so that their attitude to the Law ofMoses was pretty much the same as that of the Roman Catholics and theHigh Churchmen in relation to the Scriptures generally, and they werethus at length the representatives of clericalism as well as legalism inthe Jewish Church, and in doing so they took their ground upon aprinciple which is the distinctive article of orthodox Judaism in thematter to the present day. In the days of Christ they stood in markedopposition to theSadducees (q. v.) both in their dogmatic viewsand their political principles. As against them, on the dogmatic side,they believed in a spiritual world and in an established moral order, andon the political their rule was to abstain from politics, except in sofar as they might injuriously affect the life and interests of thenation; but at that time they had degenerated into mere formalists, whosereligion was a conspicuous hypocrisy, and it was on this account andtheir pretensions to superior sanctity that they incurred the indignationand exposed themselves to the condemnation of Christ.

Pharos, an island of ancient Egypt, near Alexandria, on which thefirst lighthouse was erected by Ptolemy Philadelphus in 48 B.C.

Pharsalia, a district in the N. of Greece, the southern portion ofthe modern province of Larissa; was the scene of Cæsar's victory overPompey, 48 B.C.

Phelps, Elizabeth Stuart, American authoress, born at Andover; wrote“Gates Ajar” and other popular stories, is a great advocate, by lecturingand otherwise, for social reform and the emancipation of women;b.1844.

Phelps, Samuel, an English actor, born in Devonport; made hisdébut as Shylock in London at the Haymarket in 1837, achieved hisgreatest successes in Sadler's Wells by his representation ofShakespeare's plays and the works of eminent dramatists of the 18thcentury; was distinguished in comedy as well as tragedy, in which last heprimarily appeared and established his fame (1804-1878).

Pherecydes, an ancient Greek philosopher, born in Syros in 6thcentury B.C.; distinguished as having had Pythagoras among his pupils,and believed to have been the author of many of the doctrines promulgatedby his disciple and named Pythagorean.

Phidias, the greatest sculptor and statuary of ancient Greece, bornat Athens; flourished in the time of Pericles, and was appointed by himto direct the works of art projected to the beautifying of the city, andexpressly commissioned to execute certain of these works himself; thechief work that he superintended was the erection of the Parthenon, muchof which he himself adorned; and of the statues he executed the mostfamous were one of Athena of ivory and gold for the Parthenon, and acolossal one of Zeus, his masterpiece, also of ivory and gold, forOlympia; accused of having appropriated some of the gold intended for thestatue of Athena he was acquitted, but was afterwards charged withimpiety for carving his own likeness and that of Pericles on the shieldof the goddess, and was thrown into prison, where he died, 432 B.C.

Philadelphia (1,293), largest city in Pennsylvania, on the Delaware,100 m. from the sea and 90 m. by rail SW. of New York; is the third cityin the Union in population, manufactures, and commerce, regularly builtwith plain substantial dwelling-houses; recently more splendid publicbuildings have been erected, the town-hall, of white marble, is thesecond highest structure in the world; a masonic temple and Governmentoffices of granite and the Mint are also fine buildings; there is auniversity and colleges of science, medicine, art, and music, manychurches, a Roman Catholic cathedral, and many hospitals and charitableinstitutions; the industries include locomotive building, saw-making,woollen and cotton goods, sugar and oil refining, and chemical works; ittrades largely in coal. Founded by William Penn in 1682, it was thecentral point of the War of Independence; the first Congress met here,and the Declaration of Independence was signed (1776) in a building stillstanding; here too the Federal Union was signed (1778) and theconstitution drawn up (1787), and from 1790 to 1800 it was the capital ofthe United States.

Philador, François André, a celebrated composer and chess-player,born at Dreux; wrote a number of operas; in regard to chess his greatmaxim was “Pawns are the soul of chess”; fled at the time of theRevolution to London, where he died (1726-1795).

Philæ, an island of syenite stone in the Nile, near Assouan, inNubia, 1200 ft. long and 50 ft. broad; is almost covered with ancientbuildings of great beauty, among which is a temple of Isis, with a greatgateway dating from 361 B.C., which was converted into a church in 577.

Philatory, a transparent reliquary to contain and exhibit the bonesand relics of saints.

Philemon, Epistle to, a short letter by Paul to a member of theChurch at Colossæ on behalf of a slave, Onesimus, who had deserted hisservice, gone off with some of his property, and taken refuge in Rome,but had been converted to Christ, and whom he begs not to manumit, butsimply to receive back as a brother for his sake.

Philemon and Baucis, in the Greek mythology a pair of poor peoplewho, in fond attachment to each other, lived in a small cottage inPhrygia by themselves and gave hospitality to gods in disguise when everyother door was shut against them, and to whom, in the judgment thatdescended upon their inhospitable neighbours, the gods were propitious,and did honour by appointing them to priesthood, when they would ratherhave been servants, in a temple metamorphosed out of their cottage. Herethey continued to minister to old age, and had but one prayer forthemselves, that they might in the end die together; when as they sat atthe door of the temple one day, bent with years, they were changed, heinto an oak and she into a linden. This is Ovid's version of the story,to which he adds as the moral of it, “Those who piously honour the godsare themselves held in honour.”

Philip, an Indian chief whose father had been a staunch friend ofthe Pilgrim settlers, was himself friendly to the colonists, till in 1671their encroachments provoked him to retaliation; after six years'fighting, in which many colonists perished and great massacres of Indianstook place, he was defeated and slain, 1676.

Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, usurped thekingdom from the infant king Amyntas, his nephew and ward, in 360 B.C.;having secured his throne, he entered on a series of aggressive wars,making expeditions into Thrace and Thessaly; the siege of Olynthusbrought him into conflict with Athens, the two cities being allies, andoccasioned some of the most brilliant orations of Demosthenes; thesuccessive appeals for his aid against their enemies by the Thebans andthe Argives led him into Greece and into the Peloponnesus; in 339 B.C. acouncil of Greek cities appointed him commander-in-chief of their leaguedforces in a projected war against the Locrians, but the Athenians andThebans opposed his coming; the defeat of their armies at Chæronea, 338B.C., placed all Greece at his feet; his next project was an expeditionagainst Persia, but while preparations were on foot he was assassinatedat Ægæ; a man of unbridled lust, he was an astute and unscrupulouspolitician, but of incomparable eloquence, energy, and military skill(382-336 B.C.).

Philip II., Philip-Augustus, king of France, shared the throne withhis father, Louis VII., from 1179, and succeeded him as sole ruler in1180; marrying Isabella of Hainault, he united the Capet and Carlovingianhouses; his grand aim was to secure to himself some of the Englishpossessions in France; his alliance with Richard of England in the thirdcrusade ended in a quarrel; returning to France he broke his oath toRichard by bargaining with John for portions of the coveted territory; anexhausting war lasted till 1119; on Richard's death Philip supportedArthur against John in his claim to Anjou, Maine, and Touraine; afterArthur's murder, the capture of Château Gaillard in 1204 gave himpossession of these three provinces with Normandy and part of Poitou; thevictory of Bouvines 1214 secured his throne, and the rest of his reignwas spent in internal reforms and the beautifying of Paris (1165-1223).

Philip IV., the Fair, king of France, succeeded his father PhilipIII. in 1285; by his marriage with Joanna of Navarre added Navarre,Champagne, and Brie to his realm; but the sturdy valour of the Flemishburghers at Courtrai on the “Day of Spurs” prevented the annexation ofFlanders; his fame rests on his struggle and victory over the papalpower; a tax on the clergy was condemned by Boniface VIII. in 1296;supported by his nobles and burghers Philip burnt the papal bull,imprisoned the legate, and his ambassador in Rome imprisoned the Popehimself; Boniface died soon after, and in 1305 Philip made Clement V.Pope; kept him at Avignon, and so commenced the seventy years'“captivity”; he forced Clement to decree the suppression of the Templars,and became his willing instrument in executing the decree; he died atFontainebleau, having proved himself an avaricious and pitiless despot(1268-1314).

Philip VI., of Valois, king of France, succeeded Charles IV. in1328; Edward III. of England contested his claim, contending that theSalic law, though it excluded females, did not exclude their male heirs;Edward was son of a daughter, Philip son of a brother, of Philip IV.;thus began the Hundred Years' War between France and England, 1337; theFrench fleet was defeated off Sluys in 1340, and the army at Crécy in1346; a truce was made, when the war was followed by the Black Death; theworthless king afterwards purchased Majorca (1293-1350).

Philip II., king of Spain, only son of the Emperor Charles V.;married Mary Tudor in 1554, and spent over a year in England; in 1555 hesucceeded his father in the sovereignty of Spain, Sicily, Milan, theNetherlands, Franche-Comté, Mexico, and Peru; a league between Henry II.of France and the Pope was overthrown, and on the death of Mary hemarried the French princess Isabella, and retired to live in Spain, 1559.Wedding himself now to the cause of the Church, he encouraged theInquisition in Spain, and introduced it to the Netherlands; the latterrevolted, and the Seven United Provinces achieved their independenceafter a long struggle in 1579; his great effort to overthrow ProtestantEngland ended in the disaster of the Armada, 1588; his last years wereembittered by the failure of his intrigues against Navarre, raids ofEnglish seamen on his American provinces, and by loathsome disease; hewas a bigot in religion, a hard, unloved, and unloving man, and a foolishking; he fatally injured Spain by crushing her chivalrous spirit, bypersecuting the industrious Moors, and by destroying her commerce byheavy taxation (1527-1598).

Philip V., grandson of Louis XIV., first Bourbon king of Spain;inherited his throne by the testament of his uncle Charles II. in 1700;the rival claim of the Archduke Charles of Austria was supported byEngland, Austria, Holland, Prussia, Denmark, and Hanover; but the longWar of the Spanish Succession terminated in the peace of Utrecht, andleft Philip his kingdom; after an unsuccessful movement to recover Sicilyand Sardinia for Spain he joined England and France against the Emperor,and gained the former island for his son Charles III.; he died animbecile at Madrid (1683-1746).

Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, was the fourth son of John theGood, king of France; taken captive at Poitiers 1356; on his return toFrance he received for his bravery the duchies of Touraine and Burgundy;on his brother's accession to the French throne as Charles V. heexchanged the former duchy for the hand of Margaret of Flanders, on thedeath of whose father he assumed the government of his territories; hiswise administration encouraged arts, industries, and commerce, and wonthe respect and esteem of his subjects; he was afterwards Regent ofFrance when Charles V. became imbecile (1342-1404).

Philip the Good, grandson of the above, raised the duchy to itszenith of prosperity, influence, and fame; he was alternately in alliancewith England, and at peace with his superior, France; ultimatelyassisting in driving England out of most of her Continental possessions(1396-1467).

Philiphaugh, a battlefield on the Yarrow, 3 m. W. of Selkirk, wasthe scene of Leslie's victory over Montrose in 1645.

Philippi, a Macedonian city, was the scene of a victory gained in 42B.C. by Octavianus and Antony over Brutus and Cassius, and the seat of achurch, the first founded by St. Paul in Europe.

Philippians, Epistle to the, an Epistle of Paul written at Romeduring his imprisonment there to a church at Philippi, in Macedonia, thathad been planted by himself, and the members of which were among thefirst-fruits of his ministry in Europe. The occasion of writing it wasthe receipt of a gift from them, and to express the joy it gave him as atoken of their affection. It is the least dogmatic of all his Epistles,and affords an example of the Apostle's statement of Christian truth tounbiased minds; one exhortation, however, shows he is not blind to therise of an evil which has been the bane of the Church of Christ since thebeginning, the spirit of rivalry, and this is evident from the prominencehe gives in chapter ii. 5-8 to the self-sacrificing lowliness of Christ,and by the counsel he gives them in chapter iv. 8.

Philippic, the name originally applied to Demosthenes' three greatorations against Philip of Macedon, then to Cicero's speeches againstMark Antony; now denotes any violent invective written or spoken.

Philippine Islands (8,500), a large and numerous group in the northof the Malay archipelago, between the China Sea and the Pacific, of whichthe largest, Luzon, and the next Mindanao, are both much greater thanIreland; are mountainous and volcanic, subject to eruptions andcontinuous earthquakes. In the N. of the group cyclones too are common.The climate is moist and warm, but fairly healthy; the soil is veryfertile. Rice, maize, sugar, cotton, coffee, and tobacco are cultivated;the forests yield dye-woods, hard timber, and medicinal herbs, and themines coal and iron, copper, gold, and lead. The chief exports are sugar,hemp, and tobacco. The aboriginal Negritoes are now few; half-castes arenumerous; the population is chiefly Malayan, Roman Catholic at leastnominally in religion, and speaking the Tagal or the Visayan language.Discovered by Magellan in 1521, who was killed on the island of Mactan;they were annexed by Spain in 1569, and held till 1898, when they fell tothe Americans. The capital is Manilla (270), on the W. coast of Luzon;Laoag (37), San Miguel (35), and Banang (33) among the largest towns.

Philips, Ambrose, minor poet, born in Leicester, of good family;friend of Addison and Steele, and a Whig in politics; held severallucrative posts, chiefly in Ireland; wrote pastorals in vigorous andelegant verse, and also some short sentimental verses for children, whichearned for him from Henry Carey the nickname of “Namby-Pamby”(1678-1749).

Philips, John, littérateur, born in Oxfordshire, author of “TheSplendid Shilling,” an admirable burlesque in imitation of Milton, and apoem, “Cider,” an imitation of Virgil (1676-1708).

Philips, Katherine, poetess, born in London; was the daughter of aLondon merchant and the wife of a Welsh squire, a highly sentimental butworthy woman; the Society of Friendship, in which the members bore fancynames—hers, which also served her for anom de plume, was Orinda—hadsome fame in its day, and brought her, as the foundress, the honour of adedication from Jeremy Taylor; her work was admired by Cowley and Keats;she was a staunch royalist (1631-1664).

Philistine, the name given by the students in Germany to anon-university man of the middle-class, or a man without (university)culture, or of narrow views of things.

Philistines, a people, for long of uncertain origin, but nowgenerally believed to have been originally emigrants from Crete, whosettled in the plain, some 40 m. long by 15 broad, extending along thecoast of Palestine from Joppa on the N. to the desert on the S., andwhose chief cities were Ashdod, Askelon, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath; they werea trading and agricultural people, were again and again a thorn in theside of the Israelites, but gradually tamed into submission, so as to bevirtually extinct in the days of Christ; their chief god wasDagon(q. v.).

Phillip, John, painter, born in Aberdeen; his early picturesillustrate Scottish subjects, his latest and best illustrate life inSpain, whither he had gone in 1851 for his health (1817-1867).

Phillips, Wendell, slavery abolitionist and emancipationistgenerally, born at Boston, U.S., and bred to the bar; was Garrison'saide-de-camp in the cause, and chief after his death (1811-1884).

Philo Judæus (i. e. Philo the Jew), philosopher of the 1stcentury, born in Alexandria; studied the Greek philosophy, and found init, particularly the teaching of Plato, the rationalist explanation ofthe religion of Moses, which he regarded as the revelation to whichphilosophy was but the key; he was a man of great learning and greatinfluence among his people, and was in his old age one of an embassy sentby the Jews of Alexandria in A.D. 40 to Rome to protest against theimperial edict requiring the payment of divine honours to the emperor; heidentified the Logos of the Platonists with the Word in the NewTestament.

Philocretes, a famous archer, who had been the friend andarmour-bearer of Hercules who instructed him in the use of the bow, andalso bequeathed his bow with the poisoned arrows to him after his death;he accompanied the Greeks to the siege of Troy, but one of the arrowsfell on his foot, causing a wound the stench of which was intolerable, sothat he was left behind at Lemnos, where he remained in misery 10 years,till an oracle declared that Troy could not be taken without the arrowsof Hercules; he was accordingly sent for, and being healed of his woundby Æsculapius, assisted at the capture of the city.

Philomela, daughter of Pandion, king of Athens, and sister ofProgne; she was the victim of an outrage committed by her brother-in-lawTereus, who cut out her tongue to prevent her exposing him, and kept herin close confinement; here she found means of communicating with hersister, when the two, to avenge the wrong, made away with Itys, Tereus'son, and served him up to his father at a banquet; the fury of Tereus onthe discovery knew no bounds, but they escaped his vengeance, Philomelaby being changed into a nightingale and Progne into a swallow.

Philopoemon, the head of the Achæcan League, born at Megalopolis,and the last of the Greek heroes; fought hard to achieve the independenceof Greece, but having to struggle against heavy odds, was overpowered;rose from a sick-bed to suppress a revolt, was taken prisoner, throwninto a dungeon, and forced to drink poison (252-183 B.C.).

Philosophe, name for a philosopher of the school of 18th centuryEnlightenment, represented by theEncyclopedists (q. v.) ofFrance; the class have been characterised by the delight they took inoutraging the religious sentiment. SeeAufklärung andIllumination, The.

Philosopher's Stone was, with the Elixir of Life, the object of thesearch of the mediæval alchemists. Their theory regarded gold as the mostperfect metal, all others being removed from it by various stages ofimperfection, and they sought an amalgam of pure sulphur and puremercury, which, being more perfect still than gold, would transmute thebaser metals into the nobler.

Philosophism, French, a philosophy such as the philosophers ofFrance gave instances of, founded on the notion and cultivated in thebelief that scientific knowledge is the sovereign remedy for the ills oflife, summed up in two articles—first, that “a lie cannot be believed”;and second, that “in spiritual supersensual matters no belief ispossible,” her boast being that “she had destroyed religion byextinguishing the abomination” (l'Infame).

Philosophy, the science of sciences or of things in general,properly an attempt to find the absolute in the contingent, the immutablein the mutable, the universal in the particular, the eternal in thetemporal, the real in the phenomenal, the ideal in the real, or in otherwords, to discover “the single principle that,” as Dr. Stirling says,“possesses within itself the capability of transition into all existentvariety and varieties,” which it presupposes can be done not by inductionfrom the transient, but by deduction from the permanent as thatspiritually reveals itself in the creating mind, so that aPhilosopheris a man who has, as Carlyle says, quoting Goethe, “stationed himself inthe middle (between the outer and the inner, the upper and the lower), towhom the Highest has descended and the Lowest mounted up, who is theequal and kindly brother of all.” “Philosophy dwells aloft in the Templeof Science, the divinity of the inmost shrine; her dictates descend amongmen, but she herself descends not; whoso would behold her must climb withlong and laborious effort; may still linger in the forecourt tillmanifold trial have proved him worthy of admission into the interiorsolemnities.” Indeed philosophy is more thanscience (q. v.); itis a divine wisdom instilled into and inspiring a thinker's life. SeeThinker, The.

Philoxenus, a Greek poet who lived at the court of Dionysius theElder, tyrant of Syracuse; condemned to prison for refusing to praisesome verses of the tyrant, he was led forth to criticise others, butreturned them as worse, begging the officers who handed them to lead himback, which when the tyrant was told, he laughed and released him.

Philpotts, Henry, bishop of Exeter, born in Bridgwater, a keen Toryand uncompromising High-Churchman, the chief actor in the celebratedGorham case (q. v.), and noted for his obstinate opposition topolitical reform as the opening of the floodgates of democracy, which hedreaded would subvert everything that was dear to him (1778-1869).

Philtre, the name given to certain concoctions of herbs, oftendeleterious and poisonous, supposed to secure for the personadministering it the love of the person to whom it was administered;these love potions were popular in the declining days of Greece and Rome,throughout mediæval Europe, and continue to be compounded to this day inthe superstitious East.

Phiz, the pseudonym of Hablot K. Browne, the illustrator of thefirst edition of the “Pickwick Papers” of Dickens.

Phlegethon, in the Greek mythology a river in the lower world whichflowed in torrents of fire athwart it, and which scorched up everythingnear it.

Phlogiston, a name given by the old chemists to an imaginaryprinciple of fire, latent in bodies, and which escaped during combustion.

Phocas, a common soldier who raised himself by the aid of a factionto the throne of the East, and for twenty years defied attempts todethrone him, but, being deserted by his party, was taken, subjected totorture, and beheaded in 610. “His reign,” says Gibbon, “afflicted Europewith ignominious peace, and Asia with desolating war.”

Phocion, a distinguished Athenian general and statesman, a discipleof Plato and Xenocrates; was wise in council as well as brave in war;opposed to the democracy of Athens, led on by Demosthenes in the franticambition of coping with Philip of Macedon and his son Alexander; and pledfor a pacific arrangement with them; but having opposed war withAntipater, the successor of the latter, he was accused of treason, andcondemned to drink hemlock; the Athenians afterwards repented of thecrime, raised a bronze statue to his memory, and condemned his accuser todeath.

Phocis, a province of ancient Greece, W. of Boeotia, and N. of theGulf of Corinth; was traversed by the mountain range of Parnassus, andcontained the oracle of Apollo at Delphi; allied to Athens in thePeloponnesian War, the Phocians were crushed in the “Sacred War” afterten years' fighting by Philip of Macedon, 346 B.C.

Phoebus (i. e. the radiant one), an epithet originally applied toApollo for his beauty, and eventually to him as the sun-god.

