A
Unitarian
clergyman and
poet ; born in Litchfield, Conn.
poet ; born in Litchfield, Conn.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v29 - BIographical Dictionary
Among his works
are : (Henry IV. and Philip III. : Origin of
French Preponderance in Europe, 1598-1610)
(3 vols. , 1871); (The Age of Louis XIV. ? (1879);
(Origins of Modern Catholicism' (1884).
Philips, Ambrose. An English poet; born
in Leicestershire, 1675 (? ); died 1749. He wrote
a series of Pastorals) (1709); 'The Distressed
Mother) (1712), a drama adapted from the
(Andromache) of Racine, and highly praised
by Addison in the Spectator; (The Briton'
and Humphry, Duke of Gloucester,' dramas
( 1722 ). He wrote also some epigrams, and
made translations of odes of Pindar, Anacreon,
and Sappho.
Philips or Phillips, Edward. An English
miscellaneous writer, nephew of Milton; born
at London, 1630; died about 1696.
He was
a voluminous writer. Among his works are:
(New World of English Words) (1658); (Mys.
teries of Love and Eloquence; or, The Arts of
Wooing, etc. (1658); “Compendious Latin Dic-
tionary) (1682); Poem on the Coronation of
his Most Sacred Majesty King James II. and
his Royal Consort' (1685).
Philips, Francis Charles. An English bar-
rister, playwright, and novelist; born in 1849.
After long service as officer in the army, he
retired from it and became a barrister. From
1874 to 1880 he was lessee of the Globe Thea-
tre, London. His novels include: As in a
Looking-Glass) (1885), translated into several
languages, and dramatized for Mrs. Beere and
Sarah Bernhardt; (A Lucky Young Woman)
(1886); (The Dean and his Daughter) (1887),
dramatized; (Mrs. Bouverie (1894). He was
also collaborator in the acted plays (Husband
and Wife); "Godpapa'; etc.
Philips, John. An English dramatist; born
at Bampton in Oxfordshire, 1676; died 1709.
He was an ardent student of the ancient classics,
and also of Chaucer, Spenser, and Milton. He
came into the favorable notice of critics and
lovers of poetry with "The Splendid Shilling)
(1703), pronounced by the Tatler. «the best
burlesque poem in the English language. In
a like burlesque vein he wrote (Blenheim
(1705); then the didactic poem (Cyder) in
imitation of Virgil's "Georgics.
Philips, Katherine Fowler. [“ The Match-
less Orinda. ”] An English poet; born in Lon-
don, Jan. I, 1631; died June 22, 1664. She
wrote many poems, and translated Corneille's
(Horace) and (Pompée. She signed herself
“Orinda) in correspondence with literary
friends, and was pronounced "matchless ) for
her poetry, first collected in 1678. Dryden,
Cowley, Jeremy Taylor, and others eulogized
it extravagantly; but personal admiration for
the woman probably affected their judgment.
Phillips, George Searle. [“ January Searle. ”
An English-American littérateur; born in
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428
PHILLIPS - PICARD
England in 1818; died in 1889. He was a
well-known writer and lecturer of Yorkshire,
England, who removed to this country and
became prominent in literary circles. He pub-
lished: (Chapters in the History of a Life);
(Memoirs of Wordsworth); and (The Gypsies
of Dane's Dyke.
Phillips, Henry. An American writer and
lawyer of Philadelphia; born in Pennsylvania,
1838. He has written : History of American
Colonial Paper Currency); History of Ameri-
can Continental Paper Money); Pleasures of
Numismatic Science); Poems from the Span-
ish and German. '
Phillips, Wendell. An eminent American
social and political reformer and orator; born
at Boston, Nov. 29, 1811; died there, Feb. 2,
1884. He wrote: (The Constitution a Pro-
Slavery Compact! ( 1840 ); (Can Abolition-
ists Vote or Take Office ? ) (1845); Review
of Spooner's “Constitutionality of Slavery »
(1847); “Review of Webster's Speech of March
7th) ( 1850 ); Review of Kossuth's Course)
(1851); Defense of the Anti-Slavery Movement)
(1853); (Addresses' (1859); 'Speeches, Lectures,
and Letters) (1863). *
Philo the Jew (fi'lo), or Philo Judæus. An
Alexandrine Jewish philosopher; born at Alex-
andria about 20 B. C. About the year 40, in
his old age, he went to Rome at the head of
a Jewish embassy, to persuade the emperor
Caligula to exempt the Jews from the obliga-
tion of paying the emperor divine honors; a
full account of this mission is given in Philo's
extant work (On the Embassy to Caius. We
have still many of his writings, or considerable
fragments of them; an edition of them has
been published (8 vols. , 1851-54).
Philolaus (fil-o-lā'us). A Greek Pythagorean
philosopher, native of Magna Græcia; con-
temporary with Socrates. Only fragments of
his writings have come down to us.
He was
the first to commit to writing the doctrines of
Pythagoras. He taught the doctrine of the
earth's motion; that the sphere of the fixed
stars, the five planets, and the sun, moon, and
earth, move round the central fire, which is
the hearth of the universe. )
Philostratus (fi-los'tra-tus). A Greek rhet-
orician and sophist; born in the island of
Lemnos between 170 and 180 A. D. ; died about
250. Of his writings five are extant: viz. , Life
of Apollonius of Tyana, the famous religious
impostor and thaumaturge; Lives of the Soph-
ists); (Heroics); "Images); and (Epistles. )
Philoxenus (fi-lok'se-nus). A Greek poet ;
born in the island of Cythera about B. C. 435;
died at Ephesus, B. C. 380. He was taken
prisoner in war, conveyed as a slave to Ath-
ens, and sold to the musician Melanippides, who
gave him a liberal education. At the court
of Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse, he brought
upon himself condemnation to servitude in the
quarries by refusing to praise the autocrat's
verses; when brought again before the tyrant
and asked what he thought of the verses now,
he answered, " Take me away to the quarries. ”
He took his revenge on Dionysius in his dithy-
ramb 'Cyclops. He wrote 24 dithyrambs, and
a lyric poem on the genealogy of the Æacidæ.
Of his writings only scanty fragments remain.
Phenix, John. See Derby.
Phranza (fran'tsa) or Phranzes, George
(fran'tses). The last of the Byzantine his-
torians; born in 1401; died in 1478. He was
chamberlain of Manuel II. (Palæologus), and
protovestiary, or wardrobe keeper, to Constan-
tine XIII. , whose life he saved at the siege of
Patras (1429). After the capture of Constan-
tinople by Mohammed II. he escaped to Corfu,
and retiring to a monastery, wrote his inter-
esting and reliable Chronicon' or Byzantine
history, covering the period from 1259 to 1477.
Phrynichus (frin'i-kus). A Greek tragic poet
of the fifth century B. C. Departing from the
custom of tragic poets, he took for the subject
of his greatest tragedy 'The Capture of Miletus)
by the Persians, a contemporary event. It
moved the Athenians profoundly, but they fined
the poet 1,000 drachmas for harrowing their
sensibilities by rehearsing the woes of their
allies. Next he wrote: (The Phænician Wo-
men, commemorating the defeat of Xerxes at
Salamis. He wrote also several tragedies on
legendary themes, as (The Danaids); (Ac-
tæon); (Alcestis); 'Tantalus. ' Only fragments
of his plays remain.
Piatt, Donn. An American lawyer, journal-
ist, and author; born in Cincinnati, O. , 1819;
died in 1891. He began his career as a lawyer;
was secretary of the Paris legation in Pierce's
administration ; served as colonel of volunteers
during the Civil War; and subsequently be-
came famous as a journalist in Washington.
