POLYIUSTOR, ALKXA.KDER. 



IK 



.bowing delicacy and buty of the brow, nd the blush of tho olicek. 

 A OM 10*11 artist, Ricpenhanten, published JOino designs formed on 



the ascription by Pansaniai of these works of Polygnotus, and Gothe 

 (rot xliv. 1'7> ha written n MM; on the subject. 2. The Poodle at 

 Athens. The subject probably was the Destruction of Troy. (Hut, 

 Cim.,' IT.) 8. A pointing in a building near the I'ropylio at Athens. 

 (Pans., i. 22, 6.) 4. The Marriage of the Daughter of Leucippus in 

 the temple of the Dioscuri at Athens. (Pans., i. 18, 1.) If this work 

 were extant, a comparison of it with the noble picture of nearly the 

 same subject by Rubens in the Munich gallery would probably afford 

 as striking a contrast between ancient and modern art as can be 

 imagined. 6. It seems likely that 1'olygnotus painted the temple of 

 Theseus, at least if we adopt the emendation ir r<f eipre'oK Itpa, fur 

 ir rf eqmipy ia Harpoeration. 6. A picture representing Ulysses 

 after the Slaughter of the Suitors, in the temple of Minerva Area at 

 Plata*. (Pan*., ix. 4, 1.) 7. The Walls at Thespitc, painted by Poly- 

 gnotus and restored by IVisias. (I'lin. xxxv. 11.) 



It is very difficult for us to form any distinct idea of what the effect 

 of the works of Polygnotus must have been. From tho expressions 

 used by Arutotle, they probably possessed much calm dignity and an 

 absence of all exaggeration. We must not imagine that they showed 

 the complicated composition, the masses of light and shade, the 

 variety of colour, or the accurate pespective of the best modern 

 masters. An attentive observation of the finest of these vases, which 

 still retrain traces of the severer style of the art united with good 

 execution, will convey the boat general notion of the works of such an 

 artist. As in sculpture, no accessories probably appeared, except such 

 as were absolutely necessary for understanding the story, and essential 

 to the attitudes of the figures. 



(Sillig, Catalog** Arttftcum ; Muller, Jfandbuch der Archctoloyie 

 und Kunrt ; Muller, Dt Vita et Operitnu Phidias ; Gothe, vol. xliv. 

 p. 1C.) 



POLYHISTOR, ALEXANDER, a native of Cotytcum in Phrygia, 

 according to some, and of Miletus according to others, was a geo- 

 grapher and historian, who lived in the seventh century of Rome, and 

 was taken prisoner by the Romans in the war of Sulla against Mithri- 

 dates. Iking purchased by Cornelius Lcntulus, he was entrusted by 

 him with the education of his children, and at last received his freedom. 

 lie then assumed the name of Cornelius, after that of his 

 He resided chiefly at Rome, and had a country-house at Laurentum, 

 which having taken fire while he was there, he perished in the flames. 

 He is often mentioned and quoted by Pliny the Elder, Diogenes Laer- 

 tins, Clemens Alexandriuus, and Eusebius, as a man of very extensive 

 learning, in consequence of which he was styled Poly histor. He wrote 

 a work in forty books, each book being the description of a distinct 

 country. Stephanus Byzantinus mentions his account of Bithynia, 

 Caria, Paphlagonia, Syria, Libya, Greta, and other countries. Clemens 

 Alexandrinus quotes his treatise on the Jews, of which Knsebius has 

 inserted fragments in his ' Cbrpnography.' Clemens Alexandrinus 

 mentions another work of Polyhistor, on the 'Symbol of Pythagoras;' 

 and Cyril of Alexandria, in his work against Julian, quotes his authority 

 on the early history of the world. Unfortunately none of Polyhistor's 

 works have come down to us. 