Phoenicia, a country on the E. shore of the Levant, stretchinginland to Mount Lebanon, at first extending only 20 m. N. of Palestine,but later embracing 200 m. of coast, with the towns of Tyre, Zarephath,Sidon, Gebal, and Arvad. The country comprised well-wooded hills andfertile plains, was rich in natural resources, richer still in a peopleof remarkable industry and enterprise. Of Semitic stock, they emerge fromhistory with Sidon as ruling city about 1500 B.C., and reach theirzenith under Tyre 1200-750, thereafter declining, and ultimately mergingin the Roman Empire. During their prosperity their manufactures, purpledye, glass ware, and metal implements were in demand everywhere; theywere the traders of the world, their nautical skill and geographicalposition making their markets the centres of exchange between East andWest; their ships sailed every sea, and carried the merchandise of everycountry, and their colonists settled all over the Mediterranean, Ægean,and Euxine, and even beyond the Pillars of Hercules, in Africa, inBritain, and the countries on the Baltic. Her greatest colony wasCarthage, the founding of which (823 B.C.) sapped the strength of themother-country, and which afterwards usurped her place, and contendedwith Rome for the mastery of the world. But Phoenicia's greatest gift tocivilisation was the alphabet, which she herself may have developed fromEgyptian hieroglyphics, and which, with its great merit of simplicity,has, slightly altered, at length superseded among civilised nations everyother system.

Phoenix, a bird which was fabled at the end of certain cycles oftime to immolate itself in flames, and rise renewed in youth from theashes. It has become the appropriate symbol of the death-birth that everintroduces a new era in the history of the world, and is employed byCarlyle in “Sartor” as symbol of the crisis through which the presentgeneration is now passing, the conflagration going on appearing nowise asa mere conflagration, but the necessary preliminary of a new time, withthe germinating principles of which it is pregnant.

Phoenix Park, a magnificent public park of 2000 acres in Dublin; ismuch used for military reviews; it was rendered notorious in 1882 throughthe murder by the “Invincibles” of Lord Frederick Cavendish, who had justbeen appointed Irish Secretary, and his subordinate, Thomas Burke.

Phonograph, an instrument invented byEdison (q. v.) in1877 for recording and reproducing articulate sounds of the voice inspeech or song, and to which the name of phonogram is given.

Photius, patriarch of Constantinople; was the great promoter of theschism on the question of the procession of the Holy Ghost, between theEastern and the Western divisions of the Church, denying as he did, anderasing from the creed thefilioque article (q. v.);d. 891.

Photogravure, a process of reproducing pictures from the negative ofa photograph on a gelatine surface with the assistance of certainchemical preparations.

Photosphere, name given to the luminous atmosphere enveloping thesun.

Phototype, a block with impressions produced by photography fromwhich engravings, &c., can be printed.

Phrenology claims to be a science in which the relation of thefunctions of mind to the material of the brain substance is observed. Itasserts that just as speech, taste, touch, &c., have their centres incertain convolutions of the brain, so have benevolence, firmness,conscientiousness, &c., and that by studying the configuration of thebrain, as indicated by that of the skull, a man's character may beapproximately discovered. As a science it is usually discredited, andheld to be unsupported by physiology, anatomy, and pathology. It is heldas strongly militating against its claims that it takes no account of theconvolutions of the brain that lie on the base of the skull. Itsoriginators were Gall, Spurzheim, and Andrew and George Combe.

Phrygia, a country originally extending over the western shores ofAsia Minor, but afterwards confined to the western uplands, where are thesources of the Hermus, Mæander, and Sangarius; was made up of barrenhills where sheep famous for their wool grazed, and fertile valleys wherethe vine was cultivated; marble was quarried in the hills, and gold wasfound; several great trade roads from Ephesus crossed the country, amongwhose towns the names of Colosse and Laodicea are familiar; the Phrygianswere an Armenian people, with a mystic orgiastic religion, and weresuccessively conquered by Assyrians, Lydians, and Persians, falling underRome in 43 B.C.

Phrygian Cap, a cap worn by the Phrygians, and worn in modern timesas the symbol of freedom.

Phryné, a Greek courtesan, celebrated for her beauty; was the modelto Praxiteles of his statue of Venus; accused of profaning the EleusinianMysteries, she was brought before the judges, to whom she exposed herperson, but who acquitted her of the charge, to preserve to the artiststhe image of divine beauty thus recognised in her.

Phtah, a god of ancient Egypt, worshipped at Memphis; identifiedwith Osiris and Socaris, and placed by the Egyptians at the head of thedynasty of the kings of Memphis.

Phylacteries, strips of vellum inscribed with certain texts ofScripture, enclosed in small cases of calf-skin, and attached to theforehead or the left arm; originally connected with acts of worship, theywere eventually turned to superstitious uses, and employed sometimes ascharms and sometimes by way of ostentatious display.

Physiocratic School, a school of economists founded by Quesney, whoregarded the cultivation of the land as the chief sources of naturalwell-being, and argued for legislation in behalf of it.

Piacenza (35), an old Italian city on the Po, 43 m. by rail SE. ofMilan; has a cathedral, and among other churches the San Sisto, whichcontains the Sistine Madonna of Raphael, a theological seminary, andlarge library; it manufactures silks, cottons, and hats, and is afortress of great strategical importance.

Pia-mater, a membrane which invests the brain and the spinal cord;it is of a delicate vascular tissue.

Piarists, a purely religious order devoted to the education of thepoor, founded in 1599 by a Spanish priest, and confirmed in 1617 by PaulV., and again in 1621 by Gregory XV.

Piazzi, Italian astronomer; discovered in 1801 a planet between Marsand Jupiter, which he named Ceres, and the first of the planetoidsrecognised, as well as afterwards catalogued the stars (1746-1826).

Pibroch, the Highland bagpipe; also the wild, martial music itdiscourses.

Picador, a man mounted on horseback armed with a spear to incite thebull in a bull-fight.

Picardy, a province in the N. of France, the capital of which wasAmiens; it now forms the department of Somme, and part of Aisne andPas-de-Calais.

Piccolomini, the name of an illustrious family of science in Italy,of which Æneas Silvius (Pope Pius II.) was a member; also Octavio I.,Duke of Amalfi, who distinguished himself, along with Wallenstein, in theThirty Years' War at Lützen in 1632, at Nordlinger in 1634, and atThionville in 1639; was one of the most celebrated soldiers that hadcommand of the imperial troops (1599-1656).

Pichegru, Charles, French general, born at Arbois, in Jura; servedwith distinguished success in the army of the Republic on the Rhine andin the Netherlands, but sold himself to the Bourbons, and being convictedof treason, was deported to Cayenne, but escaped to England, where incourse of time he joined the conspiracy of Georges Cadoudal against theFirst Consul, and being betrayed, was imprisoned in the Temple, where onemorning after he was found strangled (1761-1804).

Pickwick, Samuel, the hero of Dickens's “Pickwick Papers,” acharacter distinguished for his general goodness and his honestsimplicity.

Pico, one of the Azores, consisting of a single volcanic mountain,still in action; produces excellent wine.

Pico della Miran`dolo, a notable Italian champion of the scholasticdogma, who challenged all the learned of Europe to enter the lists withhim and controvert any one of 900 theses which he undertook to defend, achallenge which no one, under ban of the Pope, dared accept; he was thelast of the schoolmen as well as a humanist in the bud, and was in hislifetime, with an astonishing forecast of destiny, named thePhoenix (q. v.) (1463-1494).

Picquart, Colonel, French military officer; was distinguished as astudent at the military schools; served in Algiers; became a captain in1880; was appointed to the War Office in 1885; served with distinction inTonquin; became professor at the Military School; rejoined the War Officein 1893, and was made head of the Intelligence Department in 1896; movedby certain discoveries affecting Esterhazy, began to inquire into theDreyfus case, which led to his removal out of the way to Tunis; returnedand exposed the proceedings against Dreyfus, with the result that arevision was demanded, and the charge confirmed;b. 1854.

Picton, Sir Thomas, British general, born in Pembroke; served in theWest Indies, and became governor of Trinidad, also in the WalcherenExpedition, and became governor of Flushing, and in the Peninsula and atWaterloo, where he fell as he was leading his men to the charge(1758-1815).

Picts, a race of people now believed to be of Celtic origin, thatfrom 296 to 844 inhabited the NE. of Caledonia from the Forth to thePentland Firth, and were divided into northern and southern by theGrampians, while the W. of the country, or Argyll, was occupied by theDalriads or Scots from Ireland, who eventually gained the ascendency overthem, to their amalgamation into one nation.

Picts' Houses, the name popularly given toearth-houses (q.v.) in several parts of Scotland.

Pied Piper of Hamelin, the hero of an old German legend, had come toa German town, offered to clear it of the rats which infested it for asum of money, but after executing his task was unrewarded, upon which heblew a blast on his magic pipe, the sound of which drew the children ofthe town into a cave, which he locked when they entered, and shut them upfor ever.

Piedmont, a district of Italy, formerly a principality, ruled by thehouse of Savoy, surrounded by the Alps, the Apennines, and the riverTicino; occupies the W. end of the great fertile valley of the Po, ahilly region rich in vines and mulberries, and a mountainous tract withforests and grazing land intersected by lovely valleys, which sendstreams down into the Po; the people are industrious; textilemanufactures are extensive, and agriculture is skilful; Turin, thelargest town, was the capital of Italy 1859-1865; in the glens of theCottian Alps the Vaudois or Waldenses, after much persecution, stilldwell.

Pierce, Franklin, the fourteenth President of the United States,born in New Hampshire, was the lifelong friend of Nathaniel Hawthorne;bred to the bar; served in the Mexican War, and was elected President in1852; his period of office was one of trouble, he supported the States'rights doctrine, and served with the South in the Civil War (1804-1869).

Pieria, a district in Macedonia E. of Olympus, inhabited byThracians, and famous as the seat of the worship of the Muses and theirbirthplace, giving rise to the phrase Pierian Spring, as the source ofpoetic inspiration.

Pierides, the name given to the Muses from their fountainPieria (q. v.).

Piers Plowman, Vision of, a celebrated satirical poem of the 14thcentury ascribed to Robert Langland.

Pietà (i. e. piety), the name given to a picture, the subject ofwhich is the dead Christ in the embrace of his sorrowing mother,accompanied by sorrowing women and angels; that sculptured by MichaelAngelo, in St. Peter's at Rome, representing the Virgin at the foot ofthe cross, and the dead Christ in her lap.

Pietermaritzburg (16), capital of Natal, 73 m. by rail N. of Durban;well situated on the Umgeni River, with fine streets, an amplewater-supply, and a fine climate; has railroad connection withJohannesburg, Pretoria, and Charlestown. A third of the populationconsists of Kaffirs and coolies.

Pietists, the name given to a religious party that arose in Germanyat the end of the 17th century, but without forming a separate sect; laidmore stress on religious feeling than dogmatic belief, and who at length,as all who ground religion on mere feeling are apt to do, distinguishedthemselves more by a weak sentimentality than by a sturdy living faith.

Pietra Dura, a name given to the purest kind of Florentine mosaicwork, consists of hard stones characterised by brilliancy of colour.

Pigeon English, a jargon used in commercial dealings with theChinese, being a mixture of English, Portuguese, and Chinese.

Pig-Philosophy, the name given by Carlyle in his “Latter-DayPamphlets,” in the one on Jesuitism, to the wide-spread philosophy of thetime, which regarded the human being as a mere creature of appetiteinstead of a creature of God endowed with a soul, as having no nobleridea of well-being than the gratification of desire—that his onlyHeaven, and the reverse of it his Hell.

Pigwiggin, an elf in love with Queen Mab, who fights the jealousOberon in furious combat.

Pilate, Pontius, Roman procurator of Judea and Samaria in the daysof Christ, from A.D. 26 to 36; persuaded of the innocence of Christ whenarraigned before his tribunal, would fain have saved Him, but yielded tothe clamour of His enemies, who crucified Him; he protested before theyled Him away by washing his hands in their presence that he was guiltlessof His blood.

Pilatus, Mount, an isolated mountain at the W. end of Lake Lucerne,opposite the Rigi; is ascended by a mountain railway, and has hotels ontwo peaks. A lake below the summit is said to be the last receptacle ofthe body of Pontius Pilate, hence the adoption of the name of “MonsPilatus.”

Pilcomayo, a tributary of the Rio Paraguay, in South America, whichit joins after a course of 1700 miles from its source in the BolivianAndes.

Pilgrimage of Grace, a rising in the northern counties of England in1536 against the policy of Cromwell, Henry VIII.'s Chancellor, in regardto the temporalities of the Church, which, though concessions were madeto it that led to its dispersion, broke out afresh with renewed violence,and had to be ruthlessly suppressed.

Pilgrim Fathers, the name given to the Puritans, some 100 in all,who sailed from Plymouth in theMayflower in 1620 and settled inMassachusetts, carrying with them “the life-spark of the largest nationon our earth.”

Pillar-Saints, a class of recluses, called Stylites, who, in earlyChristian times, retired from the world to the Syrian Desert, and,perched on pillars, used to spend days and nights in fasting and praying,in the frantic belief that by mortification of their bodies they wouldensure the salvation of their souls; their founder was Simon, surnamedStylites; the practice, which was never allowed in the West, continueddown to the 12th century.

Pillars of Hercules. SeeHercules, Pillars of.

Pillory, an obsolete instrument of punishment for centuries in useall over Europe, consisted of a platform, an upright pole, and at aconvenient height cross-boards with holes, in which the culprit's neckand wrists were placed and fastened; so fixed he was exposed in somepublic place to the insults and noxious missiles of the mob. Formerly inEngland the penalty of forgery, perjury, &c., it became after theCommonwealth a favourite punishment for seditious libellers. It was lastinflicted in London in 1830, and was abolished by law in 1837.

Piloty, Karl von, a modern German painter of the new Münich school,and professor of Painting at the Münich Academy; did portraits, but hismasterpieces are on historical subjects, such as “Nero on the ruins ofRome,” “Galileo in Prison,” “The Death of Cæsar,” &c.; he was no lesseminent as a teacher of art than as an artist (1826-1886).

Pilsen (50), a town in Bohemia, 67 m. SW. of Prague; has numerousindustries, and rich coal and iron mines, and produces an excellent beer,which it exports in large quantities. It was an important place duringthe Thirty Years' War.

Pindar, the greatest lyric poet of Greece, and for virgin purity ofimagination ranked by Ruskin along with Homer, Virgil, Dante, and Scott;born near Thebes, in Boeotia, of a musical family, and began his musicaleducation by practice on the flute, while he was assisted in his art bythe example of his countrywoman Corinna, who competed with and defeatedhim more than once at the public festivals; he was a welcome visitor atthe courts of all the Greek princes of the period, and not the lesshonoured that he condescended to no flattery and attuned his lyre to nosentiment but what would find an echo in every noble heart; he excelledin every department of lyric poetry, hymns to the gods, the praises ofheroes, pæans of victory, choral songs, festal songs and dirges, but ofthese only a few remain, his Epinikia, a collection of triumphal odes incelebration of the successes achieved at the great national games ofGreece; he was not only esteemed the greatest of lyric poets by hiscountrymen, but is without a rival still; when Alexander destroyed Thebeshe spared the house of Pindar (522-442 B.C.).

Pindar, Peter. SeeWolcott, John.

Pindarees orPindaris, a set of freebooters who at thebeginning of the present century ravaged Central India and were theterror of the districts, but who under the governor-generalship ofHastings were driven to bay and crushed in 1817.

Pindus, Mount, is the range of mountains rising between Thessaly andEpirus, which forms the watershed of the country.

Pineal Gland, a small cone-shaped body of yellowish matter in thebrain, the size of a pea, and situated in the front of the cerebellum,notable as considered by Descartes to be the seat of the soul, but is nowsurmised to be a rudimentary remnant of some organ, of vision it wouldseem, now extinct.

Pinel, Philippe, a French physician, distinguished for thereformation he effected, against no small opposition, in the treatment ofthe insane, leading to the abandonment everywhere of the cruel, inhumanmethods till then in vogue (1745-1826).

Pinero, Arthur Wing, dramatic author, born in London; bred to law,took to the stage and the writing of plays, of which he has produced agoodly number; collaborated with Sir Arthur Sullivan and Mr. Comyns Carrin a romantic musical drama entitled “The Beauty Stone”;b. 1855.

Pinerolo (12), a town 23 m. SW. of Turin, now a fortress in animportant military position, and in which the “Man with the Iron Mask”was imprisoned.

Pinkerton, John, a Scottish antiquary and historian, born inEdinburgh; was an original in his way, went to London, attracted thenotice of Horace Walpole and Gibbon; died in Paris, poor and neglected(1758-1826).

Pinkie, a Scottish battlefield, near Musselburgh, Midlothian, wherethe Protector Somerset, in his expedition to secure the hand of MaryStuart for Edward VI., defeated and slaughtered a Scottish army 1547.

Pinto, Mendez, a Portuguese traveller; wrote in his “Peregriniçam”an account of his marvellous adventures in Arabia, Persia, China, andJapan, extending over a period of 21 years (1527-1548), of which, amidmuch exaggeration, the general veracity is admitted (1510-1583).

Pinturicchio, Italian painter, born at Perugia; was assistant toPerugino (q. v.) when at work in the Sistine Chapel, Rome, did frescoesand panel paintings, one of the “Christ bearing the Cross” (1454-1513).

Pinzen, the name of two brothers, companions of ChristopherColumbus, and one of whom, Vicente Yanez, discovered Brazil in 1500.

Piozzi, Hester, a female friend of Johnson under the name of Mrs.Thrale, after her first husband, a brewer in Southwark, whose home forher sake was the rendezvous of all the literary celebrities of theperiod; married afterwards, to Johnson's disgust, an Italianmusic-master, lived with him at Florence, and returned at his death toClifton, where she died; left “Anecdotes of Johnson” and “Letters”; wasauthoress of “The Three Warnings” (1741-1821).

Pipe of Peace, a pipe offered by an American Indian to one whom hewishes to be on good terms with.

Piræus (36), the port of Athens 5 m. SW. of the city, planned byThemistocles, built in the time of Pericles, and afterwards connectedwith the city for safety by strong walls, which was destroyed by theSpartans at the end of the Peloponnesian War, but restored, to fallafterwards into neglect and ruins.

Pirano (9), a seaport of Austria, on the Adriatic, 12 m. SW. ofTrieste; has salt-works in the neighbourhood, and manufactures glass,soap, &c.

Pirithous, king of the Lapithæ and friend of Theseus, on theoccasion of whose marriage an intoxicated Centaur ran off with his brideHippodamia, which gave rise to the famous fight between the Centaurs andthe Lapithæ, in which Theseus assisted, and the former were defeated; onthe death of Hippodamia, Pirithous ran off with Persephone and Theseuswith Helen, for which both had to answer in the lower world before Pluto;Hercules delivered the latter, but Pluto would not release the former.

Pirke Aboth (i. e. sayings of the Fathers), the name given to acollection of aphorisms in the manner of Jesus the Son of Sirach by 60doctors learned in the Jewish law, representative of their teaching, andgiving the gist of it; they inculcate the importance of familiarity withthe words of the Law.

Pirna (11), a town in Saxony, on the Elbe, 11 m. SE. of Dresden; hassandstone quarries in the neighbourhood which employ 8000 quarrymen.

Pisa (38), on the Arno, 49 m. by rail W. of Florence, is one of theoldest cities in Italy; formerly a port, the river has built up the landat its mouth so that the sea is now 4 m. off, and the ancient trade ofPisa has been transferred to Leghorn. There are a magnificent cathedral,rich in art treasures, a peculiar campanile of white marble whichdeviates 14 ft. from the perpendicular, known as the leaning tower ofPisa, several old and beautiful churches, a university, school of art,and library. Silks and ribbons are woven, and coral ornaments cut. In the11th century Pisa was at the zenith of its prosperity as a republic, witha great mercantile fleet, and commercial relations with all the world.Its Ghibelline sympathies involved it in terrible struggles, in which itgradually sank till its fortunes were merged in those of Tuscany about1550. The council of Pisa, 1409, held to determine the long-standingrival claims of Gregory XII. and Benedict XII. to the Papal chair, endedby adding a third claimant, Alexander V. Pisa was one of the twelvecities of ancient Etruria.

Pisano, Nicola, Italian sculptor and architect of Pisa; his mostfamous works are the pulpit in the Baptistery at Pisa, and that for theDuomo at Siena, the last being the fountain in the piazza of Perugia(1206-1278).

Pisgah, a mountain range E. of the Lower Jordan, one of the summitsof which is Mount Nebo, from which Moses beheld the Promised Land, andwhere he died and was buried.

Pishin (60), a district of South Afghanistan, N. of Quetta, occupiedby the British since 1878 as strategically of importance.

Pisidia, a division of ancient Asia Minor, N. of Pamphilia, andtraversed by the Taurus chain.

