Chapter 20

“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, inThe 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 thathappy 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.

PrydwenorPridwin(q.v.), called in theMabinogion, 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.I. 174.

Prynne(Hester). Handsome, haughty gentlewoman of English birth, married to a deformed scholar, whom she does not love. She comes alone to Boston, meets Arthur Dimmesdale, a young clergyman, and becomes his wife in all except in name. When her child is born she is condemned to stand in the pillory, holding it in her arms, to be reprimanded by officials, civic and clerical, and to wear, henceforward, upon her breast, the letter “A” in scarlet. Her fate is more enviable than that of her undiscovered lover, whose vacillations of dread and despair and determination to reveal all but move Hester to deeper pity and stronger love. She is beside him when he dies in the effort to bare his bosom and show the cancerousScarlet Letterthat has grown into his flesh while she wore hers outwardly.—Nathaniel Hawthorne,The Scarlet Letter(1850).

Psalmist(The). King David is called “The Sweet Psalmist of Israel” (2Sam.xxiii. 1). In the compilation calledPsalms, in the Old Testament, seventy-three bear the name of David, twelve were composed by Asaph, eleven by the sons of Korah, and one (Psalmxc.) by Moses.

Psycarpax(i. e.“granary-thief”), son of Troxartas, king of the mice. The frog king offered to carry the young Psycarpax over a lake; but a water-hydra made its appearance, and the frog-king, to save himself, dived under water, whereby the mouse prince lost his life. This catastrophe brought about the fatalBattle of the Frogs and Mice. Translated from the Greek into English verse by Parnell (1679-1717).

Psyche[Si´.ke], a most beautiful maiden, with whom Cupid fell in love. The god told her she was never to seek to know who he was; but Psychê could not resist the curiosity of looking at him as he lay sleep. A drop of the hot oil from Psychê’s lamp falling on the love-god, woke him, and he instantly took to flight. Psychê now wandered from place to place, persecuted by Venus; but after enduring ineffable troubles, Cupid came at last to her rescue, married her, and bestowed on her immortality.

This exquisite allegory is from theGolden Assof Apulēios. Lafontaine has turned it into French verse. M. Laprade (born 1812) has rendered it into French most exquisitely. The English version, by Mrs. Tighe, in six cantos, is simply unreadable.

Pternog´lyphus(“bacon-scooper”), oneof the mouse chieftains.—Parnell,Battle of the Frogs and Mice, iii. (about 1712).

Pternoph´agus(“bacon-eater”), one of the mouse chieftains.

But dire Pternophagus divides his wayThro’ breaking ranks, and leads the dreadful day.No nibbling prince excelled in fierceness more,—His parents fed him on the savage boar.Parnell,Battle of the Frogs and Mice, iii. (about 1712).

Pternotractas(“bacon-gnawer”), father of “the meal-licker,” Lycomĭlê (wife of Troxartas, “the bread-eater”). Psycarpas, the king of the mice, was son of Lycomĭlê, and grandson of Pternotractas.—Parnell,Battle of the Frogs and Mice, i. (about 1712).

Public Good(The League of the), a league between the dukes of Burgundy, Brittany, and other French princes against Louis XI.

Public´ola, of theDespatch Newspaper, was thenom de plumeof Mr. Williams, a vigorous political writer.

Publius, the surviving son of Horatius after the combat between the three Horatian brothers against the three Curiatii of Alba. He entertained the Roman notion that “a patriot’s soul can feel no ties but duty, and know no voice of kindred” if it conflicts with his country’s weal. His sister was engaged to Caius Curiatius, one of the three Alban champions; and when she reproved him for “murdering” her betrothed, he slew her, for he loved Rome more than he loved friend, sister, brother, or the sacred name of father.—Whitehead,The Roman Father(1714).

Pucel.La bel Pucellived in the tower of “Musyke.” Graunde Amoure, sent thither by Fame to be instructed by the seven ladies of science, fell in love with her, and ultimately married her. After his death, Remembrance wrote his “epitaphy on his graue.”—S. Hawes,The Passe-tyme of Pleasure(1506, printed 1515).

Pucelle(La), a surname given to Joan of Arc, the “Maid of Orleans” (1410-1431).

Puck, generally called Hobgoblin. Same as Robin Goodfellow. Shakespeare, inMidsummer Night’s Dream, represents him as “a very Shetlander among the gossamer-winged, dainty-limbed fairies, strong enough to knock all their heads together, a rough, knurly-limbed, fawn-faced, shock-pated, mischievous little urchin.”

He [Oberon] meeteth Puck, which most men callHobgoblin, and on him doth fall,With words from phrenzy spoken.“Hoh! hoh!” quoth Hob; “God save your grace....”Drayton,Nymphidia(1593).

