Part 33

These silly, ranting Privolvans Have every summer their campaigns, And muster like the warlike sons Of Rawhead and of Bloody-bones.

S. Butler, _The Elephant in the Moon_, v. 85 (1754).

=Probe= (1 _syl._), a priggish surgeon, who magnifies mole-hill ailments into mountain maladies, in order to enhance his skill and increase his charges. Thus, when Lord Foppington received a small flesh-wound in the arm from a foil, Probe drew a long face, frightened his lordship greatly, and pretended the consequences might be serious; but when Lord Foppington promised him £500 for a cure, he set his patient on his legs the next day.--Sheridan, _A Trip to Scarborough_ (1777).

=Procida= (_John of_), a tragedy by S. Knowles (1840). John of Procida was an Italian gentleman of the thirteenth century, a skillful physician, high in favor with King Fernando II., Conrad, Manfred, and Conrad´ine. The French invaded the island, put the last two monarchs to the sword, usurped the sovereignty, and made Charles d’Anjou king. The cruelty, licentiousness, and extortion of the French being quite unbearable, provoked a general rising of the Sicilians, and in one night (_Sicilian Vespers_, March 30, 1282), every Frenchman, Frenchwoman, and French child in the whole island was ruthlessly butchered. Procĭda lost his only son Fernando, who had just married Isoline (3 _syl._), the daughter of the French governor of Messina. Isoline died broken-hearted, and her father, the governor, was amongst the slain. The crown was given to John of Procida.

=Procris=, the wife of Cephălos. Out of jealousy she crept into a wood to act as a spy upon her husband. Cephalos, hearing something move, discharged an arrow in the direction of the rustling, thinking it to be caused by some wild beast, and shot Procris. Jupiter, in pity, turned Procris into a star.--_Greek and Latin Mythology._

_The unerring dart of Procris._ Diana gave Procris a dart which never missed its aim, and after being discharged returned back to the shooter.

=Procrus´tes= (3 _syl._), a highwayman of Attica, who used to place travellers on a bed; if they were too short he stretched them out till they fitted it, if too long he lopped off the redundant part. _Greek Mythology._

Critic, more cruel than Procrustes old, Who to his iron bed by torture fits Their nobler parts, the souls of suffering wits.

Mallet, _Verbal Criticism_ (1734).

=Proctor’s Dogs= or _Bull-Dogs_, the two “runners” or officials who accompany a university proctor in his rounds, to give chase to recalcitrant gownsmen.

And he had breathed the proctor’s dogs [_was a member of Oxford or Cambridge University_].

Tennyson, prologue of _The Princess_ (1830).

=Prodigal= (_The_), Albert VI. duke of Austria (1418, 1439-1463).

=Prodigy of France= (_The_). Guillaume Budé was so called by Erasmus (1467-1540).

=Prodigy of Learning= (_The_). Samuel Hahnemann, the German, was so called by J. P. Richter (1755-1843).

=Professor= (_The_). The most important member of the party gathered about the social board in O. W. Holmes’s _Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table_ (1858).

=Profound= (_The_), Richard Middleton, an English scholastic divine (*-1304).

=Profound Doctor= (_The_), Thomas Bradwardine, a schoolman. Also called “The Solid Docter”[TN-106] (*-1349).

Ægidius de Columna, a Sicilian schoolman, was called “The Most Profound Doctor” (*-1316).

=Progne= (2 _syl._), daughter of Pandīon, and sister of Philomēla. Prognê was changed into a swallow, and Philomela into a nightingale.--_Greek Mythology._

As Prognê or as Philomela mourns ... So Bradamant laments her absent knight.

Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_, xxiii. (1516).

=Prome´thean Unguent= (_The_), made from the extract of a herb on which some of the blood of Promētheus (3 _syl._), had fallen. Medea gave Jason some of this unguent, which rendered his body proof against fire and warlike instruments.

=Prome´theus= (3 _syl._) taught man the use of fire, and instructed him in architecture, astronomy, mathematics, writing, rearing cattle, navigation, medicine, the art of prophecy, working metal, and, indeed, every art known to man. The word means “forethought,” and forethought is the father of invention. The tale is that he made man of clay, and, in order to endow his clay with life, stole fire from heaven and brought it to earth in a hollow tube. Zeus, in punishment, chained him to a rock, and sent an eagle to consume his liver daily; during the night it grew again, and thus his torment was ceaseless, till Herculês shot the eagle, and unchained the captive.

