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PEDESTAL. [COLUMN.)

and a pedlar is defined by him to be “one who travels the country PEDIGREE. A pedigree is a tabular view of the members of any with small commodities.” The same writer defines a hawker to be particular family, with the relations in which they stand to each other; one who sells his wares by proclaiming them in the street.” In legal together, usually, with some slight notice of the principal events of understanding however a hawker is an itinerant trader, who goes about the life of each, as the time and place of birth, marriage, death, and from place to place, carrying with him and selling goods; and a pedlar burial, the residence, the profession, or rank of the principal person is only a hawker in small wares. In the various acts of parliament named in it, and public offices held by him. Sometimes these are which impose duties upon them and regulate their dealings, they are accompanied by reference to evidence of the facts stated, as to inqui- always named in conjunction as hawkers and pedlars; and no distincsitions, parish-registers, monumental inscriptions, marriage-settlements, tion is made between them. and deeds of all kinds. But when there is much of this kind of infor. It has been for more than a century the policy of English law to mation and evidence introduced, the writing is rather called a genealogy, consider the conduct of trade by means of fixed establishments as more or genealogical history, than a pedigree; and many pedigrees, especially beneficial to the public than that of itinerant dealers; and it cannot those of early date, are wholly deficient of reference to evidence for be denied that the local trader being better known and more dependent proof of the things stated in them, and contain rarely dates or any upon his character than one who continually travels from place to thing more than the mere names of the parties who occur in them. place, there is a greater security for the respectability of his dealings. They appear to be the summaries, or things established by certain In conformity with this policy, statutes have been passed from time to evidences which may or may not now accompany them, in respect of time, obliging hawkers and pedlars to take out licences and to submit descents and relationships.

to specific regulations and restrictions, which are supposed to protect Some fanciful explanations have been given of the word. But the resident trader as well as the public from unfair dealing. These perhaps the true etymology may be that which refers it to the Latin reasons however have been given et post facto to justify the laws; for pedes graduum, the word pes, or pedes, being much used in the law the statutes which originally required licences for hawkers and im. Latin of the middle ages to denote summaries, or the ultimate result posed these duties appear to have merely contemplated a means of in any transaction, as in pedes finium and pedes compoti. So that a increasing the revenue. (8 & 9 Wm. III., c. 25; and 9 & 10 Wm. III.. pedigree is, as it were, a total of information or evidence respecting c. 27.) descents and kindredships.

The provisions by which the licences to hawkers and pedlars are now The Scripture genealogies, as they are called, are so many pedigrees, regulated are contained in the statute 50 Geo. III., c. 41; and the but with this difference from the proper idea of a pedigree, that they Amendment Act 52 Geo. III., c. 108. The duty of granting licences are not tabular, but narrative.

to hawkers and pedlars and enforcing the law against such persons is Tabular genealogies, or pedigrees properly so called, are not of very now entrusted to the commissioners of stamps, under the 1 & 2 Wm. frequent occurrence in the writings of the middle ages. But they are IV., c. 22; the particular conditions and regulations under which such sometimes found in public records, and in the evidences of private licences are to be granted being contained in the above-mentioned families, or entered in the chartularies of the monastic foundations. statute, 50 Geo. III., c. 41. They are generally short, containing for the most part only such Before a licence is granted to a person desirous of trading and matter as was wanted for the exhibition of some particular claim of travelling as a hawker or pedlar, the applicant must produce to the right. But at about the beginning of the 16th century, when the commissioners of stamps a certificate, signed by the officiating clergyCollege of Heralds began to pay more attention to the genealogy of the man and two householders within the parish in which he resides, English families in reference to their claims to dignities and to the attesting that he is of good character and a fit person to be licensed. distinction which the right to armorial insignia gives, many pedigrees Upon this certificate being given, the commissioners grant the licence, were compiled, and in the course of that century the heralds obtained which is only in force for one year, and the party who receives it is copies of all such accounts of the English families of any distinction as subject to a duty of 41. per annum, if he travels on foot or with horses could be supplied to them, and made such accounts matter of public alone, and an additional duty of 4. per annum if he travels with a record by entering them in the books which contain the record of their " horse, ass, mule, or other beast bearing or drawing burthen;" and official proceedings. To obtain information of this kind, it was the these duties are to be paid at the time of receiving the licence. All practice of the heralds of that century, and it continued to be their persons who act as hawkers or pedlars without such a licence are liable practice till about the year 1680, to visit the various counties of to a penalty of 50. Among other regulations, the hawker or pedlar is England from time to time in turn, and to collect from the mouths of required by the act to “cause to be written in large legible Roman the principal persons of each county what they knew of the changes capitals, upon the most conspicuous part of every pack, box, bag, trunk, which had taken place in the family since the time of the preceding case, cart, or waggon, or other vehicle in which he carries his goods, visitation, or what account could be given of themselves by families and of every room and shop in which he trades, and likewise upon who had recently stepped into the rank of gentry, or who had become every handbill or advertisement given out by him, the words Licensed recently settled in the county. The pedigrees thus collected are in Hawker,' together with the number, name, or other mark of his licence;" the visitation books at the College of Arms, and form a vast body of and in case of his omission so to do, he is liable to a penalty of 10%. ; this species of information highly important to those who are study and every unlicensed person who places these words upon his goods is ing critically the biography of the distinguished persons of the English liable to a penalty to the like amount. A hawker and pedlar travelling nation.