His works include: Memories of Men Who
Saved the Union (1887); (The Lone Grave
of the Shenandoah) (1888); Life of General
George H. Thomas) (1893).
Piatt, John James. An American journalist
and poet, nephew of Donn; born at Milton,
Ind. , 1835. He entered journalism; became
clerk of the U. S. Treasury Department and
the House of Representatives; and from 1882
to 1894 was consul at Cork, Ireland. He has
written poems of considerable merit and ori-
ginality. His works include : Poems by Two
Friends) (1860), with W. D. Howells; (The
Nests at Washington (1863), with Mrs. Piatt;
(Poems in Sunshine and Firelight) (1866);
(Western Windows) (1868); Idyls and Lyrics
of the Ohio Valley) (1884).
Piatt, Mrs. Sarah Morgan (Bryan). An
American poet, wife of John J. ; born at Lex.
ington, Ky. , 1836. Her best-known works are:
A Woman's Poems) (1871); (A Voyage to
the Fortunate Isles) (1874); Dramatic Persons
and Moods) (1880); (The Witch in the Glass)
(1888); "An Enchanted Castle) (1893).
Picard, Louis Benoît (pe-kär'). A French
writer of comedy ; born at Paris, July 29, 1769;
(
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PICHAT - PIETSCH
429
ences.
died there, Dec. 31, 1828. At 20 he was a
writer for the stage, but in 1797 he first came
into prominence with the comedy Mediocre
and Groveling' (worked over by Schiller in
(The Parasite). He then went upon the stage,
and in 1801 became director of the Louvois
Theatre ; but renounced the stage in 1807, was
elected to the French Academy, and was ap-
pointed director of the Imperial Academy of
Music. His best comedies are: (The Little
City); Monsieur Musard? (Mr. Trifler); “The
Puppets); “The Two Philiberts. )
Pichat, Michel (pē-shä'). A French dram-
atist; born at Vienne, 1790; died at Paris, 1828.
He wrote the tragedies (Turnus,' Leonidas)
(1825), which had great success, (William Tell);
(Ali Pasha) (1822), a melodrama; "Devotion of
the French Physicians at Barcelona' (1822), a
poem.
Pichler, Adolf (pich'ler). An Austrian poet
and naturalist; born at Erl in the Tyrol, Sept. 4,
1819. He wrote narratives of the revolution-
ary troubles of 1848, viz. : (The Days of March
and October in Vienna, 1848) (1850); and (The
Italo-Tyrolean War (1849), in which he served
as a volunteer. He wrote also a volume of
(Poems) (1853); “Hymns) (2d ed. 1857); (From
the Tyrol Mountains) (1862);(Epigrams) (1865);
(All Sorts of Stories from the Tyrol (1867);
(Boundary Stones, poetical narratives (1874);
(Literature and Art,' a volume of epigrams
(1879); "In My Time, personal recollections
(1892); (The Solitary) (1896).
Pichler, Karoline. An Austrian novelist;
born at Vienna, Sept. 7, 1769; died there, July
9, 1843. She was a very prolific writer. Among
her stories are: (Agathocles) (3 vols. , 1808);
(Woman's Worth) (4 vols. , 1808); “The Siege
of Vienna) (3 vols. , 1824); (The Castle among
the Mountains); Black Fritz. )
Pichon, Jérôme Frédéric, Baron (pē-shôn').
A French writer on historical subjects; born
at Paris, Dec. 3, 1812. Among his works are :
(The Apparition of Jehan de Meun; or, The
Dream of the Prior of Salon (1845); (The
Count d'Hoym, his Library and his Collections)
(2 vols. , 1880).
Pickering, Charles. An American natu-
ralist and author; born in Pennsylvania, 1805;
died in Boston, 1878. He traveled extensively,
and published the volumes: "The Races of
Man and their Geographical Distribution/
(1848); "Geographical Distribution of Animals
and Man) (1861); (Chronological History of
Plants) (1879).
Pickering, Henry. An American poet; born
in Newburg, N. Y. , 1781; died in New York,
1831. His poetical writings include: (Ruins
of Pæstum (1822); (Athens and Other Poems)
(1824); and (The Buckwheat Cake) (1831).
Pickering, John. A distinguished American
philologist and Oriental scholar ; born in Salem,
Mass. , 1777 ; died in Boston, 1846. He held
many important public positions; was president
of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,
and a member of various learned associations
at home and abroad. He published a paper
on the Adoption of a Uniform Orthography
for the Indian Languages) (1820); a (Vocab-
ulary of Words and Phrases Peculiar to the
United States) (1816); a (Greek Dictionary)
(1826); and wrote many pamphlets on scien-
tific and political questions.
Pico, Giovanni, Count of Mirandola (pē’ko).
An Italian scholar and philosopher; born at
Mirandola, Feb. 24, 1463; died at Florence,
Nov. 17, 1494. A prominent figure of his time,
he displayed more learning than depth or ori-
ginality of thought. He wrote (Heptaplus,' an
allegorical explanation of the creation ; (Philo-
sophical, Cabalistic, and Theological Conclus-
ions) (1486); (Of the Dignity of Man); etc.
(Works, Bologna, 1496 ; often republished. )
Picot, Georges (pē-kõ'). A French historian;
born at Paris, Dec. 24, 1838. He succeeded
Thiers as member of the Institute in 1878, and
on the death of Jules Simon in 1896 became
permanent secretary of the Academy of Sci-
He wrote: (Elections to the States-
General in the Provinces from 1302 to 1614)
(1874); (The Parliament of Paris under Charles
VIII. (1877); Judiciary Reform in France)
(1881); (A Social Duty and Workmen's Homes)
(1885); History of the States-General and
their Influence on the Government of France
from 1355 to 1614) (4 vols. , 1872), his principal
work, which twice won the Gobert prize of the
Academy (2d ed. 5 vols. , 1888).
Piedagnel, François Alexandre (pyā-dän-
yel'). A French verse-writer; born at Cher-
bourg, Dec. 27, 1831. He published three vol-
umes of poems: (Yesterday) (1882); (On the
Road) (1886); (April (1887). He wrote also :
Jules Janin) (1874); (J. F. Millet: Recollec-
tions of Barbizon (1878).
Pierce, Henry Niles. An American Epis-
copal bishop and author; born in Pawtucket,
R. I. , 1820. He spent many years in the West
as a missionary, and was consecrated bishop
in 1870. He has published many essays, ser-
mons, and reviews; and a volume of poems,
( The Agnostic, etc. (1884).
Pierpont, John.
A Unitarian clergyman and
poet ; born in Litchfield, Conn. , April 6, 1785;
died in Medford, Mass. , Aug. 27, 1866. Among
his works is (Airs of Palestine, and Other Po-
ems) (1840). One of his best-known poems
is (Warren's Address at the Battle of Bunker
Hill.
Piers Plowman. Assumed name of William
Longland or Langland. An English satirical
writer of the 14th century. His work (The
Vision of Piers Plowman religious and
moral allegory, in rhyme - is a picture of the
disorders in church and State prevailing at his
time.
Pietsch, Ludwig (pētsh). A German traveler
and designer; born at Dantzic, Dec. 25, 1824.
He wrote : (The World and Art' (2 vols, 1867);
## p. 430 (#446) ############################################
430
PIGAULT-LEBRUN
PINKERTON
:
(Travels in the East) (1870); From Berlin to
Paris : War Pictures) (1871); “Morocco) (1878);
(Pilgrimage to Olympia in 1876) (1879); (How
I Became an Author) (2 vols. , 1892-94).
