Anastasius, the librarian, is the first to mention such a pope, A.D.
886, or thirty years after the death of Joan.
Marianus Scotus, in his _Chronicle_, says she reigned two years, five
months and four days (853-855). Scotus died 1086.
Sigebert de Gemblours, in his _Chronicle_, repeats the same story
(1112).
Otto of Friesingen[TN-101] and Gotfried of Viterbo both mention her in
their histories.
Martin Polonus gives a very full account of the matter. He says she went
by the name of John Anglus, and was born at Metz, of English parents.
While she was pope, she was prematurely delivered of a child in the
street “between the Coliseum and St. Clement’s Church.”
William Ocham alludes to the story.
Thomas de Elmham repeats it (1422).
John Huss tells us her baptismal name was not Joan, but Agnes.
Others insist that her name was Gilberta.
In the _Annalês Augustani_ (1135), we are told her papal name was John
VIII., and that she it was who conscrated[TN-102] Louis II., of France.
Arguments in favor of the allegation are given by Spanheim, _Exercit. de
Papa Fæmina_, ii. 577; in Lenfant, _Historie de la Papesse Jeanne_.
Arguments against the allegation are given by Allatius or Allatus,
_Confutatio Fabulæ de Johanna Papissa_; and in Lequien,[TN-103] _Oriens
Christianus_, iii. 777.
Arguments on both sides are given in Cunningham’s translation of
_Geiseler, Lehrbuch_, ii. 21, 22; and in La Bayle’s _Dictionnaire_,
iii., art. “Papisse.”
⁂ Gibbon says, “Two Protestants, Blondel and Bayle, have annihilated the
female pope;” but the expression is certainly too strong, and even
Mosheim is more than half inclined to believe there really was such a
person.
=Pope of Philosophy=, Aristotle (B.C. 384-322).
=Popes= (_Titles assumed by_). “Universal Bishop,” prior to Gregory the
Great. Gregory the Great adopted the style of “Servus Servorum” (591).
Martin IV. was addressed as “the lamb of God which takest away the sins
of the world,” to which was added, “Grant us thy peace!” (1281).
Leo X. was styled, by the council of Lateran, “Divine Majesty,” “Husband
of the Church,” “Prince of the Apostles,” “The Key of all the Universe,”
“The Pastor, the Physician, and a God possessed of all power both in
heaven and on earth” (1513).
Paul V. styled himself “Monarch of Christendom,” “Supporter of the Papal
Omnipotence,” “Vice-God,” “Lord God the Pope” (1605).
Others, after Paul, “Master of the World,” “Pope the Universal Father,”
“Judge in the place of God,” “Vicegerent of the Most High.”--Brady,
_Clavis Calendaria_, 247 (1839).
The pope assumes supreme dominion, not only over spiritual but also
over temporal affairs, styling himself “Head of the Catholic or
Universal Church, Sole Arbiter of its rights, and Sovereign Father
of all the Kings of the Earth.” From these titles, he wears a
triple crown, one as High Priest, one as emperor, and the third as
king. He also bears keys, to denote his privilege of opening the
gates of heaven to all true believers.--Brady, 250-1.
⁂ For the first five centuries the bishops of Rome wore a bonnet, like
other ecclesiastics. Pope Hormisdas placed on his bonnet the crown sent
him by Clovis; Boniface VIII. added a second crown during his struggles
with Philip the Fair; and John XXII. assumed the third crown.
=Popish Plot=, a supposed Roman Catholic conspiracy to massacre the
Protestants, burn London, and murder the king (Charles II.). This
fiction was concocted by one Titus Oates, who made a “good thing” by his
schemes; but being at last found out, was pilloried, whipped, and
imprisoned (1678-9).
=Poppy= (_Ned_), a prosy old anecdote teller, with a marvellous tendency
to digression.
=Poquelin= (_Jean-ah_), a wealthy Creole living in seclusion in an old
house, attended only by a deaf-mute negro. The secrecy and mystery of
his life excite all sorts of ugly rumors, and he is mobbed by a crowd of
mischievous boys and loafers, receiving injuries that cause his death.
The story that his house is haunted keeps intruders from the doors, but
they venture near enough on the day of his funeral, to see the coffin
brought out by the mute negro, and laid on a cart, and that the solitary
mourner is Poquelin’s brother, long supposed to be dead. He is a
_leper_, for whom the elder brother has cared secretly all these years,
not permitting the knowledge of his existence to get abroad, lest the
unfortunate man should be removed forcibly, and sent to what is the only
asylum for him now that his guardian is dead--the abhorrent _Terre aux
Lepreux_.--George W. Cable, _Old Creole Days_ (1879).
=Porch= (_The_). The Stoics were so called, because their founder gave his
lectures in the Athenian _stoa_, or _porch_, called “Pœ´cilê.”
The successors of Socrătês formed ... the Academy, the Porch, the
Garden.--Professor Seeley, _Ecce Homo_.
George Herbert has a poem called _The Church Porch_ (six-line stanzas).
It may be considered introductory to his poem entitled _The Church_
(Sapphic verse and sundry other metres).
=Porcius=, son of Cato, of Utĭca (in Africa), and brother of Marcus. Both
brothers were in love with Lucia; but the hot-headed, impulsive Marcus,
being slain in battle, the sage and temperate Porcius was without a
rival.--J. Addison, _Cato_ (1713).
When Sheridan reproduced _Cato_, Wignell, who acted “Porcius,”
omitted the prologue, and began at once with the lines, “The dawn
is overcast, the morning lowers....” “The prologue! the prologue!”
shouted the audience; and Wignell went on in the same tone, as if
continuing his speech:
Ladies and gentleman, there has not been
A prologue spoken to this play for years--
And heavily on clouds brings on the day,
The great, th’ important day, big with the fate
Of Cato and of Rome.
_History of the Stage._
=Porcupine= (_Peter_). William Cobbett, the politician, published _The
Rushlight_ under this pseudonym in 1860.
=Pornei´us= (3 _syl._), Fornication personified; one of the four sons of
Anag´nus (_inchastity_), his brothers being Mæ´chus (_adultery_),
Acath´arus, and Asel´gês (_lasciviousness_). He began the battle of
Mansoul by encountering Parthen´ia (_maidenly chastity_), but “the
martial maid” slew him with her spear. (Greek, _porneia_,
“fornication.”).
In maids his joy; now by a maid defied,
His life he lost and all his former pride.
With women would he live, now by a woman died.
Phineas Fletcher, _The Purple Island_, xi. (1633).
=Porphyrius=, in Dryden’s drama of _Tyrannic Love_.
Valeria, daughter of Maximin, having killed herself for the love of
Porphyrus, was on one occasion being carried off by the bearers,
when she started up and boxed one of the bearers on the ears,
saying to him:
Hold! are you mad, you damned confounded dog?
I am to rise and speak the epilogue.
W. C. Russell, _Representative Actors_, 456.
=Porphyro-Genitus= (“_born in the Porphyra_”), the title given to the
kings of the Eastern empire, from the apartments called Porphyra, set
apart for the empresses during confinement.
There he found Irene, the empress, in travail, in a house anciently
appointed for the empresses during childbirth. They call that house
“Porphyra,” whence the name of the Porphyro-geniti came into the
world.--See Selden, _Titles of Honor_, v. 61 (1614).
=Porrex=, younger son of Gorboduc, a legendary king of Britain. He drove
his elder brother, Ferrex, from the kingdom, and, when Ferrex returned
with a large army, defeated and slew him. Porrex was murdered while
“slumbering on his careful bed,” by his own mother, who stabbed[TN-104]
him to the heart with a knife.”--Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville,
_Gorboduc_ (a tragedy, 1561-2).
=Por´sena=, a legendary king of Etruria, who made war on Rome to restore
Tarquin to the throne.
Lord Macaulay has made this the subject of one of his _Lays of Ancient
Rome_ (1842).