Pudding(Jack), a gormandizing clown. In French he is calledJean Potage; in Dutch,Pickle-Herringe; in Italian,Macarōni; in German,John Sausage(Hanswurst).

Puff, servant of Captain Loveit, and husband of Tag, of whom he stands in awe.—D. Garrick,Miss in Her Teens(1753).

Puff(Mr.), a man who had tried his hand on everything to get a living, and at last resorts to criticism. He says of himself, “I am a practitioner in panegyric, or to speak more plainly, a professor of the art of puffing.”

“I open,” says Puff, “with a clock striking, to beget an awful attention in the audience; it also marks the time, which is four o’clock in the morning, and saves a description of the risingsun, and a great deal about gilding the eastern hemisphere.”—Sheridan,The Critic, i. 1 (1779).

“God forbid,” says Mr. Puff, “that in a free country, all the fine words in the language should be engrossed by the highest characters of the piece.”—Sir W. Scott,The Drama.

Puff, publisher. He says:

“Panegyric and praise! and what will that do with the public? Why, who will give money to be told that Mr. Such-a-one is a wiser and better man than himself? No, no! ’tis quite, and clean out of nature. A good, sousing satire, now, well powdered with personal pepper, and seasoned with the spirit of party, that demolishes a conspicuous character, and sinks him below our own level—there, there, we are pleased; there we chuckle and grin, and toss the half-crowns on the counter.”—Foote,The Patron(1764).

Pug, a mischievous little goblin, called “Puck” by Shakespeare.—B. Jonson,The Devil is an Ass(1616).

Puggie-Orrock, a sheriff’s officer at Fairport.—Sir W. Scott,The Antiquary(time, George III.).

Pul´ci(L.), poet of Florence (1432-1487), author of the heroï-comic poem calledMorgantê Maggiorê, a mixture of the bizarre, the serious, and the comic, in ridicule of the romances of chivalry. ThisDon Juanclass of poetry has since been calledBernesque, from Francesco Berni, of Tuscany, who greatly excelled in it.

Pulci was sire of the half-serious rhyme,Who sang when chivalry was more quixotic,And revelled in the fancies of the time,True knights, chaste dames, huge giants, kings despotic.Byron,Don Juan, iv. 6 (1820).

Pulia´no, leader of the Nasamo´ni. He was slain by Rinaldo.—Ariosto,Orlando Furioso(1516).

Pumblechook, uncle to Joe Gargery, the blacksmith. He was a well-to-do corn-chandler, and drove his own chaise-cart. A hard-breathing, middle-aged, slow man was uncle Pumblechook, with fishy eyes and sandy hair, inquisitively on end. He called Pip, in his facetious way, “six-pen’orth of h’pence;” but when Pip came into his fortune, Mr. Pumblechook was the most servile of the servile, and ended every sentence with, “May I, Mr. Pip?”i.e,have the honor of shaking hands with you again.—C. Dickens,Great Expectations(1860).

Pumpernickel(His Transparency), a nickname by which theTimessatirized the minor German princes.

Some ninety men and ten drummers constitute their whole embattled host on the parade-ground before their palace; and their whole revenue is supplied by a percentage on the tax levied on strangers at the Pumpernickel kursaal.—Times, July 18, 1866.

Pumpkin(Sir Gilbert), a country gentleman plagued with a ward (Miss Kitty Sprightly) and a set of servants all stage mad. He entertains Captain Charles Stanley, and Captain Harry Stukely at Strawberry Hall, when the former, under cover of acting, makes love to Kitty (an heiress), elopes with her, and marries her.

Miss Bridget Pumpkin, sister of Sir Gilbert, of Strawberry Hall. A Mrs. Malaprop. She says, “The Greeks, the Romans, and the Irish are barbarian nations who had plays;” but Sir Gilbert says, “they were all Jacobites.” She speaks of “taking a degree at our principal adversity;” asks “if the Muses are a family living at Oxford,” if so, she tells Captain Stukely, she will be delighted to “see them at Strawberry Hall, with any other of his friends.” Miss Pumpkin hates “play acting,” but does not object to love-making.—Jackman,All the World’s a Stage.

Punch, derived from the LatinMimi, through the ItalianPullicenella. It was originally intended as a characteristic representation. The tale is this: Punch, in a fit of jealousy, strangles his infant child, when Judy flies to her revenge. With a bludgeon she belabors her husband, till he becomes so exasperated that he snatches the bludgeon from her, knocks her brains out, and flings the dead body into the street. Here it attracts the notice of a police officer, who enters the house, and Punch flies to save his life. He is, however, arrested by an officer of the Inquisition, and is shut up in prison, from which he escapes by a golden key. The rest of the allegory shows the triumph of Punch over slander, in the shape of a dog, disease in the guise of a doctor death, and the devil.

