632 



PONTA DKLGADA PONTINE MA RSI-IKS. 



act of partition, which completed the political anni 

 dilation of the Polish state, and to abdicate the 

 throne (November 25, 1795) on the anniversary o 

 his coronation. He went to Petersburg, where he 

 received a pension, living as a private individual, 

 and died in 1798. 



Joseph, the nephew of Stanislaus, born in 1763 

 served with courage against the Russians in 1792, 

 and, on the accession of his uncle to the confedera- 

 tion of Targowitz, left the service, with most of the 

 best officers. When the Poles attempted, in 1794, 

 to drive the Russians out of the country, he again 

 joined the Polish camp, as a volunteer. Kosciusko 

 gave him the command of a division, at the head 

 of which he distinguished himself at the two sieges 

 of Warsaw. After the surrender of the city, he 

 went to Vienna, and, rejecting the offers of Catha- 

 rine and Paul, lived in retirement, on his return to 

 Poland, at his estates near Warsaw. The creation 

 of the duchy of Warsaw rekindled the hopes of the 

 Polish patriots, and Poniatowski accepted the place 

 of minister of war in the new state. In 1809, he 

 commanded the Polish army against the superior 

 Austrian force, which was sent to occupy the 

 duchy, compelled it to retire, rather by skilful 

 manoeuvres than by force of arms, and penetrated 

 into Galicia. In the war of. 1812, against Russia 

 (see Russian-German War}, he was again at the 

 head of the Polish forces, and distinguished himself 

 in all the principal affairs of this chequered cam- 

 paign. After the battle of LeSpsic, during which 

 Napoleon created him marshal of France, he was 

 ordered (October 19) to cover the retreat of the 

 French army. The enemy were already in posses- 

 sion of the suburbs of Leipsic, and had thrown 

 light troops over the Elster, when the prince 

 arrived, with a few followers, at the river, the 

 bridge over which had been blown up by the 

 French. Poniatowski, already wounded, plunged, 

 with his horse, into the stream, which swallowed 

 up horse and rider. His body was first found on 

 the 24th, and buried with all the honours of his 

 rank, on the 26th. It was afterwards removed to 

 Warsaw, and, in 1816, was deposited in the cathe- 

 dral at Cracow. Thorwaldsen has executed an 

 equestrian statue of Poniatowski, for the city of 

 Warsaw. 



PONTA DELGADA. See Michael's, St. 



PONTCHARTRAIN; a lake of Louisiana, 

 about twenty-five miles long from east to west, and 

 nearly the same in breadth. The water is generally 

 from twelve to fourteen feet deep. It communi- 

 cates with lake Borgne on the east, with lake 

 Maurepas on the west, and with New Orleans on 

 the south, by bayou St John and a canal, and also 

 by a railroad. It is surrounded by marshes, and 

 the landing is generally difficult. 



PONTE-CORVO ; a town in the States of the 

 Church, sixty miles south-east from Rome, from 

 which Bernadotte received the title of Prince of 

 Ponte-Corvo. See Charles Xlf. 



PONTE-CORVO, PKINCE OF. See Charles 



xir. 



PONTIFEX ; a priest, who served no particular 

 divinity. Under Numa, who regulated the sacred 

 rites of the Romans, there was only one pontifex. 

 This number was afterwards increased to four, then 

 to eight, and, under Sylla, to fifteen. The ponti- 

 fices formed a particular college of priests, which 

 superintended the affairs of religion, at the head of 

 which was the pontifex maximus, the chief priest, 

 whose duty was the inauguration of the priests, 

 and, in earlier times, the care of the public records 

 (anitales mdximi). He also superintended the 

 sacred rites of Vesta. He held his office for life, 



and could not leave Italy. The emperors after- 

 wards assumed this title. The pontifices had the 

 supreme superintendence of the religious worship, 

 and its ministers directed the religious solemnities, 

 had the care of the calendar, and decided lawsuits 

 which were connected with religion (hence the 

 jus ptmtificum) . The external badge of the 

 pontifex, at least on solemn occasions, and while 

 engaged in the duties of his office, was a dress 

 bordered with purple (togapraetexta), and a tapering 

 hat in the form of a cone, which was made of the 

 skins of sacrificed animals (tutulus orgalerus). The 

 dresses of the superior clergy in the Roman Catholic 

 church, which they wear particularly on festivals, 

 are called pontificalia. 



Pontificate is the dignity of the pontifex ; like- 

 wise the papal dignity, as the pope himself is called, 

 in Latin, pontifex maximus. 



PONTIFICAL; the book containing the prayers 

 and rites to be used by the pope and bishops in the 

 exercise of their functions, as confirming, con- 

 ferring orders, consecrating bishops and churches, 

 &c. The Catholics think that pope Gelasius, a 

 century before Gregory the Great, had already 

 done something towards forming this collection. 



PONTIFICALIBUS. See In Pontificalibus. 



PONTIFICATE. The pope being called pontiff, 

 the time of his government is called his pontifi- 

 cate. 



PONTINE MARSHES; that tract of land in 

 the papal dominions, south of Rome, which extends 

 from Nettuno to Terracina: it is about forty-five 

 miles long, and from four to eleven broad. The 

 origin of these marshes, which must not be con- 

 founded with the Maremmas (q. v.), is lost in the 

 most remote antiquity. Homer describes the abode 

 of Circe (the promontory Monte Circello, near 

 Terracina) as an island ; and it is not improbable, 

 that all these low grounds were once covered with 

 the sea, as was the territory of Ravenna, on the 

 eastern coast. In the early times of the Roman 

 republic, there were, according to Pliny, on the 

 testimony of former historians, thirty-three cities, 

 situated in this region, all of which, either by wars, 

 or perhaps by the increasing influence of the 

 miasma, disappeared at a very early period. The 

 principal city, Pometia, gave its name to the 

 marshes, which are formed by great quantities of 

 water, received from innumerable streams, which, 

 rising in the neighbouring mountains, run into the 

 Dlain, where, for want of a sufficient declivity 

 .owards the sea, they pass off very slowly, become 

 stagnant, and at length lose themselves in the sand. 

 The loss of so great a portion of fertile land, and 

 he unwholesome vapours, which the south wind 

 often carried even to Rome, early attracted the 

 ttention of the Romans (who thought no under- 

 taking too difficult) to the means of remedying this 

 jvil. Appius Claudius (312 B. C.) probably made 

 he first attempts at draining them, when he carried 

 ,he celebrated Appian way through the marshes. 

 ie was succeeded in this attempt by the consul 

 ethegus. Julius Caesar formed the gigantic plan 

 of conducting the Tiber through the marshes ; but 



was prevented by death from its execution. 

 Augustus contented himself with undertaking 

 several canals. Under the succeeding emperors, 

 hese attempts to improve this part of the country 

 were abandoned ; and the water overflowed, till 



o renewed the work. Trajan continued it, 

 luring ten years, with so much spirit, that the 

 vhole tract from Treponti to 1'erracina was 

 drained, and the Appian way was completely 

 estored. During the political storms, which 

 destroyed the Roman empire, the marshes also 