Pigault-Lebrun (pē-go'lė-brün'), pseudo-
nym of Antoine P. de L'Epinoy. A French
novelist and dramatist ; born at Calais, April 8,
1753; died at La Celle Saint Cloud, July 24,
1835. He wrote more than 70 volumes of
stories, among them (The Child of the Car-
nival' (1792), “The Barons of Felsheim (1798),
(Spanish Madness) (1801); and several come-
dies, as (The Pessimist) (1789), (Rivals of
Themselves) (1798), Love and Reason (1799).
He wrote also Literary and Critical Miscel-
lanies) (2 vols. , 1816).
Pignotti, Lorenzo (pen-yot'tē). An Italian
poet and historian; born at Figlina, Tuscany,
1739; died at Pisa, 1812. Among his writings
are poems (On the Grave of Shakespeare
(1778); (The Shade of Pope (1791). He wrote
a book of Fables) (1779), which were very
popular; and a History of Tuscany' (9 vols. ,
1813).
Piis, Pierre Antoine Augustin (pēs). A
French dramatist ; born at Paris, 1755; died
1832.
Among his very numerous dramatic
pieces were : Aristotle in Love, vaudeville
(1780); “Summer Loves) (1781); (Two Sedan-
Chairmen' (1781); Marriage in Extremis)
(1782), a comedy in one act. His miscella-
neous writings included : Carlo-Robertiad
(1784), a satire on ballooning; (Easter Eggs
for my Critics) (1786).
Pike, Albert. An American lawyer, journal-
ist, and poet; born in Boston, Dec. 29, 1809;
died in Washington, D. C. , April 2, 1891. Early
in life he went West, entered journalism, and
later practiced law in Arkansas. He served as
captain of cavalry in the Mexican War, and was
a brigadier-general in the Confederate army
during the Civil War. His chief works are :
(Prose Sketches and Poems) (1834); "Hymns
to the Gods) (1839); Nugæ) (1854); Morals
and Dogma of Freemasonry) (1870).
Pike, Mrs. Mary Hayden (Green). An
American novelist; born in Eastport, Me. , Nov.
30, 1825. She will be best remembered as the
author of "Ida May) (1854), a novel dealing
with slavery and Southern life, which had a
large sale. She also published “Caste(1856),
and Bond and Free) (1858).
Pilch, Frederick Henry. An American verse-
writer; born at Newark, N. J. , March 5, 1842;
died at Bloomfield, N. J. , Dec. 3, 1889. He con-
tributed verses to the magazines, and published
a collection of Homespun Verses) (1889).
Pilkington, Mary. An English story-writer;
born at Cambridge, 1766; died 1839. Among
her very numerous writings were: Edward
Barnard; or, Merit Exalted' (1797); (Mentorial
Tales for Young Ladies) (1802); « The Sorrows
of Cæsar; or, Adventures of a Foundling Dog!
(1813); “The Shipwreck; or, Misfortune the
Inspirer of Virtuous Sentiments) (1819)
Pillet, Fabien (pē-vā'). A French journal-
ist; born at Lyons, 1772; died at Passy, 1855.
He published several volumes of dramatic criti.
cism, and a collection of Oddities, Stories,
Anecdotes, Epigrams, etc. , relating to the
stage (1838).
Pilpay or Pilpai (pil-pā'). The supposed
author of fables in India, which have been so
extensively used by other Oriental countries
and in Europe. *
Pindar (pin'där). The greatest of the Greek
lyric poets; born at Cynoscephala near Bæo-
tian Thebes, 522 B. C. ; died at Argos, about
450 B. C. The Alexandrine scholars divided
his poems into 17 books, comprising Hymns,
Pæans, Dithyrambs, Encomia, Songs of Victory.
There are now extant, apart from mere frag-
ments, only four books, all songs of victory
(epinikia) celebrating the victors in the Olym-
pian, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian games. *
Pindemonte, Ippolito (pēn'dā-mon'tā). An
Italian poet; born at Verona, Nov. 13, 1753;
died there, Nov. 18, 1828. His first essays in
verse were tragedies, which had little success;
he then turned to lyric and descriptive poetry,
and achieved a distinguished reputation. His
works are : (Poems of the Fields) (1788), among
the best of their kind in Italian literature;
(Various Poems) (1798); (Epistles in Verse)
(1805); a translation of Homer's Odyssey (1809
22 ); Discourses) (1819: Sermoni, after the
manner of Horace's “Satires,' called also Ser-
mones).
Pinero, Arthur Wing. A distinguished
English dramatist; born in London in 1855.
A lawyer's son, he studied for the law, then
became an actor, and ultimately left the stage
for dramatic authorship. His first comedy,
(Two Can Play at That Game,' was produced
in 1877, and has been followed by (Two Hun-
dred a Year) (1877); (The Money Spinner)
(1880); (The Magistrate) (1885); (Dandy Dick)
(1887); (Sweet Lavender) (1888); (The Prof.
ligate) (1889); "Lady Bountiful' (1891); “The
Second Mrs. Tanqueray) (1893), conceded to
be his most powerful work; (The Notorious
Mrs. Ebbsmith) (1895); (The Benefit of the
Doubt) (1896); "The Princess and the Butter-
fly) (1897),
Pinheiro-Chagas, Manuel (pēn-yâ'ro-shä'-
gäs). A Portuguese poet and miscellaneous
writer; born at Lisbon, 1842. Among his works
are: A Poem of Youth,' (The Angel of the
Hearth); some novels, as (The Court of John
V. , (The Red Mask,) Death's Guerrillas )
(1872), "The Viscountess's Secret'; dramas,
(Senhorita de Valfor) (1867), Helen,' (The
Jewish Woman, During the Battle) (1870);
some volumes of political comment and satire,
as Ministers of State, Priests, and Kings,
(Critical Essays, Portuguese Scenes and Fan-
cies, (Celebrated Portuguese, Madrid: Im-
pressions of Travel.
Pinkerton, Allan G. A famous American
detective; born at Glasgow, Scotland, 1819;
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PINKNEY – PLANCHÉ
431
died in Chicago, 1884. lle became involved
in the Chartist outbreak in Birmingham, and
emigrated to the United States in 1842. He
founded his detective agency in Chicago in
1850, and was in charge of the United States
secret service during the Civil War. His works
include: «The Molly Maguires) (1877); (The
Spy of the Rebellion (1883); (Thirty Years a
).
rard Coate. An American
; born at London, 1802; died
d. , 1828. He wrote a volume
5; republished 1838 and 1844).
Lynch Salisbury (Thrale)
Englishwoman, chiefly noted
up with Dr. Johnson. She was
onshire, Jan. 27, 1741; died
e received a good education,
763 Henry Thrale, a brewer
citurn and wholly absorbed
no allowed her little liberty.
. cquainted with Dr. Johnson
spent much time at their
with them. After Thrale's
Mr. Piozzi, a cultivated Ital.
siderable note; Johnson re-
nd left her with reproaches,
isidered it a social descent,
ince have echoed their sen-
she has written other things,
Dr. Johnson and her (Auto-
e works now read.
(pē-rôn'). A French poet;
ily 9, 1689; died at Paris, Jan.
n epigrammatist he holds the
in French literature. He wrote
jes, comedies, and comic operas,
wise none is now valued except the
medy' Metromania' (The Poetic Craze). His
pungent epigrams made him many enemies;
and when he was elected to the Academy,
Louis XIV. was prevailed upon to nullify the
choice. Hence the witty couplet proposed for
his epitaph :-
«ci git Piron, qui ne fut rien,
Pas même académicien; »
that is, “Here lies Piron, who was nothing, not
even Academician. ) *
Pisan, Christine de (pē-zän'). A French
poet; born at Venice, 1364; died about 1431.
