Part 31

=Pompey the Great=, was killed by Achillas and Septimius, the moment the Egyptian fishing-boat reached the coast. Plutarch tells us they threw his head into the sea. Others say his head was sent to Cæsar, who turned from it with horror, and shed a flood of tears. Shakespeare makes him killed by “savage islanders” (2 _Henry VI._ act iv. sc. 1, 1598).

=Pompil´ia=, a foundling, the putative daughter of Pietro (2 _syl._). She married Count Guido Franceschini, who treated her so brutally that she made her escape under the protection of a young priest named Caponsacchi. Pompilia subsequently gave birth to a son, but was slain by her husband.

The babe had been a find i’ the filth-heap, sir, Catch from the kennel. There was found at Rome, Down in the deepest of our social dregs, A woman who professed the wanton’s trade ... She sold this babe eight months before its birth To our Violante (3 _syl._), Pietro’s honest spouse, ...

## Partly to please old Pietro,

## Partly to cheat the rightful heirs, agape

For that same principal of the usufruct, It vexed him he must die and leave behind.

R. Browning, _The Ring and the Book_, ii, 557, etc.

=Ponce de Léon=, the navigator who went in search of the _Fontaine de Jouvence_, “qui fit rajovenir la gent.” He sailed in two ships on this “voyage of discoveries,” in the sixteenth century.

Like Ponce de Léon, he wants to go off to the Antipodês in search of that _Fontaine de Jouvence_ which was fabled to give a man back his youth.--_Véra_, 130.

=Pongo=, a cross between “a land-tiger and a sea-shark.” This terrible monster devastated Sicily, but was slain by the three sons of St. George.--R. Johnson, _The Seven Champions, etc._ (1617).

=Ponoc´rates= (4 _syl._), the tutor of Gargantua.--Rabelais, _Gargantua_ (1533).

=Pontius Pilate’s Body-Guard=, the 1st Foot Regiment. In Picardy the French officers wanted to make out that they were the seniors, and, to carry their point, vaunted that they were on duty on the night of the Crucifixion. The colonel of the 1st Foot replied, “If we had been on guard we should not have slept at our posts” (see _Matt._ xxviii. 13).

=Pontoys= (_Stephen_), a veteran in Sir Hugo de Lacy’s troop.--Sir W. Scott, _The Betrothed_ (time, Henry II.).

=Pony= (_Mr. Garland’s_), Whisker (_q.v._).

=Poole= (1 _syl._), in Dorsetshire; once “a young and lusty sea-born lass,” courted by Great Albion, who had by her three children, Brunksey, Fursey and [St.] Hellen. Thetis was indignant that one of her virgin train should be guilty of such indiscretion; and, to protect his children from her fury, Albion placed them in the bosom of Poole, and then threw his arms around them.--M. Drayton, _Polyolbion_, ii. (1612).

=Poor= (_Father of the_), Bernard Gilpin. (1517-1583).

=Poor Gentleman= (_The_), a comedy by George Colman, the younger (1802). “The poor gentleman” is Lieutenant Worthington, discharged from the army on half-pay because his arm had been crushed by a shell in storming Gibraltar. On his half-pay he had to support himself, his daughter Emily, an old corporal and a maiden sister-in-law. Having put his name to a bill for £500, his friend died without effecting an insurance, and the lieutenant was called upon for payment. Imprisonment would have followed if Sir Robert Bramble had not most generously paid the money. With this piece of good fortune came another--the marriage of his daughter Emily to Frederick Bramble, nephew and heir of the rich baronet.

=Poor Richard=, the pseudonym of Benjamin Franklin, under which he issued a series of almanacs, which he made the medium of teaching thrift, temperance, order, cleanliness, chastity, forgiveness, and so on. The maxims or precepts of these almanacs generally end with the words, “as poor Richard says” (begun in 1732).

=Poor Robin=, the pseudonym of Robert Herrick, the poet, under which he issued a series of almanacs (begun in 1661).

=Pope= (_to drink like a_). Benedict XII. was an enormous eater, and such a huge wine-drinker that he gave rise to the Bacchanalian expression, _Bibāmus papaliter_.

=Pope Changing His Name.= Peter Hogsmouth, or, as he is sometimes called, Peter di Porca, was the first pope to change his name. He called himself Sergius II. (844-847). Some say he thought it arrogant to be called Peter II.

