Part 32

=Prasildo=, a Babylonish nobleman, who falls in love with Tisbi´na, wife of his friend Iroldo. He is overheard by Tisbina threatening to kill himself, and, in order to divert him from his guilty passion she promises to return his love on condition of his performing certain adventures which she thinks to be impossible. However, Prasildo performs them all, and then Tisbina and Iroldo, finding no excuse, take poison to avoid the alternative. Prasildo resolves to do the same, but is told by the apothecary that the “poison” he had supplied was a harmless drink. Prasildo tells his friend, Iroldo quits the country, and Tisbina marries Prasildo. Time passes on and Prasildo hears that his friend’s life is in danger, whereupon he starts forth to rescue him at the hazard of his own life.--Bojardo, _Orlando Innamorato_ (1495).

=Prasu´tagus= or =Præsu´tagus=, husband of Bonduica or Boadicēa, queen of the Icēni.--Richard of Cirencester, _History_, xxx. (fourteenth century).

Me, the wife of rich Prasutagus; me the lover of liberty.-- Me, they seized, and me they tortured!

Tennyson, _Boadicea_.

=Prate´fast= (_Peter_), who “in all his life spake no word in waste.” His wife was Maude, and his eldest son, Sym Sadle Gander, who married Betres (daughter of Davy Dronken Nole, of Kent, and his wife, Al´yson).--Stephen Hawes, _The Passe-tyme of Plesure_, xxix. (1515).

=Prattle= (_Mr._), medical practitioner, a voluble gossip, who retails all the news and scandal of the neighborhood. He knows everybody, everybody’s affairs, and everybody’s intentions.--G. Colman, Sr, _The Deuce is in Him_ (1762).

=Pre-Adamite Kings=, Soliman Raad, Soliman Daki, and Soliman de Gian ben Gian. The last named, having chained up the dives (1 _syl._) in the dark caverns of Pâf, became so presumptuous as to dispute the Supreme Power. All these kings maintained great state [before the existence of that contemptible being denominated by us “The Father of Mankind”]; but none can be compared with the eminence of Soliman ben Daoud.

=Pre-Adamite Throne= (_The_). It was Vathek’s ambition to gain the pre-Adamite throne. After long search, he was shown it at last in the abyss of Eblis; but being there, return was impossible, and he remained a prisoner without hope forever.

They reached at length the hall [_Argenk_] of great extent, and covered with a lofty dome.... A funereal gloom prevailed over it. Here, upon two beds of incorruptible cedar, lay recumbent the fleshless forms of the pre-Adamite kings, who had once been monarchs of the whole earth.... At their feet were inscribed the events of their several reigns, their power, their pride, and their crimes. [_This was the pre-Adamite throne, the ambition of the Caliph Vathek._]--W. Beckford, _Vathek_ (1784).

=Preacher= (_The_) Solomon, the son of David, author of _The Preacher_ (i. e. _Ecclesiastes_).

Thus saith the Preacher, “Nought beneath the sun Is new;” yet still from change to change we run.

Byron.

_Preacher_ (_The Glorious_), St. Chrys´ostom (347-407). The name means “Golden mouth.”

_Preacher_ (_The Little_), Samuel de Marets, Protestant controversialist (1599-1663).

_Preacher_ (_The Unfair_). Dr. Isaac Barrow was so called by Charles II., because his sermons were so exhaustive that they left nothing more to be said on the subject, which was “unfair” to those that came after him.

=Preachers= (_The King of_), Louis Bourdaloue (1632-1704).

=Précieuses Ridicules= (_Les_), a comedy by Molière, in ridicule of the “_precieuses_,” as they were styled, forming the coterie of the Hotel de Rambouillet in the seventeenth century. The _soirées_ held in this hotel were a great improvement on the licentious assemblies of the period; but many imitators made the thing ridiculous, because they wanted the same presiding talent and good taste.

The two girls of Molière’s comedy are Madelon and Cathos, the daughter and niece of Gorgibus, a bourgeois. They change their names to Polixène and Aminte, which they think more genteel, and look on the affectations of two flunkies as far more _distingué_ than the simple, gentlemanly manners of their masters. However, they are cured of their folly, and no harm comes of it (1659).

