376 



THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



In its allegory, the discontent of the Commons with the I Primrose, Mrs. Deborah. The doctor's wife, full 

 course of affairs in Church and State found a voice. of motherly vanity, and desirous to appear genteel. 



Pie'tro. The Ring and the Book, Browning. She could read without much spelling, and prided her- 

 The professed father of Pompil'ia, criminally assumed self on her housewifery, especially on her gooseberry 

 as his child to prevent certain property from passing to "" 



an heir not his own 

 Pilgrim's Progress. 



Written by Bunyan in the 



form of a dream to allegorize the life of a Christian, 



wine 



Primrose, George 



Son of the vicar. He went to 



ft niiirux \itfiiKt* oviii 'i w \iLni. in \\t-iit gu 



Amsterdam to teach the Dutch English, but never once 

 called to mind that he himself must know something 



from his conversion to his death. His doubts are giants, of Dutch before this could be done. 



his sins a pack, his Bible a chart, his minister ! Primrose, Moses. Brother of the above, noted for 



The title of a dramatic poem by j Alden and marries him after the captain's supposed 

 Pippa is a light-hearted peasant i death. The captain, however, appears at tthe close of 



list, his conversion a flight from the City of Destruction, 

 his struggle with besetting sins a fight with Apollyon, 

 his death, a toilsome pa-sage over a deep stream, which 

 flows between him and heaven. 



Pilot, The. Title of a sea-story by Cooper, which 

 was called the "first sea-novel of the English language." 

 It was published in the year lsj;{ and soon translated 

 into Italian, German, and French. It is founded on 

 the adventures of John Paul Jones. 



Pinch, Tom. A character in Dickens's "Martin 

 Chuzzlewit," distinguished by his guilelcs.sness, his odd- 

 ity, and his exhaust less goodness of heart 



Pippa Passes. 

 Robert Browning. 



maiden, who resolves "to enjoy her holiday. Various 

 groups of persons overhear her as she passes by singing, 

 and some of her stray words act with secret but sure 

 influence for good. 



I'latonic Love* Spiritual love between persons of 

 opposite sexes. It is the friendship of man and woman, 

 without mixture of what is usually called love. Plato 

 strongly advocated this pure affection, and hence its 

 distinctive name. 



Pocket. Great Expectations, Dickens. Name of 

 a family prominent in the story. 



Pocket. A real scholar, educated at Harrow, and 

 an honor-man at Cambridge, but, having married young, 

 he had to take up the calling of "grinder" and literary 

 fag for a living. Pip was placed in his care. 



Pocket, Mrs. Daughter of a city knight, brought 

 up to be an ornamental nonentity, helpless, shiftless, 

 and useless. She was the mother of eight children, 

 whom she allowed to "tumble up" as best they could, 

 under the charge of her maid Flopson. 



Pocket, Herbert. Son of Mr. Matthew Pocket, 



giving in barter a good horse for a gross of worthless 

 green spectacles with copper rims. 



Primrose, Olivia. The eldest daughter of the doctor. 

 Pretty, enthusiastic, a sort of Heln- in beauty. "She 

 wished for many lovers," and eloped with Squire Thorn- 

 hill. 



Primrose, Sophia. The second daughter of Dr. 

 Primrose. She was "soft, modest, and alluring." 



Prise-ilia. Courtship of Miles Standish, Long- 

 fellow. A Puritan maiden who is wooed by Captain 

 Standish through the mediation of his friend, John 

 Alden, who is in love with Priscilla. She prefers John 



the wedding service, and the friends are reconciled. 



Pros'pero. Tempest, Sliakespere. Rightful Duke 

 of Milan, deposed by his brother. Drifted on a desert 

 island, he practiced magic, and raised a tempest in 

 which his brother was shipwrecked. Ultimately Pros- 

 pero "broke his wand," and his daughter married the 

 son of the King of Naples. 



Pynch'eon. The name of an ancient but decayed 

 family in Hawthorne's romance "The House of the Seven 

 Gables." There are: (1) Judge Pyncheon, a selfish, 

 cunning, worldly man. (2) His cousin Clifford, a deli- 

 cate, sensitive nature, reduced to childishness by long 

 imprisonment and suffering. (3) Hepzibah, the latter's 

 sister, an old maid who devotes herself to the care of 

 Clifford. (4) A second cousin, Phoebe, a fresh, cheerful 

 young girl, who restores the fallen fortunes of the family 

 and removes the curse which rested on it. 