=Pope-Fig-Lands=, Protestant countries. The Gaillardets, being shown the pope’s image, said, “A fig for the pope!” whereupon their whole island was put to the sword, and the name changed to Pope-fig-land, the people being called “Pope-figs.”--Rabelais, _Pantag´ruel_, iv. 45 (1545).

The allusion is to the kingdom of Navarre, once Protestant; but in 1512 it was subjected to Ferdinand, the Catholic.

=Pope-Figs=, Protestants. The name was given to the Gaillardets for saying “A fig for the pope!”

They were made tributaries and slaves to the Papimans for saying “A fig for the pope’s image!” and never after did the poor wretches prosper, but every year the devil was at their doors, and they were plagued with hail, storms, famine, and all manner of woes, in punishment of this sin of their forefathers.--Rabelais, _Pantagruel_, iv. 45 (1545).

=Pope Joan=, between Leo IV. and Benedict III., and called John [VIII.]. The subject of this scandalous story was an English girl, educated at Cologne, who left her home in man’s disguise with her lover (the monk Folda), and went to Athens, where she studied law. She went to Rome and studied theology, earning so great a reputation that, at the death of Leo IV., she was chosen his successor. Her sex was discovered by the birth of a child, while she was going to the Lateran Basilica, between the Coliseum and the church of St. Clement. Pope Joan died, and was buried, without honors, after a pontificate of two years and five months (853-855).--Marianus Scotus (who died 1086).

The story is given most fully by Martinus Polonus, confessor to Gregory X., and the tale was generally believed till the Reformation. There is a German miracle-play on the subject, called _The Canonization of Pope Joan_ (1480). David Blondel, a Calvinist divine, has written a book to confute the tale.

The following note contains the chief points of interest:--

Anastasius, the librarian, is the first to mention such a pope, A.D. 886, or thirty years after the death of Joan.

Marianus Scotus, in his _Chronicle_, says she reigned two years, five months and four days (853-855). Scotus died 1086.

Sigebert de Gemblours, in his _Chronicle_, repeats the same story (1112).

Otto of Friesingen[TN-101] and Gotfried of Viterbo both mention her in their histories.

Martin Polonus gives a very full account of the matter. He says she went by the name of John Anglus, and was born at Metz, of English parents. While she was pope, she was prematurely delivered of a child in the street “between the Coliseum and St. Clement’s Church.”

William Ocham alludes to the story.

Thomas de Elmham repeats it (1422).

John Huss tells us her baptismal name was not Joan, but Agnes.

Others insist that her name was Gilberta.

In the _Annalês Augustani_ (1135), we are told her papal name was John VIII., and that she it was who conscrated[TN-102] Louis II., of France.

Arguments in favor of the allegation are given by Spanheim, _Exercit. de Papa Fæmina_, ii. 577; in Lenfant, _Historie de la Papesse Jeanne_.

Arguments against the allegation are given by Allatius or Allatus, _Confutatio Fabulæ de Johanna Papissa_; and in Lequien,[TN-103] _Oriens Christianus_, iii. 777.

Arguments on both sides are given in Cunningham’s translation of _Geiseler, Lehrbuch_, ii. 21, 22; and in La Bayle’s _Dictionnaire_, iii., art. “Papisse.”

⁂ Gibbon says, “Two Protestants, Blondel and Bayle, have annihilated the female pope;” but the expression is certainly too strong, and even Mosheim is more than half inclined to believe there really was such a person.

=Pope of Philosophy=, Aristotle (B.C. 384-322).

=Popes= (_Titles assumed by_). “Universal Bishop,” prior to Gregory the Great. Gregory the Great adopted the style of “Servus Servorum” (591).

Martin IV. was addressed as “the lamb of God which takest away the sins of the world,” to which was added, “Grant us thy peace!” (1281).

Leo X. was styled, by the council of Lateran, “Divine Majesty,” “Husband of the Church,” “Prince of the Apostles,” “The Key of all the Universe,” “The Pastor, the Physician, and a God possessed of all power both in heaven and on earth” (1513).

Paul V. styled himself “Monarch of Christendom,” “Supporter of the Papal Omnipotence,” “Vice-God,” “Lord God the Pope” (1605).

Others, after Paul, “Master of the World,” “Pope the Universal Father,” “Judge in the place of God,” “Vicegerent of the Most High.”--Brady, _Clavis Calendaria_, 247 (1839).