Learn the while, in brief, That all arts come to mortals from Prometheus.

E. B. Browning, _Prometheus Bound_ (1850).

Truth shall restore the light by Nature given, And, like Prometheus, bring the fire from heaven.

Campbell, _Pleasures of Hope_, i. (1700).

⁂ Percy B. Shelley has a classical drama entitled _Prometheus Unbound_ (1819).

James Russell Lowell has a noble poem entitled _Prometheus_, beginning,--

“One after one the stars have risen and set, Sparkling upon the hoarfrost on my chain.”

=Prompt=, the servant of Mr. and Miss Blandish. General Burgoyne, _The Heiress_ (1781).

=Pronando= (_Rast_). The early lover of Anne Douglas. He is handsome, weak, and attractive in disposition, a favorite with all his friends. His pliant character and good-natured vanity make him a prey to the whimsical fascinations of Tita, Anne’s “little sister,” whom he marries instead of his first betrothed.--Constance Fenimore Woolson, _Anne_ (1882).

=Pronouns.= It was of Henry Mossop, tragedian (1729-1773), that Churchill wrote the two lines:

In monosyllables his thunders roll-- He, she, it, and we, ye, they, fright the soul;

because Mossop was fond of emphasizing his pronouns and little words.

=Prophecy.= Jourdain, the wizard, told the duke of Somerset, if he wished to live, to “avoid where castles mounted stand.” The duke died in an ale-house called the Castle, in St. Alban’s.

... underneath an ale-house’ paltry sign, The Castle, in St. Alban’s, Sumerset Hath made the wizard famous in his death.

Shakespeare, 2 _Henry VI._ act v. sc. 2 (1591).

Similar prophetic equivokes were told to Henry IV., Pope Sylvester II., and Cambysês (see JERUSALEM).

Aristomĕnês was told by the Delphic oracle to “flee for his life when he saw a goat drink from the river Neda.” Consequently, all _goats_ were driven from the banks of this river; but one day, Theŏclos observed that the branches of a fig tree bent into the stream, and it immediately flashed into his mind that the Messenian word for _fig tree_ and _goat_ was the same. The pun or equivoke will be better understood by an English reader if for _goat_ we read _ewe_, and bear in mind that _yew_ is to the ear the same word; thus:

When an _ewe_ [_yew_] stops to drink of the “Severn,” then fly, And look not behind, for destruction is nigh.

=Prophetess= (_The_), Ayē´shah, the second and beloved wife of Mahomet. It does not mean that she prophesied, but, like _Sultana_, it is simply a title of honor. He was the _Prophet_, she the _Prophēta_ or Madam Prophet.

=Prose= (_Father of English_), Wycliffe (1324-1384).

_Prose_ (_Father of Greek_), Herodotus (B.C. 484-408).

_Prose_ (_Father of Italian_), Boccaccio (1313-1375).

=Pros´erpine= (3 _syl._), called _Proserpĭna_ in Latin, and “Proser´pin” by Milton, was daughter of Ce´rês. She went to the field of Enna to amuse herself by gathering asphodels, and being tired, fell asleep. Dis, the god of Hell, then carried her off, and made her queen of the infernal reions.[TN-107] Cerês wandered for nine days over the world disconsolate, looking for her daughter, when Hec´ate (2 _syl._) told her she had heard the girl’s cries, but knew not who had carried her off. Both now went to Olympus, when the sun-god told them the true state of the case.

N.B.--This is an allegory of seed-corn.

Not that fair field Of Enna, where Proser´pin, gathering flowers, Herself a fairer flower, by gloomy Dis Was gathered--which cost Cerês all that pain To seek her thro’ the world.

Milton, _Paradise Lost_, iv. 268 (1665).

=Prosperity Robinson=, Frederick Robinson, afterwards Viscount Goderich and earl of Ripon, chancellor of the exchequer in 1823. So called by Cobbett, from his boasting about the prosperity of the country just a little before the great commercial crisis of 1825.