Pantalonewas a Venetian merchant;Dottorea Bolognese physician;Spavientoa Neapolitan braggadocio;Pullicinellaa wag of Apulia;GiangurgoloandCoviellotwo clowns of Calabria;Gelsominoa Roman beau;Beltramea Milanese simpleton;Brighellaa Ferrarese pimp; andArlecchinoa blundering servant of Bergamo. Each was clad in an appropriate dress, had a characteristic mask, and spoke the dialect of the place he represented.

Besides these there wereAmorososorInnamoratos, with their servettas, or waiting-maids, asSmeraldina,Columbina,Spilletta, etc., who spoke Tuscan.—Walker,On the Revival of the Drama in Italy, 249.

Punch, the periodical. The first cover was designed by A. S. Henning; the present one by R. Doyle.

Pure(Simon), a Pennsylvanian Quaker. Being about to visit London to attend the quarterly meeting of his sect he brings with him a letter of introduction to Obadiah Prim, a rigid, stern Quaker, and the guardian of Anne Lovely, an heiress worth £30,000. Colonel Feignwell, availing himself of this letter of introduction, passes himself off as Simon Pure, and gets established as the accepted suitor of the heiress. Presently the real Simon Pure makes his appearance, and is treated as an impostor and swindler. The colonel hastens on the marriage arrangements, and has no sooner completed them than Master Simon re-appears, with witnesses to prove his identity; but it is too late, and Colonel Feignwell freely acknowledges the “bold stroke he has made for a wife.”—Mrs. Centlivre,A Bold Stroke for a Wife(1717).

Purefoy(Master), former tutor of Dr. Anthony Rochecliffe, the plotting royalist.—Sir W. Scott,Woodstock(time, Commonwealth).

Purgatory, by Dantê, in thirty-three cantos (1308). Having emerged from Hell, Dantê saw in the southern hemisphere four stars, “ne’er seen before, save by our first parents.” The stars were symbolical of the four cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance). Turning round, he observed old Cato, who said that a dame from Heaven had sent him to prepare the Tuscan poet for passing through Purgatory. Accordingly, with a slender reed, old Cato girded him, and from his face he washed “all sordid stain,” restoring to his face “that hue which the dun shades of Hell had covered and concealed” (canto i.). Dantê then followed his guide, Virgil, to a huge mountain in mid-ocean antipodal to Judea, and began the ascent. A party of spirits were ferried over at the same time by an angel, amongst whom was Casella, a musician, one of Dantê’s friends. The mountain, he tells us, isdivided into terraces, and terminates in Earthly Paradise, which is separated from it by two rivers—Lethê and Eu´noe (3syl.). The first eight cantos are occupied by the ascent, and then they come to the gate of Purgatory. This gate is approached by three stairs (faith, penitence and piety); the first stair is transparent white marble, as clear as crystal; the second is black and cracked; and the third is of blood-red porphyry (canto ix.). The porter marked on Dantê’s forehead seven P’s (peccata, “sins”), and told him he would lose one at every stage, till he reached the river which divided Purgatory from Paradise. Virgil continued his guide till they came to Lethê, when he left him during sleep (canto xxx.). Dantê was then dragged through the river Lethê, drank of the waters of Eunŏe, and met Beatrice, who conducted him till he arrived at the “sphere of unbodied light,” when she resigned her office to St. Bernard.

Purgon, one of the doctors in Molière’s comedy ofLe Malade Imaginaire. When the patient’s brother interfered, and sent the apothecary away with his clysters, Dr. Purgon got into a towering rage, and threatened to leave the house and never more visit it. He then said to the patient “Que vous tombiez dans la bradypepsie ... de la bradypepsie dans la dyspepsie ... de la dyspepsie dans l’apepsie ... de l’apepsie dans la lienterie ... de la lienterie dans la dyssenterie ... de la dyssenterie dans l’hydropisie ... et de l’hydropisie dans la privation de la vie.”

Purita´ni(I), “the puritans,” that is Elvi´ra, daughter of Lord Walton, also a puritan, affianced to Ar´turo (Lord Arthur Talbot) a cavalier. On the day of espousals, Arturo aids Enrichetta (Henrietta, widow of Charles I.), to escape; and Elvira, supposing that he is eloping, loses her reason. On his return, Arturo explains the facts to Elvira, and they vow nothing on earth shall part them more, when Arturo is arrested for treason, and led off to execution. At this crisis, a herald announces the defeat of the Stuarts, and Cromwell pardons all political offenders, whereupon Arturo is released, and marries Elvira.—Bellini’s opera,I Puritani(1834).