=Preciosa=, the heroine of Longfellow’s _Spanish Student_, in love with Victorian, the student.

=Precocious Genius.=

JOHANN PHILIP BARATIER, a German, at the age of five years, knew Greek, Latin, and French, besides his native German. At nine he knew Hebrew and Chaldaic, and could translate German into Latin. At thirteen he could translate Hebrew into French, or French into Hebrew (1721-1740).

⁂ The life of this boy was written by Formey. His name is enrolled in all biographical dictionaries.

CHRISTIAN HENRY HEINECKEN, at one year old, knew the chief events of the Pentatauch!! at thirteen months he knew the history of the Old Testament!! at fourteen months he knew the history of the New Testament!! at two and a half years he could answer any ordinary question of history or geography; and at three years old knew French and Latin as well as his native German (1721-1725).

⁂ The life of this boy was written by Schœneich, his teacher. His name is duly noticed in biographical dictionaries.

=Pressæus= (“_eater of garlic_”), the youngest of the frog chieftains.

The pious ardor young Pressæus brings, Betwixt the fortunes of contending kings; Lank, harmless frog! with forces hardly grown, He darts the reed in combats not his own, Which, faintly tinkling on Troxartas’ shield, Hangs at the point and drops upon the field.

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

=Prest=, a nickname given by Swift to the duchess of Shrewsbury, who was a foreigner.

=Prester John=, a corruption of _Belul Gian_, meaning “precious stone.” Gian (pronounced _zjon_) has been corrupted into John, and Belul, translated into “precious;” in Latin _Johannes preciosus_ (“precious John”) corrupted into “Presbyter Joannes.” The kings of Ethiopia or Abyssinia, from a gemmed ring given to Queen Saba, whose son by Solomon was king of Ethiopia, and was called Melech, with the “precious stone,” or Melech _Gian-Belul_.

Æthiopes regem suum, quem nos vulgo “Prete Gianni” corrupte dicimus, quatour appellant nominibus, quorum primum est “Belul Giad,” hoc est _lapis preciosus_. Ductum est autem hoc nomen ab _annulo Salomonis_ quem ille filio ex regina Saba, ut putant genito, dono dedisse, quove omnes postea reges usos fuisse describitor.... Cum vero eum coronant, appellant “Neghuz.” Postremo cum vertice capitis in coronæ modum abraso, ungitur a patriarcha, vocant “Masih,” hoc est _unctum_. Hæc autem regiæ dignitatis nomina omnibus communia sunt.--Quoted by Selden, from a little annal of the Ethiopian kings (1552), in his _Titles of Honor_, v. 65 (1614).

⁂ As this title was like the Egyptian _Pharaoh_, and belonged to whole lines of kings, it will explain the enormous diversity of time allotted by different writers to “Prester John.”

Marco Polo says that Prester John was slain in battle by Jenghiz Khan; and Gregory Bar-Hebræus says, “God forsook him because he had taken to himself a wife of the Zinish nation, called Quarakhata.[TN-105]

Bishop Jordānus, in his description of the world, sets down Abyssinia as the kingdom of Prester John. Abyssinia used to be called “Middle India.”

Otto of Freisingen is the first author to mention him. This Otto wrote a chronicle to the date 1156. He says that John was of the family of the Magi, and ruled over the country of these Wise Men. Otto tells us that Prester John had “a sceptre of emeralds.”

Maimonĭdês, about the same time (twelfth century), mentions him, but calls him “Prester-Cuan.”

Before 1241 a letter was addressed by “Prester John” to Manuel Comnēnus, emperor of Constantinople. It is preserved in the _Chronicle_ of Albericus Trium Fontium, who gives for its date 1165.

Mandeville calls Prester John a lineal descendant of Ogier, the Dane. He tells us that Ogier, with fifteen others, penetrated into the north of India, and divided the land amongst his followers. John was made sovereign of Teneduc, and was called “Prester” because he converted the natives to the Christian faith.