without a licence, or travelling and trading contrary to or otherwise Besides this grand collection of pedigrees, there are many similar than is allowed by the terms of his licence, or refusing to produce his collections made private persons, or by the heralds themselves in licence when required to do so by inspectors appointed by the comtheir private capacity. Many such collections are in the library of the missioners, or by any magistrate or peace-officer, or by any person to Heralds' College; others are in the British Museum; others in the whom he shall offer goods for sale, is liable in each case to a penalty hands of private persons. Copies of the visitation books are also often of 101. A person having a licence, and hiring or lending it to another to be found. The largest collection of copies is in the British person for the purpose of trading with it, and also the person who so Museum, though copies of some of the best visitation books are not trades with another's licence, are each liable to a penalty of 401. A in any of the collections in that depository. There are many copies hawker or pedlar dealing in or selling any smuggled goods, or knowin the libraries of Queen's College, Oxford, and Caius College, ingly dealing in or selling any goods fraudulently or dishonestly proCambridge.

cured, forfeits his licence, and is for ever afterwards incapacitated from Since the visitations were discontinued, there has been no official obtaining or holding a new licence. By the stat. 48 Geo. III., c. 84, and regular collection of pedigrees. But there has been a continual 6. 7, if any hawker or pedlar shall offer for sale tea, brandy, rum, addition made to the pedigrees which are on record in the visitation Geneva, or other foreign spirits, tobacco, or snuff, he may be arrested books by the entry in the books of the Heralds' College of their pedigree by any person to whom the same may be offered, and taken before a by particular families. In some cases, as of peers, this is compulsory. magistrate, who may hold him to bail to answer for the offence under When arms are granted or dignities conferred, it has been usual for the excise laws. families to record in the college what they know of their descents and By the stat. 6 Geo. IV., c. 80, any person hawking any spirits may alliances. But the books are open to any private family, who may, at be arrested, and upon conviction before a magistrate, incurs a forfeiture a moderate expense, enter a pedigree showing the existing state of the of the spirits, and may be sentenced to pay a penalty of 1001., and in family, and whatever is within the recollection of the older members default to undergo three months imprisonment with hard labour. of it, or can be proved by sufficient evidence. The entries thus By the provisions of the statutes 29 Geo. III., c. 26, 8. 6, and also of officially made are matter of record, and contain information which 50 Geo. III., c. 41, s. 7, no person coming within the description of a is often very interesting to the posterity of the persons who occur hawker or pedlar can lawfully, either by opening a shop and exposing in them, and may be of importance in protecting rights which belong goods to sale by retail in any place in which he is not a householder or to them.