The pope assumes supreme dominion, not only over spiritual but also over temporal affairs, styling himself “Head of the Catholic or Universal Church, Sole Arbiter of its rights, and Sovereign Father of all the Kings of the Earth.” From these titles, he wears a triple crown, one as High Priest, one as emperor, and the third as king. He also bears keys, to denote his privilege of opening the gates of heaven to all true believers.--Brady, 250-1.

⁂ For the first five centuries the bishops of Rome wore a bonnet, like other ecclesiastics. Pope Hormisdas placed on his bonnet the crown sent him by Clovis; Boniface VIII. added a second crown during his struggles with Philip the Fair; and John XXII. assumed the third crown.

=Popish Plot=, a supposed Roman Catholic conspiracy to massacre the Protestants, burn London, and murder the king (Charles II.). This fiction was concocted by one Titus Oates, who made a “good thing” by his schemes; but being at last found out, was pilloried, whipped, and imprisoned (1678-9).

=Poppy= (_Ned_), a prosy old anecdote teller, with a marvellous tendency to digression.

=Poquelin= (_Jean-ah_), a wealthy Creole living in seclusion in an old house, attended only by a deaf-mute negro. The secrecy and mystery of his life excite all sorts of ugly rumors, and he is mobbed by a crowd of mischievous boys and loafers, receiving injuries that cause his death. The story that his house is haunted keeps intruders from the doors, but they venture near enough on the day of his funeral, to see the coffin brought out by the mute negro, and laid on a cart, and that the solitary mourner is Poquelin’s brother, long supposed to be dead. He is a _leper_, for whom the elder brother has cared secretly all these years, not permitting the knowledge of his existence to get abroad, lest the unfortunate man should be removed forcibly, and sent to what is the only asylum for him now that his guardian is dead--the abhorrent _Terre aux Lepreux_.--George W. Cable, _Old Creole Days_ (1879).

=Porch= (_The_). The Stoics were so called, because their founder gave his lectures in the Athenian _stoa_, or _porch_, called “Pœ´cilê.”

The successors of Socrătês formed ... the Academy, the Porch, the Garden.--Professor Seeley, _Ecce Homo_.

George Herbert has a poem called _The Church Porch_ (six-line stanzas). It may be considered introductory to his poem entitled _The Church_ (Sapphic verse and sundry other metres).

=Porcius=, son of Cato, of Utĭca (in Africa), and brother of Marcus. Both brothers were in love with Lucia; but the hot-headed, impulsive Marcus, being slain in battle, the sage and temperate Porcius was without a rival.--J. Addison, _Cato_ (1713).

When Sheridan reproduced _Cato_, Wignell, who acted “Porcius,” omitted the prologue, and began at once with the lines, “The dawn is overcast, the morning lowers....” “The prologue! the prologue!” shouted the audience; and Wignell went on in the same tone, as if continuing his speech:

Ladies and gentleman, there has not been A prologue spoken to this play for years-- And heavily on clouds brings on the day, The great, th’ important day, big with the fate Of Cato and of Rome.

_History of the Stage._

=Porcupine= (_Peter_). William Cobbett, the politician, published _The Rushlight_ under this pseudonym in 1860.

=Pornei´us= (3 _syl._), Fornication personified; one of the four sons of Anag´nus (_inchastity_), his brothers being Mæ´chus (_adultery_), Acath´arus, and Asel´gês (_lasciviousness_). He began the battle of Mansoul by encountering Parthen´ia (_maidenly chastity_), but “the martial maid” slew him with her spear. (Greek, _porneia_, “fornication.”).

In maids his joy; now by a maid defied, His life he lost and all his former pride. With women would he live, now by a woman died.

Phineas Fletcher, _The Purple Island_, xi. (1633).

=Porphyrius=, in Dryden’s drama of _Tyrannic Love_.

Valeria, daughter of Maximin, having killed herself for the love of Porphyrus, was on one occasion being carried off by the bearers, when she started up and boxed one of the bearers on the ears, saying to him:

Hold! are you mad, you damned confounded dog? I am to rise and speak the epilogue.

W. C. Russell, _Representative Actors_, 456.

=Porphyro-Genitus= (“_born in the Porphyra_”), the title given to the kings of the Eastern empire, from the apartments called Porphyra, set apart for the empresses during confinement.

There he found Irene, the empress, in travail, in a house anciently appointed for the empresses during childbirth. They call that house “Porphyra,” whence the name of the Porphyro-geniti came into the world.--See Selden, _Titles of Honor_, v. 61 (1614).

