Chapter 17

You may associate them with Master Pierre du Coignet, ... which perform the office of extinguishers.—Rabelais,Gargantua and Pantagruel(1533-45).

Pierrot[Pe´-er-ro], a character in French pantomime, representing a man in stature and a child in mind. He is generally the tallest and thinnest man in the company, and appears with his face and hair thickly covered with flour. He wears a white gown, with very long sleeves, and a row of big buttons down the front. The word means “Little Peter.”

Piers and Palinode, two shepherds in Spenser’s fifth eclogue, representing the Protestant and the Catholic priest.

Piers or Percy again appears in ecl. x. with Cuddy, a poetic shepherd. This noble eclogue has for its subject “poetry.” Cuddy complains that poetry has no patronage or encouragement, although it comes by inspiration. He says no one would be so qualified as Colin to sing divine poetry, if his mind were not so depressed by disappointed love.—Spenser,The Shepheardes Calendar(1579).

Pie´tro(2syl.), the putative father of Pompilia. This paternity was a fraud to oust the heirs of certain property which would otherwise fall to them.—R. Browning,The Ring and the Book, ii. 580.

Pig.Phædrus tells a tale of a popular actor who imitated the squeak of a pig. A peasant said to the audience that he would himself next night challenge and beat the actor. When the night arrived, the audience unanimously gave judgment in favor of the actor, saying that his squeak was by far the better imitation; but the peasant presented to them a real pig, and said, “Behold, what excellent judges are ye!”

Pigal(Mons. de), the dancing-master who teaches Alice Bridgenorth.—Sir W. Scott,Peveril of the Peak(time, Charles II.).

Pigeon and Dove(The). Prince Constantio was changed into a pigeon, and the Princess Constantia into a dove, because they loved, but were always crossed in love. Constantio found that Constantia was sold by his mother for a slave, and in order to follow her, he was converted into a pigeon. Constantia was seized by a giant, and in order to escape him was changed into a dove. Cupid then took them to Paphos, and they became “examples of a tender and sincere passion; and ever since have been the emblems of love and constancy.”—Comtesse D’Aunoy,Fairy Tales(“The Pigeon and Dove,” 1682).

Pigmy, a dwarf. (SeePygmy.)

Pigott Diamond(The), brought from India by Lord Pigott. It weighs 82-1/4 carats. In 1818 it came into the hands of Messrs. Rundell and Bridge.

Pigrogrom´itus, a name alluded to by Sir Andrew Ague-cheek.

In sooth thou wast in very gracious fooling last night when thou spokest of Pigrogromitus, of the Vapian passing the equinoctial of Queubus. ’Twas very good, i’ faith.—Shakespeare,Twelfth Night, act ii. sc. 3 (1614).

Pigwig´gen, a fairy knight, whose amours with Queen Mab, and furious combat with Oberon, form the subject of Drayton’sNymphidia(1593).

Pike(Gideon), valet to old Major Bellenden.—Sir W. Scott,Old Mortality(time, Charles II.).

Pila´tus(Mount), in Switzerland. The legend is that Pontius Pilate, being banished to Gaul by the Emperor Tiberius, wandered to this mount, and flung himself into a black lake at the summit of the hill, being unable to endure the torture of conscience for having given up the Lord to crucifixion.

Pilgrim Fathers.They were 102 puritans (English, Scotch, and Dutch), who went, in December, 1620, in a ship called theMayflower, to North America, and colonized Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. These states they called “New England.” New Plymouth (near Boston) was the second colony planted by the English in the New World.

Men in the middle of life, austere and grave in deportment....God had sifted three kingdoms to find the wheat for this planting.Longfellow,Courtship of Miles Standish, iv. (1858).

Pilgrim—Palmer.Pilgrimshad dwellings,palmershad none.Pilgrimswent at their own charge,palmersprofessed willing poverty, and lived on charity.Pilgrimsmight return to a secular life,palmerscould not.Pilgrimsmight hold titles and follow trades,palmerswere wholly “religious” men.

Pilgrim to Compostella.Some pilgrims on their way to Compostella, stopped at a hospice in La Calzāda. The daughter of the innkeeper solicited a young Frenchman to spend the night with her, but he refused; so she put in his wallet a silver cup, and when he was on the road, she accused him to the alcaydê of theft. As the property was found in his possession, the alcaydê ordered him to be hung. His parents went on their way to Compostella, and returned after eight days, but what was their amazement to find their son alive on the gibbet, and uninjured. They went instantly to tell the alcaydê; but the magistrate replied, “Woman, you are mad!I would just as soon believe these pullets, which I am about to eat, are alive, as that a man who has been gibbeted eight days is not dead.” No sooner had he spoken than the two pullets actually rose up alive. The alcaydê was frightened out of his wits, and was about to rush out of doors, when the heads and feathers of the birds came scampering in to complete the resuscitation. The cock and hen were taken in grand procession to St. James’s Church of Compostella, where they lived seven years, and the hen hatched two eggs, a cock and a hen, which lived just seven years, and did the same. This has continued to this day, and pilgrims receive feathers from these birds as holy relics; but no matter how many feathers are given away, the plumage of the sacred fowls is never deficient.

