Part 30

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

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

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

=Pluto=, the god of Hadês.

Brothers, be of good cheer, for this night we shall sup with Pluto.--Leonidas, _To the Three Hundred at Thermopylæ_.

=Plutus=, the god of wealth.--_Classic Mythology._

Within a heart, dearer than Plutus’ mine.

Shakespeare, _Julius Cæsar_, act iv. sc. 3 (1607).

=Po= (_Tom_), a ghost. (Welsh, _bo_, “a hobgoblin.”)

He now would pass for spirit Po.

S. Butler, _Hudibras_, iii. 1 (1678).

=Pocahontas=, daughter of Powhatan, an Indian chief of Virginia, who rescued Captain John Smith when her father was on the point of killing him. She subsequently married John Rolfe, and was baptized under the name of Rebecca (1595-1617).--_Old and New London_, ii. 481 (1876).

The Indian Princess is the heroine of John Brougham’s drama, _Po-ca-hon-tas, or the Gentle Savage_.

=Pochet= (_Madame_), the French “Mrs. Gamp.”--Henri Monnier.

=Pochi Dana´ri= (“_the pennyless_”). So the Italians call Maximilian I., emperor of Germany (1459, 1493-1519).

=Pocket= (_Mr. Matthew_), a real scholar, educated at Harrow, and an honor-man at Cambridge, but, having married young, he had to take up the calling of “grinder” and literary fag for a living. Mr. Pocket, when annoyed, used to run his two hands into his hair, and seemed as if he intended to lift himself by it. His house was a hopeless muddle, the best meals and chief expense being in the kitchen. Pip was placed under the charge of this gentleman.

_Mrs. Pocket_ (_Belinda_), daughter of a City knight, brought up to be an ornamental nonentity, helpless, shiftless, and useless. She was the mother of eight children, whom she allowed to “tumble up” as best they could, under the charge of her maid, Flopson. Her husband, who was a poor gentleman, found life a very uphill work.

_Herbert Pocket_, son of Mr. Matthew Pocket, and an insurer of ships. He was a frank, easy young man, lithe and brisk, but not muscular. There was nothing mean or secretive about him. He was wonderfully hopeful, but had not the stuff to push his way into wealth. He was tall, slim, and pale; had a languor which showed itself even in his briskness; was most amiable, cheerful, and communicative. He called Pip “Handel,” because Pip had been a blacksmith, and Handel composed a piece of music entitled _The Harmonious Blacksmith_. Pip helped him to a partnership in an agency business.

_Sarah Pocket_, sister of Matthew Pocket, a little dry, brown, corrugated old woman, with a small face that might have been made of walnut-shell, and a large mouth, like a cat’s without the whiskers.--C. Dickens, _Great Expectations_ (1860).

=Podgers= (_The_), lickspittles of the great.--J. Hollingshead, _The Birthplace of Podgers_.

=Podsnap= (_Mr._), “a too, too smiling large man, with a fatal freshness on him.” Mr. Podsnap has “two little light-colored wiry wings, one on either side of his else bald head, looking as like his hair-brushes as his hair.” On his forehead are generally “little red beads,” and he wears “a large allowance of crumpled shirt-collar up behind.”

_Mrs. Podsnap_, a “fine woman for Professor Owen: quantity of bone, neck, and nostrils like a rocking-horse, hard features, and majestic head-dress in which Podsnap has hung golden offerings.”

_Georgiana Podsnap_, daughter of the above; called by her father “the young person.” She is a harmless, inoffensive girl, “always trying to hide her elbows.” Georgiana adores Mrs. Lammle, and when Mr. Lammle tries to marry the girl to Mr. Fledgeby, Mrs. Lammle induces Mr. Twemlow to speak to the father and warn him of the connection.

=Poe= (_Edgar Allen_). Poe’s parents were actors, and in 1885, the actors of America erected a monument to the memory of the unhappy poet. The poem read at the dedication of the memorial was by _William Winter_.

“His music dies not, nor can ever die, Blown ’round the world by every wandering wind, The comet, lessening in the midnight sky, Still leaves its trail of glory far behind.”

