Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama Part 95

=Prophecy.= Jourdain, the wizard, told the duke of Somerset, if he wished to live, to "avoid where castles mounted stand." The duke died in an ale-house called the Castle, in St. Alban's.

... underneath an ale-house' paltry sign, The Castle, in St. Alban's, Sumerset Hath made the wizard famous in his death.

Shakespeare, 2 _Henry VI._ act v. sc. 2 (1591).

Similar prophetic equivokes were told to Henry IV., Pope Sylvester II., and Cambyses (see JERUSALEM).

Aristomenes was told by the Delphic oracle to "flee for his life when he saw a goat drink from the river Neda." Consequently, all _goats_ were driven from the banks of this river; but one day, Theoclos observed that the branches of a fig tree bent into the stream, and it immediately flashed into his mind that the Messenian word for _fig tree_ and _goat_ was the same. The pun or equivoke will be better understood by an English reader if for _goat_ we read _ewe_, and bear in mind that _yew_ is to the ear the same word; thus:

When an _ewe_ [_yew_] stops to drink of the "Severn," then fly, And look not behind, for destruction is nigh.

=Prophetess= (_The_), Aye'shah, the second and beloved wife of Mahomet. It does not mean that she prophesied, but, like _Sultana_, it is simply a t.i.tle of honor. He was the _Prophet_, she the _Propheta_ or Madam Prophet.

=Prose= (_Father of English_), Wycliffe (1324-1384).

_Prose_ (_Father of Greek_), Herodotus (B.C. 484-408).

_Prose_ (_Father of Italian_), Boccaccio (1313-1375).

=Pros'erpine= (3 _syl._), called _Proserpina_ in Latin, and "Proser'pin"

by Milton, was daughter of Ce'res. She went to the field of Enna to amuse herself by gathering asphodels, and being tired, fell asleep. Dis, the G.o.d of h.e.l.l, then carried her off, and made her queen of the infernal reions.[TN-107] Ceres wandered for nine days over the world disconsolate, looking for her daughter, when Hec'ate (2 _syl._) told her she had heard the girl's cries, but knew not who had carried her off.

Both now went to Olympus, when the sun-G.o.d told them the true state of the case.

N.B.--This is an allegory of seed-corn.

Not that fair field Of Enna, where Proser'pin, gathering flowers, Herself a fairer flower, by gloomy Dis Was gathered--which cost Ceres all that pain To seek her thro' the world.

Milton, _Paradise Lost_, iv. 268 (1665).

=Prosperity Robinson=, Frederick Robinson, afterwards Viscount G.o.derich and earl of Ripon, chancellor of the exchequer in 1823. So called by Cobbett, from his boasting about the prosperity of the country just a little before the great commercial crisis of 1825.

=Pros'pero=, the banished duke of Milan, and father of Miranda. He was deposed by his brother, Antonio, who sent him to sea with Miranda in a "rotten carca.s.s of a boat," which was borne to a desert island. Here Prospero practised magic. He liberated Ariel from the rift of a pine tree, where the witch Syc'orax had confined him for twelve years, and was served by that bright spirit with true grat.i.tude. The only other inhabitant of the island was Caliban, the witch's "welp." After a residence in the island of sixteen years, Prospero raised a tempest by magic to cause the s.h.i.+pwreck of the usurping duke and of Ferdinand, his brother's son. Ferdinand fell in love with his cousin, Miranda, and eventually married her.--Shakespeare, _The Tempest_ (1609).

Still they kept limping to and fro, Like Ariels round old Prospero, Saying, "Dear master, let us go."

But still the old man answered, "No!"

T. Moore, _A Vision_.

=Pross= (_Miss_), a red-haired, ungainly creature, who lived with Lucie Manette, and dearly loved her. Miss Pross, although eccentric, was most faithful and unselfish.

Her character (dissociated from stature) was shortness.... It was characteristic of this lady that whenever her original proposition was questioned, she exaggerated it.--C. d.i.c.kens, _A Tale of Two Cities_, ii. 6 (1859).