***This legend is also seriously related by Bishop Patrick,Parable of the Pilgrims, xxxv. 430-4. Udal ap Rhys repeats it in hisTour through Spain and Portugal, 35-8. It is inserted in theActa Sanctorum, vi. 45. Pope Calixtus II. mentions it among the miracles of Santiago.

Pilgrim(A Passionate), American who visits England, as one seeks the home he has loved throughout a tedious exile. It is like the return of a weary child to his mother’s arms, as night comes on. He lingers upon each feature of the landscape as upon the face of his beloved, and counts the rest of the world but “a garish” place.—Henry James, Jr.,A Passionate Pilgrim.

Pilgrim’s Progress(The), by John Bunyan. Pt. i., 1670; pt. ii., 1684. This is supposed to be a dream, and to allegorize the life of a Christian, from his conversion to his death. His doubts are giants, his sins a pack, his Bible a chart, his minister, Evangelist, his conversion a flight from the City of Destruction, his struggle with besetting sins a fight with Apollyon, his death a toilsome passage over a deep stream, and so on.

The second part is Christiana and her family led by Greatheart through the same road, to join Christian who had gone before.

Pillar of the Doctors(La Colonne des Docteurs), William de Champeaux (*-1121).

Pilot(The), an important character and the title of a nautical burletta by E. Fitzball, based on the novel so called by J. Fenimore Cooper, of New York. “The pilot” turns out to be the brother of Colonel Howard, of America. He happened to be in the same vessel which was taking out the colonel’s wife and only son. The vessel was wrecked, but “the pilot” (whose name was John Howard) saved the infant boy, and sent him to England to be brought up, under the name of Barnstable. When young Barnstable was a lieutenant in the British navy, Colonel Howard seized him as a spy, and commanded him to be hung to the yardarm of an American frigate, called theAlacrity. At this crisis, “the pilot” informed the colonel that Barnstable was his own son, and the father arrived just in time to save him from death.

Pilpay´, the Indian Æsop. His compilation was in Sanskrit, and entitledPantschatantra.

It was rumored he could say ...All the “Fables” of Pilpay.Longfellow,The Wayside Inn(prelude).

Pilum´nus, the patron god of bakers and millers, because he was the first person who ever ground corn.

Then there was Pilumnus, who was the first to make cheese, and became the god of bakers.—Ouida,Ariadnê, i. 40.

Pinabello, son of Anselmo (king of Maganza). Marphi´sa overthrew him, and told him he could not wipe out the disgrace till he had unhorsed a thousand dames and a thousand knights. Pinabello was slain by Brad´amant.—Ariosto,Orlando Furioso(1516).

Pinac, the lively, spirited fellow-traveller of Mirabel, “the wild goose.” He is in love with the sprightly Lillia-Bianca, a daughter of Nantolet.—Beaumont and Fletcher,The Wild Goose Chase(1652).

Pinch, a schoolmaster and conjuror, who tries to exorcise Antiph´olus (act iv. sc. 4).—Shakespeare,Comedy of Errors(1593).

Pinch(Tom), clerk to Mr. Pecksniff “architect and land surveyor.” Simple as a child, green as a salad, and honest as truth itself. Very fond of story-books, but far more so of the organ. It was the seventh heaven to him to pull out the stops for the organist’s assistant at Salisbury Cathedral; but when allowed, after service, to finger the notes himself, he lived in a dreamland of unmitigated happiness. Being dismissed from Pecksniff’s office, Tom was appointed librarian to the Temple Library, and his new catalogue was a perfect model of workmanship.

Ruth Pinch, a true-hearted, pretty girl, who adores her brother, Tom, and is the sunshine of his existence. She marries John Westlock.—C. Dickens,Martin Chuzzlewit(1844).

Pinchbeck.Sham doctor and matrimonial agent in John Brougham’s play,Playing With Fire.

Pinchbeck(Lady), with whom Don Juan placed Leila to be brought up.

Olden she was—but had been very young;Virtuous she was—and had been, I believe ...She merely now was amiable and witty.Byron,Don Juan, xii. 43, 47 (1824).

Pinchwife(Mr.), the town husband of a raw country girl, wholly unpractised in the ways of the world, and whom he watches with ceaseless anxiety.

Lady Drogheda ... watched her town husband assiduously as Mr. Pinchwife watched his country wife.—Macaulay.

Mrs. Pinchwife, the counterpart of Molière’s “Agnes,” in his comedy entitledL’école des Femmes. Mrs. Pinchwife is a young woman wholly unsophisticated in affairs of the heart.—Wycherly,The Country Wife(1675).

***Garrick altered Wycherly’s comedy toThe Country Girl.

Pindar(Peter), the pseudonym of Dr. John Wolcot (1738-1819).

Pindar(The British), Thomas Gray (1716-1771). On his monument in Westminster Abbey is inscribed these lines:

No more the Grecian muse unrivalled reigns;To Britain let the nations homage pay:She felt a Homer’s fire in Milton’s strains,A Pindar’s rapture in the lyre of Gray.

Pindar(The French), (1) Jean Dorat (1507-1588); (2) Ponce Denis Lebrun (1719-1807).

Pindar(The Italian), Gabriello Chiabrera (1552-1637).

