PRE-RAPHAELITISM 



PRESBYTERIANISM 



391 



<1850), 'Ferdinand lured by Ariel' (1850), 'The Hugue- 

 not' (1852), 'Ophelia' (1852), 'The Order of Release' 

 <1853), 'L' Enfant du Regiment '( 1855 ), 'Vale of Kest' 

 {1859), 'Autumn Leaves' (1865), 'Chill October' (1870), 

 'A Flood' (1870). Amongst those of D. G. Rossetti are 

 'The Girlhood of Mary Virgin' (1849), 'The Triptych, 

 Llandaff Cathedral ' ( 1856 ), ' Giotto painting the Portrait 

 of Dante ' ( 1859 ), ' Mary Magdalene at the Door of Simon 

 the Pharisee' (1861), ' Beata Beatrix' (1865), 'The 

 Blessed Damozel ' ( 1877 ), ' La Donna della Finestra ' ( 1879 ), 

 'The Day Dream' (1880), 'Dante's Dream' (1881), 

 'Found,' 'Proserpine' (1882). Many of these pictures 

 exist in replica. For a list of Holman Hunt's collected 

 works, see catalogue of Fine Art Society (1886); for J. 

 E. Millais, Fine Art Society (1884), and Grosvenor 

 Gallery (1886); for D. G. Rossetti, Royal Academy 

 (1883). 



Two of Rossetti's noble pictures have since his 

 death become the property of the nation. These 

 are the 'Annunciation' and 'Beata Beatrix.' 

 Rossetti makes reference to many of his pictures in 

 his sonnets. The title Pre-Raphaelite was adopted 

 not without some sarcastic spirit intending to 

 reflect upon the use of the name of the prince of 

 painters by artists of the day to justify their own 

 flimsy and un-Raphaelesque art; but it had also a 

 more serious justification in the conviction that 

 Raphael's latest style, having been adopted, as that 

 of an emulator, from the system built up with slow 

 effort by Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, did 

 not at last altogether escape those marks of deca- 

 dence entirely unknown in the works of his im- 

 mediate forerunners. This defect the seekers after 

 the second Renaissance traced to the remoteness of 

 Raphael from those influences of the training of 

 humility which the study of nature had directly or 

 indirectly given in full measure to Michelangelo 

 and Leonardo da Vinci. The first pictures of the 

 new school hail upon them, together with the 

 initials of the painters, the letters P.R.I?. , meaning 

 Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood ; when public hostility 

 became highly injurious (the meaning of the letters 

 having been revealed, contrary to the original in- 

 tention) this practice was abandoned. 



Besides the three working founders, some few 

 friends were enrolled as hopeful converts, with 

 the idea that they would assist the movement. 

 These were James Collinson and Thomas Woolner 

 among artists. W. M. Rossetti, brother of the painter, 

 and K G. Stephens, who have followed other pro- 

 fessions than art. There can now be little question 

 that the Pre-Raphaelite school has exercised a 

 powerful influence upon modern art; whether it has 

 done so to the extent hoped for by ite promoters 

 lies with the future to reveal. One ambition which 

 it had from the Ijeginning was the restoration of 

 decorative art ; this has been much retarded by the 

 hindrances of opposing forces ; still, a great move- 

 ment, clearly traceable to the revival, has taken 

 place. There is no question that many established 

 painters of the time were beneficially affected by 

 the new impulse, but still more was this the case 

 for the men who followed them. Unfortunately 

 for the school, its recognition came too late for 

 it to profit by the temporary patronage of art 

 extended by government in the decoration of the 

 Houses of Parliament, for which all the commissions 

 were bestowed before the Pre-Raphaelite school 

 could claim attention ; their work, therefore, has 

 been confined to the limits of private patronage, 

 which for the noetic and ambitious art they aimed 

 at is too limited a sphere. Works of national 

 imjiortance are the only entirely appropriate field 

 for the highest effbrte. 