resident, other than in a legally established public market during The authors of the books of topography have done something to market hours, or by any other means, sell goods either by himself or supply the loss of information of this kind which has been sustained any other person by outcry or auction, under a penalty of 501. by the disuse of visitations, such works usually containing notices of It is further provided by the 18th section of the 50 Geo. III., c. 41, the families who have possessed the more important interests in the that, if any person shall forge or counterfeit any hawker's or pedlar's district to which the work relates.

licence, or travel with, or produce, or show any such forged or counter. PEDIMENT. [GRECIAN ARCHITECTURE.)

feited licence, he shall forfeit the sum of 3001. PEDLAR. This word is said by Dr. Johnson to be a contraction PEERS OF THE REALM are persons to whom the law and confrom petty dealer, formed into a new term by long and familiar use; stitution attribute certain high diguities and privileges. Without

ARTS AND SCI. DIV. VOL. VI.

a

A A

meaning to decide the question whether lords spiritual are in strictness is what is meant by the dignity of a peer of the realm being in peers of the realm, the persons who fall under this description are the abeyance; it is divided among several persons, not one of whom dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts, and barons, and this without refer- possessing it wholly, none of them can therefore enjoy it. (PARence to the accident of age, an earl being as much a peer of the realm, CENERS.] But the crown possesses the power of determining the though a minor, and consequently not admissible to some of the high abeyance; that is, it may declare its pleasure that some one of the privileges of his order. Ladies may also in certain cases be peeresses of daughters, or the eldest male representative of some one of the the realm in their own right, as by creation, or as inheritors of baronies daughters, shall possess the dignity, as would have been the case had which descend to heirs general." The wives of peers are peeresses of there been a single daughter only; and in case of an heir thus enterthe realm, and entitled, in consequence of the rank, to certain privi- ing into possession of the dignity, he shall take that precedence among leges.

the barons in the House of Peers which belonged to the family of Under the several articles DUKE, MARQUESS, EARL, VISCOUNT, and whom he is the representative. A female who is only a co-heir of a especially Baron, will be found certain observations pertaining to each co-heir may also have the abeyance determined in her favour, distinct order of peers. On the remote origin of this order, and of Many of the peers, having a superior title limited to heirs male, the privileges belonging to it, especially that great privilege of forming have båronies in fee inherent in them; so that if A, one of them, die, a distinct and independent branch of the legislature, and being at the leaving a daughter, an only child, and a brother, the brother shall take same time the highest and last court of appeal, great obscurity rests, the superior title, and the barony descend to the daughter and the as it does indeed on the whole of the early constitution and history of heirs of her body. An eldest son of a peer enjoying a barony and a Parliament. [PARLIAMENT.] The reports of the committee of the superior dignity' is sometimes also called to the House of Peers in his House of Peers, which sat during several parliaments about the years father's barony. When this is done, is by writ of summons without 1817, 1818, and 1819, on the dignity of a peer of the realm, contain a a patent of creation (it not being in fact a creation of a new dignity, great amount of information on these topics, but leave undecided some but only in anticipation of the son's possession of it), and this is the of the more important questions connected with it.

case also when a barony is taken out of abeyance. It is now, however, clearly established, as a part of the laws and Thus the English portion of the House of Peers, or House of Lords, constitution of the realm, that every peer, of full age and of sound mind, for they are terms used in precisely the same sense, are the lords is entitled to take his seat in the House of Peers and to share in all the spiritual—that is, the archbishops and bishops—and the lords temporal, deliberations and determinations of that assembly; and that he has who are of one of the five orders (though many of the dukes possess privilege (perhaps not very distinctly defined) of access to the king or dignities of the four inferior kinds also, and their ancestors may bare queen regnant to advise concerning any matter touching the affairs of long had seats in that house in those inferior dignities before the the realm. These are great and eminent privileges, but they are family was raised to the dukedom), and these are either persons who accompanied by others which illustrate the great consequence and have been created peers by the crown, who have been admitted into deference which the constitution of England allows to the possessors the peerage by favour of the crown in virtue of the determination of of this dignity. If charged with any crime, they are not subject to the an abeyance, or who have inherited the dignity from some ancestor on ordinary tribunals, but the truth shall be examined by the peers them- whom it had been conferred. selves; they cannot be arrested in civil cases; a peer's affirmation on The fullest information on all points connected with the antiquarian honour is sometimes accepted where in ordinary cases an oath is part of this subject is to be obtained from the Reports of the Com. required; and scandals concerning them are peculiarly punishable. mittee of the House of Lords before referred to. Biographical accounts