Among her poems are : An Epistle to the
God of Loves) (1399); (Feats of Arms and of
Chivalry) (1404); Life and Good Ways of the
Wise King Charles V. (of France) (1404);
Lamentations over the Evils of the Civil War)
(1410); Moral Sayings.
Pisemskij, Aleksei Teofilaktovich (pē-zem'-
skē). A Russian novelist; born at Ramene in
the government of Kostroma, March 20, 1820;
died January 1881. His greatest novel is (A
Thousand Souls) (1858); he wrote also (The
Stormy Sea) (1863), «The Men of 1840) (1868),
(In the Whirlpool (1871). Some of his short
stories are in every way admirable, among them
(The Wood Demon) and (Pietershik. '
Pithou, Pierre (pē-tö'). A notable French
jurisconsult and historical writer; born at
Troyes, Nov. I, 1539; died at Nogent-sur-Seine,
Nov. I, 1596. Among his writings are: Me.
moirs of he Counts of Champagne) (1572);
(Reasons why the Bishops of France were
able to give absolution to Henry of Bourbon,
King of France (1593); (Comparison of Mo-
saic and Roman Laws) (1673).
Pitre, Giuseppe (pē-trā'). An Italian collector
of folk-lore; born at Palermo, Rec. 23, 1843.
He compiled and edited a "Library of Sicilian
Popular Traditions) (19 vols. , 1870-95), and
was editor of Archives for the Study of Pop-
ular Traditions, founded 1882. He is author
of a “Bibliography of Italian Folk-Lore Litera-
ture) (1894).
Pitre Chevalier, name assumed by Pierre
Michel François Chevalier. A French journal-
ist and historical writer; born 1812; died 1863.
He wrote several volumes of poems; also
"Studies on Brittany) (6 vols. 1839-42); An-
cient Brittany) (1844); Modern Brittany)
(1844); History of the War of the Cossacks
against Poland) (1859).
Pixérécourt, René Charles Guilbert de
(pex-ā-rā-kör'). A French dramatist ; born at
Nancy, Jan. 22, 1773; died July 27, 1844. He
wrote dramas, among them (Seligo; or, The
Generous Negro) (1793), (The Castle in the
Apennines; or, The Mysteries of Udolfo) (1798);
several very successful comedies, as (The Doc-
tor in Love,' (The Living Manikin; or, The
Wooden Husband, (Marcellus; or, The Sup-
posititious Heir) (1801); and many melodramas,
comic operas, etc.
Placentius, John Leo (plä-sen'shus). A Bel.
gian versifier, writing in Latin; born about
1500, at St. Trond (Liège); died about 1550.
Among his writings are: (Catalogue of all
Bishops of Tongres, Liège, etc. , a fabulous his-'
tory (1529); two comedies, one in prose, the
other in verse; an alliterative poem, Battle
of the Pigs, by P. Porcius, Poet' (Pugna Por-
corum, per P. Porcium, Poetam), in which every
word in the 253 verses begins with the letter p.
It was printed at Basle, 1552, in conjunction
with Hugbald's (Eclogue on Baldheads) (De
Calvis), in which every word begins with c.
Planard, François Antoine Eugène (plä-
när'). A French dramatist; born at Millau,
in Aveyron, Feb. 4, 1783; died at Paris, Nov.
13, 1853
Besides the novel (Almedan) (1825),
and some occasional verse, he wrote many
comedies, as (The Marrier of Old Women)
(1808); (The Family Portrait) (1809); (The
Supposititious Niece) (1813); (The Lucky
Meeting) (1821): and several libretti of comic
operas, among them (Last Wills and Love
Letters,' music by Auber; (The Manikin of
Bergamo, music by Fétis; Mina,' music by
Ambroise Thomas.
Planché, James Robinson (plon-shā'). An
English playwright, archæologist, and herald ;
born in London, Feb. 27, 1796; died May 29,
(
## p. 432 (#448) ############################################
432
PLATEN-HALLERMUND- PLUMPTRE
1880. He was an expert on the subject of
archæology and costumes; one of the founders
of the British Archäological Association; and
is credited with the authorship of 200 plays
and librettos, original and adapted. Among
his miscellaneous works are: Lays and Le-
gends of the Rhine) (1826-27); History of
British Costume) (1834); "Pursuivant of Arms)
(1851), a treatise on heraldry which procured
for him the appointment of Rouge Croix Pur-
suivant; (Popular Fairy Tales);(Recollections)
(2 vols. , 1872), chiefly literary and theatrical.
Platen-Hallermund, August, Count von
(plät'en-hälſler-mönd). An eminent German
poet ; born at Ansbach, Oct. 24, 1796; died at
Syracuse in Sicily, Dec. 5, 1835. His principal
works are : (Sonnets from Venice) (1824); (The
Fateful Fork) (1826), an Aristophanic comedy
ridiculing the reigning literary fashions of the
time ;(The Romantic Edipus) (1828), a comedy
with the same subject: then followed a num-
ber of lyric poems and odes, with the drama
(The League of Cambrai, and the epic story
(The Abassides,' written in 1830. His (Songs
of Poland) (1830) gave expression to his deep
hate for the Czar; though privately circulated
they were not published till after the poet's
death. *
Plato (plā'to). The renowned Greek philos-
opher; born at Athens, probably 427 B. C. ;
died there, 347 B. C. His writings seem to
have come down to us complete. They consist
of 44 separate works in 64 books, and are all
written in dialogue form. These dialogues are
classed in three series, marking three periods in
the philosopher's life. First, those written dur-
ing the life of Socrates or during the year or
two next following his death: in these Plato is
thoroughly under the Socratic influence, and
the discussion is ever on conduct, the founda-
. tions of morality. The dialogues of this period
are: the "Apology, Lysis, Charmides,
(Laches, (Protagoras, Menon' (Gorgias,' (Io,
(Euthyphro,' (Crito,' etc. In the second pe-
riod the object of research is the objective
ground of cognition : to this belong (Theætetus,
(The Sophist, (The Politician, (Parmenides.
The dialogues of the third period deal with
the problem of reducing to philosophical unity
the data of the several sciences,- physics, eth-
ics, politics, etc. : to this class belong Phæ-
drus,' “Symposium, Phædo,) (Philebus, (The
Republic,) (Timæus, (The Laws. No better
guide to the full sense and spirit of Plato's
dialogues need be wished than Jowett's trans-
lation, as revised by Jowett shortly before his
death. *
Plautus, Titus Maccius (plâ'tus or plou'-
tus). A celebrated Roman comic poet; born
at Sarsina in Umbria, about 254 (? ) B. C. ; died
at Rome about 184 B. C. According to Varro,
130 comedies passed current in his time as
written by Plautus; but of these Varro consid-
ered only 21 genuine. Twenty of these are
extant. In their plots, leading incidents, and
characters, and even in the outlines of the
dialogues, they are borrowed from Greek origi-
nals; but Plautus fairly makes this borrowed
material his own. Lessing declared Plautus's
"Captives to be “the best constructed drama
in existence”; and the greatest of modern
dramatists, as Shakespeare and Molière, did
not scruple to draw on the Roman poet for
motives of their comedies. *
Plavistshikoff, Peter Alexiévich (pläv-
ist'she-kof). A Russian dramatist; born at
Moscow, 1760; died there, 1812. Besides lyric
and didactic poems, he wrote these dramatic
pieces: (Ruric, Founder of the Russian Mon-
archy); (Takmass Kuli Khan, Prince of Si-
beria); Yemmak, Conqueror of Siberia); (The
Landless Peasant); (The American Savages.