Pisistratus, tyrant of Athens, was the friend of Solon and arelative; an able but an ambitious man; being in favour with the citizenspresented himself one day in the Agora, and displaying some wounds he hadreceived in their defence, persuaded them to give him a bodyguard of 50men, which grew into a larger force, by means of which in 560 B.C. hetook possession of the citadel and seized the sovereign power, from whichhe was shortly after driven forth; after six years he was brought back,but compelled to retire a second time; after 10 years he returned andmade good his ascendency, reigning thereafter peacefully for 14 years,and leaving his power in the hands of his sons Hippias and Hipparchus; hewas a good and wise ruler, and encouraged the liberal arts, and it is tohim we owe the first written collection or complete edition of the poemsof Homer (600-527 B.C.).

Pistoia (20), a town of N. Italy, at the foot of the Apennines, 21m. NW. of Florence, with palaces and churches rich in works of art;manufactures iron and steel wares.

Pistol, Ancient, a swaggering bully and follower of Falstaff in the“Merry Wives of Windsor.”

Pistole, an obsolete gold coin of Europe, originally of Spain, worthsome 16s. 2d.

Pit`aka` (lit. a basket), the name given to the sacred books ofthe Buddhists, and constituting collectively the Buddhistic code. SeeTripitaka.

Pitaval, a French advocate, compiler of a famous collection ofcauses célèbres (1673-1743).

Pitcairn Island, a small volcanic island 2½ m. long and 1 broad,solitary, in the Pacific, 5000 m. E. of Brisbane, where, in 1790, ninemen of H.M.S.Bounty who had mutinied landed with six Tahitians and adozen Tahitian women; from these have sprung an interesting community ofislanders, virtuous, upright, and contented, of Christian faith, who,having sent a colony to Norfolk Island, numbered in 1890 still 128.

Pitcairne, Archibald, Scottish physician and satirist, born atEdinburgh; studied theology and law, and afterwards at Paris, medicine;he practised in Edinburgh, and became professor at Leyden; returning, heacquired great fame in his native city; in medicine he published atreatise on Harvey's discovery of the circulation of the blood; being anEpiscopalian and Jacobite, he wrote severe satires on all thingsPresbyterian,e. g. “Babel, or the Assembly, a Poem,” 1692 (1652-1713).

Pithom, a town of Rameses, one of the treasure-cities built by thechildren of Israel in Lower Egypt, now, as discovered by M. Naville,reduced to a small village between Ismailia and Tel-el-Kebir.

Pitman, Sir Isaac, inventor of the shorthand system which bears hisname, born at Trowbridge, Wiltshire; his first publication was“Stenographic Sound-Hand” in 1837, and in 1842 he started thePhoneticJournal, and lectured extensively as well as published in connectionwith his system (1813-1897).

Pitrè, Giuseppe, eminent Italian folk-lorist, born at Palermo, afterserving as a volunteer in 1860 under Garibaldi, and graduating inmedicine in 1866, threw himself into the study of literature, and soonmade the folk-lore of Italy, the special study of his life, and to whichhe has devoted himself with unsparing assiduity, the fruits from time totime appearing principally in two series of his works, one in 19 vols.and another in 10 vols.;b. 1841.

Pitris (i. e. Fathers), in the Hindu mythology an order of divinebeings, and equal to the greatest of the gods, who, by their sacrifice,delivered the world from chaos, gave birth to the sun and kindled thestars, and in whose company the dead, who have like them livedself-sacrificingly, enter when they lay aside mortality. See Rev. vii.14.

Pitacottie, Robert Lindsay of, proprietor in the 16th century of theFifeshire estate name of which he bore, was the author of “The Chroniclesof Scotland,” to which Sir Walter Scott owed so much; his work is quaint,graphic, and, on the whole, trustworthy.

Pitt, William. SeeChatham, Earl of.

Pitt, William, English statesman, second son of Lord Chatham, bornnear Bromley, Kent, grew up a delicate child in a highly-chargedpolitical atmosphere, and studied with such diligence under the directionof his father and a tutor that he entered Cambridge at 14; called to thebar in 1780, he speedily threw himself into politics, and contestedCambridge University in the election of 1781; though defeated, he tookhis seat for the pocket burgh of Appleby, joined the Shelburne Tories inopposition to North's ministry, and was soon a leader in the House; hesupported, but refused to join, the Rockingham Ministry of 1782,contracted his long friendship with Dundas, afterwards Viscount Melville,and became an advocate of parliamentary reform; his first office wasChancellor of the Exchequer under Lord Shelburne; his reputation steadilyrose, but on Shelburne's resignation he refused the Premiership, and wentinto opposition against the Portland, Fox, and North coalition; thatminority being defeated (1783) on their Indian policy by the direct andunconstitutional interference of the king, he courageously formed agovernment with a majority of 100 against him; refusing to yield toadverse votes, he gradually won over the House and the country, and thedissolution of 1784 gave a majority of 120 in his favour, and put him inoffice, one of England's strongest ministers; during his longadministration, broken only for one month in 20 years, he greatly raisedthe importance of the Commons, stamped out direct corruption in theHouse, and abolished many sinecures; he revised taxation, improved thecollection of revenue and the issue of loans, and set the finances in aflourishing condition; he reorganised the government of India, and aimedstrenuously to keep England at peace; but his abandonment ofparliamentary reform and the abolition of the slave-trade suggests thathe loved power rather than principles; his Poor-Law schemes and SinkingFund were unsound; he failed to appreciate the problems presented by thegrowth of the factory system, or to manage Ireland with any success; onthe outbreak of the French Revolution he failed to understand itssignificance, did not anticipate a long war, and made bad preparationsand bad schemes; his vacillation in Irish policy induced the rebellion of1798; by corrupt measures he carried the legislative union of 1801, butthe king refused to allow the Catholic emancipation he promised as acondition; Viscount Melville was driven from the Admiralty on a charge ofmalversation, his own health broke down, and the victory of Trafalgarscarcely served to brighten his closing days; given to deep drinking, andculpably careless of his private moneys, he yet lived a pure, simple,amiable life; with an overcharged dignity, he was yet an attractive manand a warm friend; England has had few statesmen equal to him in thehandling of financial and commercial problems, and few orators morefluent and persuasive than the great peace minister.

Pitt Diamond, a diamond brought from Golconda by the grandfather ofthe elder Pitt, who sold it to the king of France; it figured at lengthin the hilt of the State sword of Napoleon, and was carried off by thePrussians at Waterloo.

Pittacus, one of the seven sages of Greece, born at Mitylene, inLesbos, in the 7th century B.C.; celebrated as a warrior, a statesman, aphilosopher, and a poet; expelled the tyrants from Mitylene, and held thesupreme power for 10 years after by popular vote, and resigned on theestablishment of social order; two proverbs are connected with his name:“It is difficult to be good,” “Know the fit time.”

Pittsburg (321), second city of Pennsylvania, is 350 m. by rail W.of Philadelphia, where the junction of the Alleghany and the MonongahelaRivers forms the Ohio; the city extends for 10 miles along the rivers'banks, and climbs up the surrounding hills; there are handsome publicbuildings and churches, efficient schools, a Roman Catholic college, anda Carnegie library; domestic lighting and heating and much manufacture isdone by natural gas, which issues at high pressure from shallow boringsin isolated districts 20 m. from the city; standing in the centre of anextraordinary coal-field—the edges of the horizontal seams protrude onthe hillsides—it is the largest coal-market in the States; manufacturesinclude all iron goods, steel and copper, glassware, and earthenware; itsposition at the eastern limit of the Mississippi basin, its facilities oftransport by river and rail—six trunk railroads meet here—give itenormous trade advantages; its transcontinental business is second involume only to Chicago; in early times the British colonists had manystruggles with the French for this vantage point; a fort built by theBritish Government in 1759, and called after the elder Pitt, was thenucleus of the city.

Pityriasis, a skin eruption attended with branlike desquamation.

Pius, the name of nine Popes, of which only six call for particularmention:P. II., Pope from 1458 to 1464, was of the family of thePiccolomini, and is known to history as Æneas Sylvius, and under whichname he did diplomatic work in Britain and Germany; as Pope he succeededCallistus III.; he was a wily potentate, and is distinguished fororganising a crusade against the Turks as well as his scholarship; theworks which survive him are of a historical character, and his lettersare of great value.P. IV., from 1559 to 1563, was of humble birth;during his popehood the deliberations of the Council of Trent werebrought to a close, and the Tridentine Creed was named after him.P.V., Pope 1566 to 1572, also of humble birth, was severe in his civiland ecclesiastical capacity, both in his internal administration andforeign relationships, and thought to browbeat the world back into thebosom of Mother Church; issued a bull releasing Queen Elizabeth'ssubjects from their allegiance; but the great event of his reign, and towhich he contributed, was the naval victory over the Turks at Lepanto in1571.P. VI., Pope from 1775 to 1799; the commencement of hispopehood was signalised by beneficent measures for the benefit of theRoman city, but he was soon in trouble in consequence of encroachments onChurch privileges in Austria and the confiscation of all Church propertyin France, which ended, on his resisting, to still further outrages, inhis capture by the French under Bonaparte and his expatriation from Rome.P. VII., Pope from 1800 to 1823, concluded a concordat with France,crowned Napoleon emperor at Paris, who thereafter annexed the papalterritories to the French empire, which were in part restored to him onlyafter Napoleon's fall; he was a meek-spirited man, and was much tossedabout in his day.P. IX., or Pio Nono, from 1846 to 1878, was a“reforming” Pope, and by his concessions awoke in 1848 a spirit ofrevolution, under the force of which he was compelled to flee from Rome,to return again under the protection of French bayonets against his ownsubjects, to devote himself to purely ecclesiastical affairs; in 1854 hepromulgated the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, and in 1869 theInfallibility of the Pope; upon the outbreak of the Franco-German War in1871 the French troops were withdrawn and Victor Emmanuel's troopsentered the city; Pius retired into the Vatican, where he lived inseclusion till his death.

Pix, the name of a little chest in which the consecrated host iskept in the Roman Catholic Church. SeePyx.

Pixies, Devonshire Robin Goodfellows, said to be the spirits ofinfants who died unbaptized.

Pizarro, Francisco, the conqueror of Peru, born at Truxillo, inSpain, the son of a soldier of distinction; received no education, butwas of an adventurous spirit, and entered the army; embarked with otheradventurers to America, and having distinguished himself in Panama, setout by way of the Pacific on a voyage of discovery along with anothersoldier named Almagra; landed on the island of Gallo, on the coast ofPeru, and afterwards returned with his companion to Spain for authorityto conquer the country; when in 1529 he obtained the royal sanction heset sail from Spain with three ships in 1531, and on his arrival at Perufound a civil war raging between the two sons of the emperor, who hadjust died; Pizarro saw his opportunity; approached Atahualpa, thevictorious one, now become the reigning Inca, with overtures of peace,was admitted into the interior of the country; invited him to a banquet,had him imprisoned, and commenced a wholesale butchery of his subjects,upon which he forced Atahualpa to disclose his treasures, and then puthim perfidiously to death; his power, by virtue of the mere terror heinspired, was now established, and he might have continued to maintainit, but a contest having arisen between him and his old comrade Almagro,whom after defeating he put to death, the sons and friends of the latterrose against him, seized him in his palace at Lima, and took away hislife (1476-1541).

Plague, The, is a very malignant kind of highly contagious fever,marked by swellings of the lymphatic glands. From the development ofpurple patches due to subcutaneous hæmorrhages the European epidemic of1348-50 was called the Black Death. A quarter of the European populationperished on that occasion. Other visitations devastated London in 1665,Northern Europe 1707-14, Marseilles and Provence 1720-22, and South-EastRussia 1878-79. The home of the Plague was formerly Lower Egypt, Turkey,and the shores of the Levant. From these it has been absent since 1844.Its home since then has been in India, where it has assumed epidemic form1836-38 and 1896-99.

Plain, The, the name given to the Girondists or Moderate party inthe French National Convention, in contrast withthe Mountain (q.v.) orJacobin party.

Planché, James Robinson, antiquary and dramatist, born in London, ofFrench descent; author of a number of burlesques; an authority onheraldry and costumes; he produced over 200 pieces for the stage, andheld office in the Heralds' Court (1796-1880).

Planetoids, the name given to a number of very small planetsrevolving between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, originally calledAsteroids, all of recent discovery, and the list, amounting to some 400,as yet made of them understood to be incomplete. They are very difficultof discovery, many of them from the smallness of their size and theirerratic movements.

Planets, bodies resembling the earth and of different sizes, whichrevolve in elliptical orbits round the sun, and at different distances,the chief of them eight in number, two of them, viz., Mercury and Venus,revolving in orbitsinterior to that of the earth, and five of them,viz., Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune,exterior, the wholewith theplanetoids (q. v.) and comets constituting the solarsystem.

Plantagenets, the name attached to a dynasty of kings of England,who reigned from the extinction of the Norman line to the accession ofthe Tudor, that is, from the beginning of Henry II.'s reign in 1154 tothe end of Richard III.'s on Bosworth Field in 1458. The name was adoptedby Geoffrey of Anjou, the husband of Matilda, the daughter of Henry I.,whose badge was a sprig of broom (which the name denotes), and which hewore in his bonnet as descended from the Earl of Anjou, who was by way ofpenance scourged with twigs of it at Jerusalem.

Plantin, Christophe, a printer of Antwerp, born near Tours, inFrance; celebrated for the beauty and accuracy of the work that issuedfrom his press, the most notable being the “Antwerp Polyglot”; he hadprinting establishments in Leyden and Paris, as well as Antwerp, allthese conducted by sons-in-law (1514-1589).

Plassey, a great battlefield in Bengal, now swept away by changes inthe course of the river, scarcely 100 m. N. of Calcutta; was the scene ofClive's victory in 1757 with 800 Europeans and 2200 unreliable nativetroops over Suraj-ud-Dowlah, the ruler of Bengal, which laid thatprovince at the feet of Britain, and led to the foundation of the BritishEmpire in India.

Plaster of Paris, a compound of lime, sand, and water used forcoating walls, taking casts, and forming moulds.

Platæa, a city of ancient Greece, in western Boeotia, neighbour andally of Athens, suffered greatly in the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars.It was destroyed by the Persians 480 B.C., by the Peloponnesian forces429 B.C., and again by the Thebans 387 B.C. Philip of Macedon restoredthe exiles to their homes in 338 B.C.

Plato, the great philosopher, born in Athens, of noble birth, theyear Pericles died, and the second of the Peloponnesian War; at 20 becamea disciple of Socrates, and passed eight years in his society; at 30,after the death of Socrates, quitted Athens, and took up his abode atMegara; from Megara he travelled to Cyrene, Egypt, Magna Græcia, andSicily, prolonging his stay in Magna Græcia, and studying underPythagoras, whose philosophy was then at its prime, and which exercised aprofound influence over him; after ten years' wandering in this way he,at the age of 40, returned to Athens, and founded his Academy, agymnasium outside the city with a garden, which belonged to his father,and where he gathered around him a body of disciples, and had Aristotlefor one of his pupils, lecturing there with undiminished mental powertill he reached the advanced age of 81; of his philosophy one can give noaccount here, or indeed anywhere, it was so unsectarian; he was bypre-eminence the world-thinker, and though he was never married and leftno son, he has all the thinking men and schools of philosophy in theworld as his offspring; enough to say that his philosophy was philosophy,as it took up in its embrace both the ideal and the real, at once thesensible and the super-sensible world (429-347 B.C.).

Platoff, Matvei Ivanovich, Count, hetman of Cossacks, and Russiancommander in the Napoleonic wars; took part in the campaigns of 1805-7,and scourged the French during their retreat from Moscow in 1812, andagain after their defeat at Leipzig 1813; he commanded at the victory ofAltenburg 1813, and for his services obtained the title of count(1757-1818).

Platonic Love, love between persons of different sexes, in which asbeing love of soul for soul no sexual passion intermingles; is so namedagreeably to the doctrine of Plato, that a man finds his highesthappiness when he falls in with another who is his soul's counterpart orcomplement.

Platonic Year, a period of 26,000 years, denoting the time of acomplete revolution of the equinox.

Platt-Deutsch orLow German, a dialect spoken by the peasantryin North Germany from the Rhine to Pomerania, and derived from Old Saxon.

Platte, the largest affluent of the Missouri, which joins it atPlattsmouth after an easterly course of 900 m.

Platten-See. SeeBalaton, Lake.

Plauen (46), a town in Saxony, on the Elster, 78 m. S. of Leipzig,with extensive textile and other manufactures.

Plautus, a Latin comic poet, born in Umbria; came when young toRome, as is evident from his mastery of the Latin language and hisknowledge of Greek; began to write plays for the stage at 30, shortlybefore the outbreak of the second Punic War, and continued to do so for40 years; he wrote about 130 comedies, but only 20 have survived, theplots mostly borrowed from Greek models; they were much esteemed by hiscontemporaries; they have supplied material for dramatic treatment inmodern times (227-184 B.C.).

Playfair, John, Scotch mathematician, born at Benvie; bred for theChurch, became professor first of Mathematics and then of NaturalPhilosophy at Edinburgh University; wrote on geometry and geology, in thelatter supported the Huttonian theory of the earth (1748-1819).

Pleiades, in the Greek mythology seven sisters, daughters of Atlas,transformed into stars, six of them visible and one invisible, andforming the group on the shoulders of Taurus in the zodiac; in the lastweek of May they rise and set with the sun till August, after which theyfollow the sun and are seen more or less at night till their conjunctionwith it again in May.

Pleiades, The, the name given to the promoters of a movement in themiddle of the 16th century that aimed at the reform of the Frenchlanguage and literature on classical models, and led on by a group ofseven men, Ronsard, Du Bellay, Belleau, Baïf, Daurat, Jodelle, and Pontusde Tyard. The name “Pleiad” was originally applied to seven contemporarypoets in ancient Greece, and afterwards to seven learned men in the timeof Charlemagne.

Plenist, name given to one who holds the doctrine that all space isfilled with matter.

Plesiosaurus, an extinct marine animal with a small head and a longneck.

Pleura, the serous membrane that lines the interior of the thoraxand invests the lungs.

Pleura-pneumonia, an inflammation of the lungs and pleura, Pleurisybeing the inflammation of the pleura alone.

Plevna (14), a fortified town in Bulgaria, in which Osman Pashaentrenched himself in 1877, and where he was compelled to capitulate andsurrender to the Russians with his force of 42,000 men.

Pleydell, Mr. Paulus, a shrewd lawyer in Scott's “Guy Mannering.”

Plimsoll, Samuel, “the sailor's friend,” born at Bristol; afterexperience in a Sheffield brewery entered business in London as acoal-dealer; interesting himself in the condition of the sailor's life inthe mercantile marine, he directed public attention to many scandalousabuses practised by unscrupulous owners, the overloading, under-manning,and insufficient equipment of ships and sending unseaworthy vessels outto founder for the sake of insurance money; entering Parliament for Derbyin 1868, he secured the passing of the Merchant Shipping Act in 1876levelled against these abuses; his name has been given to the circle withhorizontal line through the centre, now placed by the Board of Trade onthe side of every vessel to indicate to what depth she may be loaded insalt water (1824-1898).

Plinlimmon (i. e. five rivers), a mountain 2469 ft. high, withthree summits, on the confines of Montgomery and Cardigan, so called assource of five different streams.

Pliny, the Elder, naturalist, born at Como, educated at Rome, andserved in the army; was for a space procurator in Spain, spent much ofhis time afterwards studying at Borne; being near the Bay of Naplesduring an eruption of Vesuvius, he landed to witness the phenomenon, butwas suffocated by the fumes; his “Natural History” is a repertory of thestudies of the ancients in that department, being a record, more or lessfaithful, from extensive reading, of the observation of others ratherthan his own;d. A.D. 79.

Pliny, the Younger, nephew of the preceding, the friend of Trajan;filled various offices in the State; his fame rests on his “Letters,” ofspecial interest to us for the account they give of the treatment of theearly Christians and their manner of worship, as also of the misjudgmenton the part of the Roman world at the time of their religion, as in theireyes, according to him, “a perverse and extravagant superstition”(62-115).

Plotinus, an Alexandrian philosopher of the Neo-Platonic school,born at Lycopolis, in Egypt; he taught philosophy at Rome, a system inopposition to the reigning scepticism of the time, and which based itselfon the intuitions of the soul elevated into a state of mystical unionwith God, who in His single unity sums up all and whence all emanates,all being regarded as an emanation from Him (207-270).

Plugston of Undershot, Carlyle's name in “Past and Present” for amember or “Master-Worker” of the English mammon-worshipping manufacturingclass in rivalry with the aristocracy for the ascendency in the land, whopays his workers his wages and thinks he has done his duty with them inso doing, and is secure in the fortune he has made by that cash-paymentgospel of his as all the law and the prophets, called of “Undershot,” hismill being driven by a wheel, the working power of which is hiddenunheeded by him, to break out some day to the damage of both his mill andhim.