=Porrex=, younger son of Gorboduc, a legendary king of Britain. He drove his elder brother, Ferrex, from the kingdom, and, when Ferrex returned with a large army, defeated and slew him. Porrex was murdered while “slumbering on his careful bed,” by his own mother, who stabbed[TN-104] him to the heart with a knife.”--Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville, _Gorboduc_ (a tragedy, 1561-2).

=Por´sena=, a legendary king of Etruria, who made war on Rome to restore Tarquin to the throne.

Lord Macaulay has made this the subject of one of his _Lays of Ancient Rome_ (1842).

=Port´amour=, Cupid’s sheriff’s officer, who summoned offending lovers to “Love’s Judgment Hall.”--Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, vi. 7 (1596).

=Porteous= (_Captain John_), an officer of the city guard. He is hanged by the mob (1736).

_Mrs. Porteous_, wife of the captain.--Sir W. Scott, _The Heart of Midlothian_ (time, George II.)

=Porter= (_Sir Joseph_), K. C. B. The admiral who “stuck close to his desk, and never went to sea.” His reward was the appointment as “ruler of the Queen’s navee.”--W. S. Gilbert, _Pinafore_.

=Portia=, the wife of Pontius Pilate, in Klopstock’s _Messiah_.

_Portia_, wife of Marcus Brutus. Valerius Maximus says: “She, being determined to kill herself, took hot burning coals into her mouth, and kept her lips closed till she was suffocated by the smoke.”

With this she fell distract, And, her attendants absent, swallowed fire.

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

_Portia_, a rich heiress, in love with Bassa´nio; but her choice of a husband was restricted by her father’s will to the following condition: Her suitors were to select from three caskets, one of gold, one of silver, and one of lead, and he who selected the casket which contained Portia’s picture, was to claim her as his wife. Bassanio chose the lead, and being successful, became the espoused husband. It so happened that Bassanio had borrowed 3,000 ducats, and Antonio, a Venetian merchant, was his security. The money was borrowed of Shylock, a Jew, on these conditions: If the loan was repaid within three months, only the principal would be required; if not, the Jew should be at liberty to claim a pound of flesh from Antonio’s body. The loan was not repaid, and the Jew demanded the forfeiture. Portia, in the dress of a law doctor, conducted the defence, and saved Antonio by reminding the Jew that a pound of _flesh_ gave him no drop of blood, and that he must cut neither more nor less than an exact pound, otherwise his life would be forfeited. As it would be plainly impossible to fulfill these conditions, the Jew gave up his claim, and Antonio was saved.--Shakespeare, _Merchant of Venice_ (1598).

=Portsmouth= (_The duchess of_), “La Belle Louise de Querouaille,” one of the mistresses of Charles II.--Sir W. Scott, _Perveril of the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).

=Portuguese Cid= (_The_), Nunez Alvarez Pereria (1360-1431).

=Portuguese Horace= (_The_), Antonio Ferreira (1528-1569).

“=Posson Jone=,” a gigantic parson from “up the river” who has “been to Mobile on business for Bethesdy Church.” His sojourn in New Orleans on his way home is marked by divers adventures. He is beguiled into a gambling den, drugged and made drunk. While intoxicated, he visits a circus and has a scene with the showman and his tiger; he is locked up and awakes in his senses and penitent. His simplicity of self-condemnation, his humility and fortitude move his tempter to restore the $500 of church-money he has “borrowed” from the confiding victim whose transport of pious gratitude overwhelms the world-hardened man with shame and inspires him to new resolves.--George W. Cable, “_Posson Jone_” (1879).

=Posthu´mus= [LEONATUS] married Imogen, daughter of Cymbeline, king of Britain, and was banished the kingdom for life. He went to Italy, and there, in the house of Philario, bet a diamond ring with Iachimo that nothing could seduce the fidelity of Imogen. Iachimo accepted the bet, concealed himself in a chest in Imogen’s chamber, made himself master of certain details and also of a bracelet, and with these vouchers claimed the ring. Posthūmus now ordered his servant, Pisanio, to inveigle Imogen to Milford Haven under the promise of meeting her husband, and to murder her on the road; but Pisanio told Imogen to assume boy’s apparel, and enter the service of the Roman general in Britain, as a page. A battle being fought, the Roman general, Iachimo, and Imogen were among the captives; and Posthumus, having done great service in the battle on Cymbeline’s behalf, was pardoned. The Roman general prayed that the supposed page might be set at liberty, and the king told her she might also claim a boon, whereupon she asked that Iachimo should state how he became possessed of the ring he was wearing. The whole villainy being thus exposed, Imogen’s innocence was fully established, and she was re-united to her husband.--Shakespeare, _Cymbeline_ (1605).

