Part 26

=Pet=, a fair girl, with rich brown hair hanging free in natural ringlets. A lovely girl, with a free, frank face, and most wonderful eyes--so large, so soft, so bright, and set to perfection in her kind, good face. She was round, and fresh, and dimpled, and spoilt, most charmingly timid, most bewitchingly self-willed. She was the daughter of Mr. Meagles, and married Henry Gowan.--C. Dickens, _Little Dorrit_ (1857).

=Pétaud= (_King_), king of the beggars.

“It is an old saying,” replied the Abbé Huet, “Petaud being derived from the Latin _peto_, ‘I beg.’”--_Asylum Christi_, ii.

_The court of King Pétaud_, a disorderly assembly, a place of utter confusion, a bear-garden.

On n’y respecte rien, chacun y parle haut, Et c’est tout justement le cour du roi Pétaud.

Molière _Tartuffe_, i. 1 (1664).

Le cour du roi Pétaud, où chacun est maitre.--_French Proverb._

=Petella=, the waiting-woman of Rosalura and Lillia-Bianca, the two daughters of Nantolet.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Wild-goose Chase_ (1652).

=Peter=, the stupid son of Solomon, butler of the Count Wintersen. He grotesquely parrots in an abridged form whatever his father says. Thus: _Sol._ “we are acquainted with the reverence due to exalted personages.” _Pet._ “Yes, we are acquainted with exalted personages.” Again: _Sol._ “Extremely sorry it is not in my power to entertain your lordship.” _Pet._ “Extremely sorry.” _Sol._ “Your lordship’s most obedient, humble, and devoted servant.” _Pet._ “Devoted servant.”--Benjamin Thompson, _The Stranger_ (1797).

_Peter_, the pseudonym of John Gibson Lockhart, in a work entitled _Peter’s Letters to his Kinsfolk_ (1819).

_Peter_ (_Lord_), the pope of Rome.--Dean Swift, _Tale of a Tub_ (1704).

=Peter Botte=, a steep, almost perpendicular “mountain” in the Mauritius, more than 2800 feet in height. It is so called from Peter Botte, a Dutch sailor, who scaled it and fixed a flag on its summit, but lost his life in coming down.

=Peter Parley=, the _nom de plume_ of Samuel G. Goodrich, an American, whose books for children had an enormous circulation in the middle of the nineteenth century (1793-1860).

The name was pirated by numerous persons. Darton and Co., Simkins, Bogue, Tegg, Hodson, Clements, etc., brought out books under the name, but not written by S. G. Goodrich.

=Peter Peebles=, a litigious, hard-hearted drunkard, noted for his lawsuit.--Sir W. Scott, _Redgauntlet_ (time, George III.).

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

=Peter Plymley’s Letters=, attributed to the Rev. Sydney Smith (1769-1845).

=Peter Porcupine=, William Cobbett, when he was a tory. He brought out _Peter Porcupine’s Gazette_, _The Porcupine Papers_, etc. (1762-1835).

=Peter Wilkins=, the hero of a tale of adventures, by Robert Pultock, of Clifford’s Inn. His “flying woman” (gawreys) suggested to Southey the “glendoveer” in _The Curse of Kehama_.

=Peter of Provence and the Fair Magalo´na=, the chief characters of a French romance so called. Peter comes into possession of Merlin’s wooden horse.

=Peter the Great of Egypt=, Mehemet Ali (1768-1848.[TN-86]

=Peter the Hermit=, a gentleman of Amiens, who renounced the military life for the religious. He preached up the first crusade, and put himself at the head of 100,000 men, all of whom, except a few stragglers, perished at Nicea.

He is introduced by Tasso in _Jerusalem Delivered_ (1575); and by Sir W. Scott in _Count Robert of Paris_, a novel laid in the time of Rufus. A statue was erected to him at Amiens in 1854.

=Peter, the Wild Boy=, a savage discovered in November, 1725, in the forest of Hertswold, Hanover. He walked on all fours, climbed trees like a monkey, ate grass and other herbage. Efforts were made to reclaim him, but without success. He died February, 1785.