Puss in Boots. The subject and title of a well- 

 known nursery tale derived from a fairy story in the 

 "Nights" of the Italian author Straparofa, and Charles 

 Perrault's "Contes des Fdes." The wonderful cat se- 



wonderfuliy hopeful, but had not the stuff to push his cures a princess and a fortune for his master, a poor 

 way into wealth. young miller, whom he passes off as the rich Marquis 



Pocket, Sarah. Sister of Matthew Pocket, a little of Carabas. 



dry, old woman, with a small face that might have been Quasimo'do. Notre Dame, Hugo. A misshapen 



dwarf one of the prominent characters in the story. He 

 is brought up in the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. 

 One day, he sees Esmeralda, who had been dancing in 

 the cathedral close, set upon by a mob, and he conceals 

 her for a time in the church. When, at length, the 

 beautiful gypsy girl is gibbeted, Quasimodo disappears 

 mysteriously, but a skeleton corresponding to the 



made of walnut-shell, and a large mouth. 



Poetical Romances. These romances, native to the 

 French, group themselves about great names, some hav- 

 ing Alexander, some Charlemagne, as their central figure. 

 One cluster, the Arthurian, is of English growth, and 

 possesses the highest interest of all. Translations and 

 imitations of these French romances slowly came into 

 popular favor with the English people. 



Po'lyglot. The word means, in general, an assem- the gibbet, 

 blage of versions in different languages of the same I Quaver 



deformed figure is found after a time in a hole under 

 The Virgin Unmasked, Fielding. A 



ork, but is almost exclusively applied to manifold I singing-master, who says, '.'if it were not for .singing- 

 versions of the Bible. Besides the Bible, many other masters, men and women might as well have been born 

 works, or small pieces, have been published in polyglot, dumb.". He courts Lucy by promising to give her 

 Of smaller pieces, the Lord's Prayer has been the favor- 

 ite., of which many collections have been published 



since the Fifteenth Century. 



singing-lessons. 



_ F Queen La'be. Arabian Nights. The queen of 



Of these, the most com- magic, ruler over the Enchanted City. Beder, Prince 



prehensive, and the most valuable, is the well-known of Persia is connected with her in the tale. She trans- 

 "Mithridates" of Adelung, which contains the Lord's j forms men into horses, mules, and other animals. Beder 

 Prayer in more than 400 languages. marries her, defeats her plots against him, but is him- 



Poor Richard. The assumed name of Benjamin self turned into an owl for a time. 

 Franklin in a series of almanacs from 1732 to 1757. 

 These almanacs contain maxims and precepts. 



Pop' In jay. A butterfly man, a fop; so called from 

 the popinjay or figure of a bird shot at for practice. 

 The title is used by Scott in "Old Mortality"; by 

 Shakespere in "Henry IV.," and by others. 



Quickly, Mistress. Merry Wives of Windsor, 

 Shakespere. A serving woman to Dr. Cains, a French 

 physician. She is the go-between of three suitors for 

 "sweet Anne Page," and with perfect disinterestedness 

 wishes all three to succeed. 



Quickly, Mistress Nell. Hostess of a tavern in East- 



Portia. Merchant of Venice, Shakespere. A cheap, frequented by Harry, Prince of Wales, Sir John 

 - ! - ' -.-*.-- Falstaff, and all their disreputable crew. 



Quid'nunkis. Title and name of hero in a fable 

 found or written by Gay in 1726. This hero was a 

 monkey which climbed higher than its neighbors, and 

 fell into a river. For a few moments the monkey race 



rich heiress whom Bassanio loved and who defended 

 Antonio. 



Pot-boilers. Articles written and pictures of small 

 merit drawn or painted for the sake of earning daily 

 bread . 



Potiphar Papers. A series of brilliant satiric 

 sketches of society written by George W. Curtis in the 

 year 1852, and afterward collected in book form. 



Pres'ter, John. The name given, in the middle 

 ages, to a supposed Christian sovereign and priest of 

 the interior of Asia, whose dominions were variously 

 placed. He has been the subject of many legends and 

 is mentioned by Shakespere in " Much Ado About 

 Nothing." 



Primrose, Rev. Charles. Vicar of Wakefleld, 

 Goldsmith. A clergyman, rich in heavenly wisdom, 

 but poor indeed in all worldly knowledge. 



stood panic-struck, but the stream flowed on, the mon- 

 keys continued their gambols. The object of this fable 

 is to show that no one is of sufficient importance to stop- 

 the general current of events or cause a gap in nature. 



Quilp. Old Curiosity Shop, Dickens. A hideous 

 dwarf, cunning, malicious, and a perfect master in 

 tormenting. Of hard, forbidding features, with head 

 and face large enough for a giant. He lived on Tower 

 Hill, collected rents, advanced money to seamen, and 

 kept a sort of wharf, containing rusty anchors, huge 

 iron rings, piles of rotten wood, and sheets of old copper, 

 calling himself a ship-breaker. He was on the point 