Pindar of England.Cowley was preposterously called by the duke of Buckingham “The Pindar, Horace and Virgilof England.” Posterity has not endorsed this absurd eulogium (1618-1667).

Pindar of Wakefield(The), George-a-Green, pinner of the town of Wakefield—that is, keeper of the public pound for the confinement of estrays.—The History of George-a-Green, Pindar of the Town of Wakefield(time, Elizabeth).

Pindo´rus and Aride´us, the two heralds of the Christian army in the siege of Jerusalem.—Tasso,Jerusalem Delivered(1575).

Pine-Bender(The), Sinis, the Corinthian robber who used to fasten his victims to two pine trees bent towards the earth, and leave them to be torn to pieces by the rebound.

Pingree(Nancy), called “Old Lady Pingree” because of her pride and black lace turban. She lives by herself in the lower part of the old Pingree house, and is so poor that to give an egg to the lodgers above stairs is an act of self-denying generosity. She has money and burial-clothes laid away for her funeral, yet when the neighbor upstairs dies, Nancy “lends” it to the daughter to keep her mother out of the Potter’s field. A sudden rise in property brings Nancy a few hundreds, and enables her to face death with calm certainty of an independent burial in the Pingree lot.—Mary E. Wilkins,A Humble Romance, and Other Stories(1887).

Pinkerton(Miss), a most majestic lady, tall as a grenadier, and most proper. Miss Pinkerton kept an academy for young ladies on Chiswick Mall. She was “the Semiramis of Hammersmith, the friend of Dr. Johnson, and the correspondent of Mrs. Chapone.” This very distinguished lady “had a Roman nose, and wore a solemn turban.” Amelia Sedley was educated at Chiswick Mall academy, and Rebecca Sharp was a pupil-teacher there.—Thackeray,Vanity Fair, i. (1848).

Pinnit(Orson), keeper of the bears.—Sir W. Scott,Kenilworth(time, Elizabeth).

Pinto(Ferdinand Mendez), a Portuguese traveller, whose “voyages” were at one time wholly discredited, but have since been verified (1509-1583).

Ferdinand Mendez Pinto was but a type of thee, thou liar of the first magnitude.—W. Congreve,Love for Love(1695).

Pious(The), Ernst I., founder of the house of Gotha (1601-1674).

Robert, son of Hugues Capet (971, 996-1031).

Eric IX. of Sweden (*, 1155-1161).

Pip, the hero of Dickens’s novel calledGreat Expectations. His family name was Pirrip, and his Christian name Philip. He was enriched by a convict named Abel Magwitch; and was brought up by Joe Gargery, a smith, whose wife was a woman of thunder and lightning, storm and tempest. Magwitch, having made his escape to Australia, became a sheep farmer, grew very rich, and deposited £500 a year with Mr. Jaggers, a lawyer, for the education of Pip, and to make a gentleman of him. Ultimately, Pip married Estella, the daughter of Magwitch, but adopted from infancy by Miss Havisham, a rich banker’s daughter. His friend, Herbert Pocket, used to call him “Handel.”—C. Dickens,Great Expectations(1860).

Pipchin(Mrs.), an exceedingly “well-connected lady,” living at Brighton, where she kept an establishment for the trainingofenfants. Her “respectability” chiefly consisted in the circumstance of her husband having broken his heart in pumping water out of some Peruvian mines (that is, in having invested in these mines and been let in). Mrs. Pipchin was an ill-favored old woman, with mottled cheeks and grey eyes. She was given to buttered toast and sweetbreads, but kept herenfantson the plainest possible fare.—C. Dickens,Dombey and Son(1846).

Piper(Tom), one of the characters in a morris-dance.

So have I seenTom Piper stand upon our village green,Backed with the May-pole.William Browne,Shepherd’s Pipe(1614).

Piper(Paddy, the), an Irish piper, supposed to have been eaten by a cow. Going along one night during the “troubles,” he knocked his head against the body of a dead man dangling from a tree. The sight of the “iligant” boots was too great a temptation: and as they refused to come off without the legs, Paddy took them too, and sought shelter for the night in a cowshed. The moon rose, and Paddy, mistaking the moon-light for the dawn, started for the fair, having drawn on the boots and left the “legs” behind. At daybreak, some of the piper’s friends went in search of him, and found, to their horror, that the cow, as they supposed, had devoured him with the exception of his legs—clothes, bags, and all. They were horror-struck, and of course the cow was condemned to be sold; but while driving her to the fair, they were attracted by the strains of a piper coming towards them. The cow startled, made a bolt, with a view, as it was supposed, of making a meal on another piper. “Help, help!” they shouted; when Paddy himself ran to their aid. The mystery was soon explained over a drop of the “cratur,” and the cow was taken home again.—S. Lover,Legends and Stories of Ireland(1834).

Piper of Hamelin(The Pied), Bunting, who first charmed the rats of Hamelin into the Weser, and then allured the children (to the number of 130) to Koppenberg Hill, which opened upon them. (SeePied Piper of Hamelin.)

Piperman, the factotum of Chalomel, chemist and druggist. He was “so handy” that he was never at his post; and being “so handy,” he took ten times the trouble of doing anything that another would need to bestow. For the self-same reason, he stumbled and blundered about, muddled and marred everything he touched, and being a Jack-of-all-trades was master of none.