=Poem in Marble= (_A_), the Taj, a mausoleum of white marble, raised in Agra, by Shah Jehan, to his favorite, Shahrina Moomtaz-i-Mahul, who died in childbirth of her eighth child. It is also called “The Marble Queen of Sorrow.”

=Poet= (_The Quaker_), Bernard Barton (1784-1849).

=Poet Sire of Italy=, Dantê Alighieri (1265-1321).

=Poet Squab.= John Dryden was so called by the earl of Rochester, on account of his corpulence (1631-1701).

=Poet of France= (_The_), Pierre Ronsard (1524-1585).

=Poet of Poets=, Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822).

=Poet of the Poor=, the Rev. George Crabbe (1754-1832).

=Poets= (_The prince of_). Edmund Spenser is so called on his monument in Westminster Abbey (1553-1598).

_Prince of Spanish Poets._ So Cervantês calls Garcilaso de la Vega (1503-1536).

=Poets of England.=

Addison, Beaumont, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Browning, Burns, Butler, Byron, Campbell, Chatterton, Chaucer, Coleridge, Collins, Congreve, Cowley, Cowper, Crabbe, Drayton, Dryden, Fletcher, Ford, Gay, Goldsmith, Gray, Mrs. Hemans, Herbert, Herrick, Hood, Ben Jonson, Keats, Keble, Landor, Marlowe, Marvel, Massinger, Milton, Moore, Otway, Pope, Prior, Rogers, Rowe, Scott, Shakespeare, Shelley, Shenstone, Southey, Spenser, Thomson, Waller, Wordsworth, Young. With many others of less celebrity.

=Poets’ Corner=, in the south transept of Westminster Abbey. No one knows who christened the corner thus. With poets are divines, philosophers, actors, novelists, architects and critics.

The “corner” contains a bust, statue, tablet, or monument, to five of our first-rate poets: viz., Chaucer (1400), Dryden (1700), Milton (1674), Shakespeare (1616), and Spenser (1598); and some seventeen of second or third class merit, as Addison, Beaumont (none to Fletcher), S. Butler, Campbell, Cowley, Cumberland, Drayton, Gay, Gray, Goldsmith, Ben Jonson, Macaulay, Prior, Rowe, Sheridan, Thomson and Wordsworth.

⁂ Dryden’s monument was erected by Sheffield, duke of Buckingham. Wordsworth’s statue was erected by a public subscription.

=Poetry= (_The Father of_), Orpheus (2 _syl._) of Thrace.

_Father of Dutch Poetry_, Jakob Maerlant; also called “The Father of Flemish Poetry” (1235-1300).

_Father of English Poetry_, Geoffrey Chaucer (1328-1400).

_Father of Epic Poetry_, Homer.

He compares Richardson to Homer, and predicts for his memory the same honors which are rendered to the Father of Epic Poetry.--Sir W. Scott.

=Poetry--Prose.= Pope advised Wycherly “to convert his poetry into prose.”

=Poganuc=, small Puritan town in New England as it was 100 years ago.--Harriet Beecher Stowe, _Poganuc People_ (1876).

=Po´gram= (_Elijah_), one of the “master minds” of America, and a member of Congress. He was possessed with the idea that there was a settled opposition in the British mind against the institutions of his “free and enlightened country.”--C. Dickens, _Martin Chuzzlewit_ (1844).

=Poinder= (_George_), a city officer.--Sir W. Scott, _Heart of Midlothian_ (time, George II.).

=Poins=, a companion of Sir John Falstaff.--Shakespeare, 1 and 2 _Henry IV._ (1597, 1598).

The chronicles of that day contain accounts of many a mad prank which [_Lord Warwick, Addison’s step-son_] played ... [_like_] the lawless freaks of the madcap prince and Poins.--Thackeray.

=Poison.= It is said that Mithridātês VI., surnamed “the Great,” had so fortified his constitution that poisons had no baneful effect on him (B.C. 131, 120-63).

=Poison of Khaïbar.= By this is meant the poison put into a leg of mutton by Zaïnab, a Jewess, to kill Mahomet while he was in the citadel of Kha´ïbar. Mahomet partook of the mutton, and suffered from the poison all through life.