Pliny the Elder, or the Naturalist (Caiu
Plinius Secundus) (plin'ē). A celebrated Ro.
man compiler of encyclopædic knowledge; born
at Novum Comum, the modern Como, 23
A. D.
are : (Henry IV. and Philip III. : Origin of
French Preponderance in Europe, 1598-1610)
(3 vols. , 1871); (The Age of Louis XIV. ? (1879);
(Origins of Modern Catholicism' (1884).
Philips, Ambrose. An English poet; born
in Leicestershire, 1675 (? ); died 1749. He wrote
a series of Pastorals) (1709); 'The Distressed
Mother) (1712), a drama adapted from the
(Andromache) of Racine, and highly praised
by Addison in the Spectator; (The Briton'
and Humphry, Duke of Gloucester,' dramas
( 1722 ). He wrote also some epigrams, and
made translations of odes of Pindar, Anacreon,
and Sappho.
Philips or Phillips, Edward. An English
miscellaneous writer, nephew of Milton; born
at London, 1630; died about 1696.
He was
a voluminous writer. Among his works are:
(New World of English Words) (1658); (Mys.
teries of Love and Eloquence; or, The Arts of
Wooing, etc. (1658); “Compendious Latin Dic-
tionary) (1682); Poem on the Coronation of
his Most Sacred Majesty King James II. and
his Royal Consort' (1685).
Philips, Francis Charles. An English bar-
rister, playwright, and novelist; born in 1849.
After long service as officer in the army, he
retired from it and became a barrister. From
1874 to 1880 he was lessee of the Globe Thea-
tre, London. His novels include: As in a
Looking-Glass) (1885), translated into several
languages, and dramatized for Mrs. Beere and
Sarah Bernhardt; (A Lucky Young Woman)
(1886); (The Dean and his Daughter) (1887),
dramatized; (Mrs. Bouverie (1894). He was
also collaborator in the acted plays (Husband
and Wife); "Godpapa'; etc.
Philips, John. An English dramatist; born
at Bampton in Oxfordshire, 1676; died 1709.
He was an ardent student of the ancient classics,
and also of Chaucer, Spenser, and Milton. He
came into the favorable notice of critics and
lovers of poetry with "The Splendid Shilling)
(1703), pronounced by the Tatler. «the best
burlesque poem in the English language. In
a like burlesque vein he wrote (Blenheim
(1705); then the didactic poem (Cyder) in
imitation of Virgil's "Georgics.
Philips, Katherine Fowler. [“ The Match-
less Orinda. ”] An English poet; born in Lon-
don, Jan. I, 1631; died June 22, 1664. She
wrote many poems, and translated Corneille's
(Horace) and (Pompée. She signed herself
“Orinda) in correspondence with literary
friends, and was pronounced "matchless ) for
her poetry, first collected in 1678. Dryden,
Cowley, Jeremy Taylor, and others eulogized
it extravagantly; but personal admiration for
the woman probably affected their judgment.
Phillips, George Searle. [“ January Searle. ”
An English-American littérateur; born in
## p. 428 (#444) ############################################
428
PHILLIPS - PICARD
England in 1818; died in 1889. He was a
well-known writer and lecturer of Yorkshire,
England, who removed to this country and
became prominent in literary circles. He pub-
lished: (Chapters in the History of a Life);
(Memoirs of Wordsworth); and (The Gypsies
of Dane's Dyke.
Phillips, Henry. An American writer and
lawyer of Philadelphia; born in Pennsylvania,
1838. He has written : History of American
Colonial Paper Currency); History of Ameri-
can Continental Paper Money); Pleasures of
Numismatic Science); Poems from the Span-
ish and German. '
Phillips, Wendell. An eminent American
social and political reformer and orator; born
at Boston, Nov. 29, 1811; died there, Feb. 2,
1884. He wrote: (The Constitution a Pro-
Slavery Compact! ( 1840 ); (Can Abolition-
ists Vote or Take Office ? ) (1845); Review
of Spooner's “Constitutionality of Slavery »
(1847); “Review of Webster's Speech of March
7th) ( 1850 ); Review of Kossuth's Course)
(1851); Defense of the Anti-Slavery Movement)
(1853); (Addresses' (1859); 'Speeches, Lectures,
and Letters) (1863). *
Philo the Jew (fi'lo), or Philo Judæus. An
Alexandrine Jewish philosopher; born at Alex-
andria about 20 B. C. About the year 40, in
his old age, he went to Rome at the head of
a Jewish embassy, to persuade the emperor
Caligula to exempt the Jews from the obliga-
tion of paying the emperor divine honors; a
full account of this mission is given in Philo's
extant work (On the Embassy to Caius. We
have still many of his writings, or considerable
fragments of them; an edition of them has
been published (8 vols. , 1851-54).
Philolaus (fil-o-lā'us). A Greek Pythagorean
philosopher, native of Magna Græcia; con-
temporary with Socrates. Only fragments of
his writings have come down to us.
He was
the first to commit to writing the doctrines of
Pythagoras. He taught the doctrine of the
earth's motion; that the sphere of the fixed
stars, the five planets, and the sun, moon, and
earth, move round the central fire, which is
the hearth of the universe. )
Philostratus (fi-los'tra-tus). A Greek rhet-
orician and sophist; born in the island of
Lemnos between 170 and 180 A. D. ; died about
250. Of his writings five are extant: viz. , Life
of Apollonius of Tyana, the famous religious
impostor and thaumaturge; Lives of the Soph-
ists); (Heroics); "Images); and (Epistles. )
Philoxenus (fi-lok'se-nus). A Greek poet ;
born in the island of Cythera about B. C. 435;
died at Ephesus, B. C. 380. He was taken
prisoner in war, conveyed as a slave to Ath-
ens, and sold to the musician Melanippides, who
gave him a liberal education. At the court
of Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse, he brought
upon himself condemnation to servitude in the
quarries by refusing to praise the autocrat's
verses; when brought again before the tyrant
and asked what he thought of the verses now,
he answered, " Take me away to the quarries. ”
He took his revenge on Dionysius in his dithy-
ramb 'Cyclops. He wrote 24 dithyrambs, and
a lyric poem on the genealogy of the Æacidæ.
Of his writings only scanty fragments remain.
Phenix, John. See Derby.
Phranza (fran'tsa) or Phranzes, George
(fran'tses). The last of the Byzantine his-
torians; born in 1401; died in 1478. He was
chamberlain of Manuel II. (Palæologus), and
protovestiary, or wardrobe keeper, to Constan-
tine XIII. , whose life he saved at the siege of
Patras (1429). After the capture of Constan-
tinople by Mohammed II. he escaped to Corfu,
and retiring to a monastery, wrote his inter-
esting and reliable Chronicon' or Byzantine
history, covering the period from 1259 to 1477.
Phrynichus (frin'i-kus). A Greek tragic poet
of the fifth century B. C. Departing from the
custom of tragic poets, he took for the subject
of his greatest tragedy 'The Capture of Miletus)
by the Persians, a contemporary event. It
moved the Athenians profoundly, but they fined
the poet 1,000 drachmas for harrowing their
sensibilities by rehearsing the woes of their
allies. Next he wrote: (The Phænician Wo-
men, commemorating the defeat of Xerxes at
Salamis. He wrote also several tragedies on
legendary themes, as (The Danaids); (Ac-
tæon); (Alcestis); 'Tantalus. ' Only fragments
of his plays remain.
Piatt, Donn. An American lawyer, journal-
ist, and author; born in Cincinnati, O. , 1819;
died in 1891. He began his career as a lawyer;
was secretary of the Paris legation in Pierce's
administration ; served as colonel of volunteers
during the Civil War; and subsequently be-
came famous as a journalist in Washington.
His works include: Memories of Men Who
Saved the Union (1887); (The Lone Grave
of the Shenandoah) (1888); Life of General
George H. Thomas) (1893).