There has been an accident because I am so handy. I went to the dairy at a bound, came back at other, and fell down in the open street, where I spilt the milk. I tried to bale it up—no go. Then I ran back or ran home, I forget which, and left the money somewhere; and then, in fact, I have been four times to and fro, because I am so handy.—J. R. Ware,Piperman’s Predicament.

Pipes(Tom), a retired boatswain’s mate, living with Commodore Trunnion to keep the servants in order. Tom Pipes is noted for his taciturnity.—Tobias Smollett,The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle(1751).

(Theincident of Tom Pipes concealing in his shoe his master’s letter to Emilia was suggested by Ovid.

Cum possit solea chartas celare ligatas,Et vincto blandas sub pede ferrenotas,Art of Love.

Pippa.Peasant maid who sings in tripping through the streets on the morning of her holiday. The song reaches the windows of those who sorrow, doubt andsin, and thus influences other lives than her own.—Robert Browning,Pippa Passes(1842).

Pirate(The), a novel by Sir W. Scott (1821). In this novel we are introduced to the wild sea scenery of the Shetlands; the primitive manners of the old udaller, Magnus Troil, and his fair daughters Minna and Brenda; lovely pictures, drawn with nice discrimination, and most interesting.

***A udaller is one who holds his lands on allodial tenure.

Pirner(John), a fisherman at Old St. Ronan’s.—Sir W. Scott,St. Ronan’s Well(time, George III.).

Pisa.The banner of Pisa is a cross on a crimson field, said to have been brought from heaven by Michael the archangel, and delivered by him to St. Efeso, the patron saint of that city.

Pisanio, servant of Posthu´mus. Being sent to murder Imogen, the wife of Posthumus, he persuades her to escape to Milford Haven in boy’s clothes, and sends a bloody napkin to Posthumus, to make him believe that she has been murdered. Ultimately, Imogen becomes reconciled to her husband. (SeePosthumus.)—Shakespeare,Cymbeline(1605).

Pisis´tratos, of Athens, being asked by his wife to punish with death a young man who had dared to kiss their daughter, replied, “How shall we requite those who wish us evil, if we condemn to death those who love us?” This anecdote is referred to by Dantê, in hisPurgatory, xv.—Valerius Maximus,Memorable Acts and Sayings, v.

Pisis´tratos and His Two Sons.The history of Pisistratos and his two sons is repeated in that of Cosmo de Medici, of Florence, and his two grandsons. It would be difficult to find a more striking parallel, whether we regard the characters or the incidents of the two families.

Pisistratos was a great favorite of the Athenian populace; so was Cosmo de Medici with the populace of Florence. Pisistratos was banished, but, being recalled by the people, was raised to sovereign power in the republic of Athens; so Cosmo was banished, but, being recalled by the people, was raised to supreme power in the republic of Florence. Pisistratos was just and merciful, a great patron of literature, and spent large sums of money in beautifying Athens with architecture; the same may be said of Cosmo de Medici. To Pisistratos we owe the poems of Homer in a connected form; and to Cosmo we owe the best literature of Europe, for he spent fortunes in the copying of valuable MSS. The two sons of Pisistratos were Hipparchos and Hippias; and the two grandsons of Cosmo were Guiliano and Lorenzo. Two of the most honored citizens of Athens (Harmodios and Aristogīton) conspired against the sons of Pisistratos—Hipparchos was assassinated, but Hippias escaped; so Francesco Pazzi and the archbishop of Pisa conspired against the grandsons of Cosmo—Guiliano was assassinated, but Lorenzo escaped. In both cases it was the elder brother who fell, and the younger who escaped. Hippias quelled the tumult, and succeeded in placing himself at the head of Athens; so did Lorenzo in Florence.

Pistol, inThe Merry Wives of Windsorand the two parts ofHenry IV., is the ancient or ensign of Captain Sir John Falstaff. Peto is his lieutenant, and Bardolph his corporal. Peto being removed,(probably killed), we find inHenry V., Pistol is lieutenant, Bardolph ancient, and Nym corporal. Pistol is also introduced as married to Mistress Nell Quickly, hostess of the tavern in Eastcheap. Both Pistol and his wife die before the play is over; so does Sir John Falstaff; Bardolph and Nym are both hanged. Pistol is a model bully, wholly unprincipled, and utterly despicable; but he treats his wife kindly, and she is certainly fond of him.—Shakespeare.

Pistris, the sea-monster sent to devour Androm´eda. It had a dragon’s head and a fish’s tail.—Aratus,Commentaries.

Pithyrian[Pi.thirry.an], a pagan of Antioch. He had one daughter, named Mara´na, who was a Christian. A young dragon of most formidable character infested the city of Antioch, and demanded a virgin to be sent out daily for its meal. The Antioch´eans cast lots for the first victim, and the lot fell on Marana, who was led forth in grand procession as the victim of the dragon. Pithyrian, in distraction, rushed into a Christian church, and fell before an image which attracted his attention, at the base of which was the real arm of a saint. The sacristan handed the holy relic to Pithyrian, who kissed it, and then restored it to the sacristan; but the servitor did not observe that a thumb was missing. Off ran Pithyrian with the thumb, and joined his daughter. On came the dragon, with tail erect, wings extended, and mouth wide open, when Pithyrian threw into the gaping jaws the “sacred thumb.” Down fell the tail, the wings drooped, the jaws were locked, and up rose the dragon into the air to the height of three miles, when it blew up into a myriad pieces. So the lady was rescued, Antioch delivered; and the relic, minus a thumb, testifies the fact of this wonderful miracle.—Southey,The Young Dragon(Spanish legend).