POMBAL, MARQUIS DE. DOM SKBASTIAO Josfe DE CARVAI.ITO, 

 Count d'Oeyras and Marquis de Pombal, the most distinguished states- 

 man of Portugal, was born in 1699, at Roura, a village in the territory 

 of Coimbra, of an old and noble family, though not of the first class. 

 Having completed his early studies in his native village, ho was sent 

 to the University of Coimbra fur tho purpose of studying for the bar. 

 But the quiet pursuits of the law being incompatible with the vivacity 

 or rather the turbulence of his character, he adopted the profession 

 of arms. This profession did not however prove more agreeable to 

 him than that which he had relinquished. He quitted the corps in 

 which ho served, and led a private life till 1739, when, through tho 

 influence which his uncle Paulo Carvalho had with Cardinal Motta, 

 a person much in favour with John V., he was appointed extraor- 

 dinary envoy to the court of London ; and afterwards to Vienna, as 

 mediator between the empress Maria Theresa and the pope, to settle 

 the disputes which had arisen in consequence of the suppression ol 

 the archbishopric of Aquileia. 



Wbilut in that capital, Carvalho had the good fortune to marry a 

 lady of high rank and influence, the Countess Daun, niece of the 

 general of the same name who figures so prominently in the wars ol 

 the empress Maria Theresa with Frederick the Great of Prussia. On 

 his return the queen of John V., who was on Austrian princess, became 

 BO much attached to her countrywoman, the lady of Carvalho, thai 

 for her sake she prevailed on her son, immediately after the decease of 

 her husband, to raise Carvalho to power, in consequence of which ho 

 was entrust*! by Joseph I. with the direction of foreign affairs 

 Elevated to this high station, Carvalho began to display his great 

 administrative talents. His admirers have gone so far as to compare 

 him with Richelieu; but this is of course exaggerated praise. Evet 

 bad Carvalho been as profound n politician n* Richelieu, the politics 

 relations and rank of such a kingdom as Portugal could not and die 

 not offer him a sphere in which to display them ; but in the i 

 and economical administration of the kingdom, in discernment, activity, 

 and legislative abilities, he has no superior. After his promotion 

 which took place in 1760, Portugal may bo said to have been rcgenc 



He favoured the establishment of various manufactures, and 

 encouraged the art of printing and agriculture; he introduced into 

 he University of Coimbra a system of studies which substitut. 

 .he mere study of the classics and ancient languages, the cultivation, 

 of the physical and mathematical sciences ; he furni>he<l tho urn 

 with a chemical laboratory, a botanio garden, and an observatory ; ho 

 ntroduced into Brazil the cultivation of coffee, sugar, cotton, rice, 

 ndigo, and coeoa ; he created the companies of Pernauibucu, I'.ir.i, and 

 ttaranhao, and established a strict police in the kingdom. 



With all his great qualities however he was detested both at home 

 and abroad. Those who hitherto had lived and enriched themselves 

 by the abuses that had crept into the various branches of administra- 

 tion, as well as those who suffered from the severity of his ordinances, 

 were his declared enemies. He cheeked the obnoxious power of the 

 Inquisition, and banished the Jesuits from the Portuguese dominions. 