=Port´amour=, Cupid’s sheriff’s officer, who summoned offending lovers to
“Love’s Judgment Hall.”--Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, vi. 7 (1596).
=Porteous= (_Captain John_), an officer of the city guard. He is hanged by
the mob (1736).
_Mrs. Porteous_, wife of the captain.--Sir W. Scott, _The Heart of
Midlothian_ (time, George II.)
=Porter= (_Sir Joseph_), K. C. B. The admiral who “stuck close to his
desk, and never went to sea.” His reward was the appointment as “ruler
of the Queen’s navee.”--W. S. Gilbert, _Pinafore_.
=Portia=, the wife of Pontius Pilate, in Klopstock’s _Messiah_.
_Portia_, wife of Marcus Brutus. Valerius Maximus says: “She, being
determined to kill herself, took hot burning coals into her mouth, and
kept her lips closed till she was suffocated by the smoke.”
With this she fell distract,
And, her attendants absent, swallowed fire.
Shakespeare, _Julius Cæsar_, act iv. sc. 3 (1607).
_Portia_, a rich heiress, in love with Bassa´nio; but her choice of a
husband was restricted by her father’s will to the following condition:
Her suitors were to select from three caskets, one of gold, one of
silver, and one of lead, and he who selected the casket which contained
Portia’s picture, was to claim her as his wife. Bassanio chose the lead,
and being successful, became the espoused husband. It so happened that
Bassanio had borrowed 3,000 ducats, and Antonio, a Venetian merchant, was
his security. The money was borrowed of Shylock, a Jew, on these
conditions: If the loan was repaid within three months, only the
principal would be required; if not, the Jew should be at liberty to
claim a pound of flesh from Antonio’s body. The loan was not repaid, and
the Jew demanded the forfeiture. Portia, in the dress of a law doctor,
conducted the defence, and saved Antonio by reminding the Jew that a
pound of _flesh_ gave him no drop of blood, and that he must cut neither
more nor less than an exact pound, otherwise his life would be forfeited.
As it would be plainly impossible to fulfill these conditions, the Jew
gave up his claim, and Antonio was saved.--Shakespeare, _Merchant of
Venice_ (1598).
=Portsmouth= (_The duchess of_), “La Belle Louise de Querouaille,” one of
the mistresses of Charles II.--Sir W. Scott, _Perveril of the Peak_
(time, Charles II.).
=Portuguese Cid= (_The_), Nunez Alvarez Pereria (1360-1431).
=Portuguese Horace= (_The_), Antonio Ferreira (1528-1569).
“=Posson Jone=,” a gigantic parson from “up the river” who has “been to
Mobile on business for Bethesdy Church.” His sojourn in New Orleans on
his way home is marked by divers adventures. He is beguiled into a
gambling den, drugged and made drunk. While intoxicated, he visits a
circus and has a scene with the showman and his tiger; he is locked up
and awakes in his senses and penitent. His simplicity of
self-condemnation, his humility and fortitude move his tempter to
restore the $500 of church-money he has “borrowed” from the confiding
victim whose transport of pious gratitude overwhelms the world-hardened
man with shame and inspires him to new resolves.--George W. Cable,
“_Posson Jone_” (1879).
=Posthu´mus= [LEONATUS] married Imogen, daughter of Cymbeline, king of
Britain, and was banished the kingdom for life. He went to Italy, and
there, in the house of Philario, bet a diamond ring with Iachimo that
nothing could seduce the fidelity of Imogen. Iachimo accepted the bet,
concealed himself in a chest in Imogen’s chamber, made himself master of
certain details and also of a bracelet, and with these vouchers claimed
the ring. Posthūmus now ordered his servant, Pisanio, to inveigle Imogen
to Milford Haven under the promise of meeting her husband, and to murder
her on the road; but Pisanio told Imogen to assume boy’s apparel, and
enter the service of the Roman general in Britain, as a page. A battle
being fought, the Roman general, Iachimo, and Imogen were among the
captives; and Posthumus, having done great service in the battle on
Cymbeline’s behalf, was pardoned. The Roman general prayed that the
supposed page might be set at liberty, and the king told her she might
also claim a boon, whereupon she asked that Iachimo should state how he
became possessed of the ring he was wearing. The whole villainy being
thus exposed, Imogen’s innocence was fully established, and she was
re-united to her husband.--Shakespeare, _Cymbeline_ (1605).
=Potage= (_Jean_), the French “Jack Pudding;” similar to the Italian
“Macaroni,” the Dutch “Pickel-herringe,” and the German “Hanswurst.”
Clumsy, gormandizing clowns, fond of practical jokes, especially such as
stealing eatables and drinkables.
=Pother= (_Doctor_), an apothecary, “city register, and walking
story-book.” He had a story _à propos_ of every remark made and of every
incident; but as he mixed two or three together, his stories were
pointless and quite unintelligible. “I know a monstrous good story on
that point He! he! he” “I tell you a famous good story about that, you
must know. He! he! he!...” “I could have told a capital story, but there
was no one to listen to it. He! he! he!” This is the style of his
chattering ... “speaking professionally--for anatomy, chemistry,
pharmacy, phlebotomy, oxygen, hydrogen, caloric, carbonic, atmospheric,
galvanic. Ha! ha! ha! Can tell you a prodigiously laughable story on the
subject. Went last summer to a watering-place--lady of fashion--feel
pulse--not lady, but lap-dog--talk Latin--prescribed galvanism--out
jumped Pompey plump into a batter pudding, and lay like a toad in a
hole. Ha! ha! ha!”--Dibdin, _The Farmer’s Wife_ (1780).
⁂ Colman’s “Ollapod” (1802) was evidently copied from Dibdin’s “Doctor
Pother.”
=Potiphar= (_Mr._), freshly-made man intensely uncomfortable in his plated
harness. His ideas of art are grounded upon a dim picture in his wife’s
drawing-room, called by him “Giddo’s Shay Doover.”
_Mrs. Potiphar_, shoddy of shoddys. Purse-proud, affected, pretentious
and ambitious, and even less fit for her position than her husband for
his.--George William Curtis, _Potiphar Papers_ (1853).
=Potiphar’s Wife=, Zoleikha or Zuleika; but some call her Raïl.--Sale, _Al
Korân_, xii. note.
=Pott= (_Mr._), the librarian at the Spa.
_Mrs. Pott_, the librarian’s wife.--Sir W. Scott, _St. Roman’s Well_
(time, George III.).
=Potteries= (_Father of the_), Josiah Wedgewood (1730-1795).
=Pounce= (_Mr. Peter_), in _The Adventures of Joseph Andrews_, by Fielding
(1742).
=Poundtext= (_Peter_), an “indulged pastor” in the covenanters’ army.--Sir
W. Scott, _Old Mortality_ (time, Charles II.).
=Pourceaugnac= [_Poor-sone-yak_], the hero of a comedy so called. He is a
pompous country gentleman, who comes to Paris to marry Julie, daughter
of Oronte (2 _syl._); but Julie loves Eraste (2 _syl._), and this young
man plays off so many tricks, and devises so many mystifications upon M.
de Pourceaugnac, that he is fain to give up his suit.--Molière, _M. de
Pourceaugnac_ (1669).
=Poussin= (_The British_), Richard Cooper (*-1806).
_Poussin_ (_Gaspar_). So Gaspar Dughet, the French painter, is called
(1613-1675).
=Powell= (_Mary_), the first wife of John Milton.
=Powheid= (_Lazarus_), the old sexton in Douglas.--Sir W. Scott, _Castle
Dangerous_ (time, Henry I.).
=Poyning’s Law=, a statute to establish the English jurisdiction in
Ireland. The parliament that passed it was summoned in the reign of
Henry VII. by Sir Edward Poynings, governor of Ireland (1495).
=Poyser= (_Mrs._), shrewd, capable and ready-tongued wife of a British
yeoman, and aunt of Hetty Sorrel.--George Eliot, _Adam Bede_.