Pitt Diamond(The), the sixth largest cut diamond in the world. It weighed 410 carats uncut, and 136-3/4 carats cut. It once belonged to Mr. Pitt, grandfather of the famous earl of Chatham. The duke of Orleans, regent of France, bought it for £135,000, whence it is often called “The Regent.” The French republic sold it to Treskon, a merchant of Berlin. Napoleon I. bought it to ornament his sword. It now belongs to the king of Prussia. (SeeDiamonds.)

Pizarro, a Spanish adventurer, who made war on Atali´ba, inca of Peru. Elvi´ra, mistress of Pizarro, vainly endeavored to soften his cruel heart. Before the battle, Alonzo, the husband of Cora, confided his wife and child to Rolla, the beloved friend of the inca. The Peruvians were on the point of being routed, when Rolla came to the rescue, and redeemed the day; but Alonzo was made a prisoner of war. Rolla, thinking Alonzo to be dead, proposed to Cora; but she declined his suit, and having heard that her husband had fallen into the hands of the Spaniards, she implored Rolla to set him free. Accordingly, he entered the prison where Alonzo was confined, and changed clothes with him, but Elvira liberated him on condition that he would kill Pizarro. Rolla found his enemy sleeping in his tent, spared his life, and made him his friend. The infant child of Cora being lost, Rolla recovered it, and was so severely wounded in this heroic act that he died. Pizarro was slain in combat by Alonzo; Elvira retired to a convent; and the play ends with a grand funeral march, in which the dead body ofRolla is borne to the tomb.—Sheridan,Pizarro(1814).

(Sheridan’s drama ofPizarrois taken from that of Kotzebue, but there are several alterations: Thus, Sheridan makes Pizarro killed by Alonzo, which is a departure both from Kotzebue and also from historic truth. Pizarro lived to conquer Peru, and was assassinated in his palace at Lima, by the son of his friend, Almagro.)

Pizarro, “the ready tool of fell Velasquez’ crimes.”—R. Jephson,Braganza(1775).

Pizarro, the governor of the State prison, in which Fernando Florestan was confined. Fernando’s young wife, in boy’s attire, and under the name of Fidelio, became the servant of Pizarro, who, resolving to murder Fernando, sent Fidelio and Rocco (the jailer) to dig his grave. Pizarro was just about to deal the fatal blow, when the minister of state arrived, and commanded the prisoner to be set free.—Beethoven,Fidelio(1791).

Place´bo, one of the brothers of January, the old baron of Lombardy. When January held a family conclave to know whether he should marry, Placebo told him “to please himself, and do as he liked.”—Chaucer,Canterbury Tales(“The Merchant’s Tale,” 1388).

Placid(Mr.), a hen-pecked husband, who is roused at last to be somewhat more manly, but could never be better than “a boiled rabbit without oyster sauce.” (SeePliant.)

Mrs. Placid, the lady paramount of the house, who looked quite aghast if her husband expressed a wish of his own, or attempted to do an independent act.—Inchbald,Every One Has His Fault(1794).

Plac´idas, the exact fac-simile of his friend, Amias. Having heard of his friend’s captivity, he went to release him, and being detected in the garden, was mistaken by Corflambo’s dwarf for Amias. The dwarf went and told Pæa´na (the daughter of Corflambo, “fair as ever yet saw living eye, but too loose of life and eke of love too light”). Placidas was seized and brought before the lady, who loved Amias, but her love was not requited. When Placidas stood before her, she thought he was Amias, and great was her delight to find her love returned. She married Placidas, reformed her ways, “and all men much admired the change, and spake her praise.”—Spenser,Faëry Queen, iv. 8, 9 (1596).

Plagiary(Sir Fretful), a playwright, whose dramas are mere plagiarisms from “the refuse of obscure volumes.” He pretends to be rather pleased with criticism, but is sorely irritated thereby. Richard Cumberland (1732-1811), noted for his vanity and irritability, was the model of this character.—Sheridan,The Critic, i. 1 (1779).

Herrick, who had no occasion to steal, has taken this image from Suckling, and spoilt it in the theft. Like Sir Fretful Plagiary, Herrick had not skill to steal with taste.—R. Chambers,English Literature, i. 134.

William Parsons [1736-1795] was the original “Sir Fretful Plagiary,” and from his delineation most of our modern actors have borrowed their idea.—Life of Sheridan.

Plaids et Gieux sous l’Ormel, a society formed by the troubadours of Picardy in the latter half of the twelfth century. It consisted of knights and ladies of the highest rank, exercised and approved incourtesy, who assumed an absolute judicial power in matters of the most delicate nature; trying with the most consummate ceremony, all causes in love brought before their tribunals.

