POMPEY'S PILLAR PONIATOWSKI. 



G3l 



mer lost his life in the battle of Munda; the latter, 

 after Caspar's death, made himself formidable to the 

 new triumvirs by sea, and was finally (B. C. 35) 

 put to death, by the command of Antony, in Arme- 

 nia, whither he had fled. 



POMPEY'S PILLAR. See Column. 



POMPONIUS MELA. See Mela. 



PONCE DE LEON, JDAN, one of the early 

 Spanish discoverers in America, was sent by Ovan- 

 do to conquer the island of Porto Rico; and having 

 there amassed great wealth, and received informa- 

 tion of an island situated to the north, in which there 

 was a miraculous fountain possessing the power of 

 restoring youth to the aged, he sailed, in 1512, in 

 quest of these happy shores. Although he was 

 unable to find the fountain of youth, he discovered 

 the country to which he gave the name of Florida. 

 Ponce returned to Spain, and received from Fer- 

 dinand permission to colonize the island of Florida, 

 as he called it, but soon after returned to Porto Rico 

 without making any attempts at colonization. See 

 Irving's Discoveries of the Companions of Columbus. 



PONDICHERRY ; since 1672, the capital of a 

 French colony in the East Indies, on the Coroman- 

 del coast, in the Carnatic, lying in a sandy and dry 

 plain, at the mouth of the Ariancupan, which here 

 empties into the sea of Bengal; lat. 11 55' N.; 

 Ion. 79 23' E. It was first built, at a compara- 

 tively recent period, by some fugitives from Vera- 

 patam, and gradually increased to such a degree, 

 that in 1761 it contained 70,000 inhabitants; but it 

 has since declined, and at present has not above 

 25,000 inhabitants, who occupy different quarters 

 of the town, according to national distinctions 

 (Europeans, Mohammedans, Hindoos, &c.) Very 

 delicate cotton fabrics, which employ about 5000 

 hands, are made in the town and territory. The 

 houses of the town, formerly an important fortress, 

 are handsomely built in the European style ; and 

 there are here several Roman Catholic churches, 

 Hindoo temples, mosques, and some European in- 

 stitutions for education. The roadstead is very good, 

 but there is no port. The territory, about eighty- 

 five square miles, contains a population of 8000 

 natives. Pondicherry, on account of its favourable 

 situation, is, in time of peace, the emporium of the 

 French commerce with India. It was taken and 

 destroyed by the British in 1761, restored in 1763, 

 again taken in 1778, again restored by the peace 

 of Versailles, in 1783; in 1793, it was taken pos- 

 session of by the nabob of the Carnatic, in con- 

 nexion with the British, and the fortifications were 

 destroyed. By the peace of Amiens (1802), the 

 town and territory were again restored to France, 

 but again captured by the British, and retained 

 until 1814. Since that time it has belonged to the 

 French, who are bound, by the peace of Paris, not 

 to restore the fortifications, and not to keep a larger 

 number of troops than is required for purposes of 

 police. 



PONGO. See Ape. 



PONIATOWSKI; the name of an illustrious 

 Polish family, descended from an Italian stock. 

 Joseph Salinguerra (born 1612), belonging to the 

 old Italian family Torelli, having settled in Poland, 

 after the murder of all his house by Ranuzio I., duke 

 of Parma, took the name of Eziolek, and afterwards 

 that of Poniatowski, from an estate Poniatow of his 

 wit'e, the daughter of Albert Poniatowski and Anna 

 Leczinska. His descendants received the title of 

 prince in 1764, and the family still forms one of the 

 thirty-six Roman ducal and princely families, but 

 has not the same privileges with the thirty-five 

 others. 



Stanislaus, count Poniatowski (born 16.78, died 



1762) is known for his connexion with Charles XIT.. 

 whom, after the battle of Pultawa, he followed intc, 

 Turkey, and as whose ambassador at Constantinople 

 he had the address to involve the Porte in a war 

 with Russia. He wrote Remarques d'wn Seigneur 

 Polonais sur V Histoire de Charles XJI.par J'oltaire 

 (Hague, 1741). 



His eldest son, Stanislaus II Augustus (born 

 1732), the favourite of Catharine II., was elected 

 king of Poland, under the influence of Russian 

 bayonets, in 1764. He was an elegant and accom- 

 plished gentleman, with good intentions, but with- 

 out the energy and firmness of purpose necessary to 

 sustain a tottering throne, and bridle a licentious 

 nobility. The Czartoryski family, with which he 

 was connected, had sent him to Petersburg, to pro- 

 mote the election of prince Adam Czartoryski to the 

 Polish throne, on which, however, the handsome 

 ambassador was himself seated by Catharine's 

 favour, and the Czartoryskis, finding they could 

 not even rule in his name, began to intrigue against 

 him. His attempts to remove the civil disabilities 

 of the dissidents (q. v.), and to introduce some mo- 

 difications into the Polish constitution, raised a 

 powerful party against him. A confederation was 

 accordingly formed, which was put down by Rus- 

 sian troops, and Poland was obliged to submit to a 

 disadvantageous treaty (1767); but new confede- 

 rations, at Bar (see Poland), Halicz and Lublin, 

 involved the country in the horrors of a civil war 

 (1768). The Catholic confederates declared the 

 throne vacant, and a body of conspirators, under 

 count Pulaski seized the person of the king on the 

 night of November 3, 1771. Being left alone with 

 a person by the name of Koczinski, the king per- 

 suaded him to allow him to write to Warsaw, 

 whence a guard was sent to conduct him home. 

 Austrian and Prussian troops now filled the coun- 

 try, and most of the nobles, therefore, abandoned 

 Stanislaus, and, in 1772, in spite of the remon- 

 strances of the king and the senate, the first 

 partition of Poland was made by the three great 

 robbers, Russia, Prussia, and Austria. The king 

 was now become totally dependent on the standing 

 council, which was governed by the Russian ambas- 

 sador. The Polish nobles at length discerned the 

 true means of securing the independence of Poland. 

 (See Potocki.} They obtained from Frederic Wil- 

 liam II. of Prussia a promise to stand by the repub- 

 lic, in case it should be attacked on account of its 

 amendments of the constitution, and Prussia gave 

 her consent to the constitution of May 3, 1791, 

 which had been accepted by Stanislaus. In this 

 situation, Stanislaus conducted with so much wis- 

 dom and dignity, as to recover the esteem and love 

 of the nation. He also seemed determined to brave 

 the resentment of Catharine ; but, the connexion 

 with Prussia having been broken, and the minority 

 of the diet, which was opposed to the constitution, 

 having procured a reversal of the proceedings;, 

 through Potocki and Rzewuski, from Vienna and 

 Petersburg, the feeble Stanislaus gave way. The 

 Polish army, notwithstanding the valour of Kosci- 

 usko, was not suited for a long resistance, and Stan- 

 islaus, who had sworn to perish with his people, 

 rather than submit, acceded, at the request of Rus- 

 sia, to the confederation of Targowitz. He thus 

 alienated the minds of the nation, without disarm- 

 ing Catharine. Prussia and Russia now proceeded 

 to a second partition (1793), for the purpose, as 

 they declared, of setting limits to Jacobinism in 

 Poland. The king's opposition only served to ex- 

 pose him to personal abuse from the Russian gene- 

 ral Rautenfeld, and the Russian ambassador, count 

 Sievers. Catharine obliged him (1794) to sign the 