It is now also clearly established that the crown may at its pleasure of the more eminent of the persons who have possessed these dignities create a peer-that is, advance any person to the dignity, and to any are to be found in that very valuable book, Dugdale's 'Baronage of one of the five orders; but that when once advanced the peer cannot England. In 1708, Arthur Collins, a London bookseller, published in be deprived of the dignity, or any of the privileges connected with it, a single volume an account of the peers then existing and their except on forfeiture of the dignity in due course of law; and the ancestors, a work of great merit. The demand for it appears to have dignity must descend, on his death, to others (as long as there are been great, as it was followed by other editions in quick succession. persons within the limitation of the grant), with all the privileges It assumed a higher character in 1734, when it appeared in four octavo appurtenant to it, usually to the eldest son, and the eldest of that volumes, great additions having been made to every article. From eldest son in perpetual succession, and so on, to the eldest male repre- that time there has been a succession of editions, each professing to be sentative of the original grantee. Some deviation from this rule of improvements on the preceding, and each bringing up the state of the descent, however, has occasionally occurred, special clauses having been peerage to the time when the work was printed. But as titles become introduced into the patent, which is the writing by which the crown extinct, and consequently the families bearing them are left out of the declares its will in this particular, limiting the descent of the dignity peerage-books, those who wish to possess a complete account of those in a particular way, as in the case of the creation of Edward Seymour eminent persons must procure many of the earlier editions of the work, as to the dukedom of Somerset, in the reign of Edward VI., when it was well as that which, being the latest, will for the most part be called the declared that the issue of the second marriage of the duke should suc- best. There are certain minor works giving the genealogical details of ceed to the dignity in preference to the son of a former marriage. the descent of the dignities, which are published almost every year; But generally, and perhaps universally for the two last centuries, the but they do not possess the authority of the older works, being too descent of a dignity has been limited to the next male heir of the courtly in the manner of their compilation to state the whole truth. blood of the person originally ennobled; sometimes with remainders PEGASUS, one of the old constellations, called by Aratus (and also to the next male heir of his father or grandfather. There is an instance by Hyginus) simply the Horse. The mythological accounts of Pegasus in the reign of Charles I. of a dignity of peer of the realm being granted (à son, it was said, of Neptune and the Gorgon Medusa, though how to a person (a Lucas) and the heirs male of his body, with remainder to with such parentage he came to be a horse is not stated), the creator a brother and the heirs male of his body, with remainder to one who of the fountain Hippocrene at one kick, are more than usually unconwas an illegitimate son of the father of the grantee, and therefore, in nected, and the constellation is not a whole horse, but only the bead, the eye of the law, not of the blood of the grantee and the heirs male fore legs, and shoulders, to which a pair of wings is attached; nor is of his body.

there any fountain near the place, except that with which Aquarius It has not unfrequently happened that the crown has granted the feeds one of the fishes. The figure of Pegasus is inverted, the head dignity of the peerage to a person, with remainder to the female issue being farther from the north pole than the body: the constellation is or to the female kindred of the grantee and their heirs, as in the case surrounded by Cygnus, Equuleus, Aquarius, Pisces, and Andromeria. of the Nolson peerage. In these cases it has generally happened either There are three bright stars, a (or Markab), B (or Scheat), y for that the party had no male issue to inherit, and that the other males Algenib), which form a rectangular figure with a Andromedze, such as of the family were also without male issue, or that there was already cannot be mistaken when the latter constellation is known. Moreover a dignity inheritable by the male heir of the party on whom a new a line drawn through a and ß points to the pole star, in a line which dignity was conferred to descend to his female issue.

produced passes through the pointers of the Great Bear. The peers who possess what are called baronies in fee are the The following are the principal stars :descendants and representatives of certain old families for the most

No. in Catalogue part long ago extinct in the male line, but which had in their day