=Poisoners= (_Secret_).

1. _Of Ancient Rome_: Locusta, employed by Agrippi´na to poison her husband, the Emperor Claudius. Nero employed the same woman to poison Britannicus and others.

2. _Of English History_: the countess of Somerset, who poisoned Sir Thomas Overbury in the Tower of London. She also poisoned others.

Villiers, duke of Buckingham, it is said poisoned King James I.

3. _Of France_: Lavoisin and Lavigoreux, French midwives and fortune-tellers.

Catherine de Medicis is said to have poisoned the mother of Henri IV. with a pair of wedding-gloves, and several others with poisoned fans.

The marquise de Brinvilliers, a young profligate Frenchwoman, was taught the art of secret poisoning by Sainte-Croix, who learnt it in Italy.--_World of Wonders_, vii. 203.

4. _Of Italy_: Pope Alexander VI. and his children, Cæsar and Lucrezia [Borgia] were noted poisoners; so were Hieronyma Spara and Tofa´na.

=Polexan´dre=, an heroic romance by Gomberville (1632).

=Policy= (_Mrs._), housekeeper at Holyrood Palace. She appears in the introduction.--Sir W. Scott, _Fair Maid of Perth_ (time, Henry IV.).

=Pol´idore= (3 _syl._), father of Valère.--Molière, _Le Dépit Amoureux_ (1654).

=Polinesso=, duke of Albany, who falsely accused Geneura of incontinency, and was slain in single combat by Ariodantês.--Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_ (1516).

=Polish Jew= (_The_), also called THE BELLS, a melodrama by J. R. Ware, brought prominently into note by the acting of Henry Irving at the Lyceum. Mathis, a miller in a small German town, is visited on Christmas Eve by a Polish Jew, who comes through the snow in a sledge. After rest and refreshment he leaves for Nantzig, “four leagues off.” Mathis follows him, kills him with an axe, and burns the body in a lime-kiln. He then pays his debts, becomes a prosperous and respected man, and is made burgomaster. On the wedding night of his only child, Annette, he dies of apoplexy, of which he had ample warning by the constant sound of sledge-bells in his ears. In his dream he supposes himself put into a mesmeric sleep in open court, when he confesses everything and is executed (1874).

=Polixène=, the name assumed by Madelon Gorgibus, a shopkeeper’s daughter, as far more romantic and genteel than her baptismal name. Her cousin, Cathos, called herself Aminte (2 _syl._).

=Polix´enes= (4 _syl._), king of Bohemia, schoolfellow and old companion of Leontês, king of Sicily. While on a visit to the Sicilian king, Leontês grew jealous of him, and commanded Camillo to poison him; but Camillo only warned him of his danger, and fled with him to Bohemia. Polixenês’s son, Flor´izel, fell in love with Perdĭta, the supposed daughter of a shepherd; but the king threatened Perdita and the shepherd with death unless this foolish suit were given up. Florizel and Perdita now fled to Sicily, where they were introduced to King Leontês, and it was soon discovered that Perdita was his lost daughter. Polixenês, having tracked the fugitives to Sicily, learned that Perdita was the king’s daughter, and joyfully consented to the union he had before forbidden.--Shakespeare, _The Winter’s Tale_ (1604).

=Poll Pineapple=, the bumboat woman, once sailed in seaman’s clothes with Lieutenant Belaye (2 _syl._), in the _Hot Cross-Bun_. Jack tars generally greet each other with “Messmate, ho! what cheer?” but the greeting on the _Hot Cross-Bun_ was always, “How do you do, my dear?” and never was any oath more naughty than “Dear me!” One day, Lieutenant Belaye came on board and said to his crew, “Here, messmates, is my wife, for I have just come from church.” Whereupon they all fainted; and it was found the crew consisted of young women only, who had dressed like sailors to follow the fate of Lieutenant Belaye.--S. Gilbert, _The Bab Ballads_ (“The Bumboat Woman’s Story”).