=Peter’s Gate= (_St._), the gate of purgatory, guarded by an angel stationed there by St. Peter. Virgil conducted Dantê through hell and purgatory, and Beatrice was his guide through the planetary spheres. Dantê says to the Mantuan bard:

... lead me, That I St. Peter’s gate may view ... Onward he moved, I close his steps pursued.

Dantê, _Hell_, i. (1300).

=Peterborough=, in Northamptonshire; so called from Peada (son of Pendar, king of Mercia), who founded here a monastery in the seventh century. In 1541 the monastery (then a mitred abbey) was converted by Henry VIII. into a cathedral and bishop’s see. Before Peada’s time, Peterborough was a village called Medhamsted.--See Drayton, _Polyolbion_, xxiii. (1622).

=Peters= (_Dr._), benevolent, eccentric physician, who is a sympathetic fellow-sinner to the most depraved of his patients, going through it all “with a grimly humorous hope that some good, in some unseen direction, may come of it.” The waif, _Midge_, committed by fate to his guardianship, steals his heart, and finally wrings it to bleeding by marrying another man.--H. C. Bunner, _The Midge_ (1886).

=Peterson=, a Swede, who deserts from Gustavus Vasa to Christian II., king of Denmark.--H. Brooke, _Gustavus Vasa_ (1730).

=Petit André=, executioner.--Sir W. Scott, _Quentin Durward_ (time, Edward IV.).

=Petit Perroquet=, a king’s gardener, with whom the king’s daughter fell in love. It so happened that a prince was courting the lady, and, being jealous of Petit Perroquet, said to the king that the young man boasted he could bring hither Tartaro’s horse. Now Tartaro was a huge giant and a cannibal. Petit Perroquet, however, made himself master of the horse. The prince next told the king that the young gardener boasted he could get possession of the giant’s diamond. This he also contrived to make himself master of. The prince then told the king that the young man boasted he could bring hither the giant himself; and the way he accomplished the feat was to cover himself first, with honey, and then with feathers and horns. Thus disguised, he told the giant, to get into the coach he was driving, and he drove him to the king’s court, and then married the princess.--Rev. W. Webster, _Basque Legends_ (1877).

=Pe´to=, lieutenant of “Captain” Sir John Falstaff’s regiment. Pistol was his ensign or ancient, and Bardolph his corporal.--Shakespeare, 1 and 2 _Henry IV._ (1597-8).

=Petow´ker= (_Miss Henrietta_), of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. She marries Mr. Lillyvick, the collector of water-rates, but elopes with an officer.--C. Dickens, _Nicholas Nickleby_ (1838).

=Petrarch= (_The English_). Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586) is so called by Sir Walter Raleigh.

=Petrarch and Laura.= Laura was a lady of Avignon, the wife of Hugues de Sade, _née_ Laura de Noves, the mistress of the poet Petrarch. (See LAURA AND PETRARCH.)

=Petrarch of Spain=, Garcilaso de la Vega, born at Toledo (1530-1568, or, according to others, 1503-1536).

=Petro´nius= (_C._ or _T._), a kind of Roman “beau Brummell” in the court of Nero. He was a great voluptuary and profligate, whom Nero appointed _Arbiter Elegantiæ_, and considered nothing _comme il faut_ till it had received the sanction of this dictator-in-chief of the imperial pleasures. Tigellinus accused him of treason, and Petronius committed suicide by opening his veins (A.D. 66).

Behold the new Petronius of the day, The arbiter of pleasure and of play.

Byron, _English Bards and Scotch Reviewers_ (1809).

=Petruccio= = _Pe.truch´.e.o_, governor of Bologna.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Chances_ (1620).

=Petru´chio=, a gentleman of Vero´na who undertakes to tame the haughty Katharina, called “the Shrew.” He marries her, and, without the least personal chastisement, reduces her to lamb-like submission. Being a fine compound of bodily and mental vigor, with plenty of wit, spirit, and good-nature, he rules his subordinates dictatorially, and shows he will have his own way, whatever the consequences.--Shakespeare, _Taming of the Shrew_ (1594).

Beaumont and Fletcher wrote a comedy called _The Tamer Tamed_, in which Petruchio is supposed to marry a second wife, by whom he is hen-pecked (1647).