Piatt, John James. An American journalist
and poet, nephew of Donn; born at Milton,
Ind. , 1835. He entered journalism; became
clerk of the U. S. Treasury Department and
the House of Representatives; and from 1882
to 1894 was consul at Cork, Ireland. He has
written poems of considerable merit and ori-
ginality. His works include : Poems by Two
Friends) (1860), with W. D. Howells; (The
Nests at Washington (1863), with Mrs. Piatt;
(Poems in Sunshine and Firelight) (1866);
(Western Windows) (1868); Idyls and Lyrics
of the Ohio Valley) (1884).
Piatt, Mrs. Sarah Morgan (Bryan). An
American poet, wife of John J. ; born at Lex.
ington, Ky. , 1836. Her best-known works are:
A Woman's Poems) (1871); (A Voyage to
the Fortunate Isles) (1874); Dramatic Persons
and Moods) (1880); (The Witch in the Glass)
(1888); "An Enchanted Castle) (1893).
Picard, Louis Benoît (pe-kär'). A French
writer of comedy ; born at Paris, July 29, 1769;
(
## p. 429 (#445) ############################################
PICHAT - PIETSCH
429
ences.
died there, Dec. 31, 1828. At 20 he was a
writer for the stage, but in 1797 he first came
into prominence with the comedy Mediocre
and Groveling' (worked over by Schiller in
(The Parasite). He then went upon the stage,
and in 1801 became director of the Louvois
Theatre ; but renounced the stage in 1807, was
elected to the French Academy, and was ap-
pointed director of the Imperial Academy of
Music. His best comedies are: (The Little
City); Monsieur Musard? (Mr. Trifler); “The
Puppets); “The Two Philiberts. )
Pichat, Michel (pē-shä'). A French dram-
atist; born at Vienne, 1790; died at Paris, 1828.
He wrote the tragedies (Turnus,' Leonidas)
(1825), which had great success, (William Tell);
(Ali Pasha) (1822), a melodrama; "Devotion of
the French Physicians at Barcelona' (1822), a
poem.
Pichler, Adolf (pich'ler). An Austrian poet
and naturalist; born at Erl in the Tyrol, Sept. 4,
1819. He wrote narratives of the revolution-
ary troubles of 1848, viz. : (The Days of March
and October in Vienna, 1848) (1850); and (The
Italo-Tyrolean War (1849), in which he served
as a volunteer. He wrote also a volume of
(Poems) (1853); “Hymns) (2d ed. 1857); (From
the Tyrol Mountains) (1862);(Epigrams) (1865);
(All Sorts of Stories from the Tyrol (1867);
(Boundary Stones, poetical narratives (1874);
(Literature and Art,' a volume of epigrams
(1879); "In My Time, personal recollections
(1892); (The Solitary) (1896).
Pichler, Karoline. An Austrian novelist;
born at Vienna, Sept. 7, 1769; died there, July
9, 1843. She was a very prolific writer. Among
her stories are: (Agathocles) (3 vols. , 1808);
(Woman's Worth) (4 vols. , 1808); “The Siege
of Vienna) (3 vols. , 1824); (The Castle among
the Mountains); Black Fritz. )
Pichon, Jérôme Frédéric, Baron (pē-shôn').
A French writer on historical subjects; born
at Paris, Dec. 3, 1812. Among his works are :
(The Apparition of Jehan de Meun; or, The
Dream of the Prior of Salon (1845); (The
Count d'Hoym, his Library and his Collections)
(2 vols. , 1880).
Pickering, Charles. An American natu-
ralist and author; born in Pennsylvania, 1805;
died in Boston, 1878. He traveled extensively,
and published the volumes: "The Races of
Man and their Geographical Distribution/
(1848); "Geographical Distribution of Animals
and Man) (1861); (Chronological History of
Plants) (1879).
Pickering, Henry. An American poet; born
in Newburg, N. Y. , 1781; died in New York,
1831. His poetical writings include: (Ruins
of Pæstum (1822); (Athens and Other Poems)
(1824); and (The Buckwheat Cake) (1831).
Pickering, John. A distinguished American
philologist and Oriental scholar ; born in Salem,
Mass. , 1777 ; died in Boston, 1846. He held
many important public positions; was president
of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,
and a member of various learned associations
at home and abroad. He published a paper
on the Adoption of a Uniform Orthography
for the Indian Languages) (1820); a (Vocab-
ulary of Words and Phrases Peculiar to the
United States) (1816); a (Greek Dictionary)
(1826); and wrote many pamphlets on scien-
tific and political questions.
Pico, Giovanni, Count of Mirandola (pē’ko).
An Italian scholar and philosopher; born at
Mirandola, Feb. 24, 1463; died at Florence,
Nov. 17, 1494. A prominent figure of his time,
he displayed more learning than depth or ori-
ginality of thought. He wrote (Heptaplus,' an
allegorical explanation of the creation ; (Philo-
sophical, Cabalistic, and Theological Conclus-
ions) (1486); (Of the Dignity of Man); etc.
(Works, Bologna, 1496 ; often republished. )
Picot, Georges (pē-kõ'). A French historian;
born at Paris, Dec. 24, 1838. He succeeded
Thiers as member of the Institute in 1878, and
on the death of Jules Simon in 1896 became
permanent secretary of the Academy of Sci-
He wrote: (Elections to the States-
General in the Provinces from 1302 to 1614)
(1874); (The Parliament of Paris under Charles
VIII. (1877); Judiciary Reform in France)
(1881); (A Social Duty and Workmen's Homes)
(1885); History of the States-General and
their Influence on the Government of France
from 1355 to 1614) (4 vols. , 1872), his principal
work, which twice won the Gobert prize of the
Academy (2d ed. 5 vols. , 1888).
Piedagnel, François Alexandre (pyā-dän-
yel'). A French verse-writer; born at Cher-
bourg, Dec. 27, 1831. He published three vol-
umes of poems: (Yesterday) (1882); (On the
Road) (1886); (April (1887). He wrote also :
Jules Janin) (1874); (J. F. Millet: Recollec-
tions of Barbizon (1878).
Pierce, Henry Niles. An American Epis-
copal bishop and author; born in Pawtucket,
R. I. , 1820. He spent many years in the West
as a missionary, and was consecrated bishop
in 1870. He has published many essays, ser-
mons, and reviews; and a volume of poems,
( The Agnostic, etc. (1884).
Pierpont, John.
A Unitarian clergyman and
poet ; born in Litchfield, Conn. , April 6, 1785;
died in Medford, Mass. , Aug. 27, 1866. Among
his works is (Airs of Palestine, and Other Po-
ems) (1840). One of his best-known poems
is (Warren's Address at the Battle of Bunker
Hill.
Piers Plowman. Assumed name of William
Longland or Langland. An English satirical
writer of the 14th century. His work (The
Vision of Piers Plowman religious and
moral allegory, in rhyme - is a picture of the
disorders in church and State prevailing at his
time.
Pietsch, Ludwig (pētsh). A German traveler
and designer; born at Dantzic, Dec. 25, 1824.
He wrote : (The World and Art' (2 vols, 1867);
## p. 430 (#446) ############################################
430
PIGAULT-LEBRUN
PINKERTON
:
(Travels in the East) (1870); From Berlin to
Paris : War Pictures) (1871); “Morocco) (1878);
(Pilgrimage to Olympia in 1876) (1879); (How
I Became an Author) (2 vols. , 1892-94).