Another tradition says that Prester John had seventy kings for his vassals, and was seen by his subjects only three times in a year.

In _Orlando Furioso_, Prester John is called by his subjects “Senāpus, king of Ethiopia.” He was blind, and though the richest monarch of the world, he pined with famine, because harpies flew off with his food by way of punishment for wanting to add paradise to his empire. The plague, says the poet, was to cease “when a stranger appeared on a flying griffin.” This stranger was Astolpho, who drove the harpies to Cocy´tus. Prester John, in return for this service, sent 100,000 Nubians to the aid of Charlemagne. Astolpho supplied this contingent with horses by throwing stones into the air, and made transport-ships to convey them to France by casting leaves into the sea. After the death of Agramant, the Nubians were sent home, and then the horses became stones again, and the ships became leaves (bks. xvii.-xix.).

=Pretender= (_The Young_), Prince Charles Edward Stuart, son of James Francis Edward Stuart (called “The _Old_ Pretender”). James Francis was the son of James II., and Charles Edward was the king’s grandson.--Sir W. Scott, _Waverley_ (time, George II.).

Charles Edward was defeated at Cullōden in 1746, and escaped to the Continent.

God bless the king--I mean the “Faith’s defender;” God bless--no harm in blessing--the Pretender. Who that Pretender is, and who is king, God bless us all! that’s quite another thing.

Ascribed by Sir W. Scott to John Byrom (in _Redgauntlet_).

The mistress of Charles Edward Stuart was Miss Walkingshaw.

=Prettyman= (_Prince_), in love with Cloris. He is sometimes a fisherman, and sometimes a prince.--Duke of Buckingham, _The Rehearsal_ (1671).

⁂ “Prince Prettyman” is said to be a parody on “Leonidas” in Dryden’s _Marriage-à-la-mode_.

=Pri´amus= (_Sir_), a knight of the Round Table. He possessed a phial, full of four waters that came from paradise. These waters instantly healed any wounds which were touched by them.

“My father,” says Sir Priamus, “is lineally descended of Alexander and of Hector by right line. Duke Josuê and Machabæus were of our lineage. I am right inheritor of Alexandria, and Affrike of all the out isles.”

And Priamus took from his page a phial, full of four waters that came out of paradise; and with certain balm nointed he their wounds, and washed them with that water, and within an hour after they were both as whole as ever they were.--Sir T. Malory, _History of Prince Arthur_, i. 97 (1470).

=Price= (_Matilda_), a miller’s daughter; a pretty, coquettish young woman, who marries John Browdie, a hearty Yorkshire corn-factor.--C. Dickens, _Nicholas Nickleby_ (1838).

=Pride= (_Sir_), first a drayman, then a colonel in the parliamentary army.--S. Butler, _Hudibras_ (1663-78).

=Pride of Humility.= Antisthĕnês, the Cynic, affected a very ragged coat; but Socrătês said to him, “Antisthenês, I can see your vanity peering through the holes of your coat.”

=Pride’s Purge=, a violent invasion of parliamentary rights by Colonel Pride, in 1649. At the head of two regiments of soldiers he surrounded the House of Commons, seized forty-one of the members and shut out 160 others. None were allowed into the House but those most friendly to Cromwell. This fag-end went by the name of “the Rump.”

=Pridwin= or PRIWEN, Prince Arthur’s shield.

Arthur placed a golden helmet upon his head, on which was engraven the figure of a dragon; and on his shoulders his shield, called Priwen, upon which the picture of the blessed Mary, mother of God, was painted; then, girding on his Caliburn, which was an excellent sword, made in the isle of Avallon; he took in his right hand his lance, Ron, which was hard, broad, and fit for slaughter.--Geoffrey, _British History_, ix. 4 (1142).

=Priest of Nature=, Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727).

Lo! Newton, priest of nature, shines afar, Scans the wide world, and numbers every star.

Campbell, _Pleasures of Hope_, i. (1799).

=Prig=, a knavish beggar.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Beggars’ Bush_ (1622).