=P. P.=, “Clerk of the Parish,” the feigned signature of Dr. Arbuthnot,
subscribed to a volume of _Memoirs_ in ridicule of Burnet’s _History of
My Own Times_.
Those who were placed around the dinner-table had those feelings of
awe with which _P. P._, _Clerk of the Parish_, was oppressed when
he first uplifted the psalm in presence of ... the wise Mr. Justice
Freeman, the good Lady Jones, and the great Sir Thomas Truby.--Sir
W. Scott.
=Pragmatic Sanction.= The word _pragmaticus_ means “relating to State
affairs,” and the word _sanctio_ means “an ordinance” or “decree.” The
four most famous statutes so called are:
1. _The Pragmatic Sanction of St. Louis_ (1268), which forbade the court
of Rome to levy taxes or collect subscriptions in France without the
express permission of the king. It also gave French subjects the right
of appealing, in certain cases, from the ecclesiastical to the civil
courts of the realm.
2. _The Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges_, passed by Charles VII. of
France, in 1438. By this ordinance the power of the people in France was
limited and defined. The authority of the National Council was declared
superior to that of the pope. The French clergy were forbidden to appeal
to Rome on any point affecting the secular condition of the nation; and
the Roman pontiff was wholly forbidden to appropriate to himself any
vacant living, or to appoint to any bishopric or parish church in
France.
3. _The Pragmatic Sanction of Kaiser Karl VI. of Germany_ (in 1713),
which settled the empire on his daughter, the Archduchess Maria Theresa,
wife of François de Loraine. Maria Theresa ascended the throne in 1740,
and a European war was the result.
4. _The Pragmatic Sanction of Charles III. of Spain_ (1767). This was to
suppress the Jesuits of Spain.
What is meant emphatically by _The Pragmatic Sanction_ is the third of
these ordinances, viz., settling the line of succession in Germany on
the house of Austria.
=Pramnian Mixture= (_The_), any intoxicating draught; so called from the
Pramnian grape, from which it was made. Circê gave Ulysses “Pramnian
wine” impregnated with drugs, in order to prevent his escape from the
island.
And for my drink prepared
The Pramnian mixture in a golden cup,
Impregnating (on my destruction bent)
With noxious herbs the draught.
Homer, _Odyssey_, x. (Cowper’s trans.).
=Prasildo=, a Babylonish nobleman, who falls in love with Tisbi´na, wife
of his friend Iroldo. He is overheard by Tisbina threatening to kill
himself, and, in order to divert him from his guilty passion she
promises to return his love on condition of his performing certain
adventures which she thinks to be impossible. However, Prasildo performs
them all, and then Tisbina and Iroldo, finding no excuse, take poison to
avoid the alternative. Prasildo resolves to do the same, but is told by
the apothecary that the “poison” he had supplied was a harmless drink.
Prasildo tells his friend, Iroldo quits the country, and Tisbina marries
Prasildo. Time passes on and Prasildo hears that his friend’s life is in
danger, whereupon he starts forth to rescue him at the hazard of his own
life.--Bojardo, _Orlando Innamorato_ (1495).
=Prasu´tagus= or =Præsu´tagus=, husband of Bonduica or Boadicēa, queen of
the Icēni.--Richard of Cirencester, _History_, xxx. (fourteenth
century).
Me, the wife of rich Prasutagus; me the lover of liberty.--
Me, they seized, and me they tortured!
Tennyson, _Boadicea_.
=Prate´fast= (_Peter_), who “in all his life spake no word in waste.”
His wife was Maude, and his eldest son, Sym Sadle Gander, who married
Betres (daughter of Davy Dronken Nole, of Kent, and his wife,
Al´yson).--Stephen Hawes, _The Passe-tyme of Plesure_, xxix. (1515).
=Prattle= (_Mr._), medical practitioner, a voluble gossip, who retails all
the news and scandal of the neighborhood. He knows everybody,
everybody’s affairs, and everybody’s intentions.--G. Colman, Sr, _The
Deuce is in Him_ (1762).
=Pre-Adamite Kings=, Soliman Raad, Soliman Daki, and Soliman de Gian ben
Gian. The last named, having chained up the dives (1 _syl._) in the dark
caverns of Pâf, became so presumptuous as to dispute the Supreme Power.
All these kings maintained great state [before the existence of that
contemptible being denominated by us “The Father of Mankind”]; but none
can be compared with the eminence of Soliman ben Daoud.
=Pre-Adamite Throne= (_The_). It was Vathek’s ambition to gain the
pre-Adamite throne. After long search, he was shown it at last in the
abyss of Eblis; but being there, return was impossible, and he remained
a prisoner without hope forever.
They reached at length the hall [_Argenk_] of great extent, and
covered with a lofty dome.... A funereal gloom prevailed over it.
Here, upon two beds of incorruptible cedar, lay recumbent the
fleshless forms of the pre-Adamite kings, who had once been
monarchs of the whole earth.... At their feet were inscribed the
events of their several reigns, their power, their pride, and their
crimes. [_This was the pre-Adamite throne, the ambition of the
Caliph Vathek._]--W. Beckford, _Vathek_ (1784).
=Preacher= (_The_) Solomon, the son of David, author of _The Preacher_ (i.
e. _Ecclesiastes_).
Thus saith the Preacher, “Nought beneath the sun
Is new;” yet still from change to change we run.
Byron.
_Preacher_ (_The Glorious_), St. Chrys´ostom (347-407). The name means
“Golden mouth.”
_Preacher_ (_The Little_), Samuel de Marets, Protestant controversialist
(1599-1663).
_Preacher_ (_The Unfair_). Dr. Isaac Barrow was so called by Charles
II., because his sermons were so exhaustive that they left nothing more
to be said on the subject, which was “unfair” to those that came after
him.
=Preachers= (_The King of_), Louis Bourdaloue (1632-1704).
=Précieuses Ridicules= (_Les_), a comedy by Molière, in ridicule of the
“_precieuses_,” as they were styled, forming the coterie of the Hotel de
Rambouillet in the seventeenth century. The _soirées_ held in this hotel
were a great improvement on the licentious assemblies of the period; but
many imitators made the thing ridiculous, because they wanted the same
presiding talent and good taste.
The two girls of Molière’s comedy are Madelon and Cathos, the daughter
and niece of Gorgibus, a bourgeois. They change their names to Polixène
and Aminte, which they think more genteel, and look on the affectations
of two flunkies as far more _distingué_ than the simple, gentlemanly
manners of their masters. However, they are cured of their folly, and no
harm comes of it (1659).
=Preciosa=, the heroine of Longfellow’s _Spanish Student_, in love with
Victorian, the student.
=Precocious Genius.=
JOHANN PHILIP BARATIER, a German, at the age of five years, knew Greek,
Latin, and French, besides his native German. At nine he knew Hebrew and
Chaldaic, and could translate German into Latin. At thirteen he could
translate Hebrew into French, or French into Hebrew (1721-1740).
⁂ The life of this boy was written by Formey. His name is enrolled in
all biographical dictionaries.
CHRISTIAN HENRY HEINECKEN, at one year old, knew the chief events of the
Pentatauch!! at thirteen months he knew the history of the Old
Testament!! at fourteen months he knew the history of the New
Testament!! at two and a half years he could answer any ordinary
question of history or geography; and at three years old knew French and
Latin as well as his native German (1721-1725).
⁂ The life of this boy was written by Schœneich, his teacher. His name
is duly noticed in biographical dictionaries.
=Pressæus= (“_eater of garlic_”), the youngest of the frog chieftains.
The pious ardor young Pressæus brings,
Betwixt the fortunes of contending kings;
Lank, harmless frog! with forces hardly grown,
He darts the reed in combats not his own,
Which, faintly tinkling on Troxartas’ shield,
Hangs at the point and drops upon the field.
Parnell, _Battle of the Frogs and Mice_, iii. (about 1712).