=Pros´pero=, the banished duke of Milan, and father of Miranda. He was deposed by his brother, Antonio, who sent him to sea with Miranda in a “rotten carcass of a boat,” which was borne to a desert island. Here Prospero practised magic. He liberated Ariel from the rift of a pine tree, where the witch Syc´orax had confined him for twelve years, and was served by that bright spirit with true gratitude. The only other inhabitant of the island was Calĭban, the witch’s “welp.” After a residence in the island of sixteen years, Prospero raised a tempest by magic to cause the shipwreck of the usurping duke and of Ferdinand, his brother’s son. Ferdinand fell in love with his cousin, Miranda, and eventually married her.--Shakespeare, _The Tempest_ (1609).

Still they kept limping to and fro, Like Ariels round old Prospero, Saying, “Dear master, let us go.” But still the old man answered, “No!”

T. Moore, _A Vision_.

=Pross= (_Miss_), a red-haired, ungainly creature, who lived with Lucie Manette, and dearly loved her. Miss Pross, although eccentric, was most faithful and unselfish.

Her character (dissociated from stature) was shortness.... It was characteristic of this lady that whenever her original proposition was questioned, she exaggerated it.--C. Dickens, _A Tale of Two Cities_, ii. 6 (1859).

=Proterius= of Cappadōcia, father of Cyra. (See SINNER SAVED.)

=Protesila´os=, husband of Laodamīa. Being slain at the siege of Troy, the dead body was sent home to his wife, who prayed that she might talk with him again, if only for three hours. Her prayer was granted, but when Protesilāos returned to death, Laodamia died also.--_Greek Mythology._

In Fénelon’s _Télémaque_ “Protésilaos” is meant for Louvois, the French minister of state.

=Protestant Duke= (_The_), James, duke of Monmouth, a love-child of Charles II. So called because he renounced the Roman faith, in which he had been brought up, and became a Protestant (1619-1685).

=Protestant Pope= (_The_), Gian Vincenzo Ganganelli, Pope Clement XIV. So called from his enlightened policy, and for his bull suppressing the Jesuits (1705, 1769-1774).

=Proteus= [_Pro-tuce_], a sea-god who resided in the Carpathian Sea. He had the power of changing his form at will. Being a prophet also, Milton calls him “the Carpathian wizard.”--_Greek Mythology._

By hoary Nereus’ wrinkled look, And the Carpathian wizard’s hook [_or trident_].

Milton, _Comus_ (1634).

Periklym´enos, son of Neleus (2 _syl._), had the power of changing his form into a bird, beast, reptile, or insect. As a bee he perched on the chariot of Heraklês (_Hercules_), and was killed.

Aristogīton, from being dipped in the Achelōus (4 _syl._), received the power of changing his form at will.--Fénelon, _Télémaque_, xx. (1700).

The genii, both good and bad, of Eastern mythology, had the power of changing their form instantaneously. This is powerfully illustrated by the combat between the queen of Beauty and the son of Eblis. The genius first appeared as an enormous lion, but the queen of Beauty plucked out a hair which became a scythe, with which she cut the lion in pieces. The head of the lion now became a scorpion, and the princess changed herself into a serpent; but the scorpion instantly made itself an eagle, and went in pursuit of the serpent. The serpent, however, being vigilant, assumed the form of a white cat; the eagle in an instant changed to a wolf, and the cat, being hard pressed, changed into a worm; the wolf changed to a cock, and ran to pick up the worm, which, however, became a fish before the cock could pick it up. Not to be outwitted, the cock transformed itself into a pike to devour the fish, but the fish changed into a fire, and the son of Eblis was burnt to ashes before he could make another change.--_Arabian Nights_ (“The Second Calender”).

_Proteus_ or _Protheus_, one of the two gentlemen of Verona. He is in love with Julia. His servant is Launce, and his father Anthonio or Antonio. The other gentleman is called Valentine, and his lady love is Silvia.--Shakespeare, _The Two Gentlemen of Verona_ (1594).

Shakespeare calls the word _Pro-tĕ-us_. Malone, Dr. Johnson, etc., retain the _h_ in both names, but the Globe edition omits them.

=Protevangelon= (“_first evangelist_”), a gospel falsely attributed to St. James the Less, first bishop of Jerusalem, noted for its minute details of the Virgin and Jesus Christ. Said to be the production of L. Carīnus, of the second century.

First of all we shall rehearse ... The nativity of our Lord, As written in the old record Of the _Protevangelon_.

Longfellow, _The Golden Legend_ (1851).

=Protocol= (_Mr. Peter_), the attorney in Edinburgh, employed by Mrs. Margaret Bertram, of Singleside.--Sir W. Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time, George II.).