=Pollente= (3 _syl._), a Saracen, lord of the Perilous Bridge. When his groom, Guizor, demands the “passage-penny” of Sir Artegal, the knight gives him a “stunning blow,” saying, “Lo! knave, there’s my hire;” and the groom falls down dead. Pollentê then comes rushing up at full speed, and both he and Sir Artegal fall into the river, fighting most desperately. At length Sir Artegal prevails, and the dead body of the Saracen is carried down “the blood-stained stream.”--Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, v. 2 (1596).

Upton conjectures that “Pollente” is intended for Charles IX. of France, and his groom, “Guizor” (he says), means the duke of Guise, noted for the part he took in the St. Bartholomew Massacre.

=Polly=, daughter of Peachum. A pretty girl, who really loved Captain Macheath, married him, and remained faithful even when he disclaimed her. When the reprieve arrived, “the captain” confessed his marriage, and vowed to abide by Polly for the rest of his life.--J. Gay, _The Beggar’s Opera_ (1727).

_Polly_ (_Cousin_), “a small, bright-eyed lady of indefatigable activity in sacrificing herself for the good of others.... In her trig person she embodied the several functions of housekeeper, nurse, confidante, missionary, parish-clerk, queen of the poultry-yard, and genealogist.”--Constance Cary Harrison, _Flower de Hundred_ (1890).

_Polly_, the idolized pet of “the Colonel,” her grandfather. He will not let “Bob” marry her, but when the two elope together and present themselves as man and wife, on Christmas Day, and Polly’s face “like a dew-bathed flower” is pressed to his, he yields and takes both to his big heart.--Thomas Nelson Page, _In Ole Virginia_ (1887).

=Polo´nius=, a garralous[TN-97] old chamberlain, of Denmark, and father of Laer´tês and Ophelia; conceited, politic, and a courtier. Polonius conceals himself, to overhear what Hamlet says to his mother, and, making some unavoidable noise, startles the prince, who, thinking it is the king concealed, rushes blindly on the intruder, and kills him; but finds too late he has killed the chamberlain, and not Claudius, as he hoped and expected.--Shakespeare, _Hamlet_ (1596).

Polonius is a man bred in courts, exercised in business, stored with observations, confident of his knowledge, proud of his eloquence, and declining to dotage.--Dr. Johnson.

It was the great part of William Mynitt (1710-1763).

Soon after Munden retired from the stage, an admirer met him in Covent Garden. It was a wet day, and each carried an umbrella. The gentleman’s was an expensive silk one, and Joe’s an old gingham. “So you have left the stage, ... and ‘Polonius,’ ‘Jemmy Jumps,’ ‘Old Dornton,’ and a dozen others have left the world with you? I wish you’d give me some trifle by way of memorial, Munden!” “Trifle, sir? I’ faith, sir, I’ve got nothing. But, hold, yes, egad, suppose we exchange umbrellas.”--_Theatrical Anecdotes._

=Polwarth= (_Alick_), a servant of Waverley’s.--Sir W. Scott, _Waverley_ (time, George II.).

=Polycle´tos= (in Latin _Polycletus_), a statuary of Sicyon, who drew up a canon of the proportions of the several parts of the human body: as, twice round the thumb is once round the wrist; twice round the wrist is once round the neck; twice round the neck is once round the waist; once round the fist is the length of the foot; the two arms extended is the height of the body; six times the length of the foot, or eighteen thumbs, is also the height of the body.

Again, the thumb, the longest toe, and the nose should all be of the same length. The index finger should measure the breadth of the hand and foot, and twice the breadth should give the length. The hand, the foot, and the face should all be the same length. The nose should be one-third of the face; and, of course, the thumbs should be one-third the length of the hand. Gerard de Lairesse has given the exact measurements of every part of the human figure, according to the famous statues of “Antinöus,[TN-98] “Apollo Belvidere,” “Herculês,” and “Venus de’Medici.”

=Polycrates= (4 _syl._), tyrant of Samos. He was so fortunate in everything, that Am´asis, king of Egypt, advised him to part with something he highly prized. Whereupon, Polycrătês threw into the sea an engraved gem of extraordinary value. A few days afterwards, a fish was presented to the tyrant, in which this very gem was found. Amasis now renounced all friendship with him, as a man doomed by the gods; and not long after this, a satrap, having entrapped the too fortunate despot, put him to death by crucifixion. (See FISH AND THE RING.)--_Herodotus_, iii. 40.