Purley(Diversions of), a work on the analysis and etymology of English words, so called from Purley, where it was written by John Horne. In 1782 he assumed the name of Tooke, from Mr. Tooke, of Purley, in Surrey, with whom he often stayed, and who left him £8000 (vol. i, 1785; vol. ii., 1805).

Purple Island(The), the human body. It is the name of a poem in twelve cantos, by Phineas Fletcher (1633). Canto i. Introduction. Cantos ii.-v. An anatomical description of the human body, considered as an island kingdom. Cantos vi. The “intellectual” man. Cantos vii. The “natural man,” with its affections and lusts. Canto viii. The world, the flesh, and the devil, as the enemies of man. Cantos ix., x. The friends of man who enable him to overcome these enemies. Cantos xi., xii. The battle of “Mansoul,” the triumph, and the marriage of Eclecta. The whole is supposed to be sung to shepherds by Thirsil, a shepherd.

Pusil´lus, Feeble-mindedness personified inThe Purple Island, by Phineas Fletcher (1633); “a weak, distrustful heart.” Fully described in cantos viii. (Latin,pusillus, “pusillanimous.”)

Puss-in-Boots, from Charles Perrault’s taleLe Chat Botté(1697). Perrault borrowed the tale from theNightsof Straparola, an Italian. Straparola’sNightswere translated into French in 1585, and Perrault’sContes de Féeswere published in 1697. Ludwig Tieck, the German novelist, reproduced the same tale in hisVolksmärchen(1795), called in GermanDer Gestiefelte Kater. The cat is marvellously accomplished, and by ready wit or ingenious tricks secures a fortune and royal wife for his master, a penniless young miller, who passes under the name of the marquis de Car´abas. In the Italian tale, puss is called “Constantine’s cat.”

Pwyll’s Bag(Prince), a bag that it was impossible to fill.

Come thou in by thyself, clad in ragged garments, and holding a bag in thy hand, and ask nothing but a bagful of food, and I will cause that if all the meat and liquor that are in these seven cantreves were put into it, it would be no fuller than before.—The Mabinogion(PwyllPrince of Dyved,” twelfth century).

Pygma´lion, a sculptor of Cyprus. He resolved never to marry, but became enamored of his own ivory statue, which Venus endowed with life, and the sculptor married. Morris has a poem on the subject in hisEarthly Paradise(“August”), and Gilbert a comedy.

Fell in loue with these,As did Pygmalion with his carvèd tree.Lord Brooke,Treatie on Human Learning(1554-1628).

***Lord Brooke calls the statue “a carved tree.” There is a vegetable ivory, no doubt, one of the palm species, and there is theebon tree, the wood of which is black as jet. The former could not be known to Pygmalion, but the latter might, as Virgil speaks of it in hisGeorgics, ii. 117, “India nigrum fert ebenum.” Probably Lord Brooke blundered from the resemblance betweenebor(“ivory”) andebon, in Latin “ebenum.”

Pygmy, a dwarf. The pygmies were a nation of dwarfs always at war with the cranes of Scythia. They were not above a foot high, and lived somewhere at the “end of the earth”—either in Thrace, Ethiopia, India, or the Upper Nile. The pygmy women were mothers at the age of three, and old women at eight. Their houses were built of egg-shells. They cut down a blade of wheat with an axe and hatchet, as we fell huge forest trees.

One day, they resolved to attack Herculês in his sleep, and went to work as in a siege. An army attacked each hand, and the archers attacked the feet. Herculês awoke, and with the paw of his lion-skin overwhelmed the whole host, and carried them captive to King Eurystheus.

Swift has availed himself of this Grecian fable in hisGulliver’s Travels(“Lilliput,” 1726).

Pyke and Pluck(Messrs.), the tools and toadies of Sir Mulberry Hawk. They laugh at all his jokes, snub all who attempt to rival their patron, and are ready to swear to anything Sir Mulberry wishes to have confirmed.—C. Dickens,Nicholas Nickleby(1838).

Pylades and Orestes, inseparable friends. Pyladês was a nephew of King Agamemnon, and Orestês was Agamemnon’s son. The two cousins contracted a friendship which has become proverbial. Subsequently, Pyladês married Orestês’s sister, Electra.

Lagrange-Chancel has a French drama entitledOreste et Pylade(1695). Voltaire also (Oreste, 1750). The two characters are introduced into a host of plays, Greek,Italian, French, and English. (SeeAndromache.)