=Pet´ulant=, an “odd sort of small wit,” “without manners or breeding.” In controversy he would bluntly contradict, and he never spoke the truth. When in his “club,” in order to be thought a man of intrigue, he would steal out quietly, and then in disguise return and call for himself, or leave a letter for himself. He not unfrequently mistook impudence and malice for wit, and looked upon a modest blush in woman as a mark of “guilt or ill-breeding.”--W. Congreve, _The Way of the World_ (1700).

=Peu-à-Peu.= So George IV. called Prince Leopold. Stein, speaking of the prince’s vacillating conduct in reference to the throne of Greece, says of him, “He has no color,” _i.e._ no fixed plan of his own, but is blown about by every wind.

=Peveril= (_William_), natural son of William the Conqueror, and ancestor of Peveril of the Peak.

_Sir Geoffrey Peveril_, a cavalier, called “Peveril of the Peak.”

_Lady Margaret Peveril_, wife of Sir Geoffrey.

_Julian Peveril_, son of Sir Geoffrey; in love with Alice Bridgenorth. He was named by the author after Julian Young, son of the famous actor.--Sir W. Scott, _Peveril of the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).

“Whom is he called after!” said Scott. “It is a fancy name,” said Young: “in memoriam of his mother, Julia Ann.” “Well, it is a capital name for a novel, I must say,” he replied. In the very next novel by the author of _Waverley_, the hero’s name is “Julian.” I allude, of course, to _Peveril of the Peak_.--J. Young, _Memoirs_, 91.

=Peveril of the Peak=, the hero of Sir W. Scott’s novel of that name (1823).

=Peyton= (_Dunwoodie_), fine young fellow, major in the American army, and in love with Frances Wharton. Yet, when forced to choose between marrying her at once or doing his duty in keeping her brother under arrest, he plays the man of honor and true soldier. After many vicissitudes he becomes the husband of Frances.

_Peyton_ (_Miss Jeannette_), sister-in-law to Mr. Wharton, relative of Major Dunwoodie, and affectionate guardian of her nieces. A warm friend of Dr. Sitgreaves, the American surgeon.--James Fennimore[TN-87] Cooper, _The Spy_.

=Phædra=, daughter of Minos, and wife of Theseus. (See PHEDRE.)

_Phædra_, waiting-woman of Alcme´na (wife of Amphit´ryon). A type of venality of the lowest and grossest kind. Phædra is betrothed to Judge Gripus, a stupid magistrate, ready to sell justice to the highest bidder. Neither Phædra nor Gripus forms any part of the _dramatis personæ_ of Molière’s _Amphitryon_ (1668).--Dryden, _Amphitryon_ (1690).

=Phædria=, the impersonation of wantonness. She is handmaid of the enchantress Acrasia, and sails about Idle Lake in a gondola. Seeing Sir Guyon, she ferries him across the lake to the floating island, where he is set upon by Cymoch´les. Phædria interposes, and ferries Sir Guyon (the Knight Temperance) over the lake again.--Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, ii. (1590).

=Pha´eton= (3 _syl._), son, of Helĭos and Clymēnê. He obtained leave to drive his father’s sun-car for one day, but was overthrown, and nearly set the world on fire. Jove or Zeus (1 _syl._) struck him with a thunderbolt for his presumption, and cast him into the river Po.

=Phal´aris=, tyrant of Agrigentum, in Sicily. When Perillos, the brass-founder of Athens, brought to him a brazen bull, and told the tyrant it was intended for the punishment of criminals, Phalăris inquired into its merits. Perillos said the victim was to be enclosed in the bull, and roasted alive, by making the figure red hot. Certain tubes were so constructed as to make the groans of the victim resemble the bellowings of a mad bull. The tyrant much commended the ingenuity, and ordered the invention to be tried on Perillos himself.

_Letters of Phalaris_, certain apocryphal letters ascribed to Phalaris, the tyrant, and published at Oxford, in 1718, by Charles Boyle. There was an edition in 1777 by Walckenaer; another in 1823, by G. H. Schæfer, with notes by Boyle and others. Bentley maintained that the letters were forgeries, and no doubt Bentley was right.

=Phallas=, the horse of Heraclius (Greek, _phalios_, “a grey horse.”).

