PRIMROSE LEAGUE 



633 1 



PRINCE EDWARD 



place of ^igpular assembly, is an 

 open-air gymnasium. The body of 

 Sir Edmund Godfrey (q.v.) was 

 found at Primrose Hill after his 

 murder at Somerset House in 1678. 

 Mother Shipton prophesied that 

 the bill would one day be the cen- 

 tre of London. 



Primrose League. British 



Kolitical organization. It was 

 jrmed by a number of Conserva- 

 tives, at the suggestion of Sir H. 

 Drummond Wolff, in 1883, Lord 

 Randolph Churchill being among 

 them. Their aim was to spread the 

 principles of Conservatism among 

 the working classes, and the name 

 was that of the favourite flower of 

 the earl of Beaconsfield. 



An elaborate organization was 

 set up. Officials are known as 

 knights and dames, and the mem- 

 bers are grouped in habitations. 

 The league was open to both men 

 and women, and women have been 

 prominent in its work, much of 

 which is of a social character, from 

 the first. In 1885 a separate grand 

 council was formed for them. The 

 members promise to maintain re- 

 ligion, the estates of the realm, and 

 the imperial ascendancy of Great 

 Britain. The badge is a monogram 

 of the letters P.L.. surrounded by 

 primroses, the motto Imperium et 

 Libertas, and the seal three prim- 

 roses. The headquarters are at 64, 

 Victoria St., London, S.W. See 

 Conservative ; Unionist. ' 



Primrose day is the name given 

 to April 19, the day of Lord 

 Beaconsfield's death. Primroses 

 are worn and his statue in Parlia- 

 ment Square is decorated, while 

 the Primrose League marks the 

 day in a variety of ways. 



Primula (Lat. primus, first). 

 Genus comprising about 150 peren- 

 nial herbs of the natural order 

 Primulaceae (q.v.), chiefly natives 

 of hilly districts in the N. tem- 

 perate regions. Five species are 

 natives of Britain : primrose (P. 

 vulgaris), cowslip (P. veris), oxlip 

 (P. elatior), bird's-eye (P. farin- 

 osa), and Scottish primrose (P. 

 scotica). The garden polyanthus is 

 believed to be a hybrid between the 

 cowslip and primrose. Many hardy 

 exotic species are in general culti- 

 vation, especially in rock gardens. 



The auricula (P. auricula) was in- 

 troduced from the European Alps 

 as far back as 1596. P. japonica, 

 perhaps the most beautiful of the 

 hardy species, which succeeds in 

 moist rich loam, has a stem from 

 1 ft. to 2 ft. high, on which the 

 white, pink, crimson, or maroon 

 flowers are produced in several 

 whorls. Siebold's primrose, also 

 from Japan, is another fine plant, 

 with rosy flowers in umbels. 

 Among the greenhouse favourites 



are the Chinese primrose (P. sinen- 

 sis), with variable lilac flowers, and 

 P. obconica, also from China, has 

 drooping purplish flowers. This 

 species must be handled with care, 

 as contact with its hairy leaves 



Primula. Flowers of P. obconica, a 

 greenhouse favourite 



produces a troublesome rash on 

 delicate skins. Seeds of all the 

 kinds should be sown as soon as 

 ripe, in shallow pans of leaf-mould, 

 covered with a sheet of glass and 

 placed in the shade. 



Primulaceae OR PRIMROSE 

 FAMILY. Natural order of herbs 

 (mostly perennials). Including 

 about 350 species, they are natives 

 chiefly of the N. temperate regions, 

 being but slightly represented in the 

 S. and the tropics. The flowers are 

 in most cases regular, showy, and 

 sweet-scented ; more or less tubular, 

 with spreading limb. The fruit is a 

 single-celled capsule. Well-known 

 genera are Primula, AnagaUis, Ly- 

 simachia, and Cyclamen. 



Primuline. Yellow aniline dye 

 discovered by A. G. Green in 1887 

 and used for dyeing cotton. See 

 Aniline Dyes. 



Primum Mobile (Lat., first 

 source of motion). In ancient as- 

 tronomy, the tenth or outer sphere 

 of the universe in the Ptolemaic 

 System (q.v.). Pron. Mo-bil-ee. 



Primus (Lat., first). Term ap- 

 plied to the bishop elected to pre- 

 side over the synod of the Epis- 

 copal Church of Scotland. 



Prince (Lat. princeps, first). 

 Title of dignity. In Great Britain 

 it is used only for members of the 

 royal family. The eldest son of the 

 sovereign is created prince of 

 Wales, the eldest daughter is the 

 princess royal, and the younger 

 children are princes and princesses. 



The title, which was first used in 

 Italy, had, before the Great War, 

 a wider application in Germany 

 and other Continental countries 

 than it had in Britain. In the 

 medieval empire it was given at 

 first to all the great feudatories of 

 the emperor. Later it was reserved 

 to those who had seats in the 

 college of princes, some being lay- 



men and others being prelates. 

 The emperors gave the' title to 

 other subjects, and after the 

 dissolution of the empire in 1806 a 

 few of these princes remained as 

 rulers of the little German states 

 until the changes of 1918. One of 

 them was the prince of Reuss. 

 The rulers of Germany and Austria 

 also raised subjects to the rank of 

 prince, examples being Bismarck 

 and Metternich. In France, under 

 the Bourbons, the title was given 

 to members of the royal family. 

 It is still used in Italy, Spain and 

 other monarchical countries, and in 

 a general sense for a ruler. The 

 German equivalent is Fiiist. 



Prince, THE (Ital. II Principe). 

 Political treatise by Machiavelli 

 (q.v.). It was published in Ital- 

 ian and has been translated into 

 English and most modern lan- 

 guages. It outlines the way in 

 which a prince should act, if he 

 wishes to preserve and strengthen 

 his inheritance. The lessons are 

 pressed home with a wealth of illus- 

 trations taken from the history of 

 Italy in Machiavelli's own time and 

 of the ancient world. The book is 

 one of the greatest of its kind, for 

 Machiavelli was the first writer to 

 apply the inductive or experimen- 

 tal method to politics, and to break 

 with the theories laid down by the 

 Church. This constitutes its main 

 value, and establishes Machiavelli 

 as the thinker who laid down the 

 conditions of the modern state. 



Prince Albert. City of Saskat- 

 chewan, Canada. It stands on the 

 North Saskatchewan river, is an 

 important junction on the C.N.B., 

 and is also served by the G.T.R. 

 Industries include brickyards and 

 flour mills, and those connected 

 with lumber. Pop. 14,000. 



Prince Albert Peninsula. 

 N.W. projection of Victoria Island, 

 Arctic America. It lies N. of Prince 

 Albert Sound, S. of Banks Strait, 

 and is separated from Banks Land 

 by the Prince of Wales Strait. The 

 coast is indented by Minto Inlet, 

 Collinson Inlet, and Glenelg Bay. 

 Its most N. point is Peel Pt. 



Prince Edward Island. Island 

 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and 

 the smallest province of the 

 Dominion of Can- 

 ada. The coast is 

 deeply indented, 

 and Northumber- 

 land Strait di- 

 vides it from the 

 mainland. Its 

 area is 2,184 sq. 

 m., and pop. 

 93,700. Wheat, 

 oats, potatoes, 

 etc., are grown ; butter and 

 cheese are made ; cattle and 

 horses are reared ; and foxes are 



Prince Edward 

 Island arms 