=Potage= (_Jean_), the French “Jack Pudding;” similar to the Italian “Macaroni,” the Dutch “Pickel-herringe,” and the German “Hanswurst.” Clumsy, gormandizing clowns, fond of practical jokes, especially such as stealing eatables and drinkables.

=Pother= (_Doctor_), an apothecary, “city register, and walking story-book.” He had a story _à propos_ of every remark made and of every incident; but as he mixed two or three together, his stories were pointless and quite unintelligible. “I know a monstrous good story on that point He! he! he” “I tell you a famous good story about that, you must know. He! he! he!...” “I could have told a capital story, but there was no one to listen to it. He! he! he!” This is the style of his chattering ... “speaking professionally--for anatomy, chemistry, pharmacy, phlebotomy, oxygen, hydrogen, caloric, carbonic, atmospheric, galvanic. Ha! ha! ha! Can tell you a prodigiously laughable story on the subject. Went last summer to a watering-place--lady of fashion--feel pulse--not lady, but lap-dog--talk Latin--prescribed galvanism--out jumped Pompey plump into a batter pudding, and lay like a toad in a hole. Ha! ha! ha!”--Dibdin, _The Farmer’s Wife_ (1780).

⁂ Colman’s “Ollapod” (1802) was evidently copied from Dibdin’s “Doctor Pother.”

=Potiphar= (_Mr._), freshly-made man intensely uncomfortable in his plated harness. His ideas of art are grounded upon a dim picture in his wife’s drawing-room, called by him “Giddo’s Shay Doover.”

_Mrs. Potiphar_, shoddy of shoddys. Purse-proud, affected, pretentious and ambitious, and even less fit for her position than her husband for his.--George William Curtis, _Potiphar Papers_ (1853).

=Potiphar’s Wife=, Zoleikha or Zuleika; but some call her Raïl.--Sale, _Al Korân_, xii. note.

=Pott= (_Mr._), the librarian at the Spa.

_Mrs. Pott_, the librarian’s wife.--Sir W. Scott, _St. Roman’s Well_ (time, George III.).

=Potteries= (_Father of the_), Josiah Wedgewood (1730-1795).

=Pounce= (_Mr. Peter_), in _The Adventures of Joseph Andrews_, by Fielding (1742).

=Poundtext= (_Peter_), an “indulged pastor” in the covenanters’ army.--Sir W. Scott, _Old Mortality_ (time, Charles II.).

=Pourceaugnac= [_Poor-sone-yak_], the hero of a comedy so called. He is a pompous country gentleman, who comes to Paris to marry Julie, daughter of Oronte (2 _syl._); but Julie loves Eraste (2 _syl._), and this young man plays off so many tricks, and devises so many mystifications upon M. de Pourceaugnac, that he is fain to give up his suit.--Molière, _M. de Pourceaugnac_ (1669).

=Poussin= (_The British_), Richard Cooper (*-1806).

_Poussin_ (_Gaspar_). So Gaspar Dughet, the French painter, is called (1613-1675).

=Powell= (_Mary_), the first wife of John Milton.

=Powheid= (_Lazarus_), the old sexton in Douglas.--Sir W. Scott, _Castle Dangerous_ (time, Henry I.).

=Poyning’s Law=, a statute to establish the English jurisdiction in Ireland. The parliament that passed it was summoned in the reign of Henry VII. by Sir Edward Poynings, governor of Ireland (1495).

=Poyser= (_Mrs._), shrewd, capable and ready-tongued wife of a British yeoman, and aunt of Hetty Sorrel.--George Eliot, _Adam Bede_.

=P. P.=, “Clerk of the Parish,” the feigned signature of Dr. Arbuthnot, subscribed to a volume of _Memoirs_ in ridicule of Burnet’s _History of My Own Times_.

Those who were placed around the dinner-table had those feelings of awe with which _P. 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 word _pragmaticus_ means “relating to State affairs,” and the word _sanctio_ means “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 by _The Pragmatic Sanction_ is 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 prepared The Pramnian mixture in a golden cup, Impregnating (on my destruction bent) With noxious herbs the draught.

Homer, _Odyssey_, x. (Cowper’s trans.).