Plumptre, Edward Hayes, distinguished English divine and scholar,born in London; was Dean of Wells; as a divine he wrote commentaries onbooks of both the Old and New Testaments, and as a scholar executed abletranslations in verse of Sophocles, Æschylus, and the “Commedia” ofDante, the last perhaps his greatest and most enduring work (1821-1891).

Plunket, Lord, Chancellor of Ireland, born in Ireland, bred to thebar; entered the Irish House of Commons; opposed the Union with GreatBritain; after the Union practised at the bar, and held legalappointments; was made a peer, and materially aided the Duke ofWellington in the House of Lords in carrying the Catholic EmancipationBill of 1829 (1764-1854).

Plutarch, celebrated Greek biographer and moralist, born atChæronea, in Boeotia; studied at Athens; paid frequent visits to Rome,and formed friendships with some of its distinguished citizens; spent hislater years at his native place, and held a priesthood; his fame rests onhis “Parallel Lives” of 46 distinguished Greeks and Romans, a series ofportraitures true to the life, and a work one of the most valuable wepossess on the illustrious men of antiquity, and an enduring memorial ofthem (50-120).

Pluto, god of the nether world, son of Kronos and Rhea, brother ofZeus and Poseidon, and husband of Persephone; on the dethronement ofKronos the universe was divided among themselves by the three brothers,Zeus assuming the dominion of the upper world and Poseidon that of theocean, leaving the nether kingdom to him, a domain over which and forthof which he ruled with a greater and more undisputed authority than theother two over heaven, earth, and sea.

Plutonic Theory, the theory that unstratifled rocks were formed byfusion in fire.

Plutus, the god of riches, son of Jason and Demeter. Zeus is said tohave put out his eyes that he might bestow his gifts without respect tomerit, that is, on the evil and the good impartially.

Plymouth (87), the largest town in Devonshire, stands on the N.shore of Plymouth Sound, 250 m. W. of London by rail; adjacent to it arethe towns of Stonehouse and Devonport. Among the chief buildings are aGothic town-hall, a 15th-century church, and a Roman Catholic cathedral.The chief industry is chemical manufactures. There is a large coastingand general trade, and important fisheries. Many sea-going steamshipcompanies make it a place of call. The Sound is an important navalstation, and historically famous as the sailing port of the fleet thatvanquished the Armada.

Plymouth Brethren, an anti-clerical body of Christians, one of theearliest communities of which was formed in Plymouth about 1830; theyaccept, along with Pre-Millenarian views, generally the Calvinistic viewof the Christian religion, and exclude all unconverted men from theircommunion, while all included in the body are of equal standing, andenjoy equal privileges as members of Christ. They appear to regardthemselves as the sole representatives in these latter days of the Churchof Christ, and as the salt of the earth, for whose sake it exists, and onwhose decease it and its works of darkness will be burnt up. They areknown also by the name of Darbyites, from the name of one of theirfounders, a barrister, John Nelson Darby, an able man, and with all hisexclusiveness a sincere disciple of Christ (1800-1882).

Pneumonia, name given to acute inflammation of the lungs.

Po, the largest river in Italy, rises 6000 ft. above sea-level inthe Cottian Alps, and after 20 m. of rocky defiles emerges on the greatLombardy plain, which it crosses from W. to E., receiving the Ticino,Adda, Mincio, and Trebbia, tributaries, and enters the Adriatic by arapidly growing delta. Its total course is 360 m.; the width and volumeof its stream make it difficult to cross and so a protection to allItaly. The chief towns on its banks are Turin, Piacenza, and Cremona.

Pocahontas, the daughter of an Indian chief in Virginia, whofavoured the English settlers there, saving the life of Captain Smith thecoloniser, and afterwards married John Rolfe, one of the settlers; cameto England, and was presented at Court; several Virginian families tracetheir descent to her.

Pocket Borough, a borough in which the influence of some magnate ofthe place determines the voting at an election time, a thing pretty muchof the past.

Pocock, Edward, English Arabic and Hebrew scholar, born at Oxford,and occupied both the chairs of Arabic and Hebrew there, and left worksin evidence of his scholarship and learning in both languages, quiteremarkable for the time when he lived (1604-1691).

Pococke, Richard, English prelate, born at Southampton; travelledextensively, particularly in the East; wrote a description of thecountries of the East and of others, among them “Tours In Scotland” and a“Tour in Ireland,” all deemed of value (1704-1765).

Podesta, the name given to the chief magistrate of an Italian town,with military as well as municipal authority; he was salaried, andannually elected to the office by the council, and had to give an accountof his administration at the end of his term.

Podiebrad, George, king of Bohemia; rose, though a Hussite, and inspite of the Pope, from the ranks of the nobles to that elevation; forcedhis enemies to come to terms with him, and held his ground against themtill the day of his death (1420-1471).

Poe, Edgar Allan, an American poet, born in Boston, Massachusetts; ayouth of wonderful genius, but of reckless habits, and who came to anunhappy and untimely end; left behind him tales and poems, which, thoughthey were not appreciated when he lived, have received the recognitionthey deserve since his death; his poetical masterpiece, “The Raven,” iswell known; died at Baltimore of inflammation of the brain, insensiblefrom which he was picked up in a street one evening (1809-1849).

Poerio, Carlo, Italian patriot; was conspicuous in the revolutionarymovement of 1848; was arrested and banished, but escaped to England,where he was received with sympathy by Mr. Gladstone among others; herose into power on the establishment of the kingdom of Italy (1803-1867).

Poet Laureate, the English court poet, an office which dates fromthe reign of Edward IV., the duty of the holder of it being originally towrite an ode on the birthday of the monarch.

Poetical Justice, ideal justice as administered in their writings bythe poets.

Poetry, the gift of penetrating into the inner soul or secret of athing, and bodying it forth rhythmically so as to captivate theimagination and the heart.

Poet's Corner, a corner in the SW. transept of Westminster Abbey, socalled as containing the tombs of Chaucer, Spenser, and other eminentEnglish poets.

Poggendorf, Johann Christian, a German physicist and chemist, bornat Hamburg; professor of Physics at Berlin; was the editor for more thanhalf a century of the famousAnnalen der Physik und Chimie, and theauthor of numerous papers (1796-1877).

Poggio, Bracciolini, an Italian scholar, born in Florence, was adistinguished humanist, and devoted to the revival of classical learning,collecting MSS. of the classics wherever he could find them that mightotherwise have been lost, including Quintilian's “Institutions,” greatpart of Lucretius, and several orations of Cicero, &c.; wrote a “Historyof Florence,” where he died; he was the author of a collection of storiesand of jests in Latin at the expense of the monks (1380-1459).

Point de Galle (33), a town on a promontory in the SW. of Ceylon,with a good harbour, and the great port of call for the lines of steamersin the Eastern waters.

Poisson, Simeon-Denis, a celebrated French mathematician, born atPithiviers; was for his eminence in mathematical ability and physicalresearch raised to the peerage; wrote no fewer than 300 memoirs(1781-1840).

Poitiers (34), the capital of the dep. of Vienne, 61 m. SW. ofTours; has a number of interesting buildings, a university and largelibrary; in its neighbourhood Clovis defeated Alaric II. in 507, CharlesMartel the Moors in 732, and the Black Prince the troops of King John in1356.

Poitou, formerly a province in France, lying S. of the Loire,between the Vienne River and the sea; passed to England when itscountess, Eleanor, married Henry I., 1152; was taken by Philip Augustus1205, ceded to England again 1360, and retaken by Charles V. 1369.

Pola (31), the chief naval station of Austria, 73 m. S. of Trieste,in the Adriatic; the harbour is both spacious and deep; was originally aRoman colony, and a flourishing seat of commerce.

Poland, formerly a kingdom larger than modern Austro-Hungary, with apopulation of 24 millions, lying between the Baltic and the Carpathians,with Pomerania, Brandenburg, and Silesia on the W., and the Russianprovinces of Smolensk, Tchernigoff, Poltava, and Kherson on the E.; theDwina, the Memel, and the Vistula flowed through its northern plains; theDnieper traversed the E., the Dniester and the Bug rose in its SE.corner. The country is fertile; great crops of cereals are raised; thereare forests of pine and oak, and extensive pasture lands; vast salt-minesare wrought at Cracow; silver, iron, copper, and lead in other parts.Poland took rank among European powers in the 10th century underMieczyslaw, its first Christian king. During the 12th and 13th centuriesit sank to the rank of a duchy. In 1241 the Mongols devastated thecountry, and thereafter colonies of Germans and Jewish refugees settledamong the Slav population. The first Diet met in 1331, and Casimir theGreat, 1333-1370, raised the country to a high level of prosperity,fostering the commerce of Danzig and Cracow. The dynasty of the Jagellonsunited Lithuania to Poland, ended two centuries' contest with theTeutonic knights, and yielded to the nobles such privileges as turned thekingdom into an oligarchy and elective monarchy. At the time of theReformation Poland was the leading power in Eastern Europe. The newdoctrines gained ground there in spite of severe persecution. Warsawbecame the capital in 1569. The power and arrogance of the nobles grew;the necessity for unanimity in the votes of the Diet gave them a weaponto stop all progress and all correction of their own malpractices.Sigismund III. made unsuccessful attempts to seize the crowns of Russiaand Sweden. In the middle of the 17th century a terrible struggle againstRussia, Sweden, Brandenburg and the Cossacks ended in the complete defeatof Poland, from which she never recovered. Wars with the Turks,dissensions among her own nobles, quarrels at the election of every king,the continuance of serfdom, and the persecution of the adherents of theGreek Church and the Protestants, rendered her condition more and moredeplorable. Austria, Russia, and Prussia began to interfere in heraffairs. She was unfortunate in her choice of kings, and in the secondhalf of the 18th century she was without natural boundaries, andFrederick the Great started the idea of partition. The first seizure ofterritory by the three interfering powers took place in 1772. A movementfor reform reorganised the Diet, improved the condition of the serfs,established religious toleration, and promulgated a new constitution in1781; but a party of unpatriotic nobles resented it, and laid the countryopen to a second seizure of territory by Prussia and Russia in 1793. ThePoles now made a desperate stand under Kosciusko, but their threepowerful neighbours were too strong, and the final partition of Polandbetween them took place in 1795. The Congress of Vienna rearranged thedivision in 1815, and reconstituted the Russian portion as a kingdom,with the Czar as king; but discontent broke into rebellion, and led tothe final repression of independence in 1832.

Polders, low marshy lands in Holland and Belgium, drained andreclaimed from sea or river; they form an important part of the former,and are conspicuous from the verdure they display; they include nearly150 acres of good land, the largest being that of Haarlem Meer, which is70 square miles in extent, and was drained by steam.

Pole, the name given to the extremities of the imaginary axis of theearth, round which it is conceived to revolve.

Pole, Reginald, cardinal, archbishop of Canterbury, born at StourtonCastle, Staffordshire, of royal blood; studied at Oxford; took holyorders, and was appointed to various benefices by Henry VIII., who heldhim in high favour; but he opposed the project of divorcing Catherine,and was driven from the royal presence and deprived of his power; butelected to the cardinalate by the Pope, he tried to return after Henry'sdeath, but was not received back till Mary's accession, when he came asPapal legate, and was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury after the deathof Cranmer, whom he refused to supersede as long as he lived; he was notobsequious enough to the Pope, and his legation was cancelled; theQueen's illness accelerated his own end, and he died the day after her;he has been charged with abetting the Marian persecution, but it ishighly questionable how far he was answerable for it (1506-1558).

Pole-star orPolaris, a star in the northern hemisphere, inUrsa Minor, the nearest conspicuous one to the N. pole of the heavens,from which it is at present 1½° distant; a straight line joining the two“pointers” in Ursa Major passes nearly through it.

Polignac, Duc de andDuchess de, husband and wife; werechargeable with the extravagances of the court of Louis XVI., and werethe first to emigrate at the outbreak of the Revolution, the former dyingin 1817 and the latter in 1793.

Polignac, Prince de, French statesman, born at Versailles, of an oldnoble family, prime minister of Charles X., to whose fall he contributedby his arbitrary measures; in attempting flight at the Revolution wascaptured and sentenced to death, which was converted into banishment; hewas allowed to return at length (1780-1847).

Politian, Angelo, eminent Italian scholar, born in Tuscany; waspatronised by Lorenzo de' Medici, was made professor of Greek and Latinat the university of Florence, his fame in which capacity drew to hisclass students from all parts of Europe; he did much to forward theRenaissance movement, and was distinguished as a poet no less than as ascholar; he became a priest towards the close of his life (1454-1494).

Political Economy, the name given to the modernsoi-disant scienceconcerned with the production, distribution, and exchange of wealth,against the relevancy of which to the economics of the world Ruskin has,for most part in vain, during the last forty years emitted a scornfulprotest, affirming that this is “mercantile” and not “political economyat all,” which he insists is the “economy of a state or of citizens,”consisting “simply in the production and distribution at fittest time andplace of useful or pleasurable things ... a science which teaches nationsto desire and labour for the things that lead to life, and to scorn anddestroy those that lead to destruction ... though, properly speaking, itis neither an art nor a science, but a system of conduct and legislature,founded on the sciences, directing the arts, and impossible, except undercertain conditions of moral culture,” with which last, however, themodern political economists maintain their science has nothing whateverto do.

Poliziano. SeePolitian.

Polk, James Knox, eleventh President of the United States, of Irishdescent; admitted to the bar in 1820, entered Congress in 1825, becamePresident in 1844, his term of office having been signalised by theannexation of Texas and California (1795-1849).

Pollio, Caius Asinius, orator, historian, and poet, born at Rome;sided with Cæsar against Pompey, and after the death of the former withAntony; was a patron of letters and the friend of Virgil and Horace, bothof whom dedicated poems to him; he was the first to establish a publiclibrary in Rome (76 B.C. to A.D. 4).

Pollock, Sir Edward, an eminent English judge, born in London,contemporary of Brougham, a Tory in politics, represented Huntingdon, wastwice over Attorney-General, became Chief Baron of the Exchequer in 1844,and made a baronet on his retirement from the bench (1783-1870).

Pollock, Sir George, field-marshal, born at Westminster, brother ofthe preceding; distinguished himself in Nepal and the Afghan War, in thelatter forced the Kyber Pass, defeated Akbar Khan, and relieved SirRobert Sale, who was shut up in Jelallabad (1786-1872).

Pollok, Robert, Scottish poet, born in Renfrewshire; bred for theSecession Church, wrote one poem, “The Course of Time,” in 10 books, onthe spiritual life and human destiny, which was published when he wasdying of consumption, a complaint accelerated, it is believed, by hisstudious habits (1799-1827).

Pollux, the twin brother ofCastor (q. v.).

Polo, a game similar to hockey, played on horseback with mallets,and devised by British officers in India in place of football.

Polo, Marco, a celebrated traveller, born in Venice of a noblefamily in 1271; accompanied his father and uncle while a mere youth tothe court of the Great Khan, the Tartar emperor of China, by whom he wasreceived with favour and employed on several embassies; unwilling to partwith him the emperor allowed him along with his father and uncle toescort a young princess who was going to be married to a Persian princeon the promise that they would return, but the prince having died beforetheir arrival, and deeming themselves absolved from their promise by hisdeath, they moved straight home for Venice, where they arrived in 1295,laden with rich presents which had been given them; having fallen intothe hands of the Genoese in a hostile expedition, Marco was put inprison, where he wrote the story of his adventures, originally in Frenchit would seem, which proved to be the first account that opened up towondering Europe the magnificence of the Eastern world (1255-1323).

Polyandry, the name given to a form of polygamy met with amongcertain rude races, under which a woman is united and lives in marriageto several husbands.

Polybius, a Greek historian, born at Megalopolis, in Arcadia; sentto Rome as a hostage, he formed an intimate friendship with ScipioÆmilianus, who aided him in his historical researches, and whom heaccompanied to Africa on the expedition which issued in the destructionof Carthage, after which he returned to Greece and began his literarylabours, the fruit of which was a history of Greece and Rome from 220 to146 B.C. in 40 books, of which 5 have come down to us complete, a workcharacterised by accurate statement of facts and sound judgment of theirimport, written with a purpose to instruct in practical wisdom; he hasbeen called “the first pragmatical historian” (204-122 B.C.).

Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, one of the early Fathers of the Church,a disciple of the Apostles and in particular of St. John; was for nearly70 years bishop, and suffered martyrdom for refusing to renounce Christ,“after having served Him,” as he said, “for 86 years”; of his writingsthe only one extant is an “Epistle to the Philippians,” the genuinenessof which, at one time questioned, is now established, and is of valuechiefly in questions affecting the canon of Scripture and the origin ofthe Church.

Polycrates, the tyrant of Samos, and friend of Anacreon and art andliterature generally; formed an alliance with Amasis, king of Egypt, who,struck with his prosperity, ascribed it to the envy of the gods,insinuating that they intended his ruin thereby, and advised him, inorder to avert his impending doom, to throw the most valuable of hispossessions into the sea, upon which he threw a signet ring of greatprice and beauty, to find it again in the mouth of a fish a fisherman hadsold him; still, though upon this Amasis broke alliance with him, hisprosperity clung to him, till one day he was allured by a Persian satrap,his enemy, away from Samos, and by him crucified to death, 521 B.C.

Polygnotus, an early Greek painter, born in Thasos, and settled inAthens 463 B.C.; is considered the founder of historical painting, andis praised especially by Aristotle, who pays a high tribute to him; wasthe first to attempt portrait-painting and exhibit character by his art.

Polyhymnia, one of the nineMuses (q. v.); she isrepresented as in a pensive mood, with her forefinger on her mouth; shewas the inventress of the lyre and the mother of Orpheus.

Polynesia is the collective name of all the islands of the Pacificof coral or volcanic origin. These South Sea islands are scattered,isolated, or more usually in groups over a stretch of ocean 7000 m. fromN. to S. and 6000 from E. to W.; with the exception of the two chiefmembers of the New Zealand archipelago they are mostly small, and exhibitwonderful uniformity of climate; the temperature is moderate, and wherethere are any hills to intercept the moisture-laden trade-winds therainfall is high; they are extremely rich in flora; characteristic oftheir vegetation are palms, bread fruit trees, and edible roots like yamsand sweet potatoes, forests of tree-ferns, myrtles, and ebony, withendless varieties of beautiful flowering plants; their fauna iswonderfully poor, varieties of rats and bats, a few snakes, frogs,spiders, and centipedes, with the crocodile, being the chief indigenousanimals; the three divisions of Polynesia are Micronesia, comprising fivesmall archipelagoes in the NW., N. of the equator, of which the chief arethe Mariana and Caroline groups; Melanesia, comprising elevenarchipelagoes in the W., S. of the equator, of which the largest are theSolomon, Bismarck, Fiji, New Caledonia, and New Hebrides groups; andEastern Polynesia, E. of these on both sides of the equator, includingNew Zealand, Hawaii, and Samoa, ten other archipelagoes, and numeroussporadic islands; the first of these divisions is occupied by a mixedpopulation embracing many distinct elements, the second by the black,low-type Melanesians, the third by the light brown, tall Polynesians;traces of extinct civilisation are found in Easter Island and theCarolines; most of the islands are now in the possession of Europeanpowers, and are more or less Christianised; New Zealand is one of themost enterprising and flourishing colonies of Great Britain; everywherethe native races are dying out before the immigration of Europeans.

Polyphemus, in Homeric legend a son of Neptune, the most celebratedof the Cyclops, a huge monster with one eye, who dwelt in Sicily in acave near Ætna, and whose eye, after making him drunk, Ulysses burnt out,lest he should circumvent him and devour him, as he had done some of hiscompanions.

Polytechnic School, an institution for teaching the practical artsand the related sciences, especially such as depend on mathematics.

Polytheism, a belief in a plurality of gods each with a sphere ofhis own, and each in general a personification of some elemental powerconcerned in the government of the world.

Pombal, Marquis de, a great Portuguese statesman, born in Coimbra;was Prime Minister of Joseph I.; partial to the philosophic opinions ofthe 18th century, he set himself to fortify the royal power, to checkthat of the aristocracy, and to enlighten the people; he was thepronounced enemy of the Jesuits, reformed the University of Coimbra,purified the administration, encouraged commerce and industry, whereby heearned for himself at the hands of the people the name of the GreatMarquis; on the accession of Maria, Joseph's daughter and successor, hewas, under Jesuit influence, dispossessed of power, to die in poverty(1699-1782).

Pomerania (1,521), a Prussian province lying between the Baltic andBrandenburg, with West Prussia on the E. and Mecklenburg on the W., is aflat and in some parts sandy country, with no hills, many lakes, and alarge lagoon, the Stettiner Haff, into which the chief river, the Oder,falls; the islands of Wallin, Usedom, and Rügen belong to the province;the main industry is agriculture, principal products rye and potatoes;poultry-rearing and fishing are extensively carried on; there areshipbuilding, machine-works, sugar and chemical factories; Stettin, thecapital, and Stralsund are important trading centres; a university is atGreifswald; the Slavic population embraced Christianity in the 12thcentury; shortly afterwards the duke joined the German Empire; after theThirty Years' War much of the province fell to Sweden, and the whole wasnot finally ceded to Prussia till 1815.