Pigault-Lebrun (pē-go'lė-brün'), pseudo-
nym of Antoine P. de L'Epinoy. A French
novelist and dramatist ; born at Calais, April 8,
1753; died at La Celle Saint Cloud, July 24,
1835. He wrote more than 70 volumes of
stories, among them (The Child of the Car-
nival' (1792), “The Barons of Felsheim (1798),
(Spanish Madness) (1801); and several come-
dies, as (The Pessimist) (1789), (Rivals of
Themselves) (1798), Love and Reason (1799).
He wrote also Literary and Critical Miscel-
lanies) (2 vols. , 1816).
Pignotti, Lorenzo (pen-yot'tē). An Italian
poet and historian; born at Figlina, Tuscany,
1739; died at Pisa, 1812. Among his writings
are poems (On the Grave of Shakespeare
(1778); (The Shade of Pope (1791). He wrote
a book of Fables) (1779), which were very
popular; and a History of Tuscany' (9 vols. ,
1813).
Piis, Pierre Antoine Augustin (pēs). A
French dramatist ; born at Paris, 1755; died
1832.
Among his very numerous dramatic
pieces were : Aristotle in Love, vaudeville
(1780); “Summer Loves) (1781); (Two Sedan-
Chairmen' (1781); Marriage in Extremis)
(1782), a comedy in one act. His miscella-
neous writings included : Carlo-Robertiad
(1784), a satire on ballooning; (Easter Eggs
for my Critics) (1786).
Pike, Albert. An American lawyer, journal-
ist, and poet; born in Boston, Dec. 29, 1809;
died in Washington, D. C. , April 2, 1891. Early
in life he went West, entered journalism, and
later practiced law in Arkansas. He served as
captain of cavalry in the Mexican War, and was
a brigadier-general in the Confederate army
during the Civil War. His chief works are :
(Prose Sketches and Poems) (1834); "Hymns
to the Gods) (1839); Nugæ) (1854); Morals
and Dogma of Freemasonry) (1870).
Pike, Mrs. Mary Hayden (Green). An
American novelist; born in Eastport, Me. , Nov.
30, 1825. She will be best remembered as the
author of "Ida May) (1854), a novel dealing
with slavery and Southern life, which had a
large sale. She also published “Caste(1856),
and Bond and Free) (1858).
Pilch, Frederick Henry. An American verse-
writer; born at Newark, N. J. , March 5, 1842;
died at Bloomfield, N. J. , Dec. 3, 1889. He con-
tributed verses to the magazines, and published
a collection of Homespun Verses) (1889).
Pilkington, Mary. An English story-writer;
born at Cambridge, 1766; died 1839. Among
her very numerous writings were: Edward
Barnard; or, Merit Exalted' (1797); (Mentorial
Tales for Young Ladies) (1802); « The Sorrows
of Cæsar; or, Adventures of a Foundling Dog!
(1813); “The Shipwreck; or, Misfortune the
Inspirer of Virtuous Sentiments) (1819)
Pillet, Fabien (pē-vā'). A French journal-
ist; born at Lyons, 1772; died at Passy, 1855.
He published several volumes of dramatic criti.
cism, and a collection of Oddities, Stories,
Anecdotes, Epigrams, etc. , relating to the
stage (1838).
Pilpay or Pilpai (pil-pā'). The supposed
author of fables in India, which have been so
extensively used by other Oriental countries
and in Europe. *
Pindar (pin'där). The greatest of the Greek
lyric poets; born at Cynoscephala near Bæo-
tian Thebes, 522 B. C. ; died at Argos, about
450 B. C. The Alexandrine scholars divided
his poems into 17 books, comprising Hymns,
Pæans, Dithyrambs, Encomia, Songs of Victory.
There are now extant, apart from mere frag-
ments, only four books, all songs of victory
(epinikia) celebrating the victors in the Olym-
pian, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian games. *
Pindemonte, Ippolito (pēn'dā-mon'tā). An
Italian poet; born at Verona, Nov. 13, 1753;
died there, Nov. 18, 1828. His first essays in
verse were tragedies, which had little success;
he then turned to lyric and descriptive poetry,
and achieved a distinguished reputation. His
works are : (Poems of the Fields) (1788), among
the best of their kind in Italian literature;
(Various Poems) (1798); (Epistles in Verse)
(1805); a translation of Homer's Odyssey (1809
22 ); Discourses) (1819: Sermoni, after the
manner of Horace's “Satires,' called also Ser-
mones).
Pinero, Arthur Wing. A distinguished
English dramatist; born in London in 1855.
A lawyer's son, he studied for the law, then
became an actor, and ultimately left the stage
for dramatic authorship. His first comedy,
(Two Can Play at That Game,' was produced
in 1877, and has been followed by (Two Hun-
dred a Year) (1877); (The Money Spinner)
(1880); (The Magistrate) (1885); (Dandy Dick)
(1887); (Sweet Lavender) (1888); (The Prof.
ligate) (1889); "Lady Bountiful' (1891); “The
Second Mrs. Tanqueray) (1893), conceded to
be his most powerful work; (The Notorious
Mrs. Ebbsmith) (1895); (The Benefit of the
Doubt) (1896); "The Princess and the Butter-
fly) (1897),
Pinheiro-Chagas, Manuel (pēn-yâ'ro-shä'-
gäs). A Portuguese poet and miscellaneous
writer; born at Lisbon, 1842. Among his works
are: A Poem of Youth,' (The Angel of the
Hearth); some novels, as (The Court of John
V. , (The Red Mask,) Death's Guerrillas )
(1872), "The Viscountess's Secret'; dramas,
(Senhorita de Valfor) (1867), Helen,' (The
Jewish Woman, During the Battle) (1870);
some volumes of political comment and satire,
as Ministers of State, Priests, and Kings,
(Critical Essays, Portuguese Scenes and Fan-
cies, (Celebrated Portuguese, Madrid: Im-
pressions of Travel.
Pinkerton, Allan G. A famous American
detective; born at Glasgow, Scotland, 1819;
## p. 431 (#447) ############################################
PINKNEY – PLANCHÉ
431
died in Chicago, 1884. lle became involved
in the Chartist outbreak in Birmingham, and
emigrated to the United States in 1842. He
founded his detective agency in Chicago in
1850, and was in charge of the United States
secret service during the Civil War. His works
include: «The Molly Maguires) (1877); (The
Spy of the Rebellion (1883); (Thirty Years a
).
rard Coate. An American
; born at London, 1802; died
d. , 1828. He wrote a volume
5; republished 1838 and 1844).
Lynch Salisbury (Thrale)
Englishwoman, chiefly noted
up with Dr. Johnson. She was
onshire, Jan. 27, 1741; died
e received a good education,
763 Henry Thrale, a brewer
citurn and wholly absorbed
no allowed her little liberty.
. cquainted with Dr. Johnson
spent much time at their
with them. After Thrale's
Mr. Piozzi, a cultivated Ital.
siderable note; Johnson re-
nd left her with reproaches,
isidered it a social descent,
ince have echoed their sen-
she has written other things,
Dr. Johnson and her (Auto-
e works now read.
(pē-rôn'). A French poet;
ily 9, 1689; died at Paris, Jan.
n epigrammatist he holds the
in French literature. He wrote
jes, comedies, and comic operas,
wise none is now valued except the
medy' Metromania' (The Poetic Craze). His
pungent epigrams made him many enemies;
and when he was elected to the Academy,
Louis XIV. was prevailed upon to nullify the
choice. Hence the witty couplet proposed for
his epitaph :-
«ci git Piron, qui ne fut rien,
Pas même académicien; »
that is, “Here lies Piron, who was nothing, not
even Academician. ) *
Pisan, Christine de (pē-zän'). A French
poet; born at Venice, 1364; died about 1431.
