380 



P^ESTUM PAINE. 



us has superb flowers, of a clear red or rose colour, 

 anil from five to seven inches in diameter, which, 

 besides, diffuse a very agreeable odour. It is hardy 

 enough to bear our winters, but does not flower in 

 such perfection as when protected. A rich light soil 

 is best adapted to it ; and ripened cuttings, planted 

 in a shady place, will take root freely. 



P^STUM (called by the Greeks Posidonia}; an 

 ancient Greek city of Lucania, Lower Italy, lying in 

 a plain at the foot of mount Alburnus, on the Sinus 

 Paestanus, or gulf of Salerno. It is celebrated by 

 the Latin poets for the fragrance of its twice-blowing 

 roses, and its mild and balmy air. Nothiiig now 

 remains of it but some fragments of its walls, of two 

 temples of Doric architecture, and of a forum. The 

 city is thought to have been founded by a Greek co- 

 lony from Sybaris (q. v.), 510 B. C. It was destroyed 

 by the Saracens in the ninth century. The coins of 

 Passtum, as well as its ruins, show it to have once 

 enjoyed great prosperity. The ruins were discovered 

 in the middle of the last century. 



PjETUS. See Arria. 



PAGANS ; the worshippers of many gods, the 

 heathen, who were so called by the Christians, be- 

 cause, when Constantino and his successors forbade 

 the worship of the heathen deities in the cities, its 

 adherents retired to the villages (pagi, hence pagani, 

 countrymen), where they could practise their cere- 

 monies in secrecy and safety. In the middle ages, 

 this name was given to all who were not Jews or 

 Christians, theirs being considered the only true re- 

 ligion and divine revelations ; but, in more modern 

 times, Mohammedans, who worship the one supreme 

 God of the Jews and Christians, are not called pa- 

 gans. The idea of heathenism is of early origin. 

 Moses used every precaution to prevent an inter- 

 course between the Hebrews and heathen nations, 

 prescribed the renunciation of idolatry as a requisite 

 to citizenship in the Hebrew state, and forbade any 

 league with the Ammonites, Moabites, &c. When 

 the kings relaxed in the observance of these regula- 

 tions, the prophets raised their voice against the 

 defection. The distinction between pagans and non- 

 pagans, so far as claims to a revelation are concerned, 

 is very slight, since there are many heathenish people 

 who have traditions of revelations made to them. 

 We also find in some religions of paganism (for ex- 

 ample, with Zoroaster, Plato, and Socrates) pure and 

 elevated notions, and precepts of morality, which 

 would not disgrace even Christianity. Paganism has 

 likewise her moral heroes, as well as Judaism and 

 Christianity. And although St Augustine declared 

 that the virtues of the heathens were but splendid 

 vices, yet this assertion is by no means borne out by 

 facts. The true point of distinction is, therefore, to 

 be placed in the recognition or denial of one, univer- 

 sal, perfect Being, that is, in the reception of mono- 

 theism or polytheism. The apostle Paul speaks. 

 (Rom. i. 23) of a law of God written on the hearts of 

 the gentiles or pagans, and declares that pagans who 

 live by this divine law in their consciences, are a law 

 unto themselves ; and that, to every man who does 

 good, God will render " glory, honour, and peace, to 

 the Jew first, but also to the gentile, for there is no 

 respect of persons with God." (Rom. ii. 10, .15.) 

 Clement of Alexandria, and many of the fathers, 

 were of opinion that, as God had given prophets to 

 the Jews, so he had raised up great men among the 

 heathen, and thus rendered both capable of arriving 

 at the enjoyment of divine happiness. These views, 

 however, met with strong opposition. Augustine, 

 although he acknowledged that the virtues of a 

 Brutus, Decius, and Regulus, were subjects of admi- 

 ration, and prpper models of imitation, yet maintained 

 the principle that all the noble and good actions of 



the pagans were done in the service of the deril, aii'l 

 from vain glory. His views obtained such an ascen- 

 dency, that it came to be a generally received opi- 

 nion, that the hope of God's grace and eternal happi- 

 ness depended on a belief in the doctrines of the 

 church. Jerome adopted an intermediate principle, 

 attributing to the heathens a willingness to receive 

 the doctrines of the true church, should they become 

 known to them. If this fides implicita, as it is called, 

 be any tiling real, it can only be a desire and endea- 

 vour to know the truth, and to act accordingly. 

 Others have maintained the action of divine grace 

 on the souls of heathens, independent of all instruc- 

 tion and knowledge on their part. The influence 

 which the writings of Augustine exercised at the 

 time of the reformation, and on the reformers, led to 

 the reception of the dogma of the damnation of the 

 pagans, which acquired a new development from 

 the doctrine of predestination. Marmontel's tteli- 

 saire was condemned by the Sorbonne, because it 

 professed a belief in the salvation of the pagans. 

 See Meiner's Allgemeine kritische Geschichte der 

 Religion ; Schlegel, Ueber den Geist der Religiositiit 

 alter Zeiten und Vo'lker (2 vols., Hanover, 1819); 

 Constant, Sur la Religion (Paris, 1824.) It is esti- 

 mated that the number of polytheists is about 

 466,000,000 ; that of monotheists, 362,000,000. 



PAGE (from *, child); a youth retained in the 

 family of a prince or great personage, as an honour- 

 able servant, to attend in visits of ceremony, carry 

 messages, bear up trains, robes, &c., and, at the same 

 time, to have a genteel education. See Chivalry. 



PAGLIAJO, or PAGLIACCIO; the name of a 

 comic mask in the Neapolitan comedy. The word 

 signifies cut straw, because this is what the poor 

 fellow lies on. The German term Pajazzo, for the 

 Merry Andrew in the circus, is a corruption of this 

 word. 



PAGODA; the temples of the Hindoos, and other 

 heathen nations of Southern Asia. They are built of 

 wood and stone, on an open place, which is adorned 

 with obelisks, columns, and other architectural works. 

 They are of great size and height, and embellished 

 with great splendour. They are generally in the 

 form of a cross, the four ends of which are of equal 

 length, with a lofty, tower-like roof, divided into 

 several compartments. The most remarkable pago- 

 das are those of Benares, Siam, Pegu, and particu- 

 larly that of Juggernaut (q. v.) in Orissa. In the 

 interior of these buildings, besides altars and statues 

 of the gods, there are many curiosities. The statues, 

 which are likewise called pagodas, and which are 

 often numerous, are usually rude images of baked 

 earth, richly gilt, but without any kind of expression ; 

 sometimes clothed, and sometimes nude ; standing or 

 sitting with the legs crossed, and often of a colossal 

 size. Small figures with movable heads, which are 

 brought from the East, are also called pagodas. 



PAINE, THOMAS ; a celebrated political and deis- 

 tical writer, was born in 1737, at Thetford, in Nor- 

 folk, where his father, a Quaker, was a staymaker. 

 He received his education at a grammar school in his 

 native place, but attained to little more beyond the 

 rudiments of the Latin language. He seems after- 

 wards to have paid great attention to arithmetic, and 

 to have obtained some knowledge of the mathematics. 

 In early life, he followed the business of his father, 

 and afterwards became a grocer and exciseman at 

 Lewes, in Sussex, but was dismissed for keeping a 

 tobacconist shop, which was incompatible with his 

 duties. The abilities which he displayed in a pam- 

 phlet written to show the propriety of advancing the 

 salaries of excisemen, struck one of the commission- 

 ers, who gave him a letter of introduction to doctor 

 Franklin, then in London. The latter recommended 



