660 



PORTUGAL (LITERATURE) POSIDONIUS. 



successful improvvisatori. The Parnasso Lusitano 

 (published in Paris) facilitates an acquaintance 

 with Portuguese poetry. Since 1827, a Portu- 

 guese periodical has !>een published in Paris, called 

 Novos Annaes das Sciencias e das Artes, in which 

 a fragment of ^ great Portuguese poem, yet in 

 manuscript, is to oe found Branca ou a Conqitista 

 do Algarve Blanca. There can be no question 

 respecting the state of Portuguese literature at this 

 moment. 



In no arts have the Portuguese so distinguished 

 themselves as in music, in dramatic performance 

 and in dancing. In music they come near the 

 Italians, in the theatrical dance to the French. 

 King John, just before he left Portugal, established 

 an academy of painting under the direction of the 

 painter Jose da Cunha Taborda, but it came to an 

 end when the French took possession of Lisbon. 

 Before the reign of king Joseph, there existed no 

 national Portuguese theatre, if we do not apply 

 this name to the absurd productions called sacred 

 pieces (atttos sacramentaos) which were as barbar- 

 ous as the dramas of other nations in the middle 

 ages. Private persons undertook to establish a 

 theatre under Joseph, and Pombal did much to sup- 

 port them. In 1771, a royal decree declared the 

 profession of actors respectable, and many excellent 

 actors soon distinguished themselves. But, after 

 the death of Joseph, the queen thought herself in 

 conscience bound to prohibit the appearance of 

 women on the stage. Dramatic writing, of course, 

 immediately relapsed. It had, indeed, consisted, 

 in this period, of little more than translations from 

 foreign works. King John permitted again the 

 appearance of actresses. At present, there is 

 hardly one actor at Lisbon who can be compared 

 with a second rate actor in other large cities of 

 Europe. Lisbon has at present five theatres 1. 

 San Carlos, the largest. In 1822, government 

 appropriated 1 5,000,000 reis for its support. 2. Rua 

 dos Condes, for the support of which government 

 contributed in 1822, 10,000,000 reis. 3. and 4. Sa- 

 litre and Bairo Alto, smaller theatres, where Portu- 

 guese and Spanish pieces are played alternately. 5. 

 Boa-Hora, at Belem, where Portuguese farces only 

 are played. A circus adjoining the theatre Salitre 

 serves for bull-fights. The theatre of San-Joao, at 

 Oporto, is the second in the kingdom. Women 

 were allowed to appear on the stage here before 

 they were allowed so to do in Lisbon. In 1822, 

 this theatre received from government 10,000,000 

 reis. Setubal (St Ubes) has a large theatre, but no 

 permanent company. Madeira has a beautiful 

 theatre at Funchal, and a society, calling themselves 

 socios do bom gosto, support a theatre. The tragedy, 

 so neglected in Portugal, is here much cultivated. 

 Brazil possesses several theatres, of which some 

 may be compared with San Carlos. The first Bra- 

 zilian theatre, San-Joao, at Rio Janeiro, was opened 

 October 11, 1813. There are several others at this 

 place. Bahia has a brilliant theatre since 1S10. 

 Pernambuco has also one. The Italian opera has 

 always been the chief theatrical attraction in Por- 

 tugal. Joseph was enthusiastically fond of music, 

 and Pombal nourished this inclination, in order to 

 be left more at liberty in affairs of government. 

 Joseph had several royal theatres for the opera. 

 That in Lisbon cost more than any similar estab- 

 lishment in Europe. The first musicians and sing- 

 ers were attracted by large salaries. Among the 

 performers who sang in the royal chapel, Egizieli 

 and Caffarelli had salaries of 72,000 francs, though 

 they performed but two or three months in the year, 

 and, after a few years, received considerable pen- 

 sions for life. The theatre on which the operas were 



performed, was situnted on the Tagus, and when 

 the curtain in the back ground was raised, the sea 

 was seen in its splendour. After the banishment 

 of actresses, the opera also suffered ; but it revived, 

 and Italian voices, like those of Crescentini, Naldi, 

 Mombelli, Mad. Catalani, Gaforini, &c., were heard. 

 The ballet and scenery were equally attended to. 

 But the invasion of the French, and the subsequent 

 political events, caused the decline of the opera. 

 At Oporto it flourished longer. The Jesuits for- 

 merly established a singing school for negroes near 

 Rio Janeiro, on their estate, called Santa Cruz. 

 When the order was abolished, this district fell to 

 the crown, and Santa Cruz became one of the resi- 

 dences of the court, after the removal of the royal 

 family to Brazil. When the court for the first 

 time attended mass in the church of St Ignatius de 

 Loyola at St Cruz, the king was astonished at the 

 perfection with which the sacred music was execut- 

 ed by negroes of both sexes, who had formed them- 

 selves on the rules formerly introduced by the 

 Jesuits. The king now ordered the establishment 

 of elementary musical schools, and very skilful 

 singers and musicians of both sexes were soon form- 

 ed ; the first performers on the violin, bassoon and 

 clarionet were negroes, and among vocal perform- 

 ers, two negresses were distinguished. In 1820', 

 the whole orchestra of the chapel consisted of ne- 

 groes. The Jate emperor Pedro, an enthusiastic 

 admirer of music, had several operas composed by 

 the brothers Marcos and Simao Portugal (more 

 known under the name of Portogallo), and perform- 

 ed by negroes only, who played with universal ap- 

 plause. 



PORTUMNUS, among the Romans ; the god of 

 harbours ; the same as the Melicerta or Paltemon 

 of the Greeks. He had a small temple on the 

 Tiber, and the Portumnalia were yearly celebrated 

 in his honour. He bore a key in his hand as an 

 emblem of his office. 



POSEIDON. See Neptune. 



POSEN, OR POSNANIA, grand duchy, one of 

 the ten provinces of the kingdom of Prussia, com- 

 posed, by an act of the congress of Vienna (1815), 

 of a part of South Prussia and of the district of 

 Netz. It borders on the Prussian provinces of 

 Silesia, Brandenburg and West Prussia, and on the 

 kingdom of Poland. It has a superficial area of 

 1 1,500 square miles, with a population (in 1828) 

 of 1,064,000, of which 50,000 are Jews, 150,000 

 Germans, and the rest Poles ; there are about 

 253,000 Protestants. The province is divided into 

 the two circles of Posen and Bromberg. The face 

 of the country is, for the most part, level, and, in 

 general, is fruitful, and under excellent cultivation. 

 The principal rivers of the province are the Waria 

 and the Netze, which flow into the Oder ; the Vis- 

 tula, with which the Netze is connected by a canal, 

 also touches the north-east boundary. (See Prus- 

 sia.) Posen was formerly a palatinate of Poland ; 

 it fell to Prussia by the partition of Poland, in the 

 last century. (See Poland) The capital, Posen 

 (in Polish, Poznan], lies on the Warta, in lat. 52 

 19' N., and Ion. 17 22' E. ; population, 24,598, of 

 whom 4000 are Jews. 



POSIDONIUS ; a stoic philosopher (see Stoics'), 

 born at Apamea, in Syria, about B. C. 103, called, 

 also, the Rhodian, because he was the scholar of 

 Panaetius of Rhodes, and was himself a teacher at 

 Rhodes, after he returned from his travels. He 

 taught the stoic philosophy with great applause, 

 was at the same time a statesman and one of the 

 Prytanes, and went, when fifty years of age, as an 

 ambassador to Rome. The most distinguished 

 Romans were his scholars, and Cicero himself was 