_Prig_ (_Betsey_), an old monthly nurse, “the frequent pardner” of Mrs. Gamp; equally ignorant, equally vulgar, equally selfish, and brutal to her patients.

“Betsey,” said Mrs. Gamp, filling her own glass, and passing the teapot [_of gin_], “I will now propoge a toast: ‘My frequent pardner, Betsey Prig.’” “Which, altering the name to Sairah Gamp, I drink,” said Mrs. Prig, “with love and tenderness.”--C. Dickens, _Martin Chuzzlewit_, xlix. (1843).

=Prim´er= (_Peter_), a pedantic country schoolmaster, who believes himself to be the wisest of pedagogues.--Samuel Foote, _The Mayor of Garratt_ (1763).

=Primitive Fathers= (_The_). The five apostolic fathers contemporary with the apostles (viz., Clement of Rome, Barnăbas, Hermas, Ignatius and Polycarp), and the nine following, who all lived in the first three centuries:--Justin, Theoph´ilus of Antioch, Irenæus, Clement of Alexandria, Cyprian of Carthage, Orĭgen, Gregory “Thaumatur´gus,” Dionysius of Alexandria and Tertullian.

⁂ For the “Fathers” of the fourth and fifth centuries see GREEK CHURCH, LATIN CHURCH.

=Primrose= (_The Rev. Dr. Charles_), a clergyman rich in heavenly wisdom, but poor indeed in all worldly knowledge. Amiable, charitable, devout, but not without his literary vanity, especially on the Whistonian theory about second marriages. One admires his virtuous indignation against the “washes,” which he deliberately demolished with the poker. In his prosperity his chief “adventures were by the fireside, and all his migrations were from the blue bed to the brown.”

_Mrs._ [_Deborah_] _Primrose_, the doctor’s wife, full of motherly vanity, and desirous to appear _genteel_. She could read without much spelling, prided herself on her housewifery, especially on her gooseberry wine, and was really proud of her excellent husband.

(She was painted as “Venus,” and the vicar, in gown and bands, was presenting to her his book on “second marriages,” but when complete the picture was found to be too large for the house.)

_George Primrose_, son of the vicar. He went to Amsterdam to teach the Dutch English, but never once called to mind that he himself must know something of Dutch before this could be done. He becomes Captain Primrose, and marries Miss Wilmot, an heiress.

(Goldsmith himself went to teach the French English under the same circumstances.)

_Moses Primrose_, younger son of the vicar, noted for his greenness and pedantry. Being sent to sell a good horse at a fair, he bartered it for a gross of green spectacles, with copper rims and shagreen cases, of no more value than Hodge’s razors (ch. xii.).

_Olivia Primrose_, the eldest daughter of the doctor. Pretty, enthusiastic, a sort of Hebê in beauty. “She wished for many lovers,” and eloped with Squire Thornhill. Her father found her at a roadside inn called the Harrow, where she was on the point of being turned out of the house. Subsequently, she was found to be legally married to the squire.

_Sophia Primrose_, the second daughter of Dr. Primrose. She was “soft, modest, and alluring.” Not like her sister, desirous of winning all, but fixing her whole heart upon one. Being thrown from her horse into a deep stream, she was rescued by Mr. Burchell (_alias_ Sir William Thornhill), and being abducted, was again rescued by him. She married him at last.--Goldsmith, _Vicar of Wakefield_ (1766).

=Prince of Alchemy=, Rudolph II., kaiser of Germany; also called “The German Trismegistus” (1552, 1576-1612).

=Prince of Angels=, Michael.

So spake the prince of angels. To whom thus The Adversary [i.e. _Satan_].

Milton, _Paradise Lost_, vi. 281 (1665).

=Prince of Celestial Armies=, Michael, the archangel.

Go, Michael, of celestial armies prince.

Milton, _Paradise Lost_, vi. 44 (1665).

=Prince of Darkness=, Satan (_Eph._ vi 12).

Whom thus the prince of darkness answered glad: “Fair daughter, High proof ye now have given to be the race Of Satan (I glory in the name).”