Pomona, orMainland, the largest island in the Orkneys, has alow treeless surface, many lakes, and extensive pasture-land; agriculturehas of late improved, and, with stock-raising and fishing, is the chiefindustry; the only towns are Kirkwall and Stromness.

Pomona, in the Roman mythology is the goddess of fruits, whopresided over their ripening and in-gathering, and was generallyrepresented bearing fruits in her lap or in a basket.

Pompadour, Marquise de, a famous mistress of Louis XV., born inParis; celebrated for her beauty and wit; throwing herself, though amarried woman, in the king's way, she took his fancy, and was installedat Versailles; for 20 years exercised an influence both over him and theaffairs of the kingdom, to the corruption and ruin of both, and theexasperation of the nation; she was preceded as mistress of Louis by LaChâteroux, and succeeded by Du Barri (1721-1764).

Pompeii, an ancient Italian seaport on the Bay of Naples, fell intothe possession of Rome about 80 B.C., and was converted into awatering-place and “the pleasure haunt of paganism”; the Romans erectedmany handsome public buildings, and their villas and theatres and bathswere models of classic architecture and the scenes of unbounded luxury;the streets were narrow, provided with side-walks, the walls oftendecorated with painting or scribbled over by idle gamins; the number ofshops witnesses to the fashion and gaiety of the town, the remains ofpainted notices to its municipal life; a terrible earthquake ruined itand drove out the inhabitants in A.D. 63; they returned and rebuilt it,however, in a tawdry and decadent style, and luxury and pleasure reignedas before till in A.D. 79 an eruption of Vesuvius buried everything inlava and ashes; the ruins were forgotten till accidentally discovered in1748; since 1860 the city has been disinterred under the auspices of theItalian Government, and is now a favourite resort of tourists andarchæologists.

Pompey, Cneius, surnamed the Great, Roman general and statesman;entered into public life after the death of Marius; associated himselfwith Sulla; distinguished himself in Africa and in the Mithridatic War;was raised to the consulate with Crassus in 71 B.C.; cleared theMediterranean Sea of pirates in 67-66; formed against the Senate, alongwith Cæsar and Crassus, the first triumvirate, and in 54 entered intorivalry with Cæsar; after a desperate struggle he was defeated atPharsalia, and escaping to Egypt, was assassinated there by orders ofPtolemy XII. (106-48 B.C.).

Pompey's Pillar, a block of red granite near Alexandria, forming apillar 98 ft. 3 in. high; erected in honour of the Emperor Diocletian,who conquered Alexandria in 296. The name is an invention of somemistaken early traveller.

Ponce de Leon, Spanish navigator; conquered Porto Rico in 1510, anddiscovered Florida in 1512. Also the name of a Spanish poet; was aprofessor of Theology at Salamanca; was translator of the Song ofSolomon, and wrote a commentary on it in Latin.

Poncho, a kind of cloak or shawl, of woollen or alpaca cloth, oblongin shape, with a slit in the centre, through which the wearer passes hishead, allowing the folds to cover his shoulders and arms to the elbows,and to fall down before and behind; worn by the native men in Chili andArgentina. Ponchos of waterproof are used by the United States cavalry.

Pondicherry (173), a small French colony on the E. coast of India,53 m. S. of Madras; was first occupied in 1674. It was captured by theDutch in 1693, and by the English successively in 1761, 1778, and 1793,but on each occasion restored. The capital, Pondicherry (41), is thecapital of the French possessions in India; has handsome tree-linedstreets, government buildings, college, lighthouse, cotton mills, anddye-works. The harbour is an open roadstead; trade is small, the chiefexport oil seeds.

Pondos, a branch of Zulu-Kaffirs, 200,000 in number, occupyingterritory called Pondo Land, annexed to Cape Colony, in South Africa.

Poniatowski, Prince Joseph, Polish general, born in Warsaw;commanded the Polish contingent that accompanied Napoleon in hisexpedition into Russia in 1812; was created Marshal of France on thefield of Leipzig; covered the retreat of the French army, and was drownedcrossing the Elster; his chivalrous bravery earned him the honourableappellation of the Polish Bayard; he was buried at Cracow, and hisremains placed beside those of Sobieski and Kosciusko (1762-1813).

Pons Asinorum (i. e. Bridge of Asses), the fifth proposition inthe 1st book of Euclid, so called for the difficulty many a tyro has inmastering it.

Ponsonby, Sir Frederick Cavendish, military officer; served in thePeninsular War; distinguished himself at Waterloo; lay wounded all nightafter the engagement; was conveyed next day in a cart to the village withseven wounds in his body; was a great favourite with the army(1783-1837).

Pontefract (16), an ancient market-town of Yorkshire, 13 m. SE. ofLeeds; has a castle in which Richard II. died, and which suffered foursieges in the Civil War, a market hall, grammar school, and largemarket-gardens, where liquorice for the manufacture of Pomfret cakes isgrown.

Pontifex Maximus, the chief of the college of priests in ancientRome, the officiating priests being called Flamens.

Pontifical, a service-book of the Romish Church, containing prayersand rites for a performance of public worship by the Pope or bishop; alsoin the plural the name of the full dress of an officiating priest.

Pontine Marshes, a district, 26 m. by 17, in the S. of the Campagnaof Rome, one of the three malarial districts of Italy, and the mostunhealthy of the three, extending about 30 m. in length and 10 or 11 invarying breadth, is grazing ground for herds of cattle, horses, andbuffaloes. Many unsuccessful attempts have been made to drain thesemarshes.

Pontus, the classical name of a country on the SE. shores of theBlack Sea, stretching from the river Halys to the borders of Armenia; isrepresented by the modern Turkish provinces of Trebizond and Sivas.Originally a Persian province, it became independent shortly after 400B.C., and remained so till part was annexed to Bithynia in 65 B.C., andthe rest constituted a Roman province in A.D. 63.

Poole (15), a seaport of Dorsetshire, 5 m. W. of Bournemouth; has atrade in potters' and pipe-clay, with considerable shipping.

Poole, Matthew, English controversialist and commentator, born atYork, educated at Cambridge; became rector of St. Michael le Querne inLondon, but was expelled from his living by the Act of Uniformity 1662;retiring to Holland he died at Amsterdam; besides polemics against Romehe compiled a “Synopsis Criticorum Biblicorum,” containing the opinionsof 150 Biblical critics (1624-1679).

Poona (160), 119 m. by rail SE. of Bombay, is the chief militarystation in the Deccan, and in the hot season the centre of government inthe Bombay Presidency; with narrow streets and poor houses, it issurrounded by gardens; here are the Deccan College, College of Science,and other schools; the English quarters are in the cantonments; silk,cotton, and jewellery are manufactured; it was the capital of theMahrattas, and was annexed by Britain in 1818.

Poor Richard, the name assumed byFranklin (q. v.) in hisalmanacs.

Pope (i. e. Papa), a title originally given to all bishops of theChurch, and eventually appropriated by Leo the Great, the bishop of Rome,as the supreme pontiff in 449, a claim which in 1054 created the GreatSchism, and which asserted itself territorially as well as spiritually,till now at length the Pope has been compelled to resign all territorialpower. The present Pope, Pius X., is the successor of 258 who occupiedbefore him the Chair of St. Peter.

Pope, Alexander, eminent English poet, born in London, of RomanCatholic parents; was a sickly child, and marred by deformity, andimperfectly educated; began to write verse at 12 in which he afterwardsbecame such a master; his “Pastorals” appeared in 1709, “Essay onCriticism” in 1711, and “Rape of the Lock” in 1712, in the production ofwhich he was brought into relationship with the leading literary men ofthe time, and in particular Swift, between whom and him a lifelongfriendship was formed; in 1715-20 appeared his translation of the“Iliad,” and in 1723-25 that of the “Odyssey,” for which two works, it isbelieved, he received some £9000; afterwards, in 1728, appeared the“Dunciad,” a scathing satire of all the small fry of poets and criticsthat had annoyed him, and in 1732 appeared the first part of the famous“Essay on Man”; he was a vain man, far from amiable, and sometimesvindictive to a degree, though he was capable of warm attachments, andmany of his faults were due to a not unnatural sensitiveness as adeformed man; but as a poet he is entitled to the homage which ProfessorSaintsbury pays when he characterises him as “one of the greatest mastersof poetic form that the world has ever seen” (1688-1744).

Popish Plot, an imaginary plot devised byTitus Oates (q.v.) on the part of the Roman Catholics in Charles II.'s reign; in thealleged connection a number of innocent people lost their lives.

Porch, The, the name given to the school ofZeno (q. v.),so called from the Arcade in Athens, in which he taught his philosophy, a“many-coloured portico,” as decorated with the paintings ofPolygnotus (q. v.).

Porcupine, Peter, a pseudonym assumed byWilliam Cobbett (q.v.).

Porphyry, a Neo-Platonic philosopher of Alexandria, born at Tyre;resorted to Rome and became a disciple ofPlotinus (q. v.),whose works he edited; he wrote a work against Christianity, known onlyfrom the replies (233-305).

Porsena, a king of Etruria, famous in the early history of Rome, whotook up arms to restore Tarquin, the last king, but was reconciled to theRoman people from the brave feats he saw, certain of them accomplished,as well as the formidable power of endurance they displayed.

Porson, Richard, eminent Greek scholar, born in Norfolk; was aprodigy of learning and critical acumen; edited the plays of Æschylus andfour of Euripides, but achieved little in certification to posterity ofhis ability and attainments; was a man of slovenly and intemperatehabits, and died of apoplexy (1759-1808).

Port Arthur, a naval station on the peninsula extending S. into theGulf of Pechili; conceded to Russia on a lease of 99 years.

Port Darwin, one of the finest harbours in Australia; is on the N.coast opposite Bathurst Island; on its shores stands Palmerston, terminusof the overland telegraph, the cable to Java, and a railway to the goldmines 150 m. inland.

Port Elizabeth (25), the third largest town and chief trading centreof Cape Colony; stands on Algoa Bay, 85 m. SW. of Grahamstown; it hasmagnificent public buildings, parks, and squares, a college, library, andmuseum. It is the chief port in the E. of the colony and for Natal, theprincipal exports being wools, hides, and ostrich feathers.

Port Glasgow (15), a Renfrewshire seaport on the S. shore of theFirth of Clyde, 3 m. E. of Greenock and 20 W. of Glasgow; was founded bythe magistrates of Glasgow in 1668 as a port for that city before thedeepening of the river was projected. In the beginning of the 18thcentury it was the chief port on the Clyde, but has since been surpassedby Greenock and Glasgow itself. There are shipbuilding, iron and brassfounding industries, and extensive timber ponds.

Port Louis (62), capital of Mauritius, on the NW. coast; is thechief port of the colony, with an excellent harbour, and contains theBritish government buildings, a Protestant and a Roman Catholiccathedral, barracks, and military store-houses. It is a navalcoaling-station.

Port Royal, a convent founded in 1204, 8 m. SW. of Versailles, andwhich in the 17th century became the head-quarters ofJansenism(q. v.), and the abode of Antoine Lemaitre, Antoine Arnauld, andothers, known as the “Solitaires of the Port Royal.” They weredistinguished for their austerity, their piety, and their learning, inevidence of which last they established a school of instruction, inconnection with which they prepared a series of widely famous educationalworks.

Port-au-Prince (20), on the W. coast of Hayti, on Port-au-PrinceBay, is the capital; a squalid town; exports coffee, cocoa, logwood,hides, and mahogany.

Portcullis, a strong grating resembling a harrow hanging over thegateway of a fortress, let down in a groove of the wall in the case of asurprise.

Porte, Sublime, or simply the Porte, is a name given to the TurkishGovernment.

Porteous Mob, the name given a mob that collected in the city ofEdinburgh on the night of the 7th September 1736, broke open the Tolboothjail, and dragged to execution in the Grassmarket one Captain Porteous,captain of the City Guard, who on the occasion of a certain riot hadordered his men to fire on the crowd to the death of some and thewounding of others, and had been tried and sentenced to death, but, tothe indignation of the citizens, had been respited. The act was one forwhich the authorities in the city were held responsible by theGovernment, and the city had to pay to Porteous' widow £1500.

Porter, Jane, English novelist, born in Durham; her most famousnovels were “Thaddeus of Warsaw” (1803) and “The Scottish Chiefs” (1810),both highly popular in their day, the latter particularly; it inducedScott to go on with Waverley; died at Bristol (1776-1850).

Porter, Noah, American philosophical writer, born at Farmington,Connecticut, educated at Yale; was a Congregationalist minister 1836-46,then professor of Moral Philosophy at Yale, and afterwards President ofthe college; Edinburgh University granted him the degree of D.D. in1886; among his works are “The Human Intellect” and “Books and Reading”;b. 1811.

Porteus, Beilby, English churchman, born at York, of Americanparentage; graduated and became Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge,and took orders in 1757; from the rectory of Hunton, Kent, he waspreferred to that of Lambeth in 1767, thence to the bishopric of Chesterin 1776, and to that of London 1787; a poor scholar, he yet wrote somepopular books, especially a “Summary of Christian Evidences,” and“Lectures on St. Matthew's Gospel”; he posed as a Sabbatarian and anadvocate of the abolition of slavery (1731-1809).

Portia, the rich heiress in the “Merchant of Venice,” whose destinyin marriage depended, as ordained by her father, on the discretion of thewooer to choose the one of the three caskets that contained herportrait.

Portland, 1, the largest city (50) and principal seaport of Maine,stands on a peninsula in Casco Bay, 108 in. NE. of Boston by rail. It hasextensive wharfs, dry-docks, and grain-elevators, engineer shops,shoe-factories, and sugar-refineries. Settled as an English colony in1632, it was ravaged by fire in 1866. Longfellow was born here. 2,largest city (90) in Oregon, on the Willamette River, nearly 800 m. N. ofSan Francisco; is a handsome city, with numerous churches and schools;there are iron-foundries, mechanics' shops, canneries, and flour-mills;railway communication connects it with St. Paul and Council Bluffs, andthe river being navigable for deep-sea steamers, it is a thriving port ofentry.

Portland, Isle of, a rocky peninsula in the SW. of Dorsetshire,connected by Chesil Bank and the Mainland; is famous as the source ofgreat quantities of fine building limestone; here is also aconvict-prison opened 1848, accommodating 1500 prisoners.

Portland Vase, an ancient cinerary urn of dark blue glass ornamentedwith Greek mythological figures carved in a layer of white enamel foundnear Rome about 1640, and which came into the possession of the Portlandfamily in 1787, and is now in the British Museum. It is ten inches highand seven inches round.

Porto Rico (814), a West Indian island, half the size of Wales, 75m. E. of Hayti, is well watered and very fertile. Ranges of hills runfrom E. to W., and are covered with valuable timber. Sugar, coffee, andrice are the principal crops; tobacco and tropical fruits are grown;cattle and horses are reared. Textile goods, hardware, and provisions areimported; the exports are sugar, coffee, tobacco, and cattle. The capitalis St. John's (24), Mayaguez (27), and Ponce (40), the other towns. Theisland was discovered by Columbus, who called it Hispaniola, in 1493.Colonised by Spain in 1510, it attempted unsuccessfully to gainindependence in 1820-23. The abolition of slavery in 1873, and the growthof population, marked the remainder of its history as a Spanish colony.It was seized by the United States in the war of 1898.

Portobello (8), a Midlothian watering-place on the Firth of Forth, 3m. E. of Edinburgh, with which it is now incorporated for municipalpurposes; has a fine esplanade and promenade pier, and manufactures ofpottery, bricks, and bottles.

Portsmouth, 1, largest city (10) of New Hampshire, and only seaportin the State, on the Piscataqua River, 3 m. from the ocean; is by rail 57m. NE. of Boston, a handsome old town and favourite watering-place; nearit is a U.S. navy-yard. 2, (12), On the Ohio River, in Ohio; is thecentre of an extensive iron industry. 3, (13), Seaport and naval stationon the Elizabeth River, Virginia.

Portsmouth (159), the most important British naval station, aseaport and market-town, is situated on Portsea Island, on the coast ofHants, 15 m. SE. of Southampton. It is an unimposing town, but stronglyfortified. St. Thomas's and Garrison Chapel are old churches withhistorical associations. The naval dockyards contain 12 docks lined withmasonry, vast store-houses, wood-mills, anchor-forges, andbuilding-slips. Some of the docks are roofed over, as also is a largebuilding-slip on which four vessels may be constructed at once. Theharbour can receive the largest war-vessels, and in Spithead roadstead1000 ships can anchor at once. The trade of Portsmouth is dependent onthe dockyards. It owes its defences to Edward IV. Elizabeth, and WilliamIII. It was the scene of Buckingham's assassination and of the loss oftheRoyal George. Three novelists were born here—Dickens, Meredith,and Besant.

Portugal (5,000), a country as large as Ireland, bounded on the S.and W. by the Atlantic, on the N. and E. by Spain, from which atdifferent places it is separated by the rivers Minho, Douro, Tagus, andGuadiana; consists of the Atlantic slopes of the great peninsulartableland, and has a moist, warm atmosphere, heavy rains, and frequentfogs. The above rivers and the Mondego traverse it; their valleys arefertile, the mountain slopes covered with forests. In the N. the oakabounds, in the centre the chestnut, in the S. cork-trees and palms.Agriculture, carried on with primitive implements, is the chief industry.Indian corn, wheat, and in the S. rice, are extensively grown; the vineyields the most valuable crops, but in the N. it is giving place totobacco. There are a few textile factories. The largest export is wine;the others, cork, copper ore, and onions, which are sent to GreatBritain, Brazil, and France. The principal imports, iron, textiles, andgrain. The capital is Lisbon, on the Tagus, one of the finest towns inthe world. Oporto, the chief manufacturing centre, and second city forcommerce, is at the mouth of the Douro. Braga was once the capital.Coimbra, on the Mondego, is the rainiest place in Europe. There are goodroads between the chief towns, 1200 m. of railway and 3000 m. oftelegraph. The people are a mixed race, showing traces of Arab, Berber,and Negro blood, with a predominance of northern strains. They arecourteous and gentle; the peasantry hard-working and thrifty. RomanCatholic is the national faith, but they are tolerant of other religions.The language is closely akin to Spanish. Education is backward. TheGovernment is a limited monarchy, there being two houses ofParliament—Peers and Deputies. The Azores and Madeira are part of thekingdom; there are colonies in Africa and Asia, in which slavery wasabolished only in 1878. The 14th and 15th centuries saw the zenith ofPortugal's fortunes. At that time, in strict alliance with England, sheraised herself by her enterprise to the foremost maritime and commercialpower of Europe; her navigators founded Brazil, and colonised India. Diazin 1487 discovered and Vasco da Gama in 1497 doubled the Cape of GoodHope. In 1520 Magellan sailed round the world; but in the 16th centurythe extensive emigration, the expulsion of the Jews, the introduction ofthe Inquisition, and the spread of Jesuit oppression, led to a speedydownfall. For a time she was annexed to Spain. Regaining herindependence, she threw herself under the protection of England, hertraditional friend, during the Napoleonic struggle. She is now aninconsiderable power, commercially thriving, politically restless,financially unsound.

Poseidon, in the Greek mythology the god of the sea, a son of Kronosand Rhea, and brother of Zeus, Pluto, Hera, Hestia, and Demeter; had hishome in the sea depths, on the surface of which he appeared with a longbeard, seated in a chariot drawn by brazen-hoofed horses with goldenmanes, and wielding a trident, which was the symbol of his power,exercised in production of earthquake and storms. SeePluto.

Posen (1,752), a province of Prussia on the Russian frontier,surrounded by West Prussia, Brandenburg, and Silesia; belongs to thegreat North German plain; has several lakes, and is traversed by thenavigable Warthe, Netze, and Vistula. The prevailing industry isagriculture; the crops are grain, potatoes, and hops; there are somemanufactures of machinery and cloth. Originally part of Poland, half thepopulation are Poles; except the Jews, most of the people are Catholics.The capital isPosen (70), on the Warthe, by rail 185 m. E. ofBerlin. It is a pleasant town, with a cathedral, museum, and library,manufactures of manure and agricultural implements, breweries anddistilleries. It is now a fortress of the first rank. Gnesen and Brombergare the other chief towns.

Posidonius, an eminent Stoic philosopher, born in Syria; establishedhimself in Rhodes, where he rose to eminence; was visited by Cicero andPompey, both of whom became his pupils; maintained that pain was no evil;“in vain, O Pain,” he exclaimed one day under the pangs of it, “in vainthou subjectest me to torture; it is not in thee to extort from me thereproach that thou art an evil” (135-34 B.C.).