=Proterius= of Cappadocia, father of Cyra. (See SINNER SAVED.)

=Protesila'os=, husband of Laodamia. Being slain at the siege of Troy, the dead body was sent home to his wife, who prayed that she might talk with him again, if only for three hours. Her prayer was granted, but when Protesilaos returned to death, Laodamia died also.--_Greek Mythology._

In Fenelon's _Telemaque_ "Protesilaos" is meant for Louvois, the French minister of state.

=Protestant Duke= (_The_), James, duke of Monmouth, a love-child of Charles II. So called because he renounced the Roman faith, in which he had been brought up, and became a Protestant (1619-1685).

=Protestant Pope= (_The_), Gian Vincenzo Ganganelli, Pope Clement XIV. So called from his enlightened policy, and for his bull suppressing the Jesuits (1705, 1769-1774).

=Proteus= [_Pro-tuce_], a sea-G.o.d who resided in the Carpathian Sea. He had the power of changing his form at will. Being a prophet also, Milton calls him "the Carpathian wizard."--_Greek Mythology._

By h.o.a.ry Nereus' wrinkled look, And the Carpathian wizard's hook [_or trident_].

Milton, _Comus_ (1634).

Periklym'enos, son of Neleus (2 _syl._), had the power of changing his form into a bird, beast, reptile, or insect. As a bee he perched on the chariot of Herakles (_Hercules_), and was killed.

Aristogiton, from being dipped in the Achelous (4 _syl._), received the power of changing his form at will.--Fenelon, _Telemaque_, xx. (1700).

The genii, both good and bad, of Eastern mythology, had the power of changing their form instantaneously. This is powerfully ill.u.s.trated by the combat between the queen of Beauty and the son of Eblis. The genius first appeared as an enormous lion, but the queen of Beauty plucked out a hair which became a scythe, with which she cut the lion in pieces. The head of the lion now became a scorpion, and the princess changed herself into a serpent; but the scorpion instantly made itself an eagle, and went in pursuit of the serpent. The serpent, however, being vigilant, a.s.sumed the form of a white cat; the eagle in an instant changed to a wolf, and the cat, being hard pressed, changed into a worm; the wolf changed to a c.o.c.k, and ran to pick up the worm, which, however, became a fish before the c.o.c.k could pick it up. Not to be outwitted, the c.o.c.k transformed itself into a pike to devour the fish, but the fish changed into a fire, and the son of Eblis was burnt to ashes before he could make another change.--_Arabian Nights_ ("The Second Calender").

_Proteus_ or _Protheus_, one of the two gentlemen of Verona. He is in love with Julia. His servant is Launce, and his father Anthonio or Antonio. The other gentleman is called Valentine, and his lady love is Silvia.--Shakespeare, _The Two Gentlemen of Verona_ (1594).

Shakespeare calls the word _Pro-te-us_. Malone, Dr. Johnson, etc., retain the _h_ in both names, but the Globe edition omits them.

=Protevangelon= ("_first evangelist_"), a gospel falsely attributed to St.

James the Less, first bishop of Jerusalem, noted for its minute details of the Virgin and Jesus Christ. Said to be the production of L. Carinus, of the second century.

First of all we shall rehea.r.s.e ...

The nativity of our Lord, As written in the old record Of the _Protevangelon_.

Longfellow, _The Golden Legend_ (1851).

=Protocol= (_Mr. Peter_), the attorney in Edinburgh, employed by Mrs.

Margaret Bertram, of Singleside.--Sir W. Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time, George II.).

=Protosebastos= (_The_), or SEBASTOCRATOR, the highest State officer in Greece.--Sir W. Scott, _Count Robert of Paris_ (time, Rufus).

=Protospathaire= (_The_), or general of Alexius Comnenus, emperor of Greece. His name is Nicanor.--Sir W. Scott, _Count Robert of Paris_ (time, Rufus).