=Prest=, a nickname given by Swift to the duchess of Shrewsbury, who was a
foreigner.
=Prester John=, a corruption of _Belul Gian_, meaning “precious stone.”
Gian (pronounced _zjon_) has been corrupted into John, and Belul,
translated into “precious;” in Latin _Johannes preciosus_ (“precious
John”) corrupted into “Presbyter Joannes.” The kings of Ethiopia or
Abyssinia, from a gemmed ring given to Queen Saba, whose son by Solomon
was king of Ethiopia, and was called Melech, with the “precious stone,”
or Melech _Gian-Belul_.
Æthiopes regem suum, quem nos vulgo “Prete Gianni” corrupte
dicimus, quatour appellant nominibus, quorum primum est “Belul
Giad,” hoc est _lapis preciosus_. Ductum est autem hoc nomen ab
_annulo Salomonis_ quem ille filio ex regina Saba, ut putant
genito, dono dedisse, quove omnes postea reges usos fuisse
describitor.... Cum vero eum coronant, appellant “Neghuz.” Postremo
cum vertice capitis in coronæ modum abraso, ungitur a patriarcha,
vocant “Masih,” hoc est _unctum_. Hæc autem regiæ dignitatis nomina
omnibus communia sunt.--Quoted by Selden, from a little annal of
the Ethiopian kings (1552), in his _Titles of Honor_, v. 65 (1614).
⁂ As this title was like the Egyptian _Pharaoh_, and belonged to whole
lines of kings, it will explain the enormous diversity of time allotted
by different writers to “Prester John.”
Marco Polo says that Prester John was slain in battle by Jenghiz Khan;
and Gregory Bar-Hebræus says, “God forsook him because he had taken to
himself a wife of the Zinish nation, called Quarakhata.[TN-105]
Bishop Jordānus, in his description of the world, sets down Abyssinia as
the kingdom of Prester John. Abyssinia used to be called “Middle India.”
Otto of Freisingen is the first author to mention him. This Otto wrote a
chronicle to the date 1156. He says that John was of the family of the
Magi, and ruled over the country of these Wise Men. Otto tells us that
Prester John had “a sceptre of emeralds.”
Maimonĭdês, about the same time (twelfth century), mentions him, but
calls him “Prester-Cuan.”
Before 1241 a letter was addressed by “Prester John” to Manuel Comnēnus,
emperor of Constantinople. It is preserved in the _Chronicle_ of
Albericus Trium Fontium, who gives for its date 1165.
Mandeville calls Prester John a lineal descendant of Ogier, the Dane. He
tells us that Ogier, with fifteen others, penetrated into the north of
India, and divided the land amongst his followers. John was made
sovereign of Teneduc, and was called “Prester” because he converted the
natives to the Christian faith.
Another tradition says that Prester John had seventy kings for his
vassals, and was seen by his subjects only three times in a year.
In _Orlando Furioso_, Prester John is called by his subjects “Senāpus,
king of Ethiopia.” He was blind, and though the richest monarch of the
world, he pined with famine, because harpies flew off with his food by
way of punishment for wanting to add paradise to his empire. The plague,
says the poet, was to cease “when a stranger appeared on a flying
griffin.” This stranger was Astolpho, who drove the harpies to Cocy´tus.
Prester John, in return for this service, sent 100,000 Nubians to the
aid of Charlemagne. Astolpho supplied this contingent with horses by
throwing stones into the air, and made transport-ships to convey them to
France by casting leaves into the sea. After the death of Agramant, the
Nubians were sent home, and then the horses became stones again, and the
ships became leaves (bks. xvii.-xix.).
=Pretender= (_The Young_), Prince Charles Edward Stuart, son of James
Francis Edward Stuart (called “The _Old_ Pretender”). James Francis was
the son of James II., and Charles Edward was the king’s grandson.--Sir
W. Scott, _Waverley_ (time, George II.).
Charles Edward was defeated at Cullōden in 1746, and escaped to the
Continent.
God bless the king--I mean the “Faith’s defender;”
God bless--no harm in blessing--the Pretender.
Who that Pretender is, and who is king,
God bless us all! that’s quite another thing.
Ascribed by Sir W. Scott to John Byrom (in _Redgauntlet_).
The mistress of Charles Edward Stuart was Miss Walkingshaw.
=Prettyman= (_Prince_), in love with Cloris. He is sometimes a fisherman,
and sometimes a prince.--Duke of Buckingham, _The Rehearsal_ (1671).
⁂ “Prince Prettyman” is said to be a parody on “Leonidas” in Dryden’s
_Marriage-à-la-mode_.
=Pri´amus= (_Sir_), a knight of the Round Table. He possessed a phial,
full of four waters that came from paradise. These waters instantly
healed any wounds which were touched by them.
“My father,” says Sir Priamus, “is lineally descended of Alexander
and of Hector by right line. Duke Josuê and Machabæus were of our
lineage. I am right inheritor of Alexandria, and Affrike of all the
out isles.”
And Priamus took from his page a phial, full of four waters that
came out of paradise; and with certain balm nointed he their
wounds, and washed them with that water, and within an hour after
they were both as whole as ever they were.--Sir T. Malory, _History
of Prince Arthur_, i. 97 (1470).
=Price= (_Matilda_), a miller’s daughter; a pretty, coquettish young
woman, who marries John Browdie, a hearty Yorkshire corn-factor.--C.
Dickens, _Nicholas Nickleby_ (1838).
=Pride= (_Sir_), first a drayman, then a colonel in the parliamentary
army.--S. Butler, _Hudibras_ (1663-78).
=Pride of Humility.= Antisthĕnês, the Cynic, affected a very ragged coat;
but Socrătês said to him, “Antisthenês, I can see your vanity peering
through the holes of your coat.”
=Pride’s Purge=, a violent invasion of parliamentary rights by Colonel
Pride, in 1649. At the head of two regiments of soldiers he surrounded
the House of Commons, seized forty-one of the members and shut out 160
others. None were allowed into the House but those most friendly to
Cromwell. This fag-end went by the name of “the Rump.”
=Pridwin= or PRIWEN, Prince Arthur’s shield.
Arthur placed a golden helmet upon his head, on which was engraven
the figure of a dragon; and on his shoulders his shield, called
Priwen, upon which the picture of the blessed Mary, mother of God,
was painted; then, girding on his Caliburn, which was an excellent
sword, made in the isle of Avallon; he took in his right hand his
lance, Ron, which was hard, broad, and fit for
slaughter.--Geoffrey, _British History_, ix. 4 (1142).
=Priest of Nature=, Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727).
Lo! Newton, priest of nature, shines afar,
Scans the wide world, and numbers every star.
Campbell, _Pleasures of Hope_, i. (1799).
=Prig=, a knavish beggar.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Beggars’ Bush_
(1622).
_Prig_ (_Betsey_), an old monthly nurse, “the frequent pardner” of Mrs.
Gamp; equally ignorant, equally vulgar, equally selfish, and brutal to
her patients.
“Betsey,” said Mrs. Gamp, filling her own glass, and passing the
teapot [_of gin_], “I will now propoge a toast: ‘My frequent
pardner, Betsey Prig.’” “Which, altering the name to Sairah Gamp, I
drink,” said Mrs. Prig, “with love and tenderness.”--C. Dickens,
_Martin Chuzzlewit_, xlix. (1843).
=Prim´er= (_Peter_), a pedantic country schoolmaster, who believes himself
to be the wisest of pedagogues.--Samuel Foote, _The Mayor of Garratt_
(1763).
=Primitive Fathers= (_The_). The five apostolic fathers contemporary with
the apostles (viz., Clement of Rome, Barnăbas, Hermas, Ignatius and
Polycarp), and the nine following, who all lived in the first three
centuries:--Justin, Theoph´ilus of Antioch, Irenæus, Clement of
Alexandria, Cyprian of Carthage, Orĭgen, Gregory “Thaumatur´gus,”
Dionysius of Alexandria and Tertullian.