Positivism, the philosophy so called ofAuguste Comte (q.v.), the aim of which is to propound a new arrangement of the sciencesand a new theory of the evolution of science; the sciences he classesunder the categories of abstract and concrete, and his law of evolutionis that every department of knowledge passes in the history of it throughthree successive stages, and only in the last of which it is entitled tothe name of science—the Theological stage, in which everything isreferred to the intervention of the gods; the Metaphysical, in whicheverything is referred to an abstract idea; and the Positive, which,discarding at once theology and philosophy, contents itself with thestudy of phenomena and their sequence, and regards that as scienceproper. Thus is positivism essentially definable, in Dr. Stirling'swords, as “a method which replaces all outlying agencies, whetherTheological deities or Metaphysical entities, by Positive laws; whichlaws, and in their phenomenal relativity, as alone what can be known,ought alone to constitute what is sought to be known.” See Dr. Stirling's“Schwegler.”

Posse Comitatus, a Latin expression, signifies the whole coercivepower of a county called out in the case of a riot, and embraces allmales over 15 except peers, ecclesiastics, and infirm persons. These maybe summoned by the sheriff to assist in maintaining the public peace,enforcing a writ, or capturing a felon; but usually the constabulary issufficient for these duties.

Post Restante, department of a post-office where letters lie tillthey are called for.

Potemkin, Russian officer, born at Smolensk, of Polish descent; ahandsome man with a powerful physique, who attracted the attention ofCatharine II., became one of her chief favourites, and directed theforeign policy of Russia under her for 13 years; is understood to havebeen an able man, but unscrupulous (1736-1771).

Potomac River, rising in the Alleghany Mountaine, flows 400 m.eastward between Maryland and the Virginias into Chesapeake Bay; theShenandoah is the chief tributary. The river is navigable as far up asCumberland, and is tidal up to Washington, which is on its banks.

Potosi (12), an important mining and commercial town of Bolivia,situated 13,000 ft. above sea-level on the slopes of the Cerro de Potosi;is one of the loftiest inhabited places on the globe, but a dilapidated,squalid place. There is a cathedral, next to Lima the finest in SouthAmerica, a mint, and extensive reservoirs; the streets are steep andwithout vehicles; the climate is cold, and the surrounding hillsidesbarren; the industry is silver mining, but the mines are becomingexhausted and flooded.

Potsdam (54), 18 m. SW. of Berlin, stands on an island at theconfluence of the Nuthe and Havel, and is the capital of the Prussianprovince of Brandenburg; a handsome town, with broad streets, many parksand squares, numberless statues and fine public buildings; it is afavourite residence of Prussian royalty, and has several royal palaces;was the birthplace of Alexander von Humboldt; has sugar and chemicalworks, and a large violet-growing industry.

Pott, August Friedrich, eminent philologist, born in Hanover; wroteon the Indo-Germanic languages, a work which ranks next in importance toBopp's “Comparative Grammar”; he was the author of a number ofphilological papers which appeared in the learned journals of the day(1802-1887).

Potter, John, archbishop of Canterbury, born in Yorkshire, son of adraper, a distinguished scholar; author of “Archæologia Græca,” a work onthe antiquities of Greece, and for long the authority on that subject(1674-1747).

Potter, Paul, a great Dutch animal-painter, lived chiefly atAmsterdam and The Hague; his most celebrated picture, life-size, is the“Young Bull,” now at The Hague (1625-1654).

Potteries, The, a district in North Staffordshire, 9 m. long by 3broad, the centre of the earthenware manufacture of England; it includesHanley, Burslem, Stoke-upon-Trent, &c.

Pot-wallopers (i. e. Pot-boilers), a popular name given prior tothe Reform Bill of 1832 to a class of electors in a borough who claimedthe right to vote on the ground of boiling a pot within its limits forsix months.

Pourparler, a diplomatic conference towards the framing of a treaty.

Poussin, Nicolas, one of the most illustrious of French painters,born near Andelys, in Normandy; studied first in Paris and then at Rome,where he first attained celebrity, whence he was in 1640 invited to Parisby Louis XIII., who appointed him painter-in-ordinary, with a studio inthe Tuileries, returning three years after to Rome, where he died; he isthe author of numerous great works, among which may be mentioned the“Shepherds of Arcadia,” “The Deluge,” “Moses drawn out of the Water,”“The Flight into Egypt,” &c., all of which display simplicity of taste,nobility of character, and artistic talent of a high order (1594-1665).

Powell, Baden, physicist, rationalist in theology, born in London;was Savilian professor of Geometry at Oxford, wrote a number of treatiseson physical subjects, and contributed to the famous “Essays and Reviews”an essay on the evidences of Christianity which gave no small offence toorthodox people (1796-1860).

Powell, Major, American geologist and ethnologist, born in New YorkState; served in the Civil War, explored the cañon of Colorado, andbecame Director of the U.S. Geological Survey; has written on geologicaland ethnological subjects;b. 1834.

Powers, Hiram, American sculptor, born in Vermont; began his careerby modelling busts at Washington, in 1837 emigrated to Italy, and residedthe rest of his life at Florence, where he produced his “Eve,” his “GreekSlave,” and other works (1807-1873).

Poynings's Law, an Act of Parliament held at Drogheda in 1495 in thereign of Henry VII., declaring that all statutes hitherto passed inEngland should be also in force in Ireland, so called from Sir EdwardPoynings, the lieutenant of Ireland at the time.

Poynter, Edward John, painter, born in Paris; was educated inEngland, studied in Rome and Paris, and settled in London in 1860; heldappointments at University College and at Kensington, but resigned themin 1881 to prosecute his art, which he has since assiduously done, andwith distinction; was elected President of the Royal Academy in 1896; isthe author of “Lectures on Art”;b. 1836.

Pozzo di Borgo, Count, the lifelong enemy of Napoleon, born inAjaccio, Corsica; was a partisan of Paoli; obliged to flee from Corsica,took refuge in London, in Vienna, and then in Russia, and plottedeverywhere to compass the ruin of his arch-enemy; seduced, out of simplehatred of him, Bernadotte from the service of Napoleon, and egged on theallies against France; represented Russia at the Congress of Vienna, anddied in Paris (1764-1842).

Pozzuoli (12), an Italian city on the Bay of Naples, is noted forits classical remains; the cathedral was once the temple of Augustus;there are ruins of other temples, a forum, and the ancient harbour ofPuteoli, where St. Paul landed; the town has been submerged and partiallyraised again by volcanic action; Mount Solfatara, behind, suppliesmedicinal gases and springs; near it are the Italian works of Armstrongof Elswick.

P. P., Clerk of this Parish, the feigned author of a volume ofmemoirs written by Arbuthnot in ridicule of Burnet's “History of My OwnTimes.”

Praed, Winthrop Mackworth, witty facile versifier and politician,born in London; practised in verse-making from a boy, notably at Eton;bred for the bar, entered Parliament as a Tory in 1830, and rose intooffice; wrote several verse-tales, some pieces of promise, such as“Arminius” and “My Pretty Josephine,” a grotesque production called “TheRed Fisherman,” and exquisitevers de société (1802-1839).

Prætor, a Roman magistrate at first, virtually a third consul, withadministrative functions, chiefly judiciary, originally in the city, andultimately in the provinces as well, so that the number of them increasedat one time to as many as 16.

Prætorian Guard, a select body of soldiers distributed in cohorts,as many as ten of a thousand each, to guard the person and maintain thepower of the emperors, and who at length acquired such influence in theState as to elect and depose at will the emperors themselves, disposingat times of the imperial purple to the highest bidder, till they were inthe end outnumbered and dispersed by Constantine in 312.

Pragmatic Sanction, a term applied to “an ordinance of a veryirrevocable nature which a sovereign makes in affairs belonging wholly tohimself, or what he reckons within his own right,” but applied moreparticularly to the decree promulgated by Charles VI., emperor ofGermany, whereby he vested the right of succession to the throne ofAustria in his daughter, Maria Theresa, wife of Francis of Lorraine, asuccession which was guaranteed by France, the States-General, and themost of the European Powers.

Prague (310), capital of Bohemia, on the Moldau, 217 m. by rail NW.of Vienna, is a picturesque city with over 70 towers, a great royalpalace, unfinished cathedral, an old town-hall, a picture-gallery,observatory, botanical garden, and museums; the University, partly Germanand partly Czech, has 300 teachers, 4000 students, and a magnificentlibrary; the centre of an important transit trade, Prague is the chiefcommercial city of Bohemia; has manufactures of machinery, chemicals,leather, and textile goods; four-fifths of the population are Czechs;founded in the 12th century, it has suffered in many wars; was capturedby the Hussites 1424, fell frequently during the Thirty Years' War,capitulated to Frederick the Great 1757, and in 1848 was bombarded fortwo days by the Austrian Government in quelling the democraticdemonstrations of the Slavonic Congress of that year.

Prairie, name given by the French to an extensive tract of flat orrolling land covered with tall, waving grass, mostly destitute of trees,and forming the great central plain of North America, which extends asfar N. as Canada.

Prakrit, name given to a group of Hindu languages based on Sanskrit.

Pratique, license given to a ship to enter port on assurance fromthe captain to convince the authorities that she is free from contagiousdisease.

Praxiteles, great Greek sculptor, born at Athens; executed statuesin both bronze and marble, and was unrivalled in the exhibition of thesofter beauties of the human form, especially the female figure, his mostcelebrated being the marble one of Aphrodité at Cnidus; he executedstatues of Eros, Apollo, and Hermes as well, but they have all perished.

Praying-Wheels, cylinders with printed prayers on them, driven byhand, water, or wind-power, in use among the Buddhists of Thibet.

Pre-Adamites, a race presumed to have existed on the earth prior toAdam; traditional first fathers of the Jews.

Precession of the Equinoxes, name given to the gradual shifting ofthe equinoctial points along the ecliptic from east to west. SeeEquinoxes.

Précieuses Ridicules, a play of Molière's, published in 1653,directed against the affectations of certain literary coteries of theday.

Predestination, the eternal decree which in particular foreordainscertain of the human family to life everlasting and others to deatheverlasting, or the theological dogma which teaches these. SeeElection, the Doctrine of.

Predicables, the five classes of terms which can be predicated of asubject, viz.—genus, containing species;species, contained ina genus;differentia, distinguishing one species from another;property, quality possessed by every member of a species; andaccident, attribute belonging to certain individuals of a speciesand not others.

Pregel, a navigable river in E. Prussia, 120 m. long and 730 ft.broad, which falls into the Frische Haff below Königsberg.

Prejevalski, Nicholas, Russian explorer, born in Smolensk; joinedthe army, served against the Poles in 1861, and was appointed to Siberiain 1867; his first explorations were in the country S. of the Amur; in1871-73 he travelled through Southern Mongolia from Pekin to the upperYangtse-kiang region; thereafter his energies were devoted to Thibet; hemade repeated unsuccessful attempts to reach Lhassa, exploring by the waythe desert of Gobi and the upper Hoang-ho, and died finally at Karakol,in West Turkestan; he discovered the wild camel and wild horse, andbrought back valuable zoological and botanical collections, which are nowin St. Petersburg (1839-1888)

Pre-Raphaelitism, a movement headed by Rossetti, Holman Hunt, andMillais, of revolt against the style of art in vogue, traceable all theway back to Raphael, and of a bold return to the study of nature itself,agreeably to the advice of Ruskin, that “they should go to Nature in allsingleness of heart, and walk with her laboriously and trustingly, havingno other thought than how best to penetrate her meaning: rejectingnothing, selecting nothing, and scorning nothing”; the principle of themovement, as having regard not merely to what the outer eye sees in anobject, but to what the inner eye sees of objective truth and reality init.

Presburg (52), the ancient capital of Hungary, close to the Austrianfrontier, on the Danube, by rail 40 m. E. of Vienna; is a pleasant town,with a cathedral, a town-house, and a Franciscan church, all of the 13thcentury, the old Parliament House, and a ruined royal castle;manufactures beer, dynamite, and starch, and trades largely in live stockand corn.

Presbyopia, diminution of sight due to age, occurring usually aboutforty-five, when near objects are less distinctly seen than distant, anaffliction due to the flattening of the lens.

Presbyterianism, that form of Church government which, discardingprelacy, regards all ministers in conclave as on the same level in rankand function, and which is the prevailing form of Church government inScotland; inherited from Geneva, as also prevailing extensively in theUnited States of America. The government is administered by a gradationof courts, called “Kirk-Sessions,” of office-bearers in connection with aparticular congregation; “Presbyteries,” in connection with a smalldistrict; “Synods,” in connection with a larger; and finally a GeneralAssembly or a Synod of the whole Church, which, besides managing theaffairs of the collective body, forms a court of final appeal in disputedmatters or cases.

Prescott, William Hickling, American historian, born at Salem,Massachusetts; son of a lawyer; graduated at Harvard in 1814, and appliedhimself to study law; by-and-by he travelled in Europe, married, andturned to literature as a profession; growing blind, the result of anaccident at college, he fortunately inherited means, employed assistants,and with great courage in 1826 began to study Spanish history. “Ferdinandand Isabella” appearing in 1838, established his reputation in bothworlds; “The Conquest of Mexico” was published in 1843, and “The Conquestof Peru” in 1847; he was elected corresponding member of the FrenchInstitute; his style is vivid, direct, and never dull; though notphilosophical, his histories are masterpieces of narrative and incident;he died of apoplexy at Boston before completing the “History of PhilipII.” (1796-1859).

Present Time, defined impressively by Carlyle as “the youngest bornof Eternity, child and heir of all the past times, with their good andevil, and parent of all the future with new questions and significance,”on the right or wrong understanding of which depend the issues of life ordeath to us all, the sphinx riddle given to all of us to rede as we wouldlive and not die.

President of the United States, is popularly elected for four years,or rather by delegates so elected to each State, and sometimes re-electedfor other four; is commander-in-chief of the army and navy; sees to theadministration of the laws, signs bills before they pass into law, makestreaties, grants reprieves and pardons, and receives an annual salary of50,000 dollars.

Press-Gang, a party armed with powers to impress men into the navalservice in times of emergency, a practice which often gave rise toserious disturbances, and is not in any circumstances likely to be hadrecourse to again. SeeImpressment.

Pressensé, Edmond de, eminent French Protestant theologian, born atLuasanne, in Paris; studied under Vinet and Neander at Berlin; becameProtestant minister in Paris; was elected a deputy in the NationalAssembly in 1871, and a senator in 1883; wrote a “Life of Christ,” and onnumerous subjects of theological and ecclesiastical interest (1824-1891).

Prester, John. SeeJohn, Prester.

Preston (112), Lancashire manufacturing town on the Ribble, 31 m. NW. of Manchester; is a well laid out brick town, with three parks, amagnificent town-hall, a market, public baths, free library, museum, andpicture-gallery; St. Walburge's Roman Catholic church has the highestpost-Reformation steeple in England, 306 ft. The deepening of the riverand construction of docks have added to the shipping trade. The chiefindustry is cotton, but there are also shipbuilding yards, engineershops, and foundries. One of Cromwell's victories was won here; it wasthe birthplace of Richard Arkwright, and the scene of the beginning ofthe English total abstinence movement in 1832.

Pretenders, The, the names given to the son and the grandson ofJames II. (Prince Charlie) as claiming a right to the throne of England,and called respectively the Elder and the Younger Pretender; the elder,who made one or two attempts to secure his claim, surrendered it to hisson, who in 1745 was defeated at Culloden.

Pretoria (whites, 10), capital of the Transvaal, stands on amountain-enclosed plain 1000 m. NE. of Cape Town, and nearly 300 m. W. ofLorenzo Marquez, Delagoa Bay, with both of which and with Natal it isconnected by rail. It is a thriving town, growing rapidly withflourishing trade, the see of a bishop, and containing twenty Englishschools. Coal is found near, and wheat, tobacco, cotton, and indigogrown. It is the seat of the government of the Transvaal.

Prévost d'Exiles, Antoine François, orAbbé Prévost, a Frenchromancer, born in Heslin, Artois; was educated by the Jesuits, and becamea Benedictine monk, but proving refractory, fled to Holland and England;wrote several novels, but his fame rests on one entitled “Manon Lescaut,”a work of genius, charming at once in matter and style; a “story,” saysProfessor Saintsbury, “chiefly remarkable for the perfect simplicity andabsolute life-likeness of the character-drawing”; derives its name fromthe subject of it, a young girl named Manon (1697-1763).

Prévost-Paradol, Lucien Anatole, French littérateur and publicist,born in Paris; distinguished himself as journalist and essayist; was anenemy of the Empire, but accepted a post under Ollivier as envoy to theUnited States in 1870, and committed suicide at Washington almostimmediately after landing; it was on the eve of the Franco-German War,and he had been the subject of virulent attacks from the republican pressof the day (1829-1870).

Priam, the old king of Troy during the Trojan War; was the son ofLaomedon, who with the help of Apollo and Poseidon built the city; had alarge family by his wife Hecuba, Hector, Paris, and Cassandra, the mostnoted of them; was too old to take part in the war; is said to havefallen by the hand of Pyrrhus on the capture of Troy by the Greeks.

Priapus, an ancient deity, the personification of the generating orfructifying power, and worshipped as the protector of flocks of sheep andgoats, of bees, of the vine and other garden products; a worship known asthe Priapus worship prevailed extensively all over the East.

Price, Richard, English moralist, born in Glamorganshire; wrote onpolitics and economics as well as ethics, in which last he followedCudworth (q. v.), and insisted on the unimpeachable quality ofmoral distinctions, and the unimpeachable authority of the moralsentiments (1723-1791).

Prichard, James Cowles, founder of ethnology and a philologist, bornin Hereford; bred to medicine, and practised in Bristol; wrote“Researches into the Physical History of Mankind,” “The Eastern Origin ofthe Celtic Nations,” “Analysis of Egyptian Mythology,” and the “NaturalHistory of Man”; maintained the original unity of the race, and that theoriginal pair were negroes; philology was in his hands the handmaid ofethnology, and he made himself master of the primitive languages(1786-1848).

Prideaux, Humphrey, English prelate and scholar; remembered chieflyas the author of a learned work entitled “The Connection of the Historyof the Old and New Testaments”; wrote a “Life of Mahomet,” popular in itsday and for long after (1648-1724).

Pride's Purge, the name given to a violent exclusion, in 1649, atthe hands of a body of troops commanded by Colonel Pride of about ahundred members of the House of Commons disposed to deal leniently withthe king, after which some eighty, known as the Rump, were left to dealwith his Majesty and bring him to justice.

Priessnitz, founder of the water-cure, in connection with which hehad a large establishment at Gräfenberg, in Austrian Silesia; was a mereempiric, having been bred to farming (1799-1851).

Priest, properly a man in touch with the religious life of thepeople, and for the most part consecrated to mediate between them and theDeity; the prophet, on the other hand, being one more in touch with theDeity, being at times so close to Him as to require a priest to mediatebetween him and the laity.

Priestley, Joseph, a Socinian divine, born near Leeds; wrote indefence of Socinianism, and in defence of Christianity; gave himself tophysical research, particularly pneumatic chemistry; is claimed as thediscoverer of oxygen; sympathised with the French Revolution; was mobbed,and had to flee to America, where he died, believing in immortalitydespite his materialistic philosophy (1733-1804).

Prim, Juan, a Spanish general; distinguished as a statesman; rose tobe Minister of War, but aspiring to dictatorship, was shot by anassassin; he was the leader of the movement that overthrew Isabella in1868 and installed Amadeo in her stead (1814-1870).

Primrose, the name of a family in Goldsmith's “Vicar of Wakefield.”

Primrose League, a politico-Conservative organisation founded in1883 in memory of Lord Beaconsfield, and so called because the primrosewas popularly reported to be his favourite flower. It includes a largemembership, nearly a million, comprising women as well as men; is dividedinto district habitations; confers honours and badges in the style ofFreemasonry, and has extensive political influence under a grand-master.

Prince Edward Island (109), an island province of Canada, in the S.of Gulf of St. Lawrence, occupies a great bay formed by New Brunswick,Nova Scotia, and Cape Breton, and is somewhat larger than Northumberland.The coast-line is exceedingly broken, the surface low and undulating, andvery fertile. The chief industry is agriculture, oats and potatoes arethe best crops; decayed shells found in beds on the shore are anexcellent manure; sheep and horses are raised with great success. Theclimate is healthy, milder and clearer than on the mainland, but with atedious winter. Coal exists, but is not wrought. The fisheries are thebest on the Gulf, but are not developed. Manufactures are inconsiderable.Discovered by the Cabots, it was settled by the French in 1715, and cededto Great Britain in 1763. Constituted a province in 1768, the name waschanged from St. John to Prince Edward in 1799. Since 1875 the localgovernment have bought out most of the great proprietors, and resold theland to occupying owners. Education is free. There are normal schools andtwo colleges. Half the people are Roman Catholics. A railway traversesthe island, and there is daily steam communication with the mainland. Thecapital is Charlottetown (13); Summerside, Georgetown, and Sourio are theother towns.

Prince of Peace, a title given by Charles IV. of Spain to his PrimeMinister,Don Manuel Godoy (q. v.).

Princeton (3), a town of New Jersey, 50 m. SW. of New York; was thescene of a battle in the War of Independence, and the meeting-place ofthe Continental Congress of 1783; now noted as the seat of the College ofNew Jersey, founded at Newark 1746, and removed to Princeton ten yearslater, with now 50 teachers and 600 students; Jonathan Edwards and Dr.James M'Cosh as presidents, James Madison and others as alumni, havegiven it lustre. The Theological Seminary, the oldest and largestPresbyterian one in the States, was founded in 1812, and a School ofScience in 1871. The college is rich in museums, observatories,laboratories, libraries, and funds.

