PRO 



animate, are introduced as living 1 and ra- 

 tional beings ; as the following verses of 

 Milton : 



. Now gentle gales, 



Fanning their odoriferous wings, dispense 

 Native perfumes ; and whisper whence 



they stole 

 Those balmy spoils. 



The second part of this figure is when 

 we give a voice to inanimate things, and 

 make rocks, woods, rivers, buildings, &c. 

 express the passions of rational creatures, 

 as in the following lines of Spencer. 



She foul blasphemous speeches forth did 



cast, 



And bitter curses, horrible to tell, 

 That ev'n the temple, wherein she was 



placed, 

 Did quake to hear, and nigh asunder 



burst ! 



PROSTAT-i:. See ANATOMY. 



PROTEA, in botany, a genus of the 

 Tetrandria Monogynia class and order. 

 Natural order of Aggregate. Protea, Jus- 

 sieu. Essential character: corolla four 

 cleft or four-petalled ; anthers linear, in- 

 serted into the petals below the tip; 

 calyx proper, none ; nut one-seeded, su- 

 perior. There are sixty-four species ; 

 these are all shrubs, and natives of the 

 Cape of Good Hope. 



PROTECTION of parliament. See AR- 

 KEST and PRIVILEGE. 



PROTEST, in law, is where one openly 

 affirms, that he does either not at all, or 

 but conditionally, yield his consent to any 

 act, or to the proceeding of a judge in 

 court, wherein his jurisdiction is doubt- 

 ful, or to answer upon his oath further 

 than by law he is bound. It is also that 

 act, by which the holder of a foreign bill 

 of exchange declares that such bill is 

 dishonoured. Further, it is that act of a 

 master, on his arrival, with his ship from 

 parts beyond the seas, to save him and 

 his owners harmless and indemnified 

 from any damage sustained in the goods 

 of her lading, on account of storms. See 

 BILLS OF EXCHANGE and INSURANCE. 



PROTESTANTS, a term now applied 

 to all Christians who in any country or of 

 any sect dissent from the principles and 

 discipline of the church of Rome. This 

 name was first given to the following 

 princes of the German Empire ; John, 

 Elector of Saxony; George, Elector of 

 Brandenburg, for Franconia ; Ernest 

 and Francis, Dukes of Luuenburg, the 



PRO 



Landgrave of Hesse, and the Prince of 

 Anhalt. These princes, being seconded 

 by thirteen imperial towns, viz. Stras- 

 bourg, Ulm, Nuremberg, Constance, Rot- 

 tingen, Windseim, Memmingen, Nortlin- 

 gen,Lindau. Kempten, Heiibron, Wissem- 

 berg, and St. Gall, solemnly protested 

 against the decree of the Emperoi Charles 

 the Fifth, and the diet of Spires, by which 

 it had been decreed to prohibit any fur- 

 ther innovations in religion. This Protest 

 was made in the year 1529 ; from which 

 time all who have renounced, or never 

 agreed to, the doctrines of the Romish 

 church have been denominated Protes- 

 tants. This class of Christians conse- 

 quently includes the Huguenots in France, 

 the Refugees in Holland, the Presbyteri. 

 ans in Scotland, as well as the Episcopa- 

 lians and Nonconformists in England; 

 together with a numerous body of Chris- 

 tians in America. The principal deno- 

 minations of Protestants in England, are 

 the Episcopalians or church of England, 

 the Presbyterians, the Independents, and 

 the Baptists, general and particular. 

 These, however, have divided themselves 

 into innumerable sects and parties ; the 

 principal of which are denominated Arians 

 and Socinians,or, more properly speaking, 

 Unitarians, Sabellians, Calvinists, Sub- 

 lapsarians and Supralapsarians, Armini- 

 ans, Baxterians, Antinomians, Brownists, 

 Psedobaptists, Quakers, Methodists, Uni- 

 versalists, Sabbaterians, Moravians, San- 

 demanians, and Swedenborgians. Con- 

 cerning these, and other Christian sects, 

 the reader will find very impartial ac- 

 counts, drawn up in a popular and per- 

 spicuous manner, and accompanied with 

 many pious and sensible reflections on 

 the nature and extent of Christian candour, 

 in the Rev. J Evans's " Sketch of the De- 

 nominations of the Christian World," ele- 

 venth edition. But for more elaborate 

 accounts of the Christian sects, the reader 

 is referred to Dr Rees's Cyclopedia ; the 

 theological, as, indeed, every other de- 

 partment of which is conducted in a man- 

 ner every way worthy the literature of a 

 country where the genuine principles of 

 religious liberty are clearly understood, 

 and extensively encouraged. The sects 

 and parties into which the Protestant re- 

 ligion is divided, have furnished the Ro- 

 man Catholics, on some occasions, with 

 matter of triumph ; asserting that the Pro- 

 testant faith is deficient in the first mark 

 or characteristic of a true church, viz. 

 that of unity ; and unbelievers have not 

 neglected to avail themselves of this cir- 

 cumstance to vilify the Christian religion 