⁂ For the “Fathers” of the fourth and fifth centuries see GREEK CHURCH,
LATIN CHURCH.
=Primrose= (_The Rev. Dr. Charles_), a clergyman rich in heavenly wisdom,
but poor indeed in all worldly knowledge. Amiable, charitable, devout,
but not without his literary vanity, especially on the Whistonian theory
about second marriages. One admires his virtuous indignation against the
“washes,” which he deliberately demolished with the poker. In his
prosperity his chief “adventures were by the fireside, and all his
migrations were from the blue bed to the brown.”
_Mrs._ [_Deborah_] _Primrose_, the doctor’s wife, full of motherly
vanity, and desirous to appear _genteel_. She could read without much
spelling, prided herself on her housewifery, especially on her
gooseberry wine, and was really proud of her excellent husband.
(She was painted as “Venus,” and the vicar, in gown and bands, was
presenting to her his book on “second marriages,” but when complete the
picture was found to be too large for the house.)
_George Primrose_, son of the vicar. He went to Amsterdam to teach the
Dutch English, but never once called to mind that he himself must know
something of Dutch before this could be done. He becomes Captain
Primrose, and marries Miss Wilmot, an heiress.
(Goldsmith himself went to teach the French English under the same
circumstances.)
_Moses Primrose_, younger son of the vicar, noted for his greenness and
pedantry. Being sent to sell a good horse at a fair, he bartered it for
a gross of green spectacles, with copper rims and shagreen cases, of no
more value than Hodge’s razors (ch. xii.).
_Olivia Primrose_, the eldest daughter of the doctor. Pretty,
enthusiastic, a sort of Hebê in beauty. “She wished for many lovers,”
and eloped with Squire Thornhill. Her father found her at a roadside inn
called the Harrow, where she was on the point of being turned out of the
house. Subsequently, she was found to be legally married to the squire.
_Sophia Primrose_, the second daughter of Dr. Primrose. She was “soft,
modest, and alluring.” Not like her sister, desirous of winning all, but
fixing her whole heart upon one. Being thrown from her horse into a deep
stream, she was rescued by Mr. Burchell (_alias_ Sir William Thornhill),
and being abducted, was again rescued by him. She married him at
last.--Goldsmith, _Vicar of Wakefield_ (1766).
=Prince of Alchemy=, Rudolph II., kaiser of Germany; also called “The
German Trismegistus” (1552, 1576-1612).
=Prince of Angels=, Michael.
So spake the prince of angels. To whom thus
The Adversary [i.e. _Satan_].
Milton, _Paradise Lost_, vi. 281 (1665).
=Prince of Celestial Armies=, Michael, the archangel.
Go, Michael, of celestial armies prince.
Milton, _Paradise Lost_, vi. 44 (1665).
=Prince of Darkness=, Satan (_Eph._ vi 12).
Whom thus the prince of darkness answered glad:
“Fair daughter,
High proof ye now have given to be the race
Of Satan (I glory in the name).”
Milton, _Paradise Lost_, x, 383 (1665).
=Prince of Hell=, Satan.
And with them comes a third of regal port,
But faded splendor wan; who by his gait
And fierce demeanor seems the prince of Hell.
Milton, _Paradise Lost_, iv. 868 (1665).
=Prince of Life=, a title given to Christ (_Acts_ iii. 15).
=Prince of Peace=, a title given to the Messiah (_Isaiah_ ix. 6).
_Prince of Peace_, Don Manuel Godoy, of Badajoz. So called because he
concluded the “peace of Basle” in 1795, between France and Spain
(1757-1851).
=Prince of the Air=, Satan.
... Jesus, son of Mary, second Eve,
Saw Satan fall, like lightning, down from heaven,
Prince of the air.
Milton, _Paradise Lost_, x. 185 (1665).
=Prince of the Devils=, Satan (_Matt._ xii. 24).
=Prince of the Kings of the Earth=, a title given to Christ (_Rev._ i. 5).
=Prince of the Power of the Air=, Satan (_Eph._ ii. 2).
=Prince of this World=, Satan (_John_ xiv. 30).
=Princes.= It was Prince Bismarck, the German Chancellor, who said to a
courtly attendant, “Let princes be princes, and mind your own business.”
=Prince’s Peers=, a term of contempt applied to peers of low birth. The
phrase arose in the reign of Charles VII., of France, when his son Louis
(afterwards Louis XI.) created a host of riff-raff peers, such as
tradesmen, farmers, and mechanics, in order to degrade the aristocracy,
and thus weaken its influence in the state.
=Printed Books.= The first book produced in England, was printed in
England in 1477, by William Caxton, in the Almonry, at Westminster, and
was entitled _The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers_.
The Rev. T. Wilson says: “The press at Oxford existed ten years before
there was any press in Europe, except those of Haarlem and Mentz.” The
person who set up the Oxford press was Corsellis, and his first printed
book bore the date of 1468. The colophon of it ran thus: “Explicit
exposicio Sancti Jeronimi in simbolo apostolorum ad papam laurēcium.
Impressa Oxonii Et finita Anno Domini Mcccclxviij., xvij. die
Decembris.” The book is a small quarto of forty-two leaves, and was
first noticed in 1664 by Richard Atkins in his _Origin and Growth of
Printing_. Dr. Conyers Middleton, in 1735, charged Atkins with forgery.
In 1812, S. W. Singer defended the book. Dr. Cotton took the subject up
in his _Typographical Gazetteer_ (first and second series).
=Prior= (_Matthew_). The monument to this poet in Westminster Abbey was by
Rysbrack; executed by order of Louis XIV.
=Priory= (_Lord_), an old-fashioned husband, who actually thinks that a
wife should “love, honor, and obey” her husband; nay, more, that
“forsaking all others, she should cleave to him so long as they both
should live.”
_Lady Priory_, an old-fashioned wife, but young and beautiful. She was,
however, so very old-fashioned that she went to bed at ten and rose at
six; dressed in a cap and gown of her own making; respected and loved
her husband; discouraged flirtation; and when assailed by any improper
advances, instead of showing temper or conceited airs, quietly and
tranquilly seated herself to some modest household duty till the
assailant felt the irresistible power of modesty and virtue.--Mrs.
Inchbald, _Wives as They Were and Maids as They Are_ (1797).
=Priscian=, a great grammarian of the fifth century. The Latin phrase,
_Diminuĕre Prisciani caput_ (“to break Priscian’s head”), means to
“violate the rules of grammar.” (See PEGASUS.)
Some, free from rhyme or reason, rule or check,
Break Priscian’s head, and Pegasus’s neck.
Pope, _The Dunciad_, iii. 161 (1728).
Quakers (that like to lanterns, bear
Their light within them) will not swear
And hold no sin so deeply red
As that of breaking Priscian’s head.
Butler, _Hudibras_, II. ii. 219, etc. (1664).
=Priscilla=, daughter of a noble lord. She fell in love with Sir Aladine,
a poor knight.--Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, vi. 1 (1596).
_Priscilla_, the beautiful puritan in love with John Alden. When Miles
Standish, a bluff old soldier, in the middle of life, wished to marry
her, he asked John Alden to go and plead his cause; but the puritan
maiden replied archly, “Why don’t you speak for yourself, John?” Upon
this hint, John did speak for himself, and Priscilla listened to his
suit.--Longfellow, _The Courtship of Miles Standish_ (1858).
_Priscilla._ Fragile, pretty, simple girl, whom Hollingsworth and
Coverdale love, instead of falling victims to the superb Zenobia. She is
thin-blooded and weak-limbed, and her very helplessness charms the
strong men, who suppose themselves proof against love of the ordinary
kind.--Nathaniel Hawthorne, _The Blithedale Romance_ (1852).
=Prison Life Endeared.= The following are examples of prisoners who, from
long habit, have grown attached to prison life:--
Comte de Lorge was confined for thirty years in the Bastile, and when
liberated (July 14, 1789) declared that freedom had no joys for him.