Milton, _Paradise Lost_, x, 383 (1665).

=Prince of Hell=, Satan.

And with them comes a third of regal port, But faded splendor wan; who by his gait And fierce demeanor seems the prince of Hell.

Milton, _Paradise Lost_, iv. 868 (1665).

=Prince of Life=, a title given to Christ (_Acts_ iii. 15).

=Prince of Peace=, a title given to the Messiah (_Isaiah_ ix. 6).

_Prince of Peace_, Don Manuel Godoy, of Badajoz. So called because he concluded the “peace of Basle” in 1795, between France and Spain (1757-1851).

=Prince of the Air=, Satan.

... Jesus, son of Mary, second Eve, Saw Satan fall, like lightning, down from heaven, Prince of the air.

Milton, _Paradise Lost_, x. 185 (1665).

=Prince of the Devils=, Satan (_Matt._ xii. 24).

=Prince of the Kings of the Earth=, a title given to Christ (_Rev._ i. 5).

=Prince of the Power of the Air=, Satan (_Eph._ ii. 2).

=Prince of this World=, Satan (_John_ xiv. 30).

=Princes.= It was Prince Bismarck, the German Chancellor, who said to a courtly attendant, “Let princes be princes, and mind your own business.”

=Prince’s Peers=, a term of contempt applied to peers of low birth. The phrase arose in the reign of Charles VII., of France, when his son Louis (afterwards Louis XI.) created a host of riff-raff peers, such as tradesmen, farmers, and mechanics, in order to degrade the aristocracy, and thus weaken its influence in the state.

=Printed Books.= The first book produced in England, was printed in England in 1477, by William Caxton, in the Almonry, at Westminster, and was entitled _The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers_.

The Rev. T. Wilson says: “The press at Oxford existed ten years before there was any press in Europe, except those of Haarlem and Mentz.” The person who set up the Oxford press was Corsellis, and his first printed book bore the date of 1468. The colophon of it ran thus: “Explicit exposicio Sancti Jeronimi in simbolo apostolorum ad papam laurēcium. Impressa Oxonii Et finita Anno Domini Mcccclxviij., xvij. die Decembris.” The book is a small quarto of forty-two leaves, and was first noticed in 1664 by Richard Atkins in his _Origin and Growth of Printing_. Dr. Conyers Middleton, in 1735, charged Atkins with forgery. In 1812, S. W. Singer defended the book. Dr. Cotton took the subject up in his _Typographical Gazetteer_ (first and second series).

=Prior= (_Matthew_). The monument to this poet in Westminster Abbey was by Rysbrack; executed by order of Louis XIV.

=Priory= (_Lord_), an old-fashioned husband, who actually thinks that a wife should “love, honor, and obey” her husband; nay, more, that “forsaking all others, she should cleave to him so long as they both should live.”

_Lady Priory_, an old-fashioned wife, but young and beautiful. She was, however, so very old-fashioned that she went to bed at ten and rose at six; dressed in a cap and gown of her own making; respected and loved her husband; discouraged flirtation; and when assailed by any improper advances, instead of showing temper or conceited airs, quietly and tranquilly seated herself to some modest household duty till the assailant felt the irresistible power of modesty and virtue.--Mrs. Inchbald, _Wives as They Were and Maids as They Are_ (1797).

=Priscian=, a great grammarian of the fifth century. The Latin phrase, _Diminuĕre Prisciani caput_ (“to break Priscian’s head”), means to “violate the rules of grammar.” (See PEGASUS.)

Some, free from rhyme or reason, rule or check, Break Priscian’s head, and Pegasus’s neck.

Pope, _The Dunciad_, iii. 161 (1728).

Quakers (that like to lanterns, bear Their light within them) will not swear And hold no sin so deeply red As that of breaking Priscian’s head.

Butler, _Hudibras_, II. ii. 219, etc. (1664).

=Priscilla=, daughter of a noble lord. She fell in love with Sir Aladine, a poor knight.--Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, vi. 1 (1596).