[In fulfilling the part of chronicler of Pre- 

 Raphaelitism it has been inevitable that the writer 

 should avow the degree of responsibility which he 

 himself had in the movement, the more so, as 

 tatements of different tenor have appeared, and 



although the present article bearing the author's 

 name may to some persons appear egotistical. 

 W. H. H.J 



Prerogative, ROYAL. See DIVINE RIGHT, 

 PARLIAMENT, SOVEREIGN, PARDON, REPRIEVE. 



Prerogative Court, in England, was the 

 court wherein all wills were proved and adminis- 

 trations taken out. It was so called because it 

 belonged to the prerogative of the archbishop to 

 take charge of these matters, which formerly fell 

 under ecclesiastical superintendence. Hence there 

 was a Prerogative Court for the province of Canter- 

 bury and another for the province of York. This 

 jurisdiction was entirely taken away in 1858 from 

 the ecclesiastics, and transferred to a new court 

 called the Probate Court (q.v.). 



Presburg (Ger. Pressburg, Hung. Pozsony), 

 a town of Hungary, stands on the left bank of the 

 Danube, 40 miles by rail E. by S. of Vienna and 

 close to the Austrian frontier. It is backed by the 

 spurs of the Little Carpathians, and is a pleasant 

 town. Its principal buildings are the cathedral, 

 a Gothic edifice of the 13th century (restored in the 

 middle of the 19th), in which the kings of Hungary 

 used to be crowned ; the church of the Franciscans 

 (1290-97); the town-house (1288), with a natural 

 history collection ; the parliament house, in which 

 the Hungarian representatives used to meet until 

 1848 ; and some private houses. The royal castle 

 ( 1645) was destroyed by lire in 1811, and is now a 

 ruin. There is an academy of jurisprudence and 

 philosophy. The chief objects of manufacture are 

 beer, dynamite, wire, starch, spirits, confectionery, 

 biscuits, &c. ; and there is considerable trade in 

 corn, sheep, cattle, swine, and wine. 



Presburg grew to be a prominent town during tilt 

 11 th and 12th centuries, and was frequently chosen 

 for conferences and meetings between the rulers of 

 Austria and Hungary. From 1541 (when the Turks 

 seized Buda) down to 1784 it was the capital of 

 Hungary. The town was taken by Bethlen Gabor 

 in 1619, by the Austrians in 1621, and was bom- 

 barded byDavoutin 1809. Here on 26th Decem. 

 her 1805 Napoleon concluded a treaty with the 

 emperor after the battle of Austerlitz. Pop. (1881) 

 48,326; (1890)52,444. 



Presbyopia ( Gr., ' old sight '), a change in the 

 power of vision, not usually noticed till about 

 forty-five years of age, when near objects come to 

 l>e less distinctly seen than those at a distance. 

 See EYE, Vol. Iv". p. 512. 



Presbyterianisill. The name Presbyter is 

 from the Greek preabyteros, 'elder.' The elders 

 formed one division of the great council of the 

 Jews, with the priests and scribes (Mark, xiv. 43) ; 

 and every synagogue had its body of ruling elders ' 

 ( Luke, vii. 3, viii. 41 ). From these the name and 

 some portion of the duties were transferred to the 

 Christian church. We have no record of the first 

 appointment of elders, but we find them as recog- 

 nised rulers in the church of Jerusalem so early its 

 the year 44 (Acts, xi. 30). The duties entrusted to 

 them are these : ( 1 ) They had charge of the col- 

 lections for the poor which were sent by the hands 

 of Barnabas and Saul (Acts, xi. 30). (2) They are 

 specially named as taking part in the council which 

 was held at Jerusalem about the year 51 (Acts, xv. 

 2), and at the meeting of the church there when 

 Paul reported his success among the Gentiles ( Acts, 

 xxi. 18). (3) They took part in the ordination of 

 Timothy (1 Tim. iv. 14). (4) They were the 

 pastors and bishops of the congregations. Thus 

 the apostle Paul, addressing the elders of Ephesus, 

 says, ' Take heed ... to all the flock over which 

 the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers (bishops) 

 to feed the church of God*' (Acts, xx. 28). And 