No. in Catalogne summons to parliament as peers, and whose dignity it has been Character. of Flamsteed. Association. Magnitude. assumed descended like a tenement to a daughter, if only one daughter

7561

24 and heir, or to a number of daughters as co-heirs, when there was no

10
7571

4 This principle has been so often recognised, that it may be

24

7706 regarded as a part of the constitution of the peerage; and in virtue

26

7723 of it, if A die seised of a barony in fee, leaving B a daughter and only

42

7908 child and M a brother, the dignity shall inhere in B i preference to

44

7923 M, and shall descend on the death of B to her eldest son. In case A,

47

7945 instead of leaving B his only daughter, leave several daughters, B, C,

48

7958 D, &c., and no son, the dignity shall not go to M, but among the

B
53

8032 daughters; and since it is imparticipable, it is in a manner lost as long

54
8034

2 as those daughters, or issue from more than one of them, exist. But

26 should those daughters die with only one of them having left issue, and that issue a son, he shall inherit on the death of his aunts. This PEINE FORTE ET DURE. The "strong and hard pain," which

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is denoted by these words, was a species of torture used by the English law to compel persons to plead when charged judicially with crimes less than treason, but amounting to felony. It was applicable whenever the accused stood mute on his arraignment, either by his refusal to put himself upon the ordinary trial by jury, or to answer at all, or by his peremptorily challenging more than twenty jurors, which was a contumacy equivalent in construction of law to actually standing mute. This proceeding differed essentially from the "quæstio" in the Roman law, and the torture which generally prevailed in Europe, and which, as connected with the royal prerogative, was also practised in England for several centuries, inasmuch as its object was to force submission to the regular mode of trial prescribed by the law, and not to compel testimony or the confession of a crime.

There is no

instead of severe imprisonment to extort submission.
trace of any statute or royal ordinance, or of any authority besides
this judicial resolution to justify a change in the mode of proceeding so
material as to affect the life of the party. The term by which it was
denoted was also changed from prisone to peine forte et dure; and from
this period, for more than three centuries, until it was virtually
abolished by the stat. 12 Geo. III., c. 20 (1772), pressing to death con-
tinued to be the regular and lawful mode of execution for criminals
who stood wilfully mute upon their arraignment for felony. The
press-yard at Newgate at the present day retains it name as derived
from this barbarous practice.

Blackstone, after alluding to "the doubts that were conceived of its legality," and "the repugnance of its theory to the humanity of the laws of England," states that the peine forte et dure was rarely carried into practice. It is probable that it was not of frequent occurrence, because with this fearful punishment for contumacy before their eyes men would naturally for the most part (as Hale says) "bethink themselves and plead." It is, however, repeatedly mentioned in the Year Books as an existing proceeding; it is stated as the law of the land by Staundforde, Coke, Hale, and Hawkins, in their several treatises on the criminal law, and the number of the recorded instances in which it is directly or incidentally mentioned seem to show that it was much more prevalent than has been commonly supposed. The motive of the prisoner in standing mute and submitting to this heavy punishment was to save his attainder, and prevent the corruption of his blood and consequent forfeiture of his lands in case he was attainted of felony. In 21 Hen. VI. (1442), Juliana Quicke, who was indicted for high treason in speaking contemptuous words of the king, had the peine forte et dure because she would not plead (Cro. 'Car.' 118); in the margin of an inquisitio post mortem of Anthony Arrowsmith, in 40 Eliz. (1598), are the words "Prest to death" (Surtees's History of Durham,' vol. iii., p. 271); and in 1659, Major Strangeways was tried for the murder of John Fussell before Lord Chief Justice Glynn, and, refusing to plead, was pressed to death in Newgate. In the pamphlet which very minutely relates the particulars of this execution, it is stated that the prisoner died in about eight minutes, many people in the press-yard humanely casting stones upon him to hasten his death. (Barrington's' Antient Statutes,' p. 85, note.) In still more recent times it appears from the Old Bailey Sessions Papers that at the January Sessions in 1720, one Phillips was pressed for a considerable time, until he begged to stand his trial; and at the December Sessions, 1721, Nathaniel Haws continued under the press with 250 lbs., for seven minutes, and was released upon his submisMr. Barrington says that he had been furnished with two instances in the reign of George II., one of which happened at the Sussex assizes before Baron Thompson, and the other at Cambridge, in 1741, when Mr. Baron Carter was the judge. (Barrington's 'Antient Statutes,' p. 86.) In these later instances the press was not inflicted until by direction of the judges the experiment of a minor torture had been tried, by tying the culprit's thumbs tightly together with strings. It is said in Kelyng's 'Reports,' p. 27, to have been the constant practice at Newgate in the reign of Charles II., that the two thumbs should be tied together with whipcord, that the pain of that might compel the culprit to plead. The adoption of this course was no doubt dictated by merciful motives, and was intended by the judges to prevent the necessity of having recourse to the peine forte et dure; but it was wholly unauthorised by law. The practice was finally discontinued in consequence of the statute 12 Geo. III., c. 20, which provides that every person who shall stand mute when arraigned for felony or piracy shall be convicted of the same, and the same judgment and execution shall be awarded against him as if he had been convicted by verdict or confession. But the law in this respect has been altered by the statute 7 & 8 Geo. IV., c. 27, a plea of 'not guilty' being entered on the record if the prisoner refuses to plead.