After imploring in vain to be allowed to return to his dungeon, he
lingered for six weeks and pined to death.
Goldsmith says, when Chinvang the Chaste, ascended the throne of China,
he commanded the prisons to be thrown open. Among the prisoners was a
venerable man of 85 years of age, who implored that he might be suffered
to return to his cell. For sixty-three years he had lived in its gloom
and solitude, which he preferred to the glare of the sun and the bustle
of a city.--_A Citizen of the World_ lxxiii. (1759).
Mr. Cogan once visited a prisoner of state in the King’s Bench prison,
who told him he had grown to like the subdued light and extreme solitude
of his cell; he even liked the spots and patches on the wall, the
hardness of his bed, the regularity, and the freedom from all the cares
and worries of active life. He did not wish to be released, and felt
sure he should never be so happy in any other place.
A woman of Leyden, on the expiration of a long imprisonment, applied for
permission to return to her cell, and added, if the request was refused
as a favor, she would commit some offence which should give her a title
to her old quarters.
A prisoner condemned to death had his sentence commuted to seven years’
close confinement on a bed of nails. After the expiration of five years,
he declared, if ever he were released, he should adopt from choice what
habit had rendered so agreeable to him.
=Prisoner of Chillon=, Françoise de Bonnivard, a Frenchman, who resided at
Geneva, and made himself obnoxious to Charles III., duc de Savoie, who
incarcerated him for six years in a dungeon of the Château de Chillon,
at the east end of the lake of Geneva. The prisoner was ultimately
released by the Bernese, who were at war with Savoy.
Byron has founded on this incident his poem entitled _The Prisoner of
Chillon_, but has added two brothers, whom he supposes to be imprisoned
with Françoise, and who die of hunger, suffering, and confinement. In
fact, the poet mixes up Dantê’s tale about Count Ugolino with that of
Françoise de Bonnivard, and has produced a powerful and affecting story,
but it is not historic.
=Prisoner of State= (_The_), Ernest de Fridberg. E. Sterling has a drama
so called. (For the plot, see ERNEST DE FRIDBERG.)
=Pritchard= (_William_), commander of H.M. sloop, the _Shark_.--Sir W.
Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time, George II.).
=Priu´li=, a senator of Venice, of unbending pride. His daughter had been
saved from the Adriatic by Jaffier, and gratitude led to love. As it was
quite hopeless to expect Priuli to consent to the match, Belvidera
eloped in the night, and married Jaffier. Priuli now discarded them
both. Jaffier joined Pierre’s conspiracy to murder the Venetian
senators, but in order to save his father-in-law, revealed to him the
plot under the promise of a general free pardon. The promise was broken,
and all the conspirators except Jaffier were condemned to death by
torture. Jaffier stabbed Pierre, to save him from the wheel, and then
killed himself. Belvidera went mad and died. Priuli lived on, a
broken-down old man, sick of life, and begging to be left alone in some
“place that’s fit for mourning.” “There, all leave me:
Sparing no tears when you this tale relate,
But bid all cruel fathers dread my fate.”
T. Otway, _Venice Preserved_, v. the end (1682).
=Privolvans=, the antagonists of the Subvolvans.
These silly, ranting Privolvans
Have every summer their campaigns,
And muster like the warlike sons
Of Rawhead and of Bloody-bones.
S. Butler, _The Elephant in the Moon_, v. 85 (1754).
=Probe= (1 _syl._), a priggish surgeon, who magnifies mole-hill ailments
into mountain maladies, in order to enhance his skill and increase his
charges. Thus, when Lord Foppington received a small flesh-wound in the
arm from a foil, Probe drew a long face, frightened his lordship
greatly, and pretended the consequences might be serious; but when Lord
Foppington promised him £500 for a cure, he set his patient on his legs
the next day.--Sheridan, _A Trip to Scarborough_ (1777).
=Procida= (_John of_), a tragedy by S. Knowles (1840). John of Procida was
an Italian gentleman of the thirteenth century, a skillful physician,
high in favor with King Fernando II., Conrad, Manfred, and Conrad´ine.
The French invaded the island, put the last two monarchs to the sword,
usurped the sovereignty, and made Charles d’Anjou king. The cruelty,
licentiousness, and extortion of the French being quite unbearable,
provoked a general rising of the Sicilians, and in one night (_Sicilian
Vespers_, March 30, 1282), every Frenchman, Frenchwoman, and French
child in the whole island was ruthlessly butchered. Procĭda lost his
only son Fernando, who had just married Isoline (3 _syl._), the daughter
of the French governor of Messina. Isoline died broken-hearted, and her
father, the governor, was amongst the slain. The crown was given to John
of Procida.
=Procris=, the wife of Cephălos. Out of jealousy she crept into a wood to
act as a spy upon her husband. Cephalos, hearing something move,
discharged an arrow in the direction of the rustling, thinking it to be
caused by some wild beast, and shot Procris. Jupiter, in pity, turned
Procris into a star.--_Greek and Latin Mythology._
_The unerring dart of Procris._ Diana gave Procris a dart which never
missed its aim, and after being discharged returned back to the
shooter.
=Procrus´tes= (3 _syl._), a highwayman of Attica, who used to place
travellers on a bed; if they were too short he stretched them out till
they fitted it, if too long he lopped off the redundant part. _Greek
Mythology._
Critic, more cruel than Procrustes old,
Who to his iron bed by torture fits
Their nobler parts, the souls of suffering wits.
Mallet, _Verbal Criticism_ (1734).
=Proctor’s Dogs= or _Bull-Dogs_, the two “runners” or officials who
accompany a university proctor in his rounds, to give chase to
recalcitrant gownsmen.
And he had breathed the proctor’s dogs [_was a member of Oxford or
Cambridge University_].
Tennyson, prologue of _The Princess_ (1830).
=Prodigal= (_The_), Albert VI. duke of Austria (1418, 1439-1463).
=Prodigy of France= (_The_). Guillaume Budé was so called by Erasmus
(1467-1540).
=Prodigy of Learning= (_The_). Samuel Hahnemann, the German, was so called
by J. P. Richter (1755-1843).
=Professor= (_The_). The most important member of the party gathered about
the social board in O. W. Holmes’s _Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table_
(1858).
=Profound= (_The_), Richard Middleton, an English scholastic divine
(*-1304).
=Profound Doctor= (_The_), Thomas Bradwardine, a schoolman. Also called
“The Solid Docter”[TN-106] (*-1349).
Ægidius de Columna, a Sicilian schoolman, was called “The Most Profound
Doctor” (*-1316).
=Progne= (2 _syl._), daughter of Pandīon, and sister of Philomēla. Prognê
was changed into a swallow, and Philomela into a nightingale.--_Greek
Mythology._
As Prognê or as Philomela mourns ...
So Bradamant laments her absent knight.
Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_, xxiii. (1516).
=Prome´thean Unguent= (_The_), made from the extract of a herb on which
some of the blood of Promētheus (3 _syl._), had fallen. Medea gave Jason
some of this unguent, which rendered his body proof against fire and
warlike instruments.
=Prome´theus= (3 _syl._) taught man the use of fire, and instructed him in
architecture, astronomy, mathematics, writing, rearing cattle,
navigation, medicine, the art of prophecy, working metal, and, indeed,
every art known to man. The word means “forethought,” and forethought is
the father of invention. The tale is that he made man of clay, and, in
order to endow his clay with life, stole fire from heaven and brought it
to earth in a hollow tube. Zeus, in punishment, chained him to a rock,
and sent an eagle to consume his liver daily; during the night it grew
again, and thus his torment was ceaseless, till Herculês shot the eagle,
and unchained the captive.
Learn the while, in brief,
That all arts come to mortals from Prometheus.
E. B. Browning, _Prometheus Bound_ (1850).
Truth shall restore the light by Nature given,
And, like Prometheus, bring the fire from heaven.