This was similar to the “Court of Love,” established about the same time, by the troubadours of Provence.—Universal Magazine(March, 1792).

Plain(The), the level floor of the National Convention of France, occupied by the Girondists, or moderate republicans.

The red republicans occupied the higher seats, called “the mountain.” By a figure of speech, the Girondist party was called “the plain,” and the red republican party “the mountain.”

Plain and Perspicuous Doctor(The), Walter Burleigh (1275-1357).

Plain Dealer(The), a comedy by William Wycherly (1677).

The countess of Drogheda ... inquired for thePlain Dealer. “Madam,” said Mr. Fairbeard, ... “there he is,” pushing Mr. Wycherly towards her.—Cibber,Lives of the Poets, iii. 252.

(Wycherly married the countess in 1680. She died soon afterwards, leaving him the whole of her fortune.)

Plantagenet(Lady Edith), a kinswoman of Richard I. She marries the prince royal of Scotland (called Sir Kenneth, knight of the Leopard, or David, earl of Huntingdon).—Sir W. Scott,The Talisman(time, Richard I.).

Plato.The mistress of this philosopher was Archianassa; of Aristotle, Hepyllis; and of Epicurus, Leontium. (SeeLovers.)

Plato(The German), Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi (1743-1819).

Plato(The Jewish), Philo Judæus (fl. 30-40).

Plato(The Puritan), John Howe (1630-1706).

Plato and the Bees.It is said that when Plato was an infant, bees settled on his lips while he was asleep, indicating that he would become famous for his “honeyed words.” The same story is told of Sophoclês also.

And as when Plato did i’ the cradle thrive,Bees to his lips brought honey from the hive;So to this boy [Dor´idon] they came—I know not whetherThey brought or from his lips did honey gather.W. Browne,Brittania’s Pastorals, ii. (1613).

Plato and Homer.Plato greatly admired Homer, but excluded him from his ideal republic.

Plato, ’tis true, great Homer doth commend,Yet from his common-weal did him exile.Lord Brooke,Inquisition upon Fame, etc.(1554-1628).

Plato and Poets.

Plato, anticipating the Reviewers,From his “republic,” banished without pityThe poets.Longfellow,The Poet’s Tale.

Platonic Puritan(The), John Howe, the puritan divine (1630-1706).

Plausible(Counsellor) and Serjeant Eitherside, two pleaders inThe Man of the World, by C. Macklin (1764).

Pleasant(Mrs.) inThe Parson’s Wedding, by Tom Killigrew (1664).

Pleasures of Hope, a poem in two parts by Thomas Campbell (1799). It opens with a comparison between the beauty of scenery, and the ideal enchantments of fancy, in which hope is never absent, but can sustain the seaman on his watch, the soldier on his march, and Byron in his perilous adventures. The hope of a mother, the hope of a prisoner, the hope of the wanderer, the grand hope of the patriot, the hope of regenerating uncivilized nations, extending liberty, and ameliorating the condition of the poor. Pt. ii. speaks of the hope of love, and the hope of a future state, concluding with the episode of Conrad and Ellenore. Conrad was a felon, transported to New South Wales, but, though “a martyr to his crimes, was true to his daughter.” Soon, he says, he shall return to the dust from which he was taken;

But not, my child, with life’s precarious fire,The immortal ties of Nature shall expire;These shall resist the triumph of decay,When time is o’er, and worlds have passed away.Cold in the dust this perished heart may lie,But that which warmed it once shall never die—That spark, unburied in its mortal frame,With living light, eternal, and the same,Shall beam on Joy’s interminable years,Unveiled by darkness, unassuaged by tears.Pt. ii.

Pleasures of Imagination, a poem in three books, by Akenside (1744). All the pleasures of imagination arise from the perception of greatness, wonderfulness, or beauty. The beauty of greatness—witness the pleasures of mountain scenery, of astronomy, of infinity. The pleasure of what is wonderful—witness the delight of novelty, of the revelations of science, of tales of fancy. The pleasure of beauty, which is always connected with truth—the beauty of color, shape, and so on, in natural objects; the beauty of mind and the moral faculties. Bk. ii. contemplates accidental pleasures arising from contrivance and design, emotion and passion, such as sorrow, pity, terror, and indignation. Bk. iii. Morbid imagination the parent of vice; the benefits of a well-trained imagination.

Pleasures of Memory, a poem in two parts, by Samuel Rogers (1793). The first part is restricted to the pleasure of memory afforded by the five senses, as that arising from visiting celebrated places, and that afforded by pictures. Pt. ii. goes into the pleasures of the mind, as imagination and memory of past griefs and dangers. The poem concludes with the supposition that in the life to come this faculty will be greatly enlarged. The episode is this: Florio, a young sportsman, accidentally met Julia in a grot, and followed her home, when her father, a rich squire, welcomed him as his guest, and talked with delight of his younger days, when hawk and hound were his joy of joys. Florio took Julia for a sail on the lake, but the vessel was capsized, and, though Julia was saved from the water, she died on being brought to shore. It was Florio’s delight to haunt the places which Julia frequented.

Her charm around the enchantress Memory threw,A charm that soothes the mind and sweetens too.Pt. ii.