Pringle, Thomas, minor poet, born in Roxburghshire; edited theMonthly Magazine; emigrated to South Africa; held a small governmentappointment; was bullied out of it; returned home, and became Secretaryto the Anti-Slavery Society (1789-1834).

Printed Paper, Carlyle's satirical name for the literature of Franceprior to the Revolution.

Prinzenraub (the stealing of the princes), name given to an attempt,to satisfy a private grudge of his, on the part of Kunz von Kaufingen tocarry off, on the night of the 7th July 1455, two Saxon princes from thecastle of Altenburg, in which he was defeated by apprehension at thehands of a collier named Schmidt, through whom he was handed over tojustice and beheaded. SeeCarlyle's account of this in his“Miscellanies.”

Prior, Matthew, English poet and diplomatist, born near Wimborne,East Dorset; studied at Cambridge; became Fellow of Trinity College; wasambassador to France; involved himself in an intrigue, was imprisoned,and on his release lived in retirement; he is remembered as a poet; wrotein 1687 a parody of Dryden's “Hind and Panther,” entitled “The Story ofthe Country Mouse and the City Mouse,” and afterwards, “Solomon on theVanity of the World,” “Alma; or, The Progress of the Mind,” after Butler,as well as tales, lyrics, and epigrams; Professor Saintsbury calls him“the king of 'verse of society'” (1664-1721).

Priscian, Latin grammarian of the 6th century, born in Cæsarea; wasauthor of “Grammatical Commentaries” in 18 books, a standard work duringthe Middle Ages, and in universal use at that time.

Priscillian, a Spaniard of noble birth, who introduced a Gnostic andManichæan heresy into Spain, and founded a sect called after him, and wasput to death by the Emperor Maximius in 385; his followers were an idlyspeculative sect, who practised a rigidly ascetic style of life, andafter being much calumniated did not survive him over 60 years.

Prismatic colours, the seven colours a ray of pure white light isresolved into when refracted through a prism, applied figuratively byCarlyle to the pure light refracted through the soul of a man of genius.

Prisoner of Chillon, the name given toFrançois de Bonivard(q. v.), who was for six years kept prisoner in the castle of Chillon,on the Lake of Geneva, and is the subject of a well-known poem by Byron.

Privateer, a private vessel licensed by Government under a letter ofmarque to seize and plunder the ships of an enemy, otherwise an act ofthe kind is treated as piracy.

Privy Council, is theoretically a council associated with thesovereign to advise him in matters of government. As at presentconstituted it includes the members of the royal family, the Cabinet, thetwo archbishops and the bishop of London, the principal English andScotch judges, some of the chief ambassadors and governors of colonies,the Commander-in-Chief, the First Lord of the Admiralty, &c. No membersattend except those summoned, usually the Cabinet, the officers of theHousehold, and the Primate. The functions of the Privy Council may begrouped as: (1) executive, in which its duties are discharged by theCabinet, which is technically a committee of the Privy Council; (2)administrative—the Board of Trade, the Local Government Board, and theBoard of Agriculture originated in committees; the Education Departmentis still a committee, and the Council retains such branches as thesupervision of medical, pharmaceutical, and veterinary practice, thegranting of municipal charters, &c.; (3) judicial—the Judicial Committeeis a court of law, whose principal function is the hearing of appealsfrom ecclesiastical courts and from Indian and colonial courts.

Privy Seal, the seal of the sovereign appended to grants that do notrequire to pass the great seal.

Probus, Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor from 276 to 282, born inPannonia; having distinguished himself in the field as a soldier, waselected by the army and the citizens to succeed Tacitus; defended theempire successfully against all encroachments, and afterwards devotedhimself to home administration, but requiring the service of the soldiersin public works, which they considered degrading, was seized by a body ofthem compelled so to drudge, and put to death.

Proclus, a Neo-Platonic philosopher, born in Constantinople; appearsto have held a Trinitarian view of the universe, and to have regarded theAll abstractly viewed as contained in the Divine ever emerging from itand returning into it, a doctrine Implied in John i. 1, but far short ofthe corresponding trinity in the ripe philosophy of Hegel (412-485).

Proconsul, name given to the governor of a Roman province who wasabsolute ruler of it, disposed of the army, dispensed justice, controlledadministration, and was represented by legates.

Procop, the name of two Hussite leaders of the Taborites, who afterleading successful forays on all hands from their head-quarters inBohemia, fell in battle with their rivals the Calixtines at Lippau in1434.

Procopius, a Greek historian, born at Cæsarea, the secretary ofBelisarius, and author of a History of the Wars of Justinian, which isstill the chief authority for the events of his reign;d. 565.

Procrustes, a brigand of ancient Attica, who when any one fell intohis hands placed him on a bed, stretching him out if he was too short forit and amputating him if he was too long till he died; he was one dayoverpowered by Theseus, who tortured him to death as he had done his ownvictims; his practice has given name to any attempt to enforce conformityby violent measures.

Procter, Bryan Walter, English lyrist, known by his pseudonym asBarry Cornwall, born in London; was bred to the bar, and was for 30 yearsa Commissioner of Lunacy, and is chiefly memorable as the friend of allthe eminent literary men of two generations, such as Wordsworth, Lamb,and Scott on the one hand and Carlyle, Thackeray, and Tennyson on theother; he was no great poet (1787-1874).

Proctor, Richard Antony, astronomer and lecturer on Astronomy;determined the rotation of the planet Mars, and propounded the theory ofthe solar corona (1837-1888).

Procurator-Fiscal, is a Scottish law officer appointed by thesheriff, and irremovable on efficient and good behaviour, whose dutiesare to initiate the prosecution of crimes and inquire into deaths undersuspicious circumstances.

Progne, the sister of Philomela and wife of Tereus, changed into aswallow by the gods. SeeTereus.

Progress of the Species Magazines, Carlyle's name for the literatureof the day which does nothing to help the progress in question, but keepsidly boasting of the fact, taking all the credit to itself, like Æsop'sfly on the axle of the careering chariot soliloquising, “What a dust Iraise!”

Prohibitionist, one who would prohibit the sale of all intoxicatingliquors.

Proletariat, the name given to the lowest and poorest class in theState, and which still retains the original Roman meaning, as denoting,fromproles, offspring, one who enriches the State not by hisprosperity, but by his progeny.

Prometheus (i. e. Forethought), a Titan, the son of lapetus andKlymene, and the brother ofEpimetheus (q. v.), who, when thegods, just installed on Olympus, met with men at Mekone to arrange withthem as to their dues in sacrifice, came boldly forth as therepresentative and protector of the human race and slew a bullock insacrifice, putting the flesh of it in one pile and the entrails with thebones in another, veiled temptingly with fat, and invited Zeus to makehis choice, whereupon, knowing well what he was about, Zeus chose thelatter, but in revenge took away with him the fire which had beenbestowed by the gods upon mortals. It was a strife of witversus wit,and Prometheus, as the defender of the rights of man, was not to beoutwitted even by the gods, so he reached up a hollow fennel stalk to thesun and brought the fire back again, whereupon the strife was transformedinto one of forceversus force, and Zeus caught the audacious Titan andchained him to a rock on Mount Caucasus, where an eagle gnawed all day athis liver which grew again by night, though, in inflicting thispunishment, Zeus was soon visited with a relenting heart, for it was byexpress commission from him that Hercules, as a son of his, scaled therock and slew the eagle. The myth is one of the deepest significance,reflecting an old belief, and one which has on it the seal of Christ, assanctioned of Heaven, that the world was made for man and not man forthe world, only there is included within it an expression of the jealousywith which Heaven watches the use mankind make of the gifts that, out ofher own special store, she bestows upon them. Prometheus is properly theincarnation of the divine fire latent from the beginning in the soul ofman.

Propaganda, a congregation, as it is called, at Rome, originated byGregory XIII., and organised in 1622 by Gregory XV., the object of whichis to propagate the faith of the Church among heathen nations and incountries where there is no established hierarchy, connected with whichthere is a college at Rome called the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide,where pupils are instructed for different fields of missionaryenterprise.

Propertius, Sextus, a Latin elegaic poet, born in Umbria; went toRome and became a protégé of Mæcenas; devoted himself to the cultivationof the poetic art; came under the spell of a gifted lady, to whom, underthe name of Cynthia, he dedicated the first products of his muse, andwhom he has immortalised in his poems; in his elegies he follows Greekmodels; his poetry, and the poetic quality it displays, have been muchadmired by Goethe (51-14 B.C.).

Prophecy, properly not a forecasting of particular events and thesuccession of them, but so far as it refers to the future at all is aninsight into the course of things in the time to come from insight intothe course of them in days gone by or now, and that is believed to be thecharacter of Hebrew prophecy, founded on faith in the immutability of thedivine order of things.

Prophets. SeePriests,Hebrew Prophecy.

Proselytes, converts from heathenism to Judaism, of which there weretwo classes: Proselytes of the Temple, those who accepted the ceremoniallaw and were admitted into the inner court of The temple; and Proselytesof the Gate, who accepted only the moral law, and were admitted only intothe outer court. They were a numerous class after the Dispersion, andwere reckoned at hundreds of thousands.

Proserpina, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, who was carried offwhile gathering flowers byPluto (q. v.), became Queen of Hades,and is represented as sitting on an ebony throne beside him wearing acrown. According to later tradition Pluto had to allow her to revisit theupper world for two-thirds of the year to compromise matters with hermother, her arrival being coincident with the beginning of spring and herreturn to Hades coincident with the beginning of winter. She became byPluto the mother of the Furies.

Prospero, one of the chief characters in Shakespeare's “Tempest,” anexiled king of Milan, who, during his exile, practises magic, and breakshis wand when he has accomplished his purpose.

Protagoras, one of the earliest of the Greek Sophists, born atAbdera, and who flourished in 440 B.C., and taught at Athens, from whichhe was banished as a blasphemer, as having called in question theexistence of the gods; he taught that man was the measure of all things,of those that exist, that they are; and of those things that do notexist, that they are not; and that there is nothing absolute, that all isan affair of subjective conception.

Protection, name given to the encouragement of certain home productsof a country by imposing duties on foreign products of the class, opposedto free-trade.

Protestantism, the name given to a movement headed by Luther in the16th century, in protestation of the supremacy in spiritual thingsclaimed by the Church of Rome, and made on the ground of the authority ofconscience enlightened by the Word of God, conceived of as the ultimaterevelation of God to man.

Protestants, a name given to the adherents of Luther, who, at thesecond Diet of Spires in 1529, protested against the revocation ofcertain privileges granted at the first Diet in 1526.

Proteus, in the Greek mythology a divinity of the sea endowed withthe gift of prophecy, but from whom it was difficult to extort thesecrets of fate, as he immediately changed his shape when any oneattempted to force him, for it was only in his proper form he couldenunciate these secrets.

Protogenes, a Greek painter of the time of Alexander the Great, bornin Caria; lived chiefly at Rhodes; was discovered by Apelles, who broughthim into note; his masterpiece is a picture of Ialysus, the tutelary heroof Rhodes, on which he spent seven years, and which he painted four timesover.

Protoplasm, a name given to presumed living matter forming thephysical bases of all forms of animal and vegetable life; the term is nowsuperseded by the term bioplasm. SeeDr. Stirling, “As RegardsProtoplasm.”

Proudhon, Pierre Joseph, French Socialist, born at Besançon, the sonof a cooper; worked in a printing establishment, spent his spare hours instudy, specially of the social problem, and in 1840 published a workentitled “What is Property?” and in which he boldly enunciated thestartling proposition, “Property is theft”; for the publication of thisthesis he was at first unmolested, and only with its application was hecalled to account, and for which at last, in 1849, he was committed toprison, where, however, he kept himself busy with his pen, and whence hefrom time to time emitted socialistic publications till his release in1852, after which he was in 1858 compelled to flee the country, to returnagain under an act of amnesty in 1860 and die; he was not only theassailant of property, but of government itself, and preached anarchy asthe goal of all social progress and not the starting-point, as so manyunfortunately fancy; but by anarchy, it would seem, he meant the right ofgovernment spiritually free, and, in the Christian sense of thatexpression, to exemption from all external control (see I Tim. i. 9)(1809-1865).

Prout, Samuel, eminent English water-colour artist, born atPlymouth; had from a child an irrepressible penchant for drawing, which,though discouraged at first by his father, was fostered by hisschoolmaster; was patronised by Britton the antiquary, and employed byhim to assist him in collecting materials for his “Beauties of Englandand Wales,” but it was not till his visit to Rouen in 1818 that he wasfirst fascinated with the subject that henceforth occupied him; from thistime excursions were continually made to the Continent, and every cornerof France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy ransacked for itsfragments of carved stone; the old architecture that then fascinated himhenceforth became a conspicuous feature in all his after-works; “theworks of Prout,” says Ruskin, “will one day become memorials of the mostprecious of things that have been ... A time will come when that zealwill be understood, and his works will be cherished with a melancholygratitude, when the pillars of Venice shall be mouldering in the saltshallows of her sea, and the stones of the goodly towers of Rouen havebecome ballast for the barges of the Seine” (1789-1852).

Prout, Father. SeeMahony, Francis.

Provençal Language, one of the Romance dialects of France, spoken inthe South of France, and different from that spoken in the N. as incloser connection with the original Latin than that of the N., which wasmodified by Teutonic influence.

Provence, a maritime province in the South of France, originallycalled Provincia by the Romans, and which included the departments ofBouches-du-Rhône, Basses-Alpes, Var, and part of Vaucluse.

Proverbs, Book Of, a book of the Hebrew Scriptures, full of theteachings of wisdom bearing on the conduct of life, and though ascribedto Solomon, obviously not all of his composition, or even collection, andprobably ascribed to him because of his fondness for wisdom in that form,and from his having procured the first collection. The principlesinculcated are purely ethical, resting, however, on a religious basis,and concern the individual not as a member of any particular community,but as a member of the human race; the lessons of life and death are thesame as in the covenant with Moses, and the condition in both cases isthe observance or non-observance of God's commandments. There is nochange in the principle, but in the expansion of it, and that amounts tothe foundation of a kingdom of God which shall include all nations. Inthem the bonds of Jewish exclusiveness are burst, and a catholic religionvirtually established.

Providence (175), a seaport and semi-capital of Rhode Island, U.S.,on a river of the name, 44 m. SW. of Boston; it is a centre of a largemanufacturing district, and has a large trade in woollens, jewellery, andhardware; has a number of public buildings, and institutions, churches,schools, libraries, and hospitals, as well as beautiful villas andgardens.

Prudentius, Marcus Aurelius Clemens. Christian poet of the 4thcentury, born in Spain; after spending the greater part of his life insecular affairs, gave himself up to religious meditation, and wrotehymns, lyrics, and polemics in verse.

Prussia (24,690), the leading State of the German Empire, occupiesabout two-thirds of the imperial territory, and contributes three-fifthsof the population; it stretches from Holland and Belgium in the W. toRussia in the E., has Jutland and the sea on the N., and Lorraine,Bavaria, Hesse-Darmstadt, Saxony, and Austria on the S.; the SW. portionis hilly and the soil often poor, but containing valuable mineraldeposits; the N. and E. belongs to the great European plain, devoted toagriculture and grazing; Hesse-Cassel is extremely fertile, and Nassauproduces excellent wine; in the E. and in Hanover are extensive forests;Silesia, Westphalia, and Rhenish Prussia contain the chief coal-fields,and are consequently the chief industrial provinces; half the zinc of theworld is mined in Prussia; lead, iron, copper, antimony, &c., are alsowrought; the Hartz Mountains are noted for their mines; Salt, amber, andprecious stones are found on the Baltic shores; textiles, metal wares,and beer are the main industries; Berlin and Elberfeld are the two chiefmanufacturing centres on the Continent; the great navigable rivers,Niemen, Vistula, Oder, Elbe, Weser, Rhine, and their tributaries andcanals, excellent railways, and her central European position all favourPrussia's commerce, while her coast-line, harbours, and growingmercantile fleet put her in communication with the markets of the world;seven-eighths of the people are Germans; Slavonic races are representedby Poles, Wends, Lithuanians, and Czechs, while the Danes appear inSchleswig-Holstein; the prevailing religion is Protestant; education iscompulsory and good; there are ten universities, and many great librariesand educational institutions; the Prussian is the largest contingent inthe German army; the king of Prussia is emperor of Germany. The basis ofthe Prussian people was laid by German colonists placed amid the paganSlavs whom they had conquered by the Teutonic knights of the 13thcentury; in 1511 their descendants chose a Hohenzollern prince; a centurylater the Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg succeeded; despite the ThirtyYears' War Prussia became a European State, and was recognised as akingdom in 1703; Frederick the Great (1740-1786) enlarged its bounds anddeveloped its resources; the successive partitions of Poland added to herterritory; humiliated by the peace of Tilsit 1807, and ruined by theFrench occupation, she recovered after Waterloo; William I. and Bismarckstill further increased her territory and prestige; by the Austrian Warof 1866 and the French War of 1870-71 her position as premier State inthe German Confederation was assured.

Prynne, William, a Puritancensor morum, born near Bath, bred tothe bar; wrote a book or pamphlet called “Histrio-Mastix, or the Player'sScourge,” against the stage, for which and a reflection in it against thevirtue of the queen he was brought before the Star Chamber in 1634,sentenced to the pillory, and had his ears cropped off, and for anoffence against Laud, whether by order of the Star Chamber or not isuncertain, was in 1637 sentenced anew, and “lost his ears a second andfinal time, having had them 'sewed on again' before; this time a heroineon the scaffold,” adds Carlyle, “received them on her lap and kissedhim”; after this the zeal of Prynne appears to have waxed cold, for hewas as a recalcitrant imprisoned by Cromwell, after whose death heespoused the Royalist cause, and was appointed Keeper of the Records ofthe Tower (1600-1669).

Prytane`um, name given to the public hall in Greek cities, and thehead-quarters of the Executive.

Psalmanazar, George, an impostor, born in the South of France, who,being brought to London, imposed on Compton, bishop of London, byfabricating a history of Formosa, of which he professed to be a native,but was convicted of the error of his ways by Law's “Serious Call,” andled afterwards what seemed a sober life, and one to commend the regard ofJohnson (1679-1763).

Psalms, The Book of, the name given in the Septuagint to acollection of sacred songs in the Hebrew Bible, which are all of alyrical character, and appear to have been at first collected forliturgical purposes. Their range is co-extensive with nearly all divinetruth, and there are tones in them in accord with the experience andfeelings of devout men in all ages. Nay, “the Psalter alone,” saysRuskin, “which practically was the service-book of the Church for manyages, contains, merely in the first half of it, the sum of personal andsocial wisdom,... while the 48th, 72nd, and 75th have in them the law andthe prophecy of all righteous government, and every real triumph ofnatural science is anticipated in the 104th.” The collection bears thename of David, but it is clear the great body of them are of later dateas well as of divers authorship, although it is often difficult todetermine by whom some of them were written, and when. The determinationof this, however, is of the less consequence, as the question is more aspeculative one than a spiritual one, and whatever may be the result ofinquiry in this matter now going on, the spiritual value of the Psalms,which is their real value, is nowise affected thereby. It matters nothingwho wrote them or when they were written; they arethere, are conceivedfrom situations such as are obvious enough and common to the lot of allgood men, and they bear on spiritual interests, which are our primaryones, and these, still, as in every other time, the alone really pressingones. They express the real experiences of living men, who lay under aninner necessity to utter such a song, relieving themselves by the effortand ministering a means of relief to others in a like situation of soul.

Psyche (i. e. the soul), in the later Greek mythology the youngestof three daughters of a king, and of such beauty as to eclipse theattractions and awake the jealousy of Venus, the goddess of beauty, whoin consequence sent Cupid, her son, to inspire her with love for ahideous monster, and so compass her ruin. Cupid, fascinated with herhimself, spirited her away to a palace furnished with every delight, butinstead of delivering her over to the monster, visited her himself atnight as her husband, and left her before daybreak in the morning,because she must on no account know who he was. Here her sisters came tosee her, and in their jealousy persuaded her to assure herself that itwas not a monster that she slept with, so that she lit a lamp the nextnight to discover, when a drop of oil from it fell on his shoulder as helay asleep beside her, upon which he at a bound started up and vanishedout of sight. She thereupon gave way to a long wail of lamentation andset off a-wandering over the wide world in search of her lost love, tillshe came to the palace of Venus, her arch-enemy, who seized on her personand made her her slave, subjecting her to a series of services, all ofwhich she accomplished to the letter, so that Venus was obliged to relentand consent that, in the presence of all the gods of Olympus, Cupid andshe should be united in immortal wedlock. It is the story of the trialsof the soul to achieve immortality. See “Stories from the GreekMythology,” by the Editor.