=Polyd´amas=, a Thessalian athlete of enormous strength. He is said to have killed an angry lion, to have held by the heels a raging bull and thrown it helpless at his feet, to have stopped a chariot in full career, etc. One day, he attempted to sustain a falling rock, but was killed and buried by the huge mass.

Milo carried a bull, four years old, on his shoulders through the stadium at Olympia; he also arrested a chariot in full career. One day, tearing asunder a pine tree, the two parts, rebounding, caught his hands and held him fast, in which state he was devoured by wolves.

=Polydore= (3 _syl._), the name by which Belarius called Prince Guiderius, while he lived in a cave in the Welsh mountains. His brother, Prince Arvirăgus, went by the name of Cadwal.--Shakespeare, _Cymbeline_ (1605).

_Polydore_ (3 _syl._), brother of General Memnon, beloved by the Princess Calis, sister of Astorax, king of Paphos.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Mad Lover_ (1618).

_Polydore_ (_Lord_), son of Lord Acasto, and Castalio’s younger brother. He entertained a base passion for his father’s ward Monimia, “the orphan,” and, making use of the signal (“three soft taps upon the chamber door”) to be used by Castalio, to whom she was privately married, indulged his wanton love, Monimia supposing him to be her husband. When, next day, he discovered that Monimia was actually married to Castalio, he was horrified, and provoked a quarrel with his brother; but as soon as Castalio drew his sword, he ran upon it and was killed.--Thomas Otway, _The Orphan_ (1680).

_Polydore_ (3 _syl._), a comrade of Ernest of Otranto (page of Prince Tancred).--Sir W. Scott, _Count Robert of Paris_ (time, Rufus).

=Polyglot= (_Ignatius_), the master of seventeen languages, and tutor of Charles Eustace (aged 24). Very learned, very ignorant of human life; most strict as a disciplinarian, but tender-hearted as a girl. His pupil has married clandestinely, but Polyglot offers himself voluntarily to be the scapegoat of the young couple, and he brings them off triumphantly.--J. Poole, _The Scapegoat_.

=Polyglott= (_A Walking_), Cardinal Mezzofanti, who knew fifty-eight different languages (1774-1849).

=Polyolbion= (the “_greatly blessed_”), by Michael Drayton, in thirty parts, called “songs,”[TN-99] It is a topographical description of England. Song i. The landing of Bruce. Song ii. Dorsetshire, and the adventures of Sir Bevis of Southampton. Song iii. Somerset. Song iv. Contention of the rivers of England and Wales respecting Lundy--to which country it belonged. Song v. Sabrina, as arbiter, decides that it is “allied alike both to Enggland[TN-100] and Wales;” Merlin and Milford Haven. Song vi. The salmon and beaver of Twy; the tale of Sabrina; the druids and bards. Song vii. Hereford. Song viii. Conquest of Britain by the Romans and by the Saxons. Song ix. Wales. Song x. Merlin’s prophecies; Winifred’s well; defence of the “tale of Brute” (1612). Song xi. Cheshire, the religious Saxon kings. Song xii. Shropshire and Staffordshire; the Saxon warrior kings; and Guy of Warwick. Song xiii. Warwick; Guy of Warwick concluded. Song xiv. Gloucestershire. Song xv. The marriage of Isis and Thame. Song xvi. The Roman roads and Saxon kingdoms. Song xvii. Surrey and Sussex; the sovereigns of England from William to Elizabeth. Song xviii. Kent; England’s great generals and sea-captains (1613). Song xix. Essex and Suffolk; English navigators. Song xx. Norfolk. Song xxi. Cambridge and Ely. Song xxii. Buckinghamshire, and England’s intestine battles. Song xxiii. Northamptonshire. Song xxiv. Rutlandshire; and the British saints. Song xxv. Lincolnshire. Song xxvi. Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire; with the story of Robin Hood. Song xxvii. Lancashire and the Isle of Man. Song xxviii. Yorkshire. Song xxix. Northumberland. Song xxx. Cumberland (1622).