=Pha´on=, a young man who loved Claribel, but being told that she was unfaithful to him, watched her. He saw, as he thought, Claribel holding an assignation with some one he supposed to be a groom. Returning home, he encountered Claribel herself, and “with wrathfull hand he slew her innocent.” On the trial for murder, “the lady” was proved to be Claribel’s servant. Phaon would have slain her also, but while he was in pursuit of her he was attacked by Furor.--Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, ii. 4, 28, etc. (1590).

⁂ Shakespeare’s _Much Ado about Nothing_ is a similar story. Both are taken from a novel by Belleforest, copied from one by Bandello. Ariosto, in his _Orlando Furioso_, has introduced a similar story (bk. v.), and Turbervil’s _Geneura_ is the same tale.

=Pharamond=, king of the Franks, who visited, _incognito_, the court of King Arthur, to obtain by his exploits a place among the knights of the Round Table. He was the son of Marcomir, and father of Clodion.

Calprenède has an heroic romance so called, which (like his _Cleopatra and Cassandra_) is a _Roman de Longue Haleine_ (1612-1666).

_Pharamond_, prince of Spain, in the drama called _Philaster_, or _Love Lies a-bleeding_, by Beaumont and Fletcher (date uncertain, probably about 1662).

=Pharaoh=, the titular name of all the Egyptian kings till the time of Solomon, as the Roman emperors took the titular name of Cæsar. After Solomon’s time, the titular name Pharaoh never occurs alone, but only as a forename, as Pharaoh Necho, Pharaoh Hophra, Pharaoh Shishak. After the division of Alexander’s kingdom, the kings of Egypt were all called Ptolemy, generally with some distinctive after-name, as Ptolemy Philadelphos, Ptolemy Euergetês, Ptolemy Philopător, etc.--Selden, _Titles of Honor_, v. 50 (1614).

_Pharaohs before Solomon_ (mentioned in the Old Testament):

1. Pharaoh contemporary with Abraham (_Gen._ xii. 15). This may be Osirtesen I. (dynasty xii.).

2. The _good_ Pharaoh who advanced Joseph (_Gen._ xli.). This was, perhaps, Apōphis (one of the Hyksos).

3. The Pharaoh who “knew not Joseph” (_Exod._ i. 8). This may be Amen´ophis I. (dynasty xviii.). The king, at the flight of Moses, I think, was Thothmes II.

4. The Pharaoh drowned in the Red Sea. As this was at least eighty years after the persecutions began, probably this was another king. Some say it was Menephthes, son of Ram´eses II., but it seems quite impossible to reconcile the account in _Exodus_ with any extant historical account of Egypt (_Exod._ xiv. 28). Was it Thothmes III.?

5. The Pharaoh who protected Hadad (1 _Kings_ xi. 19).

6. The Pharaoh whose daughter Solomon married (1 _Kings_ iii. 1; ix. 16). I think this was Psusennes I. (dynasty xxi.).

_Pharaohs after Solomon’s time_ (mentioned in the Old Testament):

1. Pharaoh Shishak, who warred against Rehoboam (1 _Kings_ xiv. 25, 26; 2 _Chron._ xii. 2).

2. The Pharaoh called “So” king of Egypt, with whom Hoshea made an alliance (2 _Kings_ xvii. 4).

3. The Pharaoh who made a league with Hezekiah against Sennacherib. He is called Tirhākah (2 _Kings_, xviii. 21; xix. 9).

4. Pharaoh Necho, who warred against Josiah (2 _Kings_ xxiii. 29, etc.).

5. Pharaoh Hophra, the ally of Zedekiah. Said to be Pharaoh Apries, who was strangled, B.C. 569-525 (_Jer._ xliv. 30).

⁂ Bunsen’s solution of the Egyptian dynasties cannot possibly be correct.

_Pharaohs noted in romance:_

1. Cheops, or Suphis I., who built the great pyramid (dynasty iv.).

2. Cephrenês, or Suphis II., his brother, who built the second pyramid.

3. Mencherês, his successor, who built the most beautiful, though not the largest, of the pyramids.

4. Memnon, or A-menophis III., whose musical statue is so celebrated (dynasty xviii.).

5. Sethos I. the Great, whose tomb was discovered by Belzoni (dynasty xix.).

6. Sethos II., called “Proteus,” who detained Helen and Paris in Egypt (dynasty xix.).

7. Phuōris or Thuōris, who sent aid to Priam in the siege of Troy.

8. Rampsinītus or Rameses Nēter, the miser, mentioned by Herodotus (dynasty xx.).

9. Osorthon IV. (or Osorkon), the Egyptian Herculês (dynasty xxiii.).

=Pharaoh’s Daughter.= The daughter of Pharaoh, who brought up Moses, was Bathia.

