640 PAR 
PARRAMAT'TA, a fettlement founded in New 
South Wales, near Port Jackfon ; ten miles weft of Syd¬ 
ney Cove. 
PARRAMPO'RE, one of the fmall iflands in the At¬ 
lantic ocean, which line the eaft coaft of Northampton 
county, Virginia. 
PAR'RAS, a town of Mexico, in the province of Za¬ 
catecas : ninety miles north of Zacatecas. 
PARRECE'Y, a town of France, in the department of 
the Jura : three miles fouth of Dole,and fournorth-north- 
eaft of Chauflin. 
PAR'REL, f. [a naval word.] A frame or machine to> 
fallen the yards to the mail, fo as to raife or lower them. 
PAR'RENNIN (Dominic), a diftinguilhed Jefuit mif¬ 
fionary, was born in 1665, at le Rulfey, in Franche-Comte. 
He entered among the Jefuits at Avignon in 1682 ; and, 
feeling a ftrong inclination to engage in the millions of 
the fociety, he was lent to China in 1698. The emperor 
Cam-hi, who reigned at that time, was favourable to the 
Chriftian mifiionaries, on account of the fcientific im¬ 
provements which they introduced into his dominions; 
and father Parrennin had mailers afiigned him for the 
Chinefeand Manlhoo-Tartar languages, in which he ac¬ 
quired a proficiency beyond that of any preceding Euro¬ 
pean. The emperor, who was a thoughtful and learned 
man, frequently converfed with him on the hiltory, man¬ 
ners, and politics, of Europe, and on different fciences 
with which he was defirous of becoming acquainted ; and 
the millionary was obliged to lludy hard, to fatisfy the cu- 
riofity of the Chinefe monarch. He tranllated into the 
Tartarian language every thing which he found new and 
curious in geometry, aftronomy, and anatomy, in the 
Memoirs of the French Academy of Sciences, and in other 
works. During the fpace of twenty years he followed 
this emperor in his progreffes through the different pro¬ 
vinces of the empire ; and for a Hill longer time he aFted 
as interpreter for all European miffionaries and ambaffa- 
dors who came into China, and as mediator in the dif- 
putes between the courts of Mofcow and Pekin. He 
drew' up many books in the Chinefe and Tartarian lan¬ 
guages, as well for the information of the emperor as the 
inftrudlion of the profelytes. He wrote a vail number of 
letters to correfpondents in Europe, relative to the bufi- 
nel’s of his million, and to the manners, cuftoms, fciences, 
and occurrences, of China, which were printed in Du 
Halde’s Collection. Of thefe the molt valuable are his 
letters to De Mairan. From the labours of this zealous 
millionary proceeded the maps of all the provinces of 
China, and of the Chinefe Tartary, with which Du 
Halde’s defcription of that empire is illuftrated. Par¬ 
rennin died at Pekin in 1741, and was honoured by the 
emperor Kien-Long with a public funeral. 
PAR'REO, a town of Hindooftan, in Bahar : twenty- 
three miles well-fouth-weft of Patna. 
PAR'REX, a river of England, which has its fource, 
and derives its name, from South Perrot, a fmall village 
about four miles fouth of Crewkerne, in Somerfetlhire, 
on the borders of Dorfetlhire, where it rifes from a fmall 
fpring, and paffes through a fine valley to Hafelbury, 
South Petherton, Langport (where it firft becomes navi¬ 
gable), Bridgewater, &c. and runs into the Brillol Chan¬ 
nel about ten miles below the laft town. Wilkeses Britijh 
Diredory, vol. ii. 
PARRHA'SIA, in ancient geography, a town of the 
Peloponnefus, in Arcadia: it is mentioned by Homer 
and Pliny; but not noticed by Paufanias nor Strabo. It 
was fuppofed to be founded by Parrhafius, the fon of Ju¬ 
piter. The Arcadians are fometimes called Parrluijians, 
and Areas Parrhafis. 
PARRHA'SIUS, a famous painter of antiquity, was a 
native of Ephefus.. His father, Even or, was alfo a pain¬ 
ter, and flourilhed in the ninetieth olympiad, or B,C. 420. 