Pleiads(The), a cluster of seven stars in the constellationTaurus, and applied to a cluster of seven celebrated contemporaries. The stars were the seven daughters of Atlas: Maĭa, Electra, Taygĕtê, (4syl.), Asterŏpê, Merŏpê, Alcyŏnê and Celēno.

The Pleiad of Alexandriaconsisted of Callimachos, Apollonios Rhodios, Arātos, Homer the Younger, Lycophron, Nicander, and Theocrĭtos. All of Alexandria, in the time of Ptolemy Philadelphos.

The Pleiad of Charlemagneconsisted of Alcuin, called “Albīnus;” Angilbert,called “Homer;” Adelard, called “Augustine;” Riculfe, called “Damætas;” Varnefrid; Eginhard; and Charlemagne himself, who was called “David.”

The First French Pleiad(sixteenth century): Ronsard, Joachim du Bellay, Antoine de Baïf, Remi-Belleau, Jodelle, Ponthus de Thiard, and the seventh is either Dorat or Amadis de Jamyn. All under Henri III.

The Second French Pleiad(seventeenth century): Rapin, Commire, Larue, Santeuil, Ménage, Dupérier, and Petit.

We have also our English clusters. There were those born in the second half of the sixteenth century: Spenser (1553), Drayton (1563), Shakespeare and Marlowe (1564), Ben Jonson (1574), Fletcher (1576), Massinger (1585), Beaumont (Fletcher’s colleague) and Ford (1586). Besides these there were Tusser (1515), Raleigh (1552), Sir Philip Sidney (1554), Phineas Fletcher (1584), Herbert (1593), and several others.

Another cluster came a century later: Prior (1664), Swift (1667), Addison and Congreve (1672), Rowe (1673), Farquhar (1678), Young (1684), Gay and Pope (1688), Macklin (1690).

These were born in the latter half of the eighteenth century: Sheridan (1751), Crabbe (1754), Burns (1759), Rogers (1763), Wordsworth (1770), Scott (1771), Coleridge (1772), Southey (1774), Campbell (1777), Moore (1779), Byron (1788), Shelley and Keble (1792), and Keats (1796).

Butler (1600), Milton (1608), and Dryden (1630) came between the first and second clusters. Thomson (1700), Gray (1717), Collins (1720), Akenside (1721), Goldsmith (1728), and Cowper (1731), between the second and the third.

Pleonec´tes(4syl.), Covetousness personified, inThe Purple Island, by Phineas Fletcher (1633). “His gold his god” ... he “much fears to keep, much more to lose his lusting.” Fully described in canto viii. (Greek,pleonektês, “covetous.”)

Pleydell(Mr. Paulus), an advocate in Edinburgh, shrewd and witty. He was at one time the sheriff at Ellangowan.

Mr. Counsellor Pleydell was a lively, sharp-looking gentleman, with a professional shrewdness in his eye, and, generally speaking, a professional formality in his manner; but this he could slip off on a Saturday evening, when ... he joined in the ancient pastime of High Jinks.—Sir W. Scott,Guy Mannering, xxxix. (time, George II.).

Pliable, a neighbor of Christian, whom he accompanied as far as the “Slough of Despond,” when he turned back.—Bunyan,Pilgrim’s Progress, i. (1678).

Pliant(Sir Paul), a hen-pecked husband, who dares not even touch a letter addressed to himself till my lady has read it first. His perpetual oath is “Gadsbud!” He is such a dolt that he would not believe his own eyes and ears, if they bore testimony against his wife’s fidelity and continency. (SeePlacid.)

Lady Pliant, second wife of Sir Paul. “She’s handsome, and knows it; is very silly, and thinks herself wise; has a choleric old husband” very fond of her, but whom she rules with spirit, and snubs “afore folk.” My lady says, “If one has once sworn, it is most unchristian, inhuman, and obscene that one should break it.” Her conduct with Mr. Careless is most reprehensible.—Congreve,The Double Dealer(1694).

Pliny(The German), or “Modern Pliny,” Konrad von Gesner of Zurich, who wroteHistoria Animalium, etc. (1516-1565).

Pliny of the East, Zakarija ibn Muhammed, surnamed “Kazwînî,” from Kazwîn, the place of his birth. He is so called by De Sacy (1200-1283).

Plon-Plon, Prince Napoleon Joseph Charles Bonaparte, son of Jerome Bonaparte by his second wife (the Princess Frederica Catherine of Würtemberg). Plon-Plon is a euphonic corruption ofCraint-Plomb(“fear-bullet”), a nickname given to the prince in the Crimēan war (1854-6).

Plornish, plasterer, Bleeding-heart Yard. He was a smooth-cheeked, fresh-colored, sandy-whiskered man of 30. Long in the legs, yielding at the knees, foolish in the face, flannel-jacketed and lime-whitened. He generally chimed in conversation by echoing the words of the person speaking. Thus, if Mrs. Plornish said to a visitor, “Miss Dorrit dursn’t let him know;” he would chime in, “Dursn’t let him know.” “Me and Plornish says, ‘Ho! Miss Dorrit;’” Plornish repeated, after his wife, “Ho! Miss Dorrit.” “Can you employ Miss Dorrit?” Plornish repeated as an echo, “Employ Miss Dorrit?” (SeePeter.)