Campbell, _Pleasures of Hope_, i. (1700).
⁂ Percy B. Shelley has a classical drama entitled _Prometheus Unbound_
(1819).
James Russell Lowell has a noble poem entitled _Prometheus_,
beginning,--
“One after one the stars have risen and set,
Sparkling upon the hoarfrost on my chain.”
=Prompt=, the servant of Mr. and Miss Blandish. General Burgoyne, _The
Heiress_ (1781).
=Pronando= (_Rast_). The early lover of Anne Douglas. He is handsome,
weak, and attractive in disposition, a favorite with all his friends.
His pliant character and good-natured vanity make him a prey to the
whimsical fascinations of Tita, Anne’s “little sister,” whom he marries
instead of his first betrothed.--Constance Fenimore Woolson, _Anne_
(1882).
=Pronouns.= It was of Henry Mossop, tragedian (1729-1773), that Churchill
wrote the two lines:
In monosyllables his thunders roll--
He, she, it, and we, ye, they, fright the soul;
because Mossop was fond of emphasizing his pronouns and little words.
=Prophecy.= Jourdain, the wizard, told the duke of Somerset, if he wished
to live, to “avoid where castles mounted stand.” The duke died in an
ale-house called the Castle, in St. Alban’s.
... underneath an ale-house’ paltry sign,
The Castle, in St. Alban’s, Sumerset
Hath made the wizard famous in his death.
Shakespeare, 2 _Henry VI._ act v. sc. 2 (1591).
Similar prophetic equivokes were told to Henry IV., Pope Sylvester II.,
and Cambysês (see JERUSALEM).
Aristomĕnês was told by the Delphic oracle to “flee for his life when he
saw a goat drink from the river Neda.” Consequently, all _goats_ were
driven from the banks of this river; but one day, Theŏclos observed that
the branches of a fig tree bent into the stream, and it immediately
flashed into his mind that the Messenian word for _fig tree_ and _goat_
was the same. The pun or equivoke will be better understood by an
English reader if for _goat_ we read _ewe_, and bear in mind that _yew_
is to the ear the same word; thus:
When an _ewe_ [_yew_] stops to drink of the “Severn,” then fly,
And look not behind, for destruction is nigh.
=Prophetess= (_The_), Ayē´shah, the second and beloved wife of Mahomet. It
does not mean that she prophesied, but, like _Sultana_, it is simply a
title of honor. He was the _Prophet_, she the _Prophēta_ or Madam
Prophet.
=Prose= (_Father of English_), Wycliffe (1324-1384).
_Prose_ (_Father of Greek_), Herodotus (B.C. 484-408).
_Prose_ (_Father of Italian_), Boccaccio (1313-1375).
=Pros´erpine= (3 _syl._), called _Proserpĭna_ in Latin, and “Proser´pin”
by Milton, was daughter of Ce´rês. She went to the field of Enna to
amuse herself by gathering asphodels, and being tired, fell asleep. Dis,
the god of Hell, then carried her off, and made her queen of the
infernal reions.[TN-107] Cerês wandered for nine days over the world
disconsolate, looking for her daughter, when Hec´ate (2 _syl._) told her
she had heard the girl’s cries, but knew not who had carried her off.
Both now went to Olympus, when the sun-god told them the true state of
the case.
N.B.--This is an allegory of seed-corn.
Not that fair field
Of Enna, where Proser´pin, gathering flowers,
Herself a fairer flower, by gloomy Dis
Was gathered--which cost Cerês all that pain
To seek her thro’ the world.
Milton, _Paradise Lost_, iv. 268 (1665).
=Prosperity Robinson=, Frederick Robinson, afterwards Viscount Goderich
and earl of Ripon, chancellor of the exchequer in 1823. So called by
Cobbett, from his boasting about the prosperity of the country just a
little before the great commercial crisis of 1825.
=Pros´pero=, the banished duke of Milan, and father of Miranda. He was
deposed by his brother, Antonio, who sent him to sea with Miranda in a
“rotten carcass of a boat,” which was borne to a desert island. Here
Prospero practised magic. He liberated Ariel from the rift of a pine
tree, where the witch Syc´orax had confined him for twelve years, and
was served by that bright spirit with true gratitude. The only other
inhabitant of the island was Calĭban, the witch’s “welp.” After a
residence in the island of sixteen years, Prospero raised a tempest by
magic to cause the shipwreck of the usurping duke and of Ferdinand, his
brother’s son. Ferdinand fell in love with his cousin, Miranda, and
eventually married her.--Shakespeare, _The Tempest_ (1609).
Still they kept limping to and fro,
Like Ariels round old Prospero,
Saying, “Dear master, let us go.”
But still the old man answered, “No!”
T. Moore, _A Vision_.
=Pross= (_Miss_), a red-haired, ungainly creature, who lived with Lucie
Manette, and dearly loved her. Miss Pross, although eccentric, was most
faithful and unselfish.
Her character (dissociated from stature) was shortness.... It was
characteristic of this lady that whenever her original proposition
was questioned, she exaggerated it.--C. Dickens, _A Tale of Two
Cities_, ii. 6 (1859).
=Proterius= of Cappadōcia, father of Cyra. (See SINNER SAVED.)
=Protesila´os=, husband of Laodamīa. Being slain at the siege of Troy, the
dead body was sent home to his wife, who prayed that she might talk
with him again, if only for three hours. Her prayer was granted, but
when Protesilāos returned to death, Laodamia died also.--_Greek
Mythology._
In Fénelon’s _Télémaque_ “Protésilaos” is meant for Louvois, the French
minister of state.
=Protestant Duke= (_The_), James, duke of Monmouth, a love-child of
Charles II. So called because he renounced the Roman faith, in which he
had been brought up, and became a Protestant (1619-1685).
=Protestant Pope= (_The_), Gian Vincenzo Ganganelli, Pope Clement XIV. So
called from his enlightened policy, and for his bull suppressing the
Jesuits (1705, 1769-1774).
=Proteus= [_Pro-tuce_], a sea-god who resided in the Carpathian Sea. He
had the power of changing his form at will. Being a prophet also, Milton
calls him “the Carpathian wizard.”--_Greek Mythology._
By hoary Nereus’ wrinkled look,
And the Carpathian wizard’s hook [_or trident_].
Milton, _Comus_ (1634).
Periklym´enos, son of Neleus (2 _syl._), had the power of changing his
form into a bird, beast, reptile, or insect. As a bee he perched on the
chariot of Heraklês (_Hercules_), and was killed.
Aristogīton, from being dipped in the Achelōus (4 _syl._), received the
power of changing his form at will.--Fénelon, _Télémaque_, xx. (1700).
The genii, both good and bad, of Eastern mythology, had the power of
changing their form instantaneously. This is powerfully illustrated by
the combat between the queen of Beauty and the son of Eblis. The genius
first appeared as an enormous lion, but the queen of Beauty plucked out
a hair which became a scythe, with which she cut the lion in pieces. The
head of the lion now became a scorpion, and the princess changed herself
into a serpent; but the scorpion instantly made itself an eagle, and
went in pursuit of the serpent. The serpent, however, being vigilant,
assumed the form of a white cat; the eagle in an instant changed to a
wolf, and the cat, being hard pressed, changed into a worm; the wolf
changed to a cock, and ran to pick up the worm, which, however, became a
fish before the cock could pick it up. Not to be outwitted, the cock
transformed itself into a pike to devour the fish, but the fish changed
into a fire, and the son of Eblis was burnt to ashes before he could
make another change.--_Arabian Nights_ (“The Second Calender”).
_Proteus_ or _Protheus_, one of the two gentlemen of Verona. He is in
love with Julia. His servant is Launce, and his father Anthonio or
Antonio. The other gentleman is called Valentine, and his lady love is
Silvia.--Shakespeare, _The Two Gentlemen of Verona_ (1594).
Shakespeare calls the word _Pro-tĕ-us_. Malone, Dr. Johnson, etc.,
retain the _h_ in both names, but the Globe edition omits them.
=Protevangelon= (“_first evangelist_”), a gospel falsely attributed to St.
James the Less, first bishop of Jerusalem, noted for its minute details
of the Virgin and Jesus Christ. Said to be the production of L. Carīnus,
of the second century.
First of all we shall rehearse ...
The nativity of our Lord,
As written in the old record
Of the _Protevangelon_.
Longfellow, _The Golden Legend_ (1851).
=Protocol= (_Mr. Peter_), the attorney in Edinburgh, employed by Mrs.
Margaret Bertram, of Singleside.--Sir W. Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time,
George II.).
=Protosebastos= (_The_), or SEBASTOCRATOR, the highest State officer in
Greece.--Sir W. Scott, _Count Robert of Paris_ (time, Rufus).
=Protospathaire= (_The_), or general of Alexius Comnēnus, emperor of
Greece. His name is Nicanor.--Sir W. Scott, _Count Robert of Paris_
(time, Rufus).
=Proud= (_The_). Tarquin II. of Rome, was called _Superbus_ (reigned B.C.
535-510, died 496).
Otho IV., kaiser of Germany, was called “The Proud” (1175, 1209-1218).
=Proud Duke= (_The_), Charles Seymour, duke of Somerset. His children were
not allowed to sit in his presence; and he spoke to his servants by
signs only (*-1748).
=Proudfute= (_Oliver_), the boasting bonnet-maker at Perth.
_Magdalen_ or _Maudie Proudfute_, Oliver’s widow.--Sir W. Scott, _Fair
Maid of Perth_ (time, Henry IV.).
=Proudie= (_Dr._), hen-pecked bishop of Barchester. A martinet in his
diocese, a serf in his home.
_Proudie_ (_Mrs._), strong-willed, strong-voiced help-mate of the
bishop. She lays down social, moral, religious and ecclesiastical laws
with equal readiness and severity.--Anthony Trollope, _Framley
Parsonage_ and _Barchester Towers_.
=Prout= (_Father_), the pseudonym of Francis Mahoney, a humorous writer in
_Fraser’s Magazine_, etc. (1805-1866).
=Provis=, the name assumed by Abel Magwitch, Pip’s benefactor. He was a
convict, who had made a fortune, and whose chief desire was to make his
protegé[TN-108] a gentleman.--C. Dickens, _Great Expectations_ (1860).
=Provoked Husband= (_The_), a comedy by Cibber and Vanbrugh. The “provoked
husband” is Lord Townly, justly annoyed at the conduct of his young
wife, who wholly neglects her husband and her home duties for a life of
gambling and dissipation. The husband seeing no hope of amendment,
resolves on a separate maintenance; but then the lady’s eyes are
opened--she promises amendment, and is forgiven[TN-109]
⁂ This comedy was Vanbrugh’s _Journey to London_, left unfinished at his
death. Cibber took it, completed it, and brought it out under the title
of _The Provoked Husband_ (1728).
=Provoked Wife= (_The_), Lady Brute, the wife of Sir John Brute, is, by
his ill manners, brutality, and neglect, “provoked” to intrigue with one
Constant. The intrigue is not of a very serious nature, since it is
always interrupted before it makes head. At the conclusion, Sir John
says:
Surly, I may be stubborn, I am not,
For I have both forgiven and forgot.
Sir J. Vanbrugh (1697).
=Provost of Bruges= (_The_), a tragedy based on “The Serf,” in Leitch
Ritchie’s _Romance of History_. Published anonymously in 1836; the
author is S. Knowles. The plot is this: Charles “the Good,” earl of
Flanders, made a law that a serf is always a serf till manumitted, and
whoever marries a serf, becomes thereby a serf. Thus, if a prince
married the daughter of a serf, the prince becomes a serf himself, and
all his children were serfs. Bertulphe, the richest, wisest, and bravest
man in Flanders, was provost of Bruges. His beautiful daughter,
Constance, married Sir Bouchard, a knight of noble descent; but
Bertulphe’s father had been Thancmar’s serf, and, according to the new
law, Bertulphe, the provost, his daughter, Constance, and the knightly
son-in-law were all the serfs of Thancmar. The provost killed the earl,
and stabbed himself; Bouchard and Thancmar killed each other in fight;
and Constance died demented.
=Prowler= (_Hugh_), any vagrant or highwayman.
For fear of Hugh Prowler, get home with the rest.
T. Tusser, _Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry_, xxxiii. 25 (1557).
=Prudence= (_Mistress_), the lady attendant on Violet, ward of Lady
Arundel. When Norman, “the sea-captain,” made love to Violet, Mistress
Prudence remonstrated, “What will the countess say if I allow myself to
see a stranger speaking to her ward?” Norman clapped a guinea on her
left eye, and asked, “What see you now?” “Why, nothing with my left
eye,” she answered, “but the right has still a morbid sensibility.”
“Poor thing!” said Norman; “this golden ointment soon will cure it. What
see you now, my Prudence?” “Not a soul,” she said.--Lord Lytton, _The
Sea-Captain_ (1839).
=Prudhomme= (_Joseph_), “pupil of Brard and Saint-Omer,”
caligraphist[TN-110] and sworn expert in the courts of law. Joseph
Prudhomme is the synthesis of bourgeois imbecility; radiant, serene, and
self-satisfied; letting fall from his fat lips “one weak, washy,
everlasting flood” of puerile aphorisms and inane circumlocutions. He
says, “The car of the state floats on a precipice.” “This sword is the
proudest day of my life.”--Henri Monnier, _Grandeur et Décadence de
Joseph Prudhomme_ (1852).
=Pruddoterie= (_Madame de la_). Character in comedy of _George Dandin_, by
Molière.
=Prue= (_Miss_), a schoolgirl still under the charge of a nurse, very
precocious and very injudiciously brought up. Miss Prue is the daughter
of Mr. Foresight, a mad astrologer, and Mrs. Foresight, a frail
nonentity.--Congreve, _Love for Love_ (1695).
_Prue._ Wife of “I”; a dreamer. “Prue makes everything think well, even
to making the neighbors speak well of her.”
Of himself Prue’s husband says:
“How queer that a man who owns castles in Spain should be deputy
book-keeper at $900 per annum!”--George William Curtis, _Prue and
I_ (1856).
=Prunes and Prisms=, the words which give the lips the right plie of the
highly aristocratic mouth, as Mrs. General tells Amy Dorrit.
“’Papa’ gives a pretty form to the lips. ‘Papa,’ ‘potatoes,’
‘poultry,’ ‘prunes and prisms.’ You will find it serviceable if you
say to yourself on entering a room, ‘Papa, potatoes, poultry,
prunes and prisms.’”--C. Dickens, _Little Dorrit_ (1855).
General Burgoyne, in _The Heiress_, makes Lady Emily tell Miss Alscrip
that the magic words are “nimini pimini;” and that if she will stand
before her mirror and pronounce these words repeatedly, she cannot fail
to give her lips that happy plie which is known as the “Paphian
mimp.”--_The Heiress_, iii. 2 (1781).
=Pru´sio=, king of Alvarecchia, slain by Zerbi´no.--Ariosto, _Orlando
Furioso_ (1516).
=Pry= (_Paul_), one of those idle, meddling fellows, who, having no
employment of their own, are perpetually interfering in the affairs of
other people.--John Poole, _Paul Pry_.
=Prydwen= or PRIDWIN (_q.v._), called in the _Mabinogion_, the ship of
King Arthur. It was also the name of his shield. Taliessin speaks of it
as a ship, and Robert of Gloucester as a shield.
Hys sseld that het Prydwen.
Myd ye suerd he was ygurd, that so strong was and kene;
Calybourne yt was ycluped, nas nour no such ye wene.
In ys right hond ys lance he nom, that ycluped was Ron.