Pynchons(The).Mr. Pynchon, a “representative of the highest and noblest class” in the Massachusetts Colony; one of the first settlers in Agawam (Springfield, Mass.).

Mrs. Pynchon(a second wife), a woman of excellent sense, with thorough reverence for her husband.

Mary Pynchon, beautiful and winning girl, afterward wedded to Elizur Holyoke.

John Pynchon, a promising boy.—J. G. Holland,The Bay Path(1857).

Pyncheon(Col.). An old bachelor, possessed of great wealth, and of an eccentric and melancholy turn of mind, the owner and tenant of the old Pyncheon mansion. He dies suddenly, after a life of selfish devotion to his own interests, and is thus found when the house is opened in the morning.—Nathaniel Hawthorne,The House of the Seven Gables(1851).

Pyrac´mon, one of Vulcan’s workmen in the smithy of Mount Etna. (Greek,pûr akmôn, “fire anvil.”)

Far passing Bronteus or Pyracmon great,The which in Lipari do day and nightFrame thunderbolts for Jove.Spenser,Faëry Queen, iv. 5 (1596).

Pyramid.According to Diodo´rus Sic´ulus (Hist., i.), and Pliny (Nat. Hist., xxxvi. 12), there were 360,000 men employed for nearly twenty years upon one of the pyramids.

The largest pyramid was built by Cheops or Suphis, the next largest by Cephrēnês or Sen-Suphis, and the third by Menchērês, last king of the Fourth Egyptian dynasty, said to have lived before the birth of Abraham.

The Third Pyramid.Another tradition is that the third pyramid was built by Rhodŏpis or Rhodopê, the Greek courtezan. Rhodopis means the “rosy-cheeked.”

The Rhodopê that built the pyramid.Tennyson,The Princess, ii. (1830).

Pyr´amos(in LatinPyrămus), the lover of Thisbê. Supposing Thisbê had been torn to pieces by a lion, Pyramos stabs himself in his unutterable grief “under a mulberry tree.” Here Thisbê finds the dead body of her lover, and kills herself for grief on the same spot. Ever since then the juice of this fruit has been blood-stained.—Greek Mythology.

Shakespeare has introduced a burlesque of this pretty love story in hisMidsummer Night’s Dream, but Ovid has told the tale beautifully.

Pyrgo Polini´ces, an extravagant blusterer. (The word means “tower and town taker.”)—Plautus,Miles Gloriosus.

If the modern reader knows nothing of Pyrgo Polinicês and Thraso, Pistol and Parollês; if he is shut out from Nephelo-Coccygia, he may take refuge in Lilliput.—Macaulay.

***“Thraso,” a bully in Terence (The Eunuch); “Pistol,” in theMerry Wives of Windsorand 2Henry IV.; “Parollês,” inAll’s Well that Ends Well; “Nephelo-Coccygia,” or cloud cuckoo-town, in Aristophanê’s (The Birds); and “Lilliput,” in Swift (Gulliver’s Travels).

Py´rocles(3syl.) and his brother, Cy´moclês (3syl.) sons of Acratês (incontinence). The two brothers are about to strip Sir Guyon, when Prince Arthur comes up and slays both of them.—Spenser,Faëry Queen, ii. 8 (1590).

Pyroc´les and Musidorous, heroes,whose exploits are told by Sir Philip Sidney in hisArcadia(1581).

Pyr´rho, the founder of the sceptics or Pyrrhonian school of philosophy. He was a native of Elis, in Peloponne´sus, and died at the age of 90 (B.C.285).

It is a pleasant voyage, perhaps, to float,Like Pyrrho, on a sea of speculation.Byron,Don Juan, ix. 18 (1824).

***“Pyrrhonism” means absolute and unlimited infidelity.

Pythag´oras, the Greek philosopher, is said to have discovered the musical scale from hearing the sounds produced by a blacksmith hammering iron on his anvil.—SeeDictionary of Phrase and Fable, 722.

As great Pythagoras of yore,Standing beside the blacksmith’s door.And hearing the hammers, as he smoteThe anvils with a different note ...... formed the seven-chorded lyre.Longfellow,To a Child.

Handel wrote an “air with variations” which he calledThe Harmonious Blacksmith, said to have been suggested by the sounds proceeding from a smithy, where he heard the village blacksmiths swinging their heavy sledges “with measured beat and slow.”