Mrs. Plornish, the plasterer’s wife. A young woman, somewhat slatternly in herself and her belongings, and dragged by care and poverty already into wrinkles. She generally began her sentences with, “Well, not to deceive you.” Thus: “Is Mr. Plornish at home?” “Well, sir, not to deceive you, he’s gone to look for a job.” “Well, not to deceive you, ma’am, I take it kindly of you.”—C. Dickens,Little Dorrit(1857).

Plotting Parlor(The). At Whittington, near Scarsdale, in Derbyshire, is a farmhouse where the earl of Devonshire (Cavendish), the earl of Danby (Osborne), and Baron Delamer (Booth), concerted the Revolution. The room in which they met is called “The Plotting Parlor.”

Where Scarsdale’s cliffs the swelling pastures bound,... there let the farmer hailThe sacred orchard which embowers his gate,And shew to strangers, passing down the vale,Where Cav’ndish, Booth, and Osborne sateWhen, bursting from their country’s chain, ...They planned for freedom this her noblest reign.Akenside,OdeXVIII. v. 3 (1767).

Plotwell(Mrs.), in Mrs. Centlivre’s drama,The Beau’s Duel(1703).

Plough of Cincinnatus.The Roman patriot of this name, when sought by the ambassadors sent to entreat him to assume command of state and army, was found ploughing his field. Leaving the plough in the furrow, he accompanied them to Rome, and after a victorious campaign returned to his little farm.

Plousina, called Hebê, endowed by the fairy Anguilletta with the gifts of wit, beauty, and wealth. Hebê still felt she lacked something, and the fairy told her it was love. Presently came to her father’s court a young prince named Atimir, the two fell in love with each other, and the day of their marriage was fixed. In the interval, Atimir fell in love with Hebê’s elder sister Iberia; and Hebê, in her grief, was sent to the Peaceable Island, where she fell in love with the ruling prince, and married him. After a time, Atimir and Iberia, with Hebê and her husband, met at the palace of the ladies’ father, when the love between Atimir and Hebê revived. A duel was fought between the young princes, in which Atimir was slain, and the prince of the PeaceableIslands was severely wounded. Hebê, coming up, threw herself on Atimir’s sword, and the dead bodies of Atimir and Hebê were transformed into two trees called “charms.”—Countess D’Aunoy,Fairy Tales(“Anguilletta,” 1682).

Plowman(Piers), the dreamer, who, falling asleep on the Malvern Hills, Worcestershire, saw in a vision pictures of the corruptions of society, and particularly of the avarice and wantonness of the clergy. This supposed vision is formed into a poetical satire of great vigor, fancy, and humor. It is divided into twenty parts, each part being called apassus, or separate vision.—William [or Robert] Langland,The Vision of Piers the Plowman(1362).

Plumdamas(Mr. Peter), grocer.—Sir W. Scott,Heart of Midlothian(time, George II.).

Plume(Captain), a gentleman and an officer. He is in love with Sylvia, a wealthy heiress, and, when he marries her, gives up his commission.—G. Farquhar,The Recruiting Officer(1705).

Plummer(Caleb), a little old toy-maker, in the employ of Gruff and Tackleton, toy merchants. He was spare, gray-haired, and very poor. It was his pride “to go as close to Natur’ in his toys as he could for the money.” Caleb Plummer had a blind daughter, who assisted him in his toy-making, and whom he brought up under the belief that he himself was young, handsome, and well off, and that the house they lived in was sumptuously furnished and quite magnificent. Every calamity he smoothed over, every unkind remark of their snarling employer he called a merry jest; so that the poor blind girl lived in a castle of the air, “a bright little world of her own.” When merry or puzzled, Caleb used to sing something about “a sparkling bowl.”

Bertha Plummer, the blind daughter of the toy-maker, who fancied her poor old father was a young fop, that the sack he threw across his shoulders was a handsome blue great-coat, and that their wooden house was a palace. She was in love with Tackleton, the toy merchant, whom she thought to be a handsome young prince; and when she heard that he was about to marry May Fielding, she drooped and was like to die. She was then disillusioned, heard the real facts, and said, “Why, oh, why did you deceive me thus? Why did you fill my heart so full, and then come like death, and tear away the objects of my love?” However, her love for her father was not lessened, and she declared that the knowledge of the truth was “sight restored.” “It is my sight,” she cried. “Hitherto I have been blind, but now my eyes are open. I never knew my father before, and might have died without ever having known him truly.”

Edward Plummer, son of the toy-maker, and brother of the blind girl. He was engaged from boyhood to May Fielding, went to South America, and returned to marry her; but, hearing of her engagement to Tackleton, the toy merchant, he assumed the disguise of a deaf old man, to ascertain whether she loved Tackleton or not. Being satisfied that her heart was still his own, he married her, and Tackleton made them a present of the wedding-cake which he had ordered for himself.—C. Dickens,The Cricket on the Hearth(1845).

Plush(John), any gorgeous footman, conspicuous for his plush breeches and rainbow colors.

Plutarch(The Modern), Vayer, born at Paris. His name in full was Francis Vayer de la Mothe (1586-1672).

Pluto, the god of Hadês.

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