 Whatever might be the policy of the latter measure, it was carried 

 into effect with great inhumanity. His interference with the monopoly 

 which foreign merchants had acquired in the commerce of Portugal 

 rendered him an object of detestation to foreigners; still all liis mea- 

 sures had for their object the prosperity of the country, which ho 

 effectually promoted, so far as to place Portugal on a level with 

 European states. Oil the other hand his unremitting persecution of 

 the nobility, and his merciless conduct towards the family of the 

 Tuvoras and every individual whom he suspected of having Imd any 

 part in the attempt made against the life of the king, dimmed the 

 brilliancy of his career. On the death of Joseph L, the queen, who 

 considered thai Carvalho had occupied that placa in the affections of 

 the king which she alone ought to have filled, and had likewise taken 

 a ili-like to him on account of his persecution of the nobility and tho 

 Jesuits, ordered him to retire to Pombal, where he died in the eighty- 

 first year of his age. The finest parts of Lisbon still bear testimony 

 to the value of bis administration, for they were built according to 

 his designs after the earthquake. He was created Count d'Oeyras iu 

 1759, as a testimony of the royal regard for the zeal which ho dis- 

 played when tho attempt was made to shoot the king Joseph I. ; and 

 on his effecting a reconciliation with the pope at a much later period, 

 his grateful master created him Marquis de Pomb:il. Although he is 

 accused of enriching himself by means unworthy of his rank, no 

 person who is acquainted with his private habits, with the method 

 which he had adopted to make his property valuable, and with his 

 general system of economy, can doubt of his iutcpity. When he 

 retired from the ministry he left about forty-eight millions of cm/ados 

 in the public treasury, and thirty iu the 'caixa de decimos,' a surplus 

 which the government of Portugal had never had before. 



POMKRKT, JOHN, was born in 1667, at Luton in Bedfordshire. 

 He studied at Queen's College, Cambridge, where he was admitted to 

 a Bachelor's degree in 1684, and to a Master's in 1698. Having 

 entered into orders, he obtained the rectory of Maldon in Bedfordshire. 

 In 1703 he came to London with the prospect of obtaining further 

 preferment, but found Bishop Compton strongly prejudiced apiiuxt 

 him on account of some lines in 'The Choice,' which seemed to imply 

 that a mistress was to be preferred to a wife; and before Pouafret, 

 who was now married, could remove the bishop's objections, he was 

 attacked by the small-pox, which carried him off in 1703, iu hi* thirty- 

 sixth year. He published his poems in 18!>9, and some additional 

 poems were published after his death by an anonymous friend. His 

 poems had once many readers, especially ' The Choice,' in which ho 

 describes how he would live if he had a moderate Independence what 

 would bo his choice of a house and garden, of wines, of books, of 

 friends, and of a female friend, for he " would have no wife." I 'r. 

 Johnson says that " ho has been always a favourite with Out class of 

 readers who, without vanity or criticism, seek only their own amuse- 

 ment," but it may be doubted whether any class of readers now exists 

 who would find amusement in reading the poems of Pomfret 



POMPAUOI'R, MADAME 1)10. [Louis XV.] 



1'O.Ml'K'I, (JlRn'I.AMO, Lorn at Verona in 1731, of a patrician 

 family, applied himself chiefly to tho study of the Greek and Latin 

 writers, and became a good Hellenist. Hi* translation of the ' > 

 of Plutarch is by far tho best in the Italian language, and has gone 

 through more than ten editions. In 178.) 1'ompei was offered a chair 

 in the University of 1'avia, which he declined, out of attachment to 

 his native town. He was intimate with Mallei, Torelli, RosaMorando, 

 and other learned men of Verona, nnd hc> was preceptor to Ippolito 



<.nte. 1'ompci died at Verona in 1788. His other works ci 

 of 'Canzoni Pastoral!,' which are much esteciuel, and other Italian 

 including some translations from tho Greek, and of several 

 dissertations. His biography has been written by his disciple Pinda- 

 monte, and by Cardinal 1'outana, 'Do Vita et Scriptis llierouymi 

 Pom | 



I'O.MPEIUS CNEIUS, commonly called PoMrisr, was born on tho 

 30th of September B.C. 106, in the consulship of C. Atlilius Serranus 

 :> few months after the birth of Cicero. He 

 years older than C.T=nr. His family was plebci in, and one of 

 his ancestors was said to have been a flute-player. His father 

 pcius Strata, however joined the aristocratic party, ami fought 



inner in the -Mur.-ic war, but, being a man of extreme selfish- 

 ness, he was in reality faithful to no party, and at last made him elf 

 so notorious for his avarice and cruelty, that, after he had beei: 