=Protosebastos= (_The_), or SEBASTOCRATOR, the highest State officer in Greece.--Sir W. Scott, _Count Robert of Paris_ (time, Rufus).

=Protospathaire= (_The_), or general of Alexius Comnēnus, emperor of Greece. His name is Nicanor.--Sir W. Scott, _Count Robert of Paris_ (time, Rufus).

=Proud= (_The_). Tarquin II. of Rome, was called _Superbus_ (reigned B.C. 535-510, died 496).

Otho IV., kaiser of Germany, was called “The Proud” (1175, 1209-1218).

=Proud Duke= (_The_), Charles Seymour, duke of Somerset. His children were not allowed to sit in his presence; and he spoke to his servants by signs only (*-1748).

=Proudfute= (_Oliver_), the boasting bonnet-maker at Perth.

_Magdalen_ or _Maudie Proudfute_, Oliver’s widow.--Sir W. Scott, _Fair Maid of Perth_ (time, Henry IV.).

=Proudie= (_Dr._), hen-pecked bishop of Barchester. A martinet in his diocese, a serf in his home.

_Proudie_ (_Mrs._), strong-willed, strong-voiced help-mate of the bishop. She lays down social, moral, religious and ecclesiastical laws with equal readiness and severity.--Anthony Trollope, _Framley Parsonage_ and _Barchester Towers_.

=Prout= (_Father_), the pseudonym of Francis Mahoney, a humorous writer in _Fraser’s Magazine_, etc. (1805-1866).

=Provis=, the name assumed by Abel Magwitch, Pip’s benefactor. He was a convict, who had made a fortune, and whose chief desire was to make his protegé[TN-108] a gentleman.--C. Dickens, _Great Expectations_ (1860).

=Provoked Husband= (_The_), a comedy by Cibber and Vanbrugh. The “provoked husband” is Lord Townly, justly annoyed at the conduct of his young wife, who wholly neglects her husband and her home duties for a life of gambling and dissipation. The husband seeing no hope of amendment, resolves on a separate maintenance; but then the lady’s eyes are opened--she promises amendment, and is forgiven[TN-109]

⁂ This comedy was Vanbrugh’s _Journey to London_, left unfinished at his death. Cibber took it, completed it, and brought it out under the title of _The Provoked Husband_ (1728).

=Provoked Wife= (_The_), Lady Brute, the wife of Sir John Brute, is, by his ill manners, brutality, and neglect, “provoked” to intrigue with one Constant. The intrigue is not of a very serious nature, since it is always interrupted before it makes head. At the conclusion, Sir John says:

Surly, I may be stubborn, I am not, For I have both forgiven and forgot.

Sir J. Vanbrugh (1697).

=Provost of Bruges= (_The_), a tragedy based on “The Serf,” in Leitch Ritchie’s _Romance of History_. Published anonymously in 1836; the author is S. Knowles. The plot is this: Charles “the Good,” earl of Flanders, made a law that a serf is always a serf till manumitted, and whoever marries a serf, becomes thereby a serf. Thus, if a prince married the daughter of a serf, the prince becomes a serf himself, and all his children were serfs. Bertulphe, the richest, wisest, and bravest man in Flanders, was provost of Bruges. His beautiful daughter, Constance, married Sir Bouchard, a knight of noble descent; but Bertulphe’s father had been Thancmar’s serf, and, according to the new law, Bertulphe, the provost, his daughter, Constance, and the knightly son-in-law were all the serfs of Thancmar. The provost killed the earl, and stabbed himself; Bouchard and Thancmar killed each other in fight; and Constance died demented.

=Prowler= (_Hugh_), any vagrant or highwayman.

For fear of Hugh Prowler, get home with the rest.

T. Tusser, _Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry_, xxxiii. 25 (1557).

=Prudence= (_Mistress_), the lady attendant on Violet, ward of Lady Arundel. When Norman, “the sea-captain,” made love to Violet, Mistress Prudence remonstrated, “What will the countess say if I allow myself to see a stranger speaking to her ward?” Norman clapped a guinea on her left eye, and asked, “What see you now?” “Why, nothing with my left eye,” she answered, “but the right has still a morbid sensibility.” “Poor thing!” said Norman; “this golden ointment soon will cure it. What see you now, my Prudence?” “Not a soul,” she said.--Lord Lytton, _The Sea-Captain_ (1839).

=Prudhomme= (_Joseph_), “pupil of Brard and Saint-Omer,” caligraphist[TN-110] and sworn expert in the courts of law. Joseph Prudhomme is the synthesis of bourgeois imbecility; radiant, serene, and self-satisfied; letting fall from his fat lips “one weak, washy, everlasting flood” of puerile aphorisms and inane circumlocutions. He says, “The car of the state floats on a precipice.” “This sword is the proudest day of my life.”--Henri Monnier, _Grandeur et Décadence de Joseph Prudhomme_ (1852).

=Pruddoterie= (_Madame de la_). Character in comedy of _George Dandin_, by Molière.

=Prue= (_Miss_), a schoolgirl still under the charge of a nurse, very precocious and very injudiciously brought up. Miss Prue is the daughter of Mr. Foresight, a mad astrologer, and Mrs. Foresight, a frail nonentity.--Congreve, _Love for Love_ (1695).

_Prue._ Wife of “I”; a dreamer. “Prue makes everything think well, even to making the neighbors speak well of her.”

Of himself Prue’s husband says:

“How queer that a man who owns castles in Spain should be deputy book-keeper at $900 per annum!”--George William Curtis, _Prue and I_ (1856).

=Prunes and Prisms=, the words which give the lips the right plie of the highly aristocratic mouth, as Mrs. General tells Amy Dorrit.

“’Papa’ gives a pretty form to the lips. ‘Papa,’ ‘potatoes,’ ‘poultry,’ ‘prunes and prisms.’ You will find it serviceable if you say to yourself on entering a room, ‘Papa, potatoes, poultry, prunes and prisms.’”--C. Dickens, _Little Dorrit_ (1855).

General Burgoyne, in _The Heiress_, makes Lady Emily tell Miss Alscrip that the magic words are “nimini pimini;” and that if she will stand before her mirror and pronounce these words repeatedly, she cannot fail to give her lips that happy plie which is known as the “Paphian mimp.”--_The Heiress_, iii. 2 (1781).

=Pru´sio=, king of Alvarecchia, slain by Zerbi´no.--Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_ (1516).

=Pry= (_Paul_), one of those idle, meddling fellows, who, having no employment of their own, are perpetually interfering in the affairs of other people.--John Poole, _Paul Pry_.

=Prydwen= or PRIDWIN (_q.v._), called in the _Mabinogion_, the ship of King Arthur. It was also the name of his shield. Taliessin speaks of it as a ship, and Robert of Gloucester as a shield.

Hys sseld that het Prydwen. Myd ye suerd he was ygurd, that so strong was and kene; Calybourne yt was ycluped, nas nour no such ye wene. In ys right hond ys lance he nom, that ycluped was Ron.

I. 174.

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

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

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

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

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

=Pternog´lyphus= (“_bacon-scooper_”), one of the mouse chieftains.--Parnell, _Battle of the Frogs and Mice_, iii. (about 1712).

=Pternoph´agus= (“_bacon-eater_”), one of the mouse chieftains.

But dire Pternophagus divides his way Thro’ breaking ranks, and leads the dreadful day. No nibbling prince excelled in fierceness more,-- His parents fed him on the savage boar.

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

=Pternotractas= (“_bacon-gnawer_”), father of “the meal-licker,” Lycomĭlê (wife of Troxartas, “the bread-eater”). Psycarpas, the king of the mice, was son of Lycomĭlê, and grandson of Pternotractas.--Parnell, _Battle of the Frogs and Mice_, i. (about 1712).

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

=Public´ola=, of the _Despatch Newspaper_, was the _nom de plume_ of Mr. Williams, a vigorous political writer.

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

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

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

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

He [_Oberon_] meeteth Puck, which most men call Hobgoblin, and on him doth fall, With words from phrenzy spoken. “Hoh! hoh!” quoth Hob; “God save your grace....”

Drayton, _Nymphidia_ (1593).

=Pudding= (_Jack_), a gormandizing clown. In French he is called _Jean Potage_; in Dutch, _Pickle-Herringe_; in Italian, _Macarōni_; in German, _John Sausage_ (Hanswurst).

=Puff=, servant of Captain Loveit, and husband of Tag, of whom he stands in awe.--D. Garrick, _Miss in Her Teens_ (1753).