Much difference of opinion has existed upon the question whether the practice of the peine forte et dure originated with the statute usually called the Statute of Westminster 1 (3 Edw. I., c. 12), or whether it was in use at an earlier period. The latter opinion is maintained by Coke and Hale, but the former is adopted by Staundforde, Blackstone, and Barrington. In a note to Hale's Pleas of the Crown,' vol. ii., p. 322, Emlyn says that although the Statute of Westminster 1 speaks of this punishment rather as a thing already known than as a new introduction, there is no notice taken of it in any ancient author, case, or record before the reign of Edward I.; and, on the contrary, he cites * two curious records in the reign of Henry III., from which it appears that persons at that time arraigned for felony, and standing mute, were not put to peine forte et dure, but had judgment to be hanged. Upon this point it is worthy of remark that the statute of Edward I. merely directs that "such persons as will not put themselves upon inquests of felonies at the suit of the king shall be put into hard and strong prison (soient mys en la prisone fort et dure), as those which refuse to be at the common law of the land;" whereas the judgment of the peine forte et dure, as given in ancient books, contained many particulars of suffering to be imposed on the contumacious prisoner, not mentioned in the statute. Fleta, who must have written about ten years after the date of the statute, describes the judgment to be, that "the party shall be cast into prison and lie upon the bare ground clothed with a single garment and barefooted; that he shall have for his food only three morsels of barley-bread in two days; that he shall not have food every day, but only on alternate days; that he shall not drink every day, but that on the day when he shall have no food, water shall be given him to drink." (Fleta, lib. i. cap. 34.) It certainly seems improbable that all these circumstances should, within a very few years, have been added to the judgment warranted by the statute, if the statute had really been the origin of the practice. Mr. Reevesion. has plausibly suggested that the only object and effect of the statute was to apply the same compulsory process to those who refused to submit themselves to trial by jury in indictments at the king's suit, which had been previously used to compel persons to put themselves upon ancient methods of inquiry, namely, the duel, the ordeal, or the wager of law. (Hist. of the English Law,' vol. ii., p. 137.) The trial by jury had no doubt been much encouraged during the reign of Henry III., in opposition to the barbarous modes of trial previously used; and it is therefore by no means improbable that this statute should have contemplated the promotion of this great judicial improvement. The language of the enactment also is entirely consistent with the view of its object suggested by Mr. Reeves. On the other hand it must be acknowledged that the instances above mentioned, as cited by Emlyn, and the total silence of Glanville and Bracton, as well as of the judicial records anterior to the statute, respecting such a mode of enforcing submission to the law, are adverse to this interpretation. The origin of this rude proceeding must therefore be considered as uncertain.

PELAGIANISM. [PELAGIUS, in BIOG. DIV.]
PELARGONE. [PELARGONIC GROUP.]