Pyth´ias, a Syracusan soldier, noted for his friendship for Damon. When Damon was condemned to death by Dionysius, the new-made king of Syracuse, Pythias obtained for him a respite of six hours, to go and bid farewell to his wife and child. The condition of this respite was that Pythias should be bound, and even executed, if Damon did not return at the hour appointed. Damon returned in due time, and Dionysius was so struck with this proof of friendship, that he not only pardoned Damon, but even begged to be ranked among his friends. The day of execution was the day that Pythias was to have been married to Calanthê.—Damon and Pythias, a drama by R. Edwards (1571), and another by John Banim in 1825.

Python, a huge serpent engendered from the mud of the deluge, and slain by Apollo. In other words, pytho is the miasma or mist from the evaporation of the overflow, dried up by the sun. (Greek,puthesthai, “to rot;” because the serpent was left to rot in the sun.)

Q(Old),the earl of March, afterwards duke of Queensberry, at the close of the last century and the beginning of this.

Quacks(Noted).

Bechic, known for his “cough pills,” consisting ofdigitalis,white oxide of antimonyandlicorice. Sometimes, but erroneously, called “Beecham’s magic cough pills.”

Booker(John), astrologer, etc. (1601-1667).

Bossy(Dr.), a German by birth. He was well known in the beginning of the nineteenth century in Covent Garden, and in other parts of London.

Brodum(eighteenth century). His “nervous cordial” consisted ofgentian rootinfused ingin. Subsequently, a littlebarkwas added.

Cagliostro, the prince of quacks. Hisproper name was Joseph Balsamo, and his father was Pietro Balsamo, of Palermo. He married Lorenza, the daughter of a girdle-maker of Rome, called himself the Count Alessandro di Cagliostro, and his wife the Countess Seraphina di Cagliostro. He professed to heal every disease, to abolish wrinkles, to predict future events, and was a great mesmerist. He styled himself “Grand Cophta, Prophet, and Thaumaturge.” His “Egyptian pills” sold largely at 30s.a box (1743-1795). One of the famous novels of A. Dumas isJoseph Balsamo(1845).

He had a flat, snub face; dew-lapped, flat-nosed, greasy, and sensual. A forehead impudent, and two eyes which turned up most seraphically languishing. It was a model face for a quack.—Carlyle,Life of Cagliostro.

Case(Dr. John), of Lime Regis, Dorsetshire. His name was Latinized intoCaseus, and hence he was sometimes called Dr. Cheese. He was born in the reign of Charles II., and died in that of Anne. Dr. Case was the author of theAngelic Guide, a kind ofZadkiel’s Almanac, and over his door was this couplet:

Within this placeLives Dr. Case.

Legions of quacks shall join us in this place,From great Kirlëus down to Dr. Case.Garth,Dispensary, iii. (1699).

Clarke, noted for his “world-famed blood-mixture” (end of the nineteenth century).

Cockle(James), known for his anti-bilious pills, advertised as “the oldest patent medicine” (nineteenth century).

Franks(Dr. Timothy), who lived in Old Bailey, was the rival of Dr. Rock. Franks was a very tall man, while his rival was short and stout (1692-1763).

Dr. Franks, F.O.G.H., calls his rival “Dumplin’ Dick,”.... Sure the world is wide enough for two great personages. Men of science should leave controversy to the little world ... and then we might see Rock and Franks walking together, hand-in-hand, smiling, onward to immortality.—Goldsmith,A Citizen of the World, lxviii. (1759).

Graham(Dr.), of the Temple of Health, first in the Adelphi, then in Pall Mall. He sold his “elixir of life” for £1000 a bottle, was noted for his mud baths, and for his “celestial bed,” which assured a beautiful progeny. He died poor in 1784.

Grant(Dr.), first a tinker, then a Baptist preacher in Southwark, then oculist to Queen Anne.

Her majesty sure was in a surprise,Or else was very short-sighted,When a tinker was sworn to look after her eyes,And the mountebank tailor was knighted.Grub Street Journal.

(The “mountebank tailor” was Dr. Read.)

Hancock(Dr.), whose panacea was cold water and stewed prunes.

***Dr. Sandgrado prescribed hot water and stewed apples.—Lesage,Gil Blas.

Dr. Rezio, of Barataria, would allow Sancho Panza to eat only “a few wafers, and a thin slice or two of quince.”—Cervantes,Don Quixote, II. iii. 10 (1615).

Hannes(Dr.), knighted by Queen Anne. He was born in Oxfordshire.

The queen, like heaven, shines equally on all,Her favors now without distinction fall,Great Read, and slender Hannes, both knighted, showThat none their honors shall to merit owe.A Political Squib of the Period.

Holloway(Professor), noted for his ointment to cure all strumous affections, his digestive pills, and his enormous expenditure in advertising (nineteenth century). Holloway’s ointment is an imitation of Albinolo’s; being analyzed by order of the French law-courts, it was declared to consist ofbutter,lard,waxandVenice turpentine. His pills are made ofaloes,jalap,gingerandmyrrh.