The fon may be placed twenty-five years later, jwhich will 
correfpond with the age of Zeuxis, with whom he is re¬ 
lated to have had a competition. According to the re- 
P A R 
prefentation of Pliny, Parrhafius firft gave fymmetry to 
painting, firft threw a fprightly exprefiion into the coun¬ 
tenance, made the hair to flow with elegance, and in- 
fufed grace into the features; and, by the general con- 
fen t of artifts, excelled all painters in the contour or 
outline. As an inftance of his powers in exprefling the 
complications of character and fentiment, the fame writer 
mentions that he painted the Genius of the Athenian 
ftate, fickle and inconftant, at once mild and paflionate, 
clement and cruel, juft and unjuft, proud and humble, 
in Ihort, a medley of inconfiftencies. How he contrived 
to reprefent thefe contradictory qualities in one fubjeCt, 
we are not told, nor is it eafy to conceive. Some of his 
other celebrated pieces were a piClure of Thefeus, which 
appears to have procured him the citizenlhip of Athens, 
and was afterwards placed in the Capitol of Rome ; Me¬ 
leager, Hercules, and Perfeus, in one piece ; a Cretan 
nurfe, with a child in her arms; Bacchus, with Virtue 
Handing by; two admirable figures, one of a man run¬ 
ning a race in armour and feeming to fweat under the 
weight; the other pulling oft’ his armour and appearing 
to pant with the paft exertion. He likewife painted fan¬ 
cied portraits of many of the heroes of antiquity; and 
was not lefs diftinguilhed for the fertility than the powers 
of his pencil. His high reputation rendered him Angu¬ 
larly vain and arrogant. He affumed lofty titles, and 
affeCted a fplendor in his drefs beyond the condition of 
a private citizen. This might perhaps be the caufe of the 
preference given above him to Timanthes, when they 
painted in concurrence the conteft of Ajax with Ulyffes 
for the armour of Achilles. Parrhafius is faid to have 
relaxed from his greater exertions by fmall performances 
of a lafeivious character. A ftory which, if true, would 
render his memory deteftable, is the fubjeCt of one of the 
controverfial declamations of Seneca the rhetorician ; who 
lays, that this painter, having to reprefent Prometheus 
tortured, purchafed an old Olynthian captive, and caufed 
him to die in torments by way of a model. But this is 
probably a mere fiction ; for Olynthus was not taken till 
Parrhafius mud have been, if living, in extreme old age. 
It is certain that he was in high efteem among his co¬ 
temporaries; and Xenophon makes him an interlocutor 
with Socrates in a dialogue on the pictorial art. A work 
of his is the fubjeCt of an elegant epigram in the Greek 
Anthology; and there are feveral palfages in the poets 
alluding to his celebrity. See farther under the article 
Painting, p. 210 of this volume. 
PARRHA'SIUS (Aulus-Janus), the affumed name of 
Gianfaolo Parisio, an eminent philologift, born in 
1470. He was originally from Cofenza ; and his father, 
Tommafo Parifio, was a counfellor in the Neapolitan fe- 
nate. Having imbibed in his youth a decided tafte for 
polite literature, he difpleafed his father by declining the 
lludy of the law, and w'as deprived of further afliftance 
in his education. The wars in the kingdom of Naples 
occafioned his removal to Rome, where his life was 
brought into danger through his intimacy with two car¬ 
dinals who incurred the difpleafure of pope Alexander 
VI. He made his efcape to Milan, where he married a 
daughter of Demetrius Chalcondylas, and was appointed 
profeffor of eloquence in the univerfity. He was in this 
fituation in 1500, when he firft publilhed his Commenta¬ 
ries upon Claudian’s Rape of Proferpine. Such was the 
reputation he acquired by his learned lectures, that he had 
fometimes the famous general Trivulzi for an auditor. 
He had alfo among his fcholars the celebrated Andrea 
Alciati, who, however, afterwards brought a charge of 
impofture againft his mailer, as citing books which never 
exifted. The caufe of his quitting Milan, was an accu- 
fation of an infamous nature brought againft him 5 which 
perhaps, had no other foundation than the envy of his, 
rivals. He retired to Vicenza, where he was elected to 
the chair of eloquence with a liberal falary. The wars 
confequent upon the league of Cambray obliged him to 
quit that country 5 and he returned to his native place, 
where 