18 17

PELARGONIC ACID, C,,H,,03 + HO, is found in the oil of Pelargonium roseum. It is an acid oily liquid, with a rancid smell. It becomes solid at low temperatures, and its salts form soap. It forms a Pelargonate of the oxide of Ethyl, CH,O+CH,,O,, which is an oily liquid of a very peculiar smell. Frankland states that whiskey owes its peculiar flavour to the presence of this compound. It is manufactured for the purpose of giving new whiskey the flavour of old. [PELARGONIC GROUP.]

It appears from Fleta, and also from Britton (c. 22), that the punishment in the reign of Edward I., when the first traces of it in the history of English law appear, consisted merely of severe imprisonment, with a diet barely sufficient to prevent starvation, until the offender repented of his contumacy and consented to put himself upon his trial. A curious charter of pardon in 1357 (Foedera,' vol. vi. p. 13), recites that a woman indicted for the death of her husband, having stood mute, had been adjudged "ad pœnam suam, ut dicitur, in qua sine cibo et potu in artâ prisonâ per quadraginta dies vitam sustinuit viâ miraculi et quasi contra naturam humanam." It appears therefore that at that time the sentence continued to be imprisonment only, and did not authorise the infliction of any further violence. Shortly afterwards, however, the practice of loading the sufferer with weights and pressing him to death appears to have become the regular course. In the Year Book of 8 Henry IV. (1406), the judgment upon persons standing mute, as approved by advice of all the judges, was "that the marshal should put them in low and dark chambers, naked except about the waist; that he should place upon them as much weight of iron as they could bear, and more, so that they should be unable to rise; that they should have nothing to eat but the worst bread that could be found, and nothing to drink but water taken from the nearest place to the gaol, except running water; that the day on which they had bread they should not have water, and e contrà; and that they should lie there till they were dead." Thus, although the reporter PELARGONIC SERIES. A division of organic bodies in Gerhardt's states in this case that the judgment was formally different, the punish-system of classification. It contains the following three groups :

PELARGONIC GROUP. A family of organic substances [PELARGONIC SERIES] derived from a peculiar acid found in geraniums (Pelargonium roseum). The following are the names and formula of the principal members of this group :

Pelargonic acid
Pelargone

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Pelargonic ether
Chloride of pelargyl
Pelargyl

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C18H1703, HO
C18H1702

C16H17
C18H17(CH3)04
C18H170, CI
C18H1709

ment now became capital, a lingering and painful death being enjoined

Octylic group.

Pelargonic group.

Sebacic group.