Katerfelto(Dr.), the influenza doctor. He was a tall man, dressed in a black gown and square cap, and was originally a common soldier in the Prussian service. In 1782 he exhibited in London his solar microscope, and created immense excitement by showing the infusoria of muddy water, etc. Dr. Katerfelto used to say that he was the greatest philosopher since the time of Sir Isaac Newton.

And Katerfelto, with his hair on end,At his own wonders, wondering for his bread.Cowper,The Task(“The Winter Evening,” 1782).

Lilly(William), astrologer, born at Diseworth, in Leicestershire (1602-1681).

Long(St. John), born at Newcastle, began life as an artist, but afterwards set up as a curer of consumption, rheumatism and gout. His profession brought him wealth, and he lived in Harley Street, Cavendish Square. St. John Long died himself of rapid consumption (1798-1834).

Mapp(Mrs.), bone-setter. She was born at Epsom, and at one time was very rich, but she died in great poverty at her lodgings in Seven Dials, 1737.

***Hogarth has introduced her in his heraldic picture, “The Undertakers’ Arms.” She is the middle of the three figures at the top, and is holding a bone in her hand.

Moore(Mr. John), of the Pestle and Mortar, Abchurch Lane, immortalized by his “worm-powder,” and called the “Worm Doctor” (died 1733).

Vain is thy art, thy powder vain,Since worms shall eat e’en thee.Pope,To Mr. John Moore(1723).

Morison(Dr.), famous for his pills (consisting ofaloesandcream of tartar, equal parts). Professor Holloway, Dr. Morison, and Rowland, maker of hair-oil and tooth-powder, were the greatest advertisers of their generation.

Partridge, cobbler, astrologer, almanac-maker and quack (died 1708).

Weep, all you customers who useHis pills, his almanacs, or shoes.Swift,Elegy, etc.

Read(Sir William), a tailor, who set up for oculist, and was knighted by Queen Anne. This quack was employed both by Queen Anne and George I. Sir William could not read. He professed to cure wens, wry-necks and hare-lips (died 1715).

... none their honors shall to merit owe—That popish doctrine is exploded quite,Or Ralph had been no duke, and Read no knight;That none may virtue or their learning plead,This hath nograce, and that can hardlyread.A Political Squib of the Period.

***The “Ralph” referred to is Ralph Montagu, son of Edward Montagu, created viscount in 1682, and duke of Montagu in 1705 (died 1709).

Rock(Dr. Richard), professed to cure every disease, at any stage thereof. According to his bills, “Be your disorder never so far gone, I can cure you.” He was short in stature and fat, always wore a white, three-tailed wig, nicely combed and frizzed upon each cheek, carried a cane, and waddled in his gait (eighteenth century).

Dr. Rock, F.U.N., never wore a hat. He is usually drawn at the top of his own bills sitting in an armchair, holding a little bottle between his finger and thumb, and surrounded with rotten teeth, nippers, pills and gallipots.—Goldsmith,A Citizen of the World, lxviii. (1759).

Smith(Dr.), who went about the country in the eighteenth century in his coach with four outriders. He dressed in black velvet, and cured any disease for sixpence. “His amusements on the stage were well worth the sixpence which he charged for his box of pills.”

As I was sitting at the George Inn I saw a coach, with six bay horses, a calash and four, a chaise and four, enter the inn, in yellow liveryturned up with red; and four gentlemen on horseback, in blue trimmed with silver. As yellow is the color given by the dukes in England, I went out to see what duke it was, but there was no coronet on the coach, only a plain coat-of-arms, with the mottoArgento Laborat Faber[Smith works for money]. Upon inquiry I found this grand equipage belonged to a mountebank named Smith.—A Tour through England(1723).

Solomon(Dr.), eighteenth century. His “anti-impetigines” was simply a solution ofbichloride of mercury, colored.

Taylor(Dr. Chevalier John). He called himself “Opthalminator, Pontificial, Imperial, and Royal.” It is said that five of his horses were blind from experiments tried by him on their eyes (died 1767).

***Hogarth has introduced Dr. Taylor in his “Undertakers’ Arms.” He is one of the three figures at the top, to the left hand of the spectator.

Unborn Doctor(The), of Moorfields. Not being born a doctor, he called himself “The Un-born Doctor.”

Walker(Dr.), one of the three great quacks of the eighteenth century, the others being Dr. Rock and Dr. Timothy Franks. Dr. Walker had an abhorrence of quacks, and was for ever cautioning the public not to trust them, but come at once to him, adding, “there is not such another medicine in the world as mine.”

Not for himself but for his country he prepares his gallipot, and seals up his precious drops for any country or any town, so great is his zeal and philanthropy.—Goldsmith,A Citizen of the World, lxviii. (1759).

Ward(Dr.), a footman, famous for his “friars’ balsam.” He was called in to prescribe for George II., and died 1761. Dr. Ward had a claret stain on his left cheek, and in Hogarth’s famous picture, “The Undertakers’ Arms,” the cheek is marked gules. He occupies the right hand side of the spectator, and forms one of the triumvirate, the others being Dr. Taylor and Mrs. Mapp.

Dr. Kirlëus and Dr. Tom Saffold are also known names.

Quackleben(Dr. Quentin), “the man of medicine,” one of the committee at the Spa.—Sir W. Scott,St. Ronan’s Well(time, George III.).

Quaint(Timothy), servant of Governor Heartall. Timothy is “an odd fish, that loves to swim in troubled waters.” He says, “I never laugh at the governor’s good humors, nor frown at his infirmities. I always keep a steady, sober phiz, fixed as the gentleman’s on horseback at Charing Cross; and, in his worst of humors, when all is fire and faggots with him, if I turn round and coolly say, ‘Lord, sir, has anything ruffled you?’ he’ll burst out into an immoderate fit of laughter, and exclaim, ‘Curse that inflexible face of thine! Though you never suffer a smile to mantle on it, it is a figure of fun to the rest of the world.”—Cherry,The Soldier’s Daughter(1804).

Quaker Poet(The), Bernard Barton (1784-1849).

Quaker Widow.Gentle old dame who, on the afternoon of her husband’s funeral, tells to a kindly visitor the simple story of her blameless life, its joys and sorrows, and of the light that comes at eventide.

“It is not right to wish for death;The Lord disposes best.His spirit comes to quiet heartsAnd fits them for His rest.And that He halved our little flockWas merciful, I see;For Benjamin has two in Heaven,And two are left with me.”Bayard Taylor,The Quaker Widow.

Quale(Mr.), a philanthropist, noted for his bald, shining forehead. Mrs. Jellyby hopes her daughter, Caddy, will become Quale’s wife.—Charles Dickens,Bleak House(1853).

Quarl(Philip), a sort of Robinson Crusoe, who had a chimpanzee for his “man Friday.” The story consists of the adventures and sufferings of an English hermit named Philip Quarl (1727).

Quasimo´do, a foundling, hideously deformed, but of enormous muscular strength, adopted by Archdeacon Frollo. He is brought up in the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. One day, he sees Esmeralda, who had been dancing in the cathedral close, set upon by a mob as a witch, and he conceals her for a time in the church. When, at length, the beautiful gypsy girl is gibbeted, Quasimodo disappears mysteriously, but a skeleton corresponding to the deformed figure is found after a time in a hole under the gibbet.—Victor Hugo,Notre Dame de Paris(1831).

Quatre Filz Aymon(Les), the four sons of the duke of Dordona (Dordogne). Their names are Rinaldo, Guicciardo, Alardo, and Ricciardetto (i.e.Renaud, Guiscard, Alard, and Richard), and their adventures form the subject of an old French romance by Huon de Villeneuve (twelfth century).

Quaver, a singing-master, who says “if it were not for singing-masters, men and women might as well have been born dumb.” He courts Lucy by promising to give her singing lessons.—Fielding,The Virgin Unmasked.

Queechy.Farmstead to which the Rossiters retired after the ruin of their fortunes in New York. Old-fashioned house and not productive land.—Susan Warner,Queechy(1852).

Queen(The Starred Ethiop), Cassiopēia, wife of Cepheus (2syl.), king of Ethiopia. She boasted that she was fairer than the sea-nymphs, and the offended nereids complained of the insult to Neptune, who sent a sea-monster to ravage Ethiopia. At death, Cassiopeia was made a constellation of thirteen stars.

... that starred Ethiop queen that stroveTo set her beauty’s praise aboveThe sea-nymphs, and their powers offended.Milton,Il Penseroso, 19 (1638).

Queen(The White), Mary queen of Scots,La Reine Blanche; so called by the French, because she dressed in white as mourning for her husband.

Queen Dick, Richard Cromwell (1626, 1658-1660, died 1712).

***It happened in the reign of Queen Dick, never, on the Greek kalends. This does not refer to Richard Cromwell, but to Queen “Outis.” There never was a Queen Dick, except by way of joke.

Queen Sarah, Sarah Jennings, duchess of Marlborough (1660-1744).

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