PAUSUNS 



PARTHENON 



following year I)r (afterwards Cardinal) Allen, 

 ior lit' tin- Doimy seminary, succeeded in |-r 

 su.idinx tin- .lc-iiit- to join with tin- -eminaiy 

 prie-ts in tin- work of tin- KnxH-h miion. I'.i 

 Mid (.'ampion (<|.v. ) were selected for tlic new 

 .ire. They left Koine in April 15S), with 



injunction- to meddle neither directly nor 

 indirectly in affaire of state. Parsons landed at 



r, June II. ili-xuiscd as n merchant of jewels, 

 in a coal of buff laid with pild -laee, with hut 

 and feather.' His activity and siiccem took Ixith 

 Catholic- ami Protestant* by surprise. He em- 

 ployed -ix printer* on a secret press, and by the 

 rapidity of his movements for twelve months 

 battled' all tbe attempts of the i;overniiieiit to 



i him. Itut S4>on after tbe apprehension of 

 his poinpanion. Cuiiipion, in .Inly l.VU, Paisons 

 found it prudent to escape M tbe Continent, from 

 which be never ax 'in iciurned to Kngland. 



Meanwhile, follow inx tin 1 natural Ix'iitof his mind. 

 and taming or evading hi> orixinal instructions, he 

 bal bii-ied hiiiisi-lf with state intrixncs, sounded 

 the political di-po-iti >n- of intlncntial Catholic lay- 

 men when treating with them of their consciences, 

 and thought out schemes for the Hubjeetion of Knx- 

 land to the po|>e by force of arms. In Normandy, 

 whither be :it lir-t retired, be bad conferences with 

 tli- Duke of Unisc and with Father Creixhton. who 

 hail Ix'cn despatched by the pope into Scotland to 

 negotiate with tbe Duke of Le t\ for the libera- 

 tion of the Cjueen of Scots ; and a little later, during 

 April and May l.Vvi, be was at I'aris conferring 

 witli the Provincial of the French Jesuit.-, the 



ilii-hop of C,la--xow, tbe papal nuncio, and 

 the ax'-nt of the kinx fll Spain, concerning a pro- 

 ject for the invasion of Rngnad. The plan, which 

 was cbielly tin- otl'spiinx of Parsons' brain, wa- 

 carried by CnightOD to the po|>e. and by Parsons 

 himself to Kinx Philip at Madrid. Now U-xan 

 li - intimacy and influence with the Spanish kinx, 

 and the seii,-, nf |x>litical enterprises which cul- 

 minated in the Armada of IMS. Allaire of state 

 did not, however, exclusively occupy the .Jesuit's 

 active mind. At Koiicn in l.'ivj he bad fini.slicil 

 In- lMH)k, the I % ri.it m a IHi-fftnri/, which has found 



ir with Prolestant divines; and, with the aid 

 of tbe Duke of tiuise, be founded at I'.u a seminary 

 for youths in jireparation for the college- nf Douay 

 and Koine, For a short time in !.">** be wa rector 



of tin !:._.- at Kome ; and after the failure nf the 



Armada be organised seminaries or clerical estab- 

 li-!iment- for hi- countrymen at Vallndolid in l.'iS'.l. 

 ^vil'le and Lisbon in I.".!r2, and 

 at St timer in l.Vi.'t. In the reaction which followed 

 on the death of Allen I l.V.I.'i i the jealousy and 



icion with which i he moic loval scvlion of tbe 



cleixy had for s time regarded the ambilion.s 



oheincH i if tin- Jesuit- and the Spani-h party 

 develo|MH| into a -candalous i|u:mel. I >i-tui Kances 

 broke out amonx the prisnner- at XVislxwh anil in 

 the Knxli-h collex*- at Itoine. Pai-.pus, who went 



from Matlriil to Uome to a^ain a u the rector- 



Mliip of the I'.nxlish cnllexc, now |NTsiiaile<l tbe 

 P"l* U> appoint (icoixe IMackwell, a partisan of 

 the .le-uil-. as aiclimie-t <.\ei tlic -c'i-ul:ir clergy, 

 with the view of kecpiux the chief direction of 

 affairs, political and I, in his own 



band- The appointment was resi-t.-d hy the 



f tbe secular* with an animosity which 

 threatened to create a wlii-m 1'ai-ons. njxin 

 whom the odium of the ap|M>intmciit cliielly tell. 

 w accuned of dis-eivinx the i>opc. of tyriuiny mer 

 tin- cleixy. and of continued treason axain-t his 

 I'oiintM. The stijnxciicy of the penal laws nxainxt 

 Catholic* won laid at hi- door. An appeal canicd 

 to Kome by lour delegate* of the secnlai cleixy 

 led to a diminution of the .le-uits' |xiwer, lliouxh 

 Pantoim pcrsiated to tbe end in lesistinj; tli 



of his np|Hineiit to obtain an episcopal 

 government. He died at Koine, as rector of tbe 

 Knxli-li collexe, April I.'), ItilO. 