=Pol´ypheme= (3 _syl._), a gigantic cyclops of Sicily, who fed on human flesh. When Ulysses, on his return from Troy, was driven to this Island, he and twelve of his companions were seized by Polypheme, and confined in his cave, that he might devour two daily for his dinner. Ulysses made the giant drunk, and, when he lay down to sleep, bored out his one eye. Roused by the pain, the monster tried to catch his tormentors; but Ulysses and his surviving companions made their escape by clinging to the bellies of the sheep and rams when they were let out to pasture (_Odyssey_, ix.).

There is a Basque legend told of the giant Tartaro, who caught a young man in his snares, and confined him in his cave for dessert. When, however, Tartaro fell asleep, the young man made the giant’s spit red hot, bored out his one eye, and then made his escape by fixing the bell of the bell-ram round his neck, and a sheep-skin over his back. Tartaro seized the skin, and the man, leaving it behind, made off.--_Basque Legends._

A very similar adventure forms the tale of Sindbad’s third voyage, in the _Arabian Nights_. He was shipwrecked on a strange island, and entered, with his companions, a sort of palace. At nightfall, a one-eyed giant entered, and ate one of them for supper, and another for breakfast next morning. This went on for a day or two, when Sindbad bored out the giant’s one eye with a charred olive stake. The giant tried in vain to catch his tormentors, but they ran to their rafts; and Sindbad, with two others, contrived to escape.

⁂ Homer was translated into Syriac by Theophilus Edessenes in the caliphate of Hárun-ur-Ráshid (A.D. 786-809).

=Polypheme and Galatea.= Polypheme loved Galatēa, the sea-nymph; but Galatea had fixed her affections on Acis, a Sicilian shepherd. The giant, in his jealousy, hurled a huge rock at his rival, and crushed him to death.

The tale of Polypheme is from Homer’s _Odyssey_, ix. It is also given by Ovid in his _Metamorphoses_, xiv. Euripidês introduces the monster in his _Cyclops_; and the tragedy of Acis and Galatea is the subject of Handel’s famous opera so called.

(In Greek the monster is called _Polyphêmos_, and in Latin _Polyphēmus_.)

=Polyphe´mus of Literature=, Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784).

=Polypho´nus= (“_big voiced_”), the Kapăneus and most boastful of the frog heroes. He was slain by the mouse Artophăgus (“the bread-nibbler”).

But great Artophagus avenged the slain, ... And Polyphōnus died, a frog renowned For boastful speech and turbulence of sound.

Parnell, _Battle of the Frogs and Mice_, iii. (about 1712).

=Polyx´ena=, a magnanimous and most noble woman, wife of Charles Emmanuel, king of Sardinia (who succeeded to the crown in 1730).--R. Browning, _King Victor and King Charles, etc._

=Pomegranate Seed.= When Perseph´onê was in Hadês, whither Pluto had carried her, the god, foreknowing that Jupiter would demand her release, gathered a pomegranate, and said to her, “Love, eat with me, this

## parting day, of the pomegranate seed;” and she ate. Demēter, in the mean

time, implored Zeus (_Jupiter_) to demand Persephonê’s release; and the king of Olympus promised she should be set at liberty, if she had not eaten anything during her detention in Hadês. As, however, she had eaten pomegranate seeds, her return was impossible.

Low laughs the dark king on his throne-- “I gave her of pomegranate seeds” ...

And chant the maids of Enna still-- “O fateful flower beside the rill, The daffodil, the daffodil.” (See DAFFODIL.)

Jean Ingelow, _Persephone_.

=Pomoma.= The incomparable maid-of-work, custodian, novelist, comedienne, tragedienne, and presiding genius of Rudder Grange. Her _chef d’œuvre_ is the expedient of posting the premises “_To be Sold for Taxes_,” to keep away peddlers of trees, etc., in her employers’ absence.--Frank Stockton, _Rudder Grange_ (1879).

=Pompey=, a clown; servant to Mrs. Overdone (a bawd).--Shakespeare, _Measure for Measure_ (1603).