=Pharaoh’s Wife=, Asia, daughter of Mozâhem. Her husband cruelly tormented her because she believed in Moses. He fastened her hands and feet to four stakes, and laid a millstone on her as she lay in the hot sun with her face upwards; but angels shaded off the sun with their wings, and God took her, without dying, into Paradise.--Sale, _Al Korân_, lxvi. note.

Among women, four have been perfect; Asia, wife of Pharaoh; Mary, daughter of Imràn; Khadîjah, daughter of Khowailed, Mahomet’s first wife; and Fâtima, Mahomet’s daughter.--Attributed to Mahomet.

⁂ There is considerable doubt respecting the Pharaoh meant--whether the Pharaoh, whose daughter adopted Moses, or the Pharaoh who was drowned in the Red Sea. The tale suits the latter king far better than it does the first.

=Pharsa´lia= (_The_), a Latin epic in ten books, by Lucan, the subject being the fall and death of Pompey. It opens with the passage of Cæsar across the Rubĭcon. This river formed the boundary of his province, and his crossing it was virtually a declaration of war (bk. i.). Pompey is appointed by the senate general of the army to oppose him (bk. v.). Cæsar retreats to Thessaly; Pompey follows (bk. vi.), and both prepare for war. Pompey, being routed in the battle of Pharsalia, flees (bk. vii.), and seeking protection in Egypt, is met by Achillas, the Egyptian general, who murders him, cuts off his head, and casts his body into the sea (bk. viii.). Cato leads the residue of Pompey’s army to Cyrēnê, in Africa (bk. ix.); and Cæsar, in pursuit of Pompey, landing at Alexandria, is hospitably entertained by Cleopatra (bk. x.). While here, he tarries in luxurious dalliance, the palace is besieged by Egyptians, and Cæsar with difficulty escapes to Pharos. He is closely pursued, hemmed in on all sides, and leaps into the sea. With his imperial robe held between his teeth, his commentaries in his left hand, and his sword in his right, he buffets the waves. A thousand javelins are hurled at him, but touch him not. He swims for empire, he swims for life; ’tis Cæsar and his fortunes that the waves bear on. He reaches his fleet; is received by his soldiers with thundering applause. The stars in their courses fought for Cæsar. The sea-gods were with him, and Egypt with her host was a by-word and a scorn.

⁂ Bk. ix. contains the account of the African serpents, by far the most celebrated passage of the whole poem. The following is a pretty close translation of the passage in question. It would have occupied too much room to give their onslaught also:--

Here all the serpent deadly brood appears; First the dull Asp its swelling neck uprears; The huge Hemor´rhoïs, vampire of the blood; Chersy´ders, that pollute both field and flood; The Water-serpent, tyrant of the lake; The hooded Cobra; and the Plantain snake; Here with distended jaws the Prester strays; And Seps, whose bite both flesh and bone decays; The Amphisbæna with its double head, One on the neck, and one of tail instead; The horned Cerastês; and the Hammodyte, Whose sandy hue might balk the keenest sight; A feverish thirst betrays the Dipsas’ sting; The Scytăla, its slough that casts in spring; The Natrix here the crystal streams pollutes; Swift thro’ the air the venomed Javelin shoots; Here the Parēas, moving on its tail, Marks in the sand its progress by its trail; The speckled Cenchris darts its devious way, Its skin with spots as Theban marble gay; The hissing Sibīla; and Basilisk, With whom no living thing its life would risk, Where’er it moves none else would dare remain, Tyrant alike and terror of the plain.

E. C. B.

In this battle Pompey had 45,000 legionaries, 7000 horse, and a large number of auxiliaries. Cæsar had 22,000 legionaries, and 1000 horse. Pompey’s battle cry was _Herculês invictus!_ That of Cæsar was _Venus victrix!_ Cæsar won the battle.

