Those who were placed around the dinner-table had those feelings of awe with whichP. 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.
Those who were placed around the dinner-table had those feelings of awe with whichP. 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 wordpragmaticusmeans “relating to State affairs,” and the wordsanctiomeans “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 byThe Pragmatic Sanctionis 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 preparedThe 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´tagusorPræsu´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 (1syl.) 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).
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 ofThe Preacher(i. e.Ecclesiastes).
Thus saith the Preacher, “Nought beneath the sunIs 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. Thesoiréesheld 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 moredistinguéthan 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’sSpanish 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 ofBelul Gian, meaning “precious stone.” Gian(pronouncedzjon) has been corrupted into John, and Belul, translated into “precious;” in LatinJohannes 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 MelechGian-Belul.
Æthiopes regem suum, quem nos vulgo “Prete Gianni” corrupte dicimus, quatour appellant nominibus, quorum primum est “Belul Giad,” hoc estlapis preciosus. Ductum est autem hoc nomen abannulo Salomonisquem 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 estunctum. Hæc autem regiæ dignitatis nomina omnibus communia sunt.—Quoted by Selden, from a little annal of the Ethiopian kings (1552), in hisTitles of Honor, v. 65 (1614).
Æthiopes regem suum, quem nos vulgo “Prete Gianni” corrupte dicimus, quatour appellant nominibus, quorum primum est “Belul Giad,” hoc estlapis preciosus. Ductum est autem hoc nomen abannulo Salomonisquem 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 estunctum. Hæc autem regiæ dignitatis nomina omnibus communia sunt.—Quoted by Selden, from a little annal of the Ethiopian kings (1552), in hisTitles of Honor, v. 65 (1614).
***As this title was like the EgyptianPharaoh, 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, calledQuarakhata.
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 theChronicleof 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.
InOrlando 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 “TheOldPretender”). 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 (inRedgauntlet).
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’sMarriage-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).
“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.”
PridwinorPriwen, 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).
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).
“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 seeGreek 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 appeargenteel. 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 (aliasSir 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., kaiserof Germany; also called “The German Trismegistus” (1552, 1576-1612).
Prince of Angels, Michael.
So spake the prince of angels. To whom thusThe 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 raceOf 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 gaitAnd fierce demeanor seems the prince of Hell.Milton,Paradise Lost, iv. 868 (1665).
Prince of Life, a title given to Christ (Actsiii. 15).
Prince of Peace, a title given to the Messiah (Isaiahix. 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 (Johnxiv. 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 entitledThe 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 hisOrigin and Growth of Printing. Dr. Conyers Middleton, in 1735, charged Atkins with forgery. In 1812, S. W. Singer defended the book. Dr. Cottontook the subject up in hisTypographical 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.” (SeePegasus.)
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, bearTheir light within them) will not swearAnd hold no sin so deeply redAs 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 Worldlxxiii. (1759).
Mr. Cogan once visited a prisoner ofstate 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 entitledThe 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, seeErnest de Fridberg.)
Pritchard(William), commander of H.M. sloop, theShark.—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 PrivolvansHave every summer their campaigns,And muster like the warlike sonsOf Rawhead and of Bloody-bones.S. Butler,The Elephant in the Moon, v. 85 (1754).
Probe(1syl.), a priggish surgeon, who magnifies mole-hill ailments into mountain maladies, in order to enhance his skill and increase his charges. Thus, whenLord 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 (3syl.), 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(3syl.), 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 fitsTheir nobler parts, the souls of suffering wits.Mallet,Verbal Criticism(1734).
Proctor’s DogsorBull-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 ofThe 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’sAutocrat of the Breakfast-Table(1858).
Profound(The), Richard Middleton, an English scholastic divine (*-1304).
Profound Doctor(The), Thomas Bradwardine, a schoolman. Also called “The SolidDocter”(*-1349).
Ægidius de Columna, a Sicilian schoolman, was called “The Most Profound Doctor” (*-1316).
Progne(2syl.), 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 (3syl.), had fallen. Medea gave Jason some of this unguent, which rendered his body proof against fire and warlike instruments.
Prome´theus(3syl.) 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 entitledPrometheus Unbound(1819).
James Russell Lowell has a noble poem entitledPrometheus, 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, SumersetHath made the wizard famous in his death.Shakespeare, 2Henry VI.act v. sc. 2 (1591).
Similar prophetic equivokes were told to Henry IV., Pope Sylvester II., and Cambysês (seeJerusalem).
Aristomĕnês was told by the Delphic oracle to “flee for his life when he saw a goat drink from the river Neda.” Consequently, allgoatswere 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 forfig treeandgoatwas the same. The pun or equivoke will be better understood by an English reader if forgoatwe readewe, and bear in mind thatyewis to the ear the same word; thus:
When anewe[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, likeSultana, it is simply a title of honor. He was theProphet, she theProphētaor 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(3syl.), calledProserpĭnain 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 infernalreions.Cerês wandered for nine days over the world disconsolate, looking for her daughter, when Hec´ate (2syl.) 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 fieldOf Enna, where Proser´pin, gathering flowers,Herself a fairer flower, by gloomy DisWas gathered—which cost Cerês all that painTo 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).
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).
Proteriusof Cappadōcia, father of Cyra. (SeeSinner Saved.)
Protesila´os, husband of Laodamīa. Being slain at the siege of Troy, the dead body was sent home to his wife, whoprayed 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’sTélémaque“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 (2syl.), 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 (4syl.), 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”).
ProteusorProtheus, 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 wordPro-tĕ-us. Malone, Dr. Johnson, etc., retain thehin 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 recordOf theProtevangelon.Longfellow,The Golden Legend(1851).
Protocol(Mr. Peter), the attorney in Edinburgh, employed by Mrs. MargaretBertram, of Singleside.—Sir W. Scott,Guy Mannering(time, George II.).
Protosebastos(The), orSebastocrator, 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 calledSuperbus(reignedB.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.
MagdalenorMaudie 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 ParsonageandBarchester Towers.
Prout(Father), the pseudonym of Francis Mahoney, a humorous writer inFraser’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 hisprotegéa 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 isforgiven
***This comedy was Vanbrugh’sJourney to London, left unfinished at his death. Cibber took it, completed it, and brought it out under the title ofThe 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’sRomance 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 serfhimself, 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,”caligraphistand 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 ofGeorge 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: