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tory of the Equi; a place of great strength; famous for the temple and oracle of Fortune, called Sortes Prænestinæ, which Tiberius wished to destroy, but was deterred by the majestic appearance of the place. From a colony it was afterwards raised to a municipium by Tiberius, on his recovery from a dangerous illness near it. It was a very ancient city, with a territory of large extent. The temple of Fortune was built in the most sumptuous manner by Sylla, and the pavement was Mosaic work. Concerning the Sortes, Cicero himself says that it was a mere contrivance to deceive, either for gain or super

stition.

PRÆNOMEN, among the ancient Romans, signified the name prefixed to the family name, answering to our Christian name: such as Caius, Lucius, Marcus, Quintus, &c.

PRÆTEXTA TOGA, among the ancient Romans, a long white gown, with a border of purple round the edges, and worn by the children of patricians till the age of puberty, viz. by the boys till seventeen, when they changed it for the toga virilis: and by the girls till marriage. It was the habit which the magistrates, augurs, and priests, as well as senators, assumed on all solemn occasions, and therefore, being looked upon as sacred, it is supposed to have been chosen for youth at that age to guard them in a peculiar manner against the temptations incident to that period of life.

PRÆTEXTATÆ, a name given to tragedies among the Romans, in which the actors personated people of quality who had the particular privilege of wearing the prætexta.

PRÆTEXTATUS, one clothed in the prætexta, applied in a particular manner to the noble youth by whom it was worn to denote their age and condition, as may be learned from different medals.

PRETIUM SEPULCHRI, in old law books, &c., those goods accruing to the church wherein a corpse is buried.

PRÆTOR, a magistrate among the ancient Romans, not unlike our lord chief justices; as being vested with the power of distributing justice among the citizens. At first there was only one prætor; but afterwards, another being created, the first or chief one had the title of prætor urbanus, or the city prætor; the other was called peregrinus, as being judge in all matters relating to foreigners. But, besides these, there were afterwards created many provincial prætors; who were not only judges, but also assisted the consuls in the government of the provinces, and even were invested with the government of provinces themselves.

PRÆTORIA AUGUSTA, a town of Italy, belonging to the Salassii, near the two gates or defiles of the Alps, the Graja and Penninæ; a Roman colony, settled by Augustus after the defeat of the Salassii by Terentius Varro, on the spot where he encamped, situated on the river Duria Major. It is now called Aosta.

PRÆTORIAN CAMP, the place designed for the purpose of assembling within the same enclosure all the troops subjected to the power of the prætors. Sejanus, minister of Tiberius, occupying the station of prefect, desired that all

the soldiers of the prætorian cohorts, whose quarters were dispersed about, should be gathered together and lodged in one vast edifice, which he caused to be built, and entitled castrum prætorium or rather castra prætoriana. Antiquarians are not agreed as to the precise situation of this magnificent structure, but it is pretty evident that it stood at the eastern side of Rome, between the Nomentane and Tibertine ways, 'behind the baths of Dioclesian, and near the walls of the city. This camp or rather barrack was constructed of brick, of reticular workmanship, covered with stucco, and enriched with superb porticoes in columns. Constantine demolished it: but it appears to have been restored by the care of Ligorio. In the centre of the camp was the prætorium or tribunal, at which the prefect distributed justice. This had the exterior form of a temple, but was very plain within, the most conspicuous object being a table covered with a purple cloth embroidered with gold.

The camp was surrounded by an enclosure in some places double, and more or less extensive, within which were erected, on a quadrangular plan, two stories in height, the quarters of the soldiers, between the different divisions of which vast colonnades established an easy communication. The towers placed on the outside gave to the whole the appearance of a fortress, and the great space withinside ensured health to the troops, while it afforded them the requisite room for going through their various exercises.

PRETORIAN GUARDS, in Roman antiquity, were the emperor's guards, who at length were increased to 10,000: they had this denomination, according to some, from their being stationed at a place called Prætorium: their commander was styled præfectus prætorii.

PRÆTORIUM, or PRETORIUM, among the Romans, denoted the hall or court wherein the prætor lived, and wherein he administered justice. It likewise denoted the tent of the Roman general, wherein councils of war, &c., were held: also a place in Rome where the prætorian guards were lodged.

PRETORIUM, in ancient geography, a town of South Britain, belonging to the Brigantes; now called Patrington, according to Camden, near the mouth of the Humber in Yorkshire.

PRÆTUTIANI, an ancient people of Italy, who inhabited that part of Picenum which was anciently called Interamna, from its lying between two rivers, and is now named Teramo.

PRAGA, a town of Poland, on the Vistula, opposite Warsaw, with which it communicates by a bridge of boats. It has never recovered the catastrophe of 1794, when it was taken by storm, by the Russians under Suwarrow, and a general massacre ensued. The town was on this memorable occasion set on fire in several places, and almost reduced to ashes. The number of lives lost has been calculated at 20,000.

PRAGMATICAL, adj. Į Fr. pragmatique; PRAGMATIC. } Greek πραγματα.

Meddling; impertinently busy.

No sham so gross, but it will pass upon a weak man that is pragmatical and inquisitive. L'Estrange.

Common estimation puts an ill character upon pragmatick meddling people. Government of the Tongue.

Lacqueys were never so saucy and pragmatical as they are now-a-days. Addison's Spectator.

Ile understands no more of his own affairs than a child; he has got a sort of a pragmatical silly jade of a wife, that pretends to take him out of my hands. Arbuthnot.

Such a backwardness there was among good men to engage with an usurping people, and pragmatical and ambitious orators. Swift. PRAGMATIC SANCTION, in the civil law, is defined by Hottoman to be a rescript or answer of the sovereign, delivered by advice of his council, to some college, order, or body of people. A similar answer given to any particular person is called simply rescript. The term pragmatic sanction is chiefly applied to a settlement of Charles VI. emperor of Germany, who in 1722, having no sons, settled his hereditary dominions on his eldest daughter the archduchess Maria Theresa, which was confirmed by the diet of the empire, and guaranteed by Great Britain, France, the States General, and most of the powers in Europe. The word pragmatic is derived from the Greek paypa, negotium, business.

PRAGUE, an important city of Europe, the capital of Bohemia, is situated on both sides of the Moldau, at about an equal distance from the east and west frontiers of that kingdom; but it occupies a larger space of ground on the right than on the left bank of the river. The streets are well paved, with raised footpaths, and the town contains several squares. It is divided into the Old Town, extending in an oblong form along the right bank of the Moldau; the New Town outside of the old, and consequently farther from the river; and lastly, the Radschin or Hradschin, a detached quarter, built on a high precipitous hill, on the left bank. The whole is surrounded by a moat and earthen mound, the circuit of which is not less than ten miles. The Old Town has in one part a separate quarter for the Jews. The Radschin contains a number of houses belonging to the nobility and gentry, the cathedral, and the archbishop's palace. In a low track, to the north and east of this, is the quarter called Klein-seite, or Little Prague, said to be the oldest part of the town; and on the river side the suburb called Smichow, The Moldau is here of great width, but too shallow to be navigable. Its course is from north to south, and it is crossed by a bridge of sixteen arches, and 1850 feet in length.

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Prague contains the ruins of what was the residence of the sovereign of Bohemia before the incorporation with the Austrian dominions. This building stood at the southern extremity of the town, in the citadel, which is still well fortified. At the other end of the town, a building, also called a palace, used for public offices. It is so large as to contain 150 rooms, with a noble hall. The cathedral is a fine Gothic structure, situated on the steep side of the hill of the Radschin, overlooking a great part of the city. It suffered greatly in the thirty years' war. The theatre is large; and the churches, convents,

schools, family mansions, &c., are, though great in number, little distinguished as edifices. The houses are built in general of stone. Prague is the rendezvous of the families of the Austrian nobility and gentry, whose incomes exempt them from the necessity of living in retirement, without enabling them to figure among the grandees of the imperial court. The society is consequently genteel, and balls, theatrical exhibitions, and masquerades, are of frequent occurrence. Of the population, about 85,000, nearly 7000 are Jews, and about 5000 strangers, attracted hither by the pleasures or advantages of the place. The Protestants have here two churches: the great majority being Catholics; and Prague is the see of an archbishop. The favorite saint is John Nepomuck (Nepomucenus), who lived in the fourteenth century, and allowed himself to be cast into the Moldau, rather than reveal to the emperor an important secret.

The university is the oldest in Germany, having been founded in 1348. About forty years after the well known John Huss and Jerome of Prague appeared, and the spirit of free enquiry, aided by an intercourse with England, has never since been wholly extinct. The interference of the Bohemian government with the new sectaries caused a reduction of the number of pupils at the university, and in 1409 that of Leipsic was founded by a body of them removing. The present number of the professors at Prague is about forty; that of students 900. It has classes of theology, law, medicine, philosophy, and classics. The public library contains above 100,000 volumes. Here is also an observatory, a cabinet of natural history, a seminary for training schoolmasters, three gymnasia, an academy for drawing and painting, riding and fencing schools, and a number of private boarding houses. To these may be added the academy of sciences, the societies of economics and of the friends of the arts. There are likewise some good private galleries of paintings. Tycho Brahe was a refugee in this city; the site of his observatory is now occupied by a mansion of a nobleman. Of the charitable institutions, the principal are three hospitals, two orphan-houses, and a lying-in-hospital.

The manufactures in linen, cotton, silk, and hats, are extensive; there are also, on a smaller scale, those of paper, brass-ware, trinkery, plated goods, glass, tobacco (on the government account), mathematical and musical instruments. Here is also some transit trade, and brewing is carried on extensively. Of the mercantile houses, nearly the half are Jewish. The shops are in general ill furnished, and the lower orders in wretched poverty.

Prague has often been exposed to the calamities of war, particularly in the fifteenth century, by the persecution of the Hussites. In 1620 a battle was fought on the White Mountain, about two miles from this city, between the Imperialists and Bohemians, in which the latter were defeated, and compelled to relinquish their sovereign. In 1741 a French corps blockaded in Prague, and in 1757, the Austrians being defeated near this place by the Prussians, Prague underwent a siege and heavy bombardment. The

town would require almost an army to defend it; for, though fortified, it is far too extensive for strength, and is commanded by several adjacent heights. 144 miles N. N. W. of Vienna, and seventy-five S. S. E of Dresden. Long. (of the observatory) 14° 25′ 10′′ E., lat. 50° 5′ 23′′ N. PRAISE, n. s. & v. a.~ Belg. prijs; Swed. PRAISEFUL, adj. Dan. and Teut. prys; PRAISER, n. s. of Goth. prose. RePRAISE WORTHY, adj. nown; fame; commendation; honor; tribute of gratitude: to commend; applaud; celebrate; glorify: praiseful and praiser explain themselves: praiseworthy is commendable; worthy of praise.

One generation shall praise thy works to another, and declare thy mighty works. Psalm cxlv. 4. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen. Luke ii. 20.

Of whose high praise, and praiseful bliss, Goodness the pen, heaven the paper is. Sidney. We men and praisers of men should remember, that, if we have such excellencies, it is reason to think them excellent creatures, of whom we are.

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He ordain'd a lady for his prise, Generally praiseful, fair and young, and skilled in housewiferies. Chapman's Iliad. Forgive me, if my verse but say you are A Sidney: but in that extend as far As loudest praisers. Ben Jonson's Epigrams. Since men have left to do praiseworthy things, Most think all praises flatteries; but truth brings That sound, and that authority with her name, As to be raised by her is only fame. Then is our fortitude worthy of praise, when we can endure to be miserable.

Ben Jonson.

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PRAME, in military affairs, a kind of floating battery, being a flat-bottomed vessel, which draws little water, mounts several guns, and is very useful in covering the disembarkation of troops.

PRANCE, v. n. Belg. pronken; Dan. prango, to set one's self to show; to move pompously or ostentatiously; to spring and bound in high mettle.

The horses' hoofs were broken by means of the prancings, the prancings of their mighty ones. Judges v. 22. Here's no fantastick mask, nor dance, But of our kids that frisk and prance; Nor wars are seen, Unless upon the green

Two harmless lambs are butting one the other. Wotton. I see

The' insulting tyrant prancing o'er the field, Strowed with Rome's citizens, and drenched in slaughter,

His horses' hoofs wet with Patrician blood. Addison.

With mud filled high, the rumbling cart draws

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PRANK, v. a. & n. s. Belg. pronken. See PRANCE. To decorate; dress or adjust to ostentation: a frolic.

Some prank their ruffs, and others timely dight Their gay attire. Spenser.

These are tribunes of the people, The tongues o' the common mouth : I despise them; For they do prank them in authority Against all noble sufferance.

Your high self,

Shakspeare.

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Ye gallants, whom a little yellow earth and the webs of that curious worm have made gorgeous without and perhaps proud within, remember that ere long, as one worm decks you without, so another worm shall consume you within; and that both the earth that you prank up, and that earth wherewith you prank it, is running back into dust. Bp. Hall. I had not unlocked my lips In this unhallowed air, but that this juggler Would think to charm my judgment as mine eyes, Obtruding false rules, prankt in reason's garb.

Milton.

They put on their clothes, and played all those pranks you have taken notice of.

Addison's Guardian. As in unequal association it always happens, whatever unlucky prank was played was imputed to Cave. Johnson.

PRASIUM, in botany, shrubby hedge-nettle; a genus of the gymnospermia order and didyna

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The insignificant prattle and endless garrulity of the philosophy of the schools.

Glanville. What nonsense would the fool thy master prate, When thou, his knave, canst talk at such a rate? Dryden.

A French woman teaches an English girl to speak and read French, by only prattling to her.

Locke.

There is not so much pleasure to have a child prattle agreeably, as to reason well.

Id. On Education.

His tongue, his prattling tongue, had changed him quite To sooty blackness, from the purest white. Addison. I must prattle on, as afore,

And beg your pardon, yet this half hour.

Prior.

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This is the way of the world; the deaf will prate

of discords in musick.

When children first begin to spell,
And stammer out a syllable,

We think them tedious creatures;

But difficulties soon abate,

When birds are to be taught to prate,
And women are the teachers.

Watts.

Cowper.

PRATINAS, a Greek poet, contemporary with Eschylus, born at Phsius. He was the first among the Greeks who composed satires, which were represented as farces. Of these thirty-two were acted, and eighteen of his tragedies, one of which only obtained the poetical prize. Some of his verses are extant, quoted by Athenæus.

PRATO, a considerable and well built town of the grand duchy of Tuscany, district of Florence, Italy, is situated in a pleasant district, on the Bisenzio, and surrounded with a wall and ditch. It has several squares, of which the best is the Piazza Mercantile, but the great ornament of the place is its fine white marble cathedral. There are twelve other churches, two poorhouses, a foundling, and four other hospitals; manufactures of silk, woollen, soap, and hats. The vicinity is fertile and contains several stone quarries. Six miles south-east of Pistoja, and nine N.N. W. of Florence.

PRATT (Charles), earl of Camden, was the third son of Sir John Pratt, knight, chief justice of the court of king's bench under George I., and was born in 1713, the year before his father was called to the bench. He received the rudiments of his education at Eton, and afterwards removed to King's College, Cambridge. He took his degree of M. A., attended the Inner Temple, and was in due time admitted a barrister at law. Notwithstanding the great abilities he afterwards displayed, he passed nine years almost unknown and unnoticed, and was thinking of giving up the law and turning to divinity, when he was raised from obscurity by Mr. Henley (afterwards lord chancellor) employing him in a cause he himself was engaged in, on a circuit, and thus affording him the opportunity of displaying his professional knowledge and eloquence. He became now one of the most successful pleaders at the bar, and was chosen to represent the borough of Downton, Wilts, after the general election in 1756; appointed recorder of Bath and attorney-general in 1756; in January, 1762, he was made serjeant at law, appointed chief justice of the common pleas, and knighted. He presided in that court with a dignity and impartiality never exceeded by any of his predecessors; and, when John Wilkes was committed to the Tower on an illegal general warrant, his lordship, with the intrepidity of a British magistrate, granted him an habeas corpus; and, on his being brought before the court of common pleas, discharged him from his confinement. His spirited behaviour on this occasion, and in the consequent judicial proceedings between the printers of the North Briton and the messengers and others, was so acceptable that the city of London presented him with their freedom in a gold box, and put up his picture painted by Reynolds in the Guildhall. The wich, paid him the like compliment. On the corporations of Dublin, Bath, Exeter, and Nor16th of July, 1765, he was created a peer or Great Britain, by the title of lord Camden, baron Camden, in Kent; and July 30th 1766 on the resignation of Robert, earl of Northington, he was appointed lord high chancellor of Great Britain. In this station he gave his most

decided opinion against the legality of general warrants. He conducted himself in this high office so as to obtain the esteem of all parties; but, when the taxation of America was in agitation, he declared himself so strongly against it, that he was obliged to resign. Upon the fall of lord North he was again taken into the administration, and on the 27th of March, 1782, appointed president of the council; an office which he resigned in March 1783. On the 13th of May 1786 he was created viscount Bayham, of Bayham abbey, Kent, and earl Camden. He died on the 18th of April, 1794, at his house in Hill Street, Berkley Square, being at that time president of the privy council, a governor of the charter-house, recorder of the city of Bath, and F. R. S. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Nicholas Jeffries, esq., by whom he had issue John Jeffries Pratt (second earl of Camden), and four daughters.

PRATT (S. J.), a miscellaneous writer, was born at St. Ives, Hunts, in 1749, and was successively an itinerant corrector, bookseller, and author, at first using the name of Courtney Melmoth. His principal works were The Zion of Genius; Sympathy, a poem; and Landscapes in verse; Liberal Opinions, 5 vols.; Emma Corbett, 3 vols.; The Pupil of Pleasure, 2 vols. ; and Family Secrets, 5 vols. novels: also Gleanings abroad and in England, 3 vols. 8vo., once very popular vols. of Travels: The Fair Circassian, a tragedy, &c. He died at Birmingham in 1814.

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Doubt not but that sin Will reign among them, as of thee begot; And therefore was law given them, to evince Their natural pravity. Milton's Paradise Lost. More people go to the gibbet for want of timely correction, than upon any incurable pravity of naL'Estrange. I will show how the pravity of the will could influence the understanding to a disbelief of Christianity.

ture.

PRAWN, n. s. crustaceous fish.

South.

refused to part with it. The inhabitants of Cos requested him to make a statue of Venus. He gave them a choice of two, one naked, the other clothed; they preferred the latter. He was one of the gallants of Phryne. PRAY, v. n. & v. a. PRAY'ER, PRAY'ER-BOOK.

Fr. prier; Ital. pregare; Lat. precor. To make petitions to a divine being; entreat; ask; supplicate; implore: prayer is petition to a divine being; mode or practice of supplicating; entreaty: prayerbook, book of devotional forms or prayers.

Therefore bretheren I beseche ghou be oure Lord Iesus Crist, and be charite of the hooli goost, that ghe helpe me in youre preieris to the Lord, that I be delyuerid fro the unfeithful men that ben in iudee. Wiclif Romayns 15.

castist us from hennes sende us in to the drove of And the develis prieden him, and seiden, if thou

swyn.

Id. Matt. 3.

God for Israel is,

Romans x. 1.

My heart's desire and prayer to that they might be saved. Is any sick? let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him. Jumes v. 14. I will buy with you, sell with you, but I will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with you. Shakspeare.

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He that prays, despairs not; but sad is the conItalian parnocche. A small dition of him that cannot pray; happy are they that can, and do, and love to do it.

I had prawns, and borrowed a mess of vinegar.
Shakspeare.

PRAWN. See CANCER.

PRAXAGORAS, a native of Athens, who at nineteen years of age composed the History of the Kings of Athens, in two books; and at twenty-two the Life of Constantine the Great, in which, though a Pagan, he speaks very highly of that prince. He also wrote the History of Alexander the Great. He lived under Constantius about A. D. 345.

PRAXIPHANES, a Rhodian, who wrote a learned commentary on the obscure passages of Sophocles. Diog.

PRAXITELES, a very celebrated Greek sculptor, who lived A. A. C. 330, in the reign of Alexander the Great. All the ancient writers mention his statues with high commendation, especially a Venus executed by him for the city of Cnidos, which was so admirable a piece, that king Nicomedes offered to release the inhabitants from their tribute as the purchase of it; but they

Taylor.

No man can always have the same spiritual pleasure in his prayers; for the greatest saints have sometimes suffered the banishment of the heart, sometimes are fervent, sometimes they feel a barrenness of devotion; for this spirit comes and goes.

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Taylor.

let me

Sighs now breathed Inutterable, which the spirit of prayer Inspired.

Milton.

Id.

He fell to his devotions on that behalf, and made those two excellent prayers which were published Fell. immediately after his death.

Prayer among men is supposed a means to change the person to whom we pray; but prayer to God doth not change him, but fits us to receive the things Stillingfleet. prayed for.

He was so true a father of his country, He praised my courage, prayed for my success; To thank me for defending even his foes. Dryden. He that will have the benefit of this act, must pray a prohibition before a sentence in the ecclesiastical court. Ayliffe.

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