Psychical Research, Society for, a society founded in 1882 toinquire into the phenomena of spiritualism and kindred subjects of arecondite kind, the subject of Telepathy having engaged recently a gooddeal of attention.

Ptolemaic System, the highly complex system of astronomy ascribed toClaudius Ptolemy, which assumed that the earth was the centre of a spherewhich carried the heavenly bodies along in its daily revolution,accounted for the revolutions of the sun and moon by supposing they movedin eccentric circles round the earth, and regarded the planets as movingin epicycles round a point which itself revolved in an eccentric circleround the earth like the sun and moon.

Ptolemaïs, the name of certain cities of antiquity, the mostcelebrated being Acre, inSyria (q. v.).

Ptolemy, the name of the Macedonian kings of Egypt, of which therewere 14 in succession, of whom Ptolemy I.,Soter, was a favouritegeneral of Alexander the Great, and who ruled Egypt from 328 to 285 B.C.;Ptolemy II.,Philadelphus, who ruled from 285 to 247, a patronof letters and an able administrator; Ptolemy III.,Euergetes, whoruled from 247 to 222; Ptolemy IV.,Philopator, who ruled from 222to 205; Ptolemy V.,Epiphanes, who ruled from 205 to 181; PtolemyVI.,Philometor, who ruled from 181 to 146; Ptolemy VII.,EuergetesII., who ruled from 146 to 117; Ptolemy VIII.,Soter, who ruledfrom 117 to 107, was driven from Alexandria, returning to it in 88, andreigning till 81; Ptolemy X.,Alexander I., who ruled from 107 to88; Ptolemy X.Alexander II., who ruled from 81 to 80; Ptolemy XI.,Auletes, who ruled from 80 to 51; Ptolemy XII., who ruled from 51to 47; Ptolemy XIII., theInfant King, who ruled from 47 to 43;Ptolemy XIV.,Cesarion, the son of Julius Cæsar and Cleopatra, whoruled from 43 to 30.

Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemæus), ancient astronomer and geographer,born in Egypt; lived in Alexandria in the 2nd century; was the author ofthe system of astronomy called after him; left behind him two writingsbearing one on astronomy and one on geography, along with other works ofinferior importance.

Publicans orPublicani, a name given by the Romans to personswho farmed the public revenues; specially a class of the Jewish people,often mentioned in the New Testament, and specially odious to the rest ofthe community as the farmers of the taxes imposed upon them, mostly atthe instance of their foreign oppressors the Romans, and in thecollection of which they had recourse to the most unjust exactions. Theywere in their regard not merely the tools of a foreign oppression, buttraitors to their country and apostates from the faith of their fathers,and were to be classed, as they were, with heathens, sinners, andharlots.

Puccinotti, Francesco, eminent Italian pathologist, born in Urbino,and author of the “Storia delle Medicina” (History of Medicine), thefruit of the labour of twenty years (1794-1872).

Pucelle La (i. e. the Maid), Joan of Arc, the maidparexcellence.

Puck, a tricky, mischievous fairy, identified with Robin Goodfellow,and sometimes confounded with a house spirit, propitiated by kind wordsand the liberty of the cream-bowl.

Puebla (79), on an elevated plateau 7000 ft. above the sea, 68 m.due SE. of Mexico, is the third city of the republic, and a beautifultown, with Doric cathedral, theological, medical, and other schools, amuseum, and two libraries; cotton goods, iron, paper, and glass aremanufactured; it is a commercial city, and carries on a brisk trade. Isthe name also of a Colorado town (24) on the Arkansas River; it is in arich mineral district, and is engaged in the manufacture of steel andiron wares.

Puerto de Santa Maria (22), a seaport in Spain, on the Bay of Cadiz,9 m. SW. of Xeres, and the chief place of export of Xeres port or sherrywines.

Puerto Plata (15), the chief port of the Dominican Republic, on theN. of Hayti; exports tobacco, sugar, coffee, &c.

Puerto Principe (46), a town on the E. of Cuba; manufactures cigars,and exports sugar, hides, and molasses; originally on the shore, butremoved inland.

Puffendorf, Samuel, Baron von, eminent German jurist, born atChemnitz, Saxony; wrote several works on jurisprudence, one of which,under the ban of Austria, was burned there by the hangman, but his “DeJure Naturæ et Gentium” is the one on which his fame rests; wassuccessively in the service of Charles XI. of Sweden and the Elector ofBrandenburg (1632-1694).

Pugin, Augustus Welby, architect, born in London, of Frenchparentage; made a special study of Gothic architecture; assisted indecorating the new Houses of Parliament, but becoming a Roman Catholic hegave himself to designing a good number of Roman Catholic churches,including cathedrals; he wrote several works on architecture, and wasthe chief promoter of the “Mediæval Court” in the Crystal Palace; he wasafflicted in the prime of life with insanity, and died at Ramsgate(1812-1852).

Pulci, Luini, Italian poet, born at Florence; the personal friend ofLorenzo de' Medici, and the author of a burlesque poem of which Roland isthe hero, entitled in Tuscan “Il Morgante Maggiore” (“Morgante theGreat”); he wrote also several humorous sonnets; two brothers of his hadsimilar gifts (1432-1484).

Pulque, a favourite beverage of the Mexicans and in Central America,from the fermented juice of the agave.

Pulteney, William, Earl of Bath, English statesman; in 1705 enteredParliament zealous in the Whig interest; was for years the friend andcolleague of Walpole, but afterwards, from a slight, became his bitterestenemy and most formidable opponent; he contributed a good deal to hisfall, but, unable to take his place, contented himself with a peerage,his popularity being gone (1682-1764).

Pultowa (43), a town in Southern Russia, 90 m. by rail SW. ofKharkoff, on an affluent of the Dnieper; manufactures leather andtobacco; here Peter the Great won his victory over Charles XII. of Swedenin 1709.

Pultusk, a Polish town, 33 m. N. of Warsaw; here Charles XII. gaineda victory over the Saxons in 1703, and the French over the Russians in1806.

Pulu, a kind of silk obtained from the fibres of a fern-tree ofHawaii.

Punch, the name of the chief character in a well-known puppet showof Italian origin, and appropriated as the title of the leading Englishcomic journal, which is accompanied with illustrations conceived in ahumorous vein and conducted in satire, from a liberal Englishman'sstandpoint, of the follies and weaknesses of the leaders of publicopinion and fashion in modern social life. It was started in 1841 underthe editorship of Henry Mayhew and Mark Lemon; and the wittiest literarymen of the time as well as the cleverest artists have contributed to itspages, enough to mention of the former Thackeray, Douglas Jerrold, andTom Hood, and of the latter Doyle, Leech, Tenniel, Du Maurier, andLindley Sambourne.

Pundit, a Brahmin learned in Sanskrit and in the language,literature, and laws of the Hindus.

Punic Faith, a plighted promise that one can put no trust in, suchas the Romans alleged they systematically had experience of at the handsof the Poeni or Carthaginians.

Punic Wars, the name given to the wars between Rome and Carthage forthe empire of the world, of date, the first from 264 to 241, the secondfrom 218 to 201, and the third from 149 to 146 B.C., due all totransgressions on the one side or the other of boundaries fixed bytreaty, which it was impossible for either in their passion of empire torespect. It was a struggle which, though it ended in the overthrow ofCarthage, proved at one time the most critical in the history of Rome.

Punjab (25,130), “five rivers,” a province in the extreme NW. ofIndia, watered by the Indus and its four tributaries, Jhelum, Chenab,Ravee, and Sutlej; its frontiers touch Afghanistan and Cashmir. Mountainranges traverse the N., W., and S; little rain falls; the plains are dryand hot in summer. There is little timber, cow-dung is common fuel; thesoil is barren, but under irrigation there are fertile stretches; wheat,indigo, sugar, cotton, tobacco, opium, and tea are largely grown; cotton,silk, lace, iron, and leather are manufactured; indigo, grain, cotton,and manufactured products are exported in exchange for raw material,dyes, horses, and timber. The population is mixed, Sikhs, Jats, andRajputs predominate; more than a half are Mohammedan, and more than athird Hindu. Lahore is the capital, but Delhi and Amritsar are largertowns. Several railways run through the province. The natives remainedloyal throughout the Mutiny of 1857-58, Sikhs and Pathans joining theBritish troops before Delhi.

Puránas, a body of religious works which rank second to the Vedas,and form the basis of the popular belief of the Hindus. There are 18principal Puránas and 18 secondary Puránas, of various dates, butbelieved to be of remote antiquity, though modern critical researchproves that in their present form they are not of very ancient origin.

Purbeck, Isle of, the peninsula in South Dorsetshire lying betweenthe river Frome, Poole Harbour, and the English Channel; formerly a royaldeer-forest; has a precipitous coast, and inland consists of chalk downs;nearly 100 quarries are wrought of “Purbeck marble.”

Purcell, Henry, eminent English musician, born at Westminster; wassuccessively organist at Westminster Abbey and to the Chapel Royal;excelled in all forms of musical composition; was the author of anthems,cantatas, glees, &c., which attained great popularity; he set the songsof Shakespeare's “Tempest” to music (1658-1695).

Purchas, Samuel, collector of works of travel and continuator of thework of Hakluyt, in two curious works entitled “Purchas his Pilgrimage,”and “Hakluyt's his Posthumous, or Purchas his Pilgrimmes,” and was rectorof St. Martin's, Ludgate, and chaplain to Archbishop Abbot (1577-1626).

Purgatorio, region in Dante's “Commedia” intermediate between theInferno, region of lost souls, and the Paradiso, region of saved souls,and full of all manner of obstructions which the penitent, who would passfrom the one to the other, must struggle with in soul-wrestle till heovercome, the most Christian section, thinks Carlyle, of Dante's poem.

Purgatory, in the creed of the Church of Rome a place in which thesouls of the dead, saved from hell by the death of Christ, are chastenedand purified from venial sins, a result which is, in great part, ascribedto the prayers of the faithful and the sacrifice of the Mass. The creedof the Church in this matter was first formulated by Gregory the Great,and was based by him, as it has been vindicated since, on passages ofScripture as well as the writings of the Fathers. The conception of it,as wrought out by Dante, Carlyle considers “a noble embodiment of a truenoble thought.” See his “Heroes.”

Purim, the Feast of, orLots, an annual festival of the Jews incommemoration of the preservation, as recorded in “Esther,” of their racefrom the threatened wholesale massacre of it in Persia at the instance ofHaman, and which was so called because it was by casting “lots” that theday was fixed for the execution of the purpose. It lasts two days, beingobserved on the 14th and 15th of the month Adar.

Puritan City, name given to Boston, U.S., from its founders andinhabitants who were originally of Puritan stock.

Puritans, a name given to a body of clergymen of the Church ofEngland who refused to assent to the Act of Uniformity passed in thereign of Queen Elizabeth, because it required them to conform to Popishdoctrine and ritual; and afterwards applied to the whole body ofNonconformists in England in the 16th and 17th centuries, who insisted onrigid adherence to the simplicity prescribed in these matters by thesacred Scriptures. In the days of Cromwell they were, “with musket onshoulder,” the uncompromising foes of all forms, particularly in theworship of God, that affected to be alive after the soul had gone out ofthem.

Pursuivant, one of the junior officers in the Heralds' College, fourin England, named respectively Rouge Croix, Blue Mantle, Rouge Dragon,and Portcullis; and three in Scotland, named respectively Bute, Carrick,and Unicorn.

Pusey, Edward Bouverie, English theologian, born in Berkshire, ofFlemish descent; studied at Christ's Church, Oxford, and became a Fellowof Oriel, where he was brought into relationship with Newman, Keble, andWhately; spent some time in Germany studying Rationalism, and, after hisreturn, was in 1828 appointed Regius Professor of Hebrew at Oxford; in1833 he joined the Tractarian Movement, to which he contributed by hislearning, and which, from his standing in the University, as well as fromthe part he played in it, was at length called by his name; he was not soconspicuous as other members of the movement, but he gained somenotoriety by a sermon he preached on the Eucharist, which led to hissuspension for three years, and notwithstanding his life of seclusion, hetook an active part in all questions affecting the interests he held tobe at stake; he was the author of several learned works, among them the“Minor Prophets, a Commentary,” and “Daniel the Prophet” (1800-1882).

Puseyism, defined by Carlyle to be “a noisy theoretic demonstrationand laudation ofthe Church, instead of some unnoisy, unconscious, butpractical, total, heart-and-soul demonstration ofa Church, ... amatter to strike one dumb,” and apropos to which he asks pertinently, “ifthere is no atmosphere, what will it serve a man to demonstrate theexcellence of lungs?”

Pushkin, a distinguished Russian poet, considered the greatest, bornat Moscow; his chief works are “Ruslan and Liudmila” (a heroic poem),“Eugene Onegin” (a romance), and “Boris Godunov” (a drama); was mortallywounded in a duel (1799-1837).

Pushtoo orPushto, the language of the Afghans, said to bederived from the Zend, with admixtures from the neighbouring tribes.

Puteaux (17), a suburb of Paris, on the left bank of the Seine, afavourite residence of the Parisians, who have villas here.

Putney (18), a London suburb on the Surrey side, 6 m. from Waterloo,has a bridge across the Thames 300 yards long; the parish church towerdates from the 15th century. The river here affords favourite rowingwater, the starting-place of the inter-universities boat-race; PutneyHeath was a favourite duelling resort; Gibbon was a native; Pitt andLeigh Hunt died here.

Puy, Le (20), a picturesque town, 70 m. SW. of Lyons, a bishop'sseat, with a 10th-century cathedral; is the centre of a great lacemanufacture.

Puy-du-Dôme (564), a department in Central France, in the uppervalley of the Allier, on the slopes of the Auvergne Mountains. The soilis poor, but agriculture and cattle-breeding are the chief industries; inthe mountains coal and lead are found, and there are many mineralsprings; there are paper and oil manufactures. The principal town isClermont-Ferrand (45), where Peter the Hermit preached the first crusade.

Pygmalion, king of Cyprus, is said to have fallen in love with anivory statue of a maiden he had himself made, and to have prayedAphrodité to breathe life into it. The request being granted, he marriedthe maiden and became by her the father of Paphus.

Pygmies, a fabulous people, their height 13½ inches, mentioned byHomer as dwelling on the shores of the ocean and attacked by cranes inspring-time, the theme of numerous stories.

Pym, John, Puritan statesman, born in Somersetshire, educated atOxford; bred to law, entered Parliament in 1621, opposed the arbitrarymeasures of the king, took a prominent part in the impeachment ofBuckingham; at the opening of the Long Parliament procured theimpeachment of the Earl of Strafford, and conducted the proceedingsagainst him; he was one of the five members illegally arrested by CharlesI., and was brought back again in triumph to Westminster; was appointedLieutenant of the Ordnance, and a month after died (1584-1643).

Pyramids, ancient structures of stone or sometimes brick, restinggenerally on square bases and tapering upwards with triangular sides,found in different parts of the world, but chiefly in Egypt, where theyexist to the number of 70 or 80, and of which the most celebrated arethose of Ghizeh, 10 m. W. of Cairo, three in number, viz., the GreatPyramid of Cheop, 449 ft. high, and the sides at base 746 ft. long, thatnamed Chefren, nearly the same size, and that of Mykerinos, not half theheight of the other two, but excelling them in beauty of execution. Theoriginal object of these structures has been matter of debate, but thereseems to be now no doubt that they are sepulchral monuments of kings ofEgypt from the first to the twelfth dynasty of them.

Pyramus and Thisbe, two lovers who lived in adjoining houses inBabylon, and who used to converse with each other through a hole in thewall, because their parents would not allow them open intimacy, but whoarranged to meet one evening at the tomb of Nisus. The maiden appearingat the spot and being confronted by a lioness who had just killed an ox,took to flight and left her garment behind her, which the lioness hadsoiled with blood. Pyramus arriving after this saw only the bloodygarment on the spot and immediately killed himself, concluding she hadbeen murdered, while she on return finding him lying in his blood, threwherself upon his dead body and was found a corpse at his side in themorning.

Pyrene, a crystalline substance obtained from coal tar, fats, &c.

Pyrenees, a broad chain of lofty mountains running from the Bay ofBiscay, 276 m. eastwards, to the Mediterranean, form the boundary betweenFrance and Spain. They are highest in the centre, Mount Maladettareaching 11,168 ft. The snow-line is about 8000 or 9000 ft., and thereare glaciers on the French side. Valleys run up either side, ending inprecipitous “pot-holes,” with great regularity. The passes are verydangerous from wind and snow storms. The streams to the N. feed the Adourand Garonne; those to the S., the Ebro and Douro. Vegetation in the W. isEuropean, in the E. sub-tropical. Minerals are few, though both iron andcoal are worked. The basis of the system is granite with limestone stratasuperimposed.

Pyroxyline, an explosive substance obtained by steeping vegetablefibre in nitro-sulphuric acid and drying after it is washed.

Pyrrha, in Greek mythology the wife ofDeucalion (q. v.).

Pyrrhic Dance, the chief war-dance of the Greeks, of quick, lightmovement to the music of flutes; was of Cretan or Spartan origin. It wassubsequently danced for display by the Athenian youths and by women toentertain company, and in the Roman empire was a favourite item in thepublic games.

Pyrrho, the father of the Greek sceptics, born in Elis, acontemporary of Aristotle; his doctrine was, that as we cannot knowthings as they are, only as they seem to be, we must be content tosuspend our judgment on such matters and maintain a perfectimperturbability of soul if we would live to any good.

Pyrrhonism, philosophic scepticism. SeePyrrho.

Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, and kinsman of Alexander the Great; essayedto emulate the Macedonian by conquering the western World, and in 280 B.C.invaded Italy with a huge army, directed to assist the Italian Greeksagainst Rome; in the decisive battles of that year and the next, he won“Pyrrhic victories” over the Romans, losing so many men that he could notpursue his advantage; 278 to 276 he spent helping the Greek colonies inSicily against Carthage; his success was not uniform, and a Carthaginianfleet inflicted a serious defeat on his fleet returning to Italy; in 274he was thoroughly vanquished by the Romans, and retired to Epirus;subsequent wars against Sparta and Argos were marked by disaster; in thelatter he was killed by a tile thrown by a woman (318-272 B.C.).

Pyrrhus, called alsoNeoptolemus, son of Achilles; was one ofthe heroes concealed in the wooden horse by means of which Troy wasentered, slew Priam by the altar of Zeus, and sacrificed Polyxena to themanes of his father. Andromache, the widow of Hector, fell to him on thedivision of the captives after the fall of Troy, and became his wife.

Pythagoras, a celebrated Greek philosopher and founder of a schoolnamed after him Pythagoreans, born at Samos, and who seems to haveflourished between 540 and 500 B.C.; after travels in many lands settledat Crotona in Magna Græcia, where he founded a fraternity, the members ofwhich bound themselves in closest ties of friendship to purity of lifeand to active co-operation in disseminating and encouraging a kindredspirit in the community around them, the final aim of it being theestablishment of a model social organisation. He left no writings behindhim, and we know of his philosophy chiefly from the philosophy of hisdisciples.

Pythagoreans, the school of philosophy founded by Pythagoras, “thefundamental thought of which,” according toSchwegler, “was thatof proportion and harmony, and this idea is to them as well the principleof practical life, as the supreme law of the universe.” It was a kind of“arithmetical mysticism, and the leading thought was that law, order, andagreement obtain in the affairs of Nature, and that these relations arecapable of being expressed in number and in measure.” The whole tendencyof the Pythagoreans, in a practical aspect, was ascetic, and aimed onlyat a rigid castigation of the moral principle in order thereby to ensurethe emancipation of the soul from its mortal prison-house and itstransmigration into a nobler form. It is with the doctrine of thetransmigration of souls that the Pythagorean philosophy is speciallyassociated.

Pytheas, a celebrated Greek navigator of Massilia, in Gaul, probablylived in the time of Alexander the Great; in his first voyage visitedBritain and Thule, and in his second coasted along the western shore ofEurope from Cadiz to the Elbe.

Pythian Games, celebrated from very early times till the 4th centuryA.D. every four years, near Delphi, in honour of Apollo, who was said tohave instituted them to commemorate his victory over the Python;originally were contests in singing only, but after the middle of the 6thcentury B.C. they included instrumental music, contests in poetry andart, athletic exercises, and horse-racing.

Python, in the Greek mythology a serpent or dragon produced from themud left on the earth after the deluge of Deucalion, a brood of sheerchaos and the dark, who lived in a cave of Parnassus, and was slain byApollo, who founded the Pythian Games in commemoration of his victory,and was in consequence called Pythius.

Pythoness, the priestess ofApollo at Delphi (q. v.), socalled from thePython (q. v.), the dragon slain by the god.

Pyx, the name of a cup-shaped, gold-lined vessel, with lid, used inthe Roman Catholic churches for containing the eucharistic elements aftertheir consecration either for adoration in the churches or for conveyingto sick-rooms. Pyx means “box.” HenceTrial of the Pyx is the annualtest of the British coinage, for which purpose one coin in every 15 lbs.of gold and one in every 60 lbs. of silver coined is set aside in a pyxor box.

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