Among her poems are : An Epistle to the
God of Loves) (1399); (Feats of Arms and of
Chivalry) (1404); Life and Good Ways of the
Wise King Charles V. (of France) (1404);
Lamentations over the Evils of the Civil War)
(1410); Moral Sayings.
Pisemskij, Aleksei Teofilaktovich (pē-zem'-
skē). A Russian novelist; born at Ramene in
the government of Kostroma, March 20, 1820;
died January 1881. His greatest novel is (A
Thousand Souls) (1858); he wrote also (The
Stormy Sea) (1863), «The Men of 1840) (1868),
(In the Whirlpool (1871). Some of his short
stories are in every way admirable, among them
(The Wood Demon) and (Pietershik. '
Pithou, Pierre (pē-tö'). A notable French
jurisconsult and historical writer; born at
Troyes, Nov. I, 1539; died at Nogent-sur-Seine,
Nov. I, 1596. Among his writings are: Me.
moirs of he Counts of Champagne) (1572);
(Reasons why the Bishops of France were
able to give absolution to Henry of Bourbon,
King of France (1593); (Comparison of Mo-
saic and Roman Laws) (1673).
Pitre, Giuseppe (pē-trā'). An Italian collector
of folk-lore; born at Palermo, Rec. 23, 1843.
He compiled and edited a "Library of Sicilian
Popular Traditions) (19 vols. , 1870-95), and
was editor of Archives for the Study of Pop-
ular Traditions, founded 1882. He is author
of a “Bibliography of Italian Folk-Lore Litera-
ture) (1894).
Pitre Chevalier, name assumed by Pierre
Michel François Chevalier. A French journal-
ist and historical writer; born 1812; died 1863.
He wrote several volumes of poems; also
"Studies on Brittany) (6 vols. 1839-42); An-
cient Brittany) (1844); Modern Brittany)
(1844); History of the War of the Cossacks
against Poland) (1859).
Pixérécourt, René Charles Guilbert de
(pex-ā-rā-kör'). A French dramatist ; born at
Nancy, Jan. 22, 1773; died July 27, 1844. He
wrote dramas, among them (Seligo; or, The
Generous Negro) (1793), (The Castle in the
Apennines; or, The Mysteries of Udolfo) (1798);
several very successful comedies, as (The Doc-
tor in Love,' (The Living Manikin; or, The
Wooden Husband, (Marcellus; or, The Sup-
posititious Heir) (1801); and many melodramas,
comic operas, etc.
Placentius, John Leo (plä-sen'shus). A Bel.
gian versifier, writing in Latin; born about
1500, at St. Trond (Liège); died about 1550.
Among his writings are: (Catalogue of all
Bishops of Tongres, Liège, etc. , a fabulous his-'
tory (1529); two comedies, one in prose, the
other in verse; an alliterative poem, Battle
of the Pigs, by P. Porcius, Poet' (Pugna Por-
corum, per P. Porcium, Poetam), in which every
word in the 253 verses begins with the letter p.
It was printed at Basle, 1552, in conjunction
with Hugbald's (Eclogue on Baldheads) (De
Calvis), in which every word begins with c.
Planard, François Antoine Eugène (plä-
när'). A French dramatist; born at Millau,
in Aveyron, Feb. 4, 1783; died at Paris, Nov.
13, 1853
Besides the novel (Almedan) (1825),
and some occasional verse, he wrote many
comedies, as (The Marrier of Old Women)
(1808); (The Family Portrait) (1809); (The
Supposititious Niece) (1813); (The Lucky
Meeting) (1821): and several libretti of comic
operas, among them (Last Wills and Love
Letters,' music by Auber; (The Manikin of
Bergamo, music by Fétis; Mina,' music by
Ambroise Thomas.
Planché, James Robinson (plon-shā'). An
English playwright, archæologist, and herald ;
born in London, Feb. 27, 1796; died May 29,
(
## p. 432 (#448) ############################################
432
PLATEN-HALLERMUND- PLUMPTRE
1880. He was an expert on the subject of
archæology and costumes; one of the founders
of the British Archäological Association; and
is credited with the authorship of 200 plays
and librettos, original and adapted. Among
his miscellaneous works are: Lays and Le-
gends of the Rhine) (1826-27); History of
British Costume) (1834); "Pursuivant of Arms)
(1851), a treatise on heraldry which procured
for him the appointment of Rouge Croix Pur-
suivant; (Popular Fairy Tales);(Recollections)
(2 vols. , 1872), chiefly literary and theatrical.
Platen-Hallermund, August, Count von
(plät'en-hälſler-mönd). An eminent German
poet ; born at Ansbach, Oct. 24, 1796; died at
Syracuse in Sicily, Dec. 5, 1835. His principal
works are : (Sonnets from Venice) (1824); (The
Fateful Fork) (1826), an Aristophanic comedy
ridiculing the reigning literary fashions of the
time ;(The Romantic Edipus) (1828), a comedy
with the same subject: then followed a num-
ber of lyric poems and odes, with the drama
(The League of Cambrai, and the epic story
(The Abassides,' written in 1830. His (Songs
of Poland) (1830) gave expression to his deep
hate for the Czar; though privately circulated
they were not published till after the poet's
death. *
Plato (plā'to). The renowned Greek philos-
opher; born at Athens, probably 427 B. C. ;
died there, 347 B. C. His writings seem to
have come down to us complete. They consist
of 44 separate works in 64 books, and are all
written in dialogue form. These dialogues are
classed in three series, marking three periods in
the philosopher's life. First, those written dur-
ing the life of Socrates or during the year or
two next following his death: in these Plato is
thoroughly under the Socratic influence, and
the discussion is ever on conduct, the founda-
. tions of morality. The dialogues of this period
are: the "Apology, Lysis, Charmides,
(Laches, (Protagoras, Menon' (Gorgias,' (Io,
(Euthyphro,' (Crito,' etc. In the second pe-
riod the object of research is the objective
ground of cognition : to this belong (Theætetus,
(The Sophist, (The Politician, (Parmenides.
The dialogues of the third period deal with
the problem of reducing to philosophical unity
the data of the several sciences,- physics, eth-
ics, politics, etc. : to this class belong Phæ-
drus,' “Symposium, Phædo,) (Philebus, (The
Republic,) (Timæus, (The Laws. No better
guide to the full sense and spirit of Plato's
dialogues need be wished than Jowett's trans-
lation, as revised by Jowett shortly before his
death. *
Plautus, Titus Maccius (plâ'tus or plou'-
tus). A celebrated Roman comic poet; born
at Sarsina in Umbria, about 254 (? ) B. C. ; died
at Rome about 184 B. C. According to Varro,
130 comedies passed current in his time as
written by Plautus; but of these Varro consid-
ered only 21 genuine. Twenty of these are
extant. In their plots, leading incidents, and
characters, and even in the outlines of the
dialogues, they are borrowed from Greek origi-
nals; but Plautus fairly makes this borrowed
material his own. Lessing declared Plautus's
"Captives to be “the best constructed drama
in existence”; and the greatest of modern
dramatists, as Shakespeare and Molière, did
not scruple to draw on the Roman poet for
motives of their comedies. *
Plavistshikoff, Peter Alexiévich (pläv-
ist'she-kof). A Russian dramatist; born at
Moscow, 1760; died there, 1812. Besides lyric
and didactic poems, he wrote these dramatic
pieces: (Ruric, Founder of the Russian Mon-
archy); (Takmass Kuli Khan, Prince of Si-
beria); Yemmak, Conqueror of Siberia); (The
Landless Peasant); (The American Savages.
Pliny the Elder, or the Naturalist (Caiu
Plinius Secundus) (plin'ē). A celebrated Ro.
man compiler of encyclopædic knowledge; born
at Novum Comum, the modern Como, 23
A. D.