=Phebe= (2 _syl._), a shepherdess beloved by the shepherd Silvius. While Rosalind was in boy’s clothes, Phebe fell in love with the stranger, and made a proposal of marriage; but when Rosalind appeared in her true character, and gave her hand to Orlando, Phebe was content to accept her old love, Silvius.--Shakespeare, _As You Like It_ (1600).

=Phedre= (or PHÆDRA), daughter of Minos, king of Crete, and wife of Theseus. She conceived a criminal love for Hippolytos, her step-son, and, being repulsed by him, accused him to her husband of attempting to dishonor her. Hippolytos was put to death, and Phædra, wrung with remorse, strangled herself.

This has been made the subject of tragedy by Eurip´idês in Greek, Sen´eca in Latin, Racine in French (1677). “Phèdre” was the great part of Mdlle. Rachel; she first appeared in this character in 1838.

(Pradon, under the patronage of the duchess de Bouillon and the duc de Nevers, produced, in 1677, his tragedy of _Phèdre_ in opposition to that of Racine. The duke even tried to hiss down Racine’s play, but the public judgment was more powerful than the duke; and, while it pronounced decidedly for Racine’s _chef d’œuvre_, it had no tolerance for Pradon’s production.)

=Phelis= “the Fair,” the wife of Sir Guy, earl of Warwick.

=Phid´ias= (_The French_), (1) Jean Goujon; also called “The Correggio of Sculptors.” He was slain in the St. Bartholomew Massacre (1510-1572). (2) J. B. Pigalle (1714-1785).

=Phil= (_Little_), the lad of John Davies, the old fisherman.--Sir W. Scott, _Redgauntlet_ (time, George III.).

=Philaminte= (3 _syl._), wife of Chrysale, the bourgeois, and mother of Armande, Henrietta, Ariste, and Bélise.--Molière, _Les Femmes Savantes_ (1672).

=Philan´der=, of Holland, was a guest at the house of Arge´o, baron of Servia, and the baron’s wife, Gabri´na, fell in love with him. Philander fled the house, and Gabrina told her husband he had abused her, and had fled out of fear of him. He was pursued, overtaken, and cast into a dungeon. One day Gabrina visited him there and asked him to defend her against a wicked knight. This he undertook to do, and Gabrina posted him in a place where he could make his attack. Philander slew the knight, but discovered that it was Argeo. Gabrina now declared she would give him up to justice unless he married her; and Philander, to save his life, did so. But in a very short time the infamous woman tired of her toy, and cut him off by poison.--Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_ (1516).

_Philander_, a dawdling lover; so called from Philander, the Dutch knight mentioned above, who was wooed by Gabrina. To “philander” is to hang about a woman in a half-hearted way; to toy.

Yes, I’ll baste you together, you and your Philander.--W. Congreve, _The Way of the World_ (1700).

_Philander_, prince of Cyprus, passionately in love with the Princess Ero´ta.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Laws of Candy_ (1647).

=Philanthropist= (_The_), John Howard (1726-1790).

=Philario=, an Italian, at whose house Posthumus made his silly wager with Iachimo. (See POSTHUMUS.)--Shakespeare, _Cymbeline_ (1605).

_Philario_, an Italian improvisatore, who remained faithful to Fazio even in disgrace.--Dean Milman, _Fazio_ (1815).

=Philaster= (_Prince_), heir to the crown of Messi´na. Euphra´sia, who was in love with Philaster, disguised herself as a boy, and, assuming for the nonce the name of Bellario, entered the prince’s service. Philaster, who was in love with the Princess Arethu´sa, transferred Bellario to her service, and then grew jealous of Arethusa’s love for the young page.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _Philaster_, or _Love Lies a-bleeding_ (? 1622).

There is considerable resemblance between Euphrasia and “Viola” in _Twelfth Night_ (Shakespeare, 1614).

=Philax=, cousin of the Princess Imis. The fay Pagan shut them up in the “Palace of Revenge,” a superb crystal palace, containing every delight except the power of leaving it. In the course of a few years Imis and Philax longed as much for a separation as at one time they had wished for a union.--Comtesse D’Aunoy, _Fairy Tales_ (“Palace of Revenge,” 1682).