PAT 
to that solitary and sedentary life as sing- 
ing, and that in tlieir songs they took occa- 
sion to celebrate their own felicity. From 
hence a poem was invented, and afterwards 
improved to a perfect image of that happy 
time ; which, by giving us an esteem for 
the virtues of a former age, might recom- 
mend them to the present. And since the 
life of shepherds was attended with more 
tranquillity than any other rural employ- 
ment, the poets chose to introduce their 
persons from whom it received the name of 
pastoral. A pastoral is an imitation of the 
action of a shepherd, or one considered un- 
der that character. The form of this imi- 
tation is dramatic, or narrative, or mixed 
with both ; the fable simple ; the manners 
not too polite nor too rustic ; the thoughts 
are plain, yet admit a little quickness and 
passion, but that short and flowing ; the ex- 
pression humble, yet as pure as the language 
will afford ; neat, but not florid ; easy, and 
yet lively. In short, the fable, manners, 
thoughts, and expressions are full of the 
greatest simplicity in nature. The com- 
plete character of this poem consists in 
simplicity, brevity, and delicacy ; the two 
first of which render an eclogue natural, 
and the last delightful. 
PASTURE, is generally any place where 
cattle may feed, and in law is mostly ap- 
plied to a common of pasture, or right of 
feeding cattle on certain waste lands. See 
Common. 
PATE, in fortification, a kind of plat- 
form, resembling what is called an horse- 
shoe ; not always regular, but generally oval, 
encompassed only with a parapet, and having 
nothing to flank it. It is usually raised on 
marshy grounds, to cover the gate of a place. 
PATEE, or Pattee, in heraldry, a cross, 
small in the centre, and widening to the 
extremes, whieh are very broad. 
PATELLA, in anatomy, a bone which 
covers the fore-part of the joint of the knee, 
called also rotula, and popularly the kneepan. 
Pateela, in natural history, limpet, a 
genus of the Vermes Testacea: animal a 
limax : shell univalve, subconic, shaped like 
a bason ; without a spine. This is a very 
numerous genus, containing between two 
and three hundred species, divided into 
sections. A. Furnished with an internal 
lip ; shell entire. B. With the margin an- 
gular, or irregularly toothed. C.With a point- 
ed, recurved tip or crown. D. Very entire, 
and not pointed at the tip or crown. E.With 
the crown or tip perforated. The most 
worthy of notice are the following. P. vul- 
PAT ^ 
gata, with rough prominent stria;, am# 
sharply crenated edges ; vertex pretty near 
the centre ; the edges often in old subjects 
are almost smooth. P. peilucida, with a 
transparent shell, marked longitudinally 
with rows of rich blue spots ; the vertex 
placed near one edge; inhabits the sea 
rocks of Cornwall. P. graeca, with an ob- 
long shell, perforated vertex, striated rough- 
ly to the edges. It inhabits the west of 
England. This genus was well known to 
the ancient Greeks, from Whom we learn 
that it was used for the fable, and that it 
was found adhering to the rocks. 
PATENT, something that stands open 
or expanded : thus a leaf is said to be pa- 
tent when it stands nearly at right angles 
with the stalk. 
Patent, or Letters Patent, are writings 
sealed with the great seal of England, by 
which a man is authorized to do, or to enjoy, 
any thing which of himself he could not. 
They are so called on account of their 
fonn, being open, with their seal affixed, 
ready to be exhibited for the confirmation 
of the authority delegated by them. Letters 
patent for new inventions are obtained by 
petition to the crown: they go through 
many oflices, and are liable to opposition, 
on account of the want of novelty, &c. and 
if obtained, and it can be proved that the 
invention was not new, or had been made 
public previously to the granting the patent, 
they may be set aside. A patent at the 
lowest cost, and when no opposition is given 
to it, will, for fees of office, specification, 
&c. cost for the three branches of the 
United Kingdom about three hundred 
pounds. 
PATRIOT, “ a sincere and unbiassed 
friend to his country ; an advocate for gene- 
ral civilization, uniting in his conduct 
through life moral rectitude with political 
integrity. Such a character is seldom found 
in any country ; but the specious appear- 
ance of it Is to be seen every where, most 
especially in Europe. It is difficult to say 
how far the term can be used in a mili- 
tary sense, although it is not uncommon to 
read of a ‘ citizen soldier,’ and a ‘ patriot 
soldier.’ Individually considered, the term 
may be just, but it is hardly to be under- 
stood collectively. A celebrated English 
writer has left a treatise, intituled, “The 
Patriot King by which he means the first 
magistrate of a country who acts up to ths 
genuine principles of its constitution. It is 
devoutly to be wished, (human nature being 
so constituted as to require coercion) that 