Mis industry and imwer of work were cxlra- 

 ordiiiary. !! wiote Bnglbh forcibly and Inciilly, 

 and wa- a master in the arts of eontio\ci-\ . II;- 

 doiniiieerinx spirit and jmlitical ]iarti-nnshipcreateil 

 for him bitter eneinii , while hi- mixlc of prosi-ciil- 

 inx his ends justly exposed him to chaise- of 

 double ilcaliiix. equivocation, and rcckle-s slander 

 of bis opponent-. He W;L- otherwise irreproachable 

 in hi.s private morals. His ambition wa-s for his 

 order and not for himself, and be modestly .i\oi.l.-l 

 the cardinal's bat. He knew how on occasions to 

 evicise tact and prudence, ami, when it was his 

 purjiose to do so, no one could wiite with more 

 persuasive piety. Amonx the best known of liis 

 voluminous publications i- '/'Ac ('o/ci-ccc mi the 



,vx/on to tin I'l-inni, written with the 

 assistance of Allen and Sir Francis BngleHeld in 

 favour of the infanta of Spain. He here insi-ts on 

 the rixbt of the people to set aside, on religions 

 Xiounds, the natural heir to the throne ; and advo- 

 cates principle- which afterwards obtained for him 

 the title of the first F.ii"li-b \Vhix. Parliament 

 (.{."> Kliz.) made it treason to posse a copy of the 

 l>ook, which w;is reprinted in the inteie-ts of Crom- 

 well in KV4S. It was axain reprinted in 1(>S|, and 

 jiublicly burned at Oxford in HtXt. Another curious 

 work by Parsons, for some time disseminated in 

 manuscript only, w;u- hi- Memorial for the Btforma- 

 limi. in which be lavs down ruh's for the xui'lance of 

 the government, in tlic expected event of Knxland's 

 subjection to the pope. The Ixnik was read at 

 dinner-time in tbe Kn^li-h college at \'alladolid 

 when Philip was iirepaiinx another Armada. The 

 Jesuit's power of in\ccti\e may be -ecu in his 

 licttfKiii.iin HI/ Eli:iil'illin iilii-linn a bitter libel 

 on the queen's ministers in reply to the royal 

 proclamation of November 1.~>!H. Hi- .l///oy-/ for 

 the xx eminent of the arclipricst ( I(H)1 ) is histori- 

 cally intere-tinx, while his tfanifutation "f the 

 Great t'olly aiiif Jiatf S/ririt of Certtim in Kini 



ml/in'/ Tlii'iKsilrcs Ki-'-iilnr Priettt, a passionate 

 attack upon the conduct ami morals of his clciical 

 brethren, exhibits him on his weakest side. 



An impartial biuvraphy of this many-sii! <l |i. -..nalitv 

 in still a desideratum. A ln-ii-f sketch of Ids life and 

 works will be found m Wcim!'* A>^ . and fnuii 



other jiointu of view in Dixid'a t'lmrrk Hiftoru and 

 Oliver's tollrrtinin. The Ivst estimate of his character 

 M a Jesuit missionary is that by Richard Simpson in Ins 

 Life nf I'timi'iiiii, \vlu-re Parsons' career in Ku^lam! is 

 fully traced. Fur liis political intrigues ktunii l.'iS^' 

 and l.V.d tile Ijtlrr* and Meninrttil* of Cnr't/<il Alien, 

 published li the Fathers of the Oratory, must be cmi- 

 Milted. An account of liis quarrels with the secular 

 clergy will be lound in tlic ' 'nujlictt ofJetuitt and Secular* 

 in thf Jtii'iu u f Elimtnth, by the present writer; and a 

 number of letters and documents, with much miscellaneous 

 information illustrating the whole jn-riixt of liis activity. 

 are scattered through the volumes nl 'I'lcriiiyV Dtulii and 

 Mr Koley's Ktcordn of the Enjluh Province of Hit >. J. 



PairsonstMVII. or limit, a market town in 



Kinxs <'onnty. Ireland, on the river l!ro-na. Ml 

 mile- by rail \V. of Dublin. The castle, anciently 

 the seat of the O'l'arrols, was xrxnted by dame* 

 I. to Laurence Parsons, ance-tor of the present 



tiioprictor, the F.arl of Itossc. Parsonstown is a 

 landsomc. well Imilt town, with a statue of the 

 I hike of ('iinilH>rland. the victor of < 'ill loden. and a 

 bronze statue | Is7(i) by Foley of the Karl of I! 

 lononiei. Pop. 4'.I.Vi. 



Pnrllu-IIOKrill'sIs (from tlieGr. parthtnot, 'a 

 virjjin,' and </riirttit, 'production'), n-cxiial repro- 

 duction. Sei- CliM'l: \llciN.s I Al.TKKNATIO.N OK). 



Parthenon (^r., 'maiden's chamlicr'K the 

 temple of Athena (<|.v.) at Athens, probably tbe 