_Priscilla_, the beautiful puritan in love with John Alden. When Miles Standish, a bluff old soldier, in the middle of life, wished to marry her, he asked John Alden to go and plead his cause; but the puritan maiden replied archly, “Why don’t you speak for yourself, John?” Upon this hint, John did speak for himself, and Priscilla listened to his suit.--Longfellow, _The Courtship of Miles Standish_ (1858).

_Priscilla._ Fragile, pretty, simple girl, whom Hollingsworth and Coverdale love, instead of falling victims to the superb Zenobia. She is thin-blooded and weak-limbed, and her very helplessness charms the strong men, who suppose themselves proof against love of the ordinary kind.--Nathaniel Hawthorne, _The Blithedale Romance_ (1852).

=Prison Life Endeared.= The following are examples of prisoners who, from long habit, have grown attached to prison life:--

Comte de Lorge was confined for thirty years in the Bastile, and when liberated (July 14, 1789) declared that freedom had no joys for him. After imploring in vain to be allowed to return to his dungeon, he lingered for six weeks and pined to death.

Goldsmith says, when Chinvang the Chaste, ascended the throne of China, he commanded the prisons to be thrown open. Among the prisoners was a venerable man of 85 years of age, who implored that he might be suffered to return to his cell. For sixty-three years he had lived in its gloom and solitude, which he preferred to the glare of the sun and the bustle of a city.--_A Citizen of the World_ lxxiii. (1759).

Mr. Cogan once visited a prisoner of state in the King’s Bench prison, who told him he had grown to like the subdued light and extreme solitude of his cell; he even liked the spots and patches on the wall, the hardness of his bed, the regularity, and the freedom from all the cares and worries of active life. He did not wish to be released, and felt sure he should never be so happy in any other place.

A woman of Leyden, on the expiration of a long imprisonment, applied for permission to return to her cell, and added, if the request was refused as a favor, she would commit some offence which should give her a title to her old quarters.

A prisoner condemned to death had his sentence commuted to seven years’ close confinement on a bed of nails. After the expiration of five years, he declared, if ever he were released, he should adopt from choice what habit had rendered so agreeable to him.

=Prisoner of Chillon=, Françoise de Bonnivard, a Frenchman, who resided at Geneva, and made himself obnoxious to Charles III., duc de Savoie, who incarcerated him for six years in a dungeon of the Château de Chillon, at the east end of the lake of Geneva. The prisoner was ultimately released by the Bernese, who were at war with Savoy.

Byron has founded on this incident his poem entitled _The Prisoner of Chillon_, but has added two brothers, whom he supposes to be imprisoned with Françoise, and who die of hunger, suffering, and confinement. In fact, the poet mixes up Dantê’s tale about Count Ugolino with that of Françoise de Bonnivard, and has produced a powerful and affecting story, but it is not historic.

=Prisoner of State= (_The_), Ernest de Fridberg. E. Sterling has a drama so called. (For the plot, see ERNEST DE FRIDBERG.)

=Pritchard= (_William_), commander of H.M. sloop, the _Shark_.--Sir W. Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time, George II.).

=Priu´li=, a senator of Venice, of unbending pride. His daughter had been saved from the Adriatic by Jaffier, and gratitude led to love. As it was quite hopeless to expect Priuli to consent to the match, Belvidera eloped in the night, and married Jaffier. Priuli now discarded them both. Jaffier joined Pierre’s conspiracy to murder the Venetian senators, but in order to save his father-in-law, revealed to him the plot under the promise of a general free pardon. The promise was broken, and all the conspirators except Jaffier were condemned to death by torture. Jaffier stabbed Pierre, to save him from the wheel, and then killed himself. Belvidera went mad and died. Priuli lived on, a broken-down old man, sick of life, and begging to be left alone in some “place that’s fit for mourning.” “There, all leave me:

Sparing no tears when you this tale relate, But bid all cruel fathers dread my fate.”

T. Otway, _Venice Preserved_, v. the end (1682).

=Privolvans=, the antagonists of the Subvolvans.