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PELARGOʻNIUM, the name of a greenhouse plant, not unfrequently Some writers have maintained that the Greeks derived the art of confounded with the geranium. There is a large number of genuine writing and most of their religious rites from the Pelasgians; but species of this genus, chiefly inhabiting the Cape of Good Hope; and as without entering into these questions, it may be asserted with some these intermix very readily, a prodigious number of spurious species, degree of certainty that the most ancient architectural monuments in as well as acknowledged 'varieties, have found their way into the Europe clearly appear to have been the works of their hands ; that is, writings of systematic botanists. While however science has been of a race older than the Hellenes. [PELASGIAN ARCHITECTURE.) embarrassed by this facility of crossbreeding, the gardens have been (Marsh's Horæ Pelasgicæ ; Niebuhr's Hist. of Rome ; Thirlwall's enriched by crowds of the most beautiful objects, in which the features Hist. of Greece ; Clinton's Pasti Hellenici ; Grote's History of Greece ; of their savage progenitors can no longer be recognised; and it is pro. Wachsmuth's Hellenische Alterthumskunde). bable that of all the flowers which have been acted upon by the hand PELASGIAN ARCHITECTURE. The vast masses of unhewn of man, the pelargonium is that in which the result has been most and uncemented masonry forming the walls of Tiryns,—the ancient striking. The tuberous-rooted sorts are the most valued for the bril- | Tirynthus, about two miles from Nauplia, on the road to Argos,-the liance of their flowers, and they are propagated either by division of oldest human constructions in Greece, were by ancient tradition attrithe roots, or by cuttings from the plant. Propagation by seed is buted to the fabulous Cyclopes. They, and similar masses of masonry, resorted to chiefly to obtain varieties, in which the form of the flower, have hence come to be generally termed Cyclopean. There can be the substance of the petals, and the colour, are the objects aimed at. little doubt that they are of pre-historic date ; but they are most March is a good time for sowing, which should be done in small pots, probably of Pelasgic origin : the oldest examples of a mode of conin a light rich mould mixed with river sand; and in the division by struction which is found not only in various parts of Greece, but on roots the same method may be followed. With cuttings, from the end the western coasts of Asia Minor and in Italy,—wherever, in fact, the of February to the end of August, any time will serve, but in the Pelasgi settled. (PELASGL) According to Greek tradition, the walls earlier months the pots should have moderate bottom heat; and in of Tiryns were built by the Cyclopes for Proetus, as a protection from the later, and warmer months, they should be well shaded. The the attacks of Acrisius; and the date has been, with a vain affectation cuttings should be made immediately under a bud, they should be of precision, fixed at 1379 B.C. All that can with confidence be said of placed near the edge of the pot, gently watered, and guarded against these walls is, that they were in existence when Homer wrote, since he damping off. By care and attention to a few simple points of practice, designates Tirynthus as the "well-walled” (Tipuvda te teixloeoday, 'Il.' these plants may be cultivated and multiplied by any one who has a ii. 559); and from the mention of them by later Greek writers, and greenhouse, and hence they have become universal favourites. Those their character, there cannot be any doubt that the existing remains points are the following, namely: 1, water, 2, warmth, 3, a gentle are a portion of the walls referred to by Homer. bottom heat, 4, abundance of air, 5, as much light as the leaves will The distinguishing character of the walls of Tiryns (and similar walls bear, and 6, a rich soil during the season of growth; and a cool atmos- occur in Lycia), is that they are built of immense polygonal blocks of phere, less water, abundance of light, and close pruning afterwards. stone, irregular in size and form, which are laid together with a certain PELARGYL. (PELARGONIO GROUP.]

amount of art, and are held in their places by their own weight, no PELASGI (Iteraoyol) were the most ancient inhabitants of Greece, cement of any kind having been employed to fasten them: the interas far as the knowledge of the Greeks themselves extended; whence stices between the large blocks are filled by smaller pieces. Some of they came, or what they really were, is quito unknown. They were the largest stones are 9 feet long, 4 feet wide, and nearly as deep; but one of several races, stated by the Greeks to have been ante-Hellenic, a more common size is 7 feet by 3 feet among whom the Leleges are nearest in age and importance to the Pelasgi. The dynasties which include Danaus, Deucalion, and Cad. mus, are entirely legendary. There is no doubt there was a people whom the Hellenes styled Pelasgi ; but nothing is historically known of them; and it is probable that many of the districts subsequently said to be inhabited by the descendants of the Pelasgi, were merely non-Hellenes, to whom the general term was applied. The whole of Hellas, according to Herodotus (ii. 56), was originally called Pelasgia; and Æschylus (Supp., 250) introduces Pelasgus, king of Argos, as claiming for the people named after him all the country through which the Algus Aows, and to the west of the Strymon. We find mention of the Pelasgi in the Peloponnesus, Thracia, Thesprotia, Attica, Boeotia, and Phocis. (Strabo, vii. 321 ; Herod., viii

. 44.) The oracles of Delphi and Dodona were originally Pelasgic (Strabo, ix. 402; vii. 327; compare Herod., ii. 52); and Mr. Clinton ( Fast. Hell.,' vol. i., p. 22) and Niebuhr (* Rom. Hist.' vol. i., p. 27) have adduced reasons for believing that the Macedonians also were a Pelasgic race. We also find traces of the Pelasgi in many of the islands of the Ægean Sea, as Lemnos, Imbros, Lesbos, Chios, &c. (Strabo, xiii. 621); and

Wall of Tiryns. Herodotus informs us (vii. 95) that the islands were inhabited by the Pelasgic race till they were subdued by the Ionians. The neighbour- At Mycenæ, about 12 miles from Nauplia, are extensive walls by 3 ing coast of Asia Minor was also inhabited in many parts by the similar character, and which, like those of Tiryns, were also said of Pelasgi. (Strabo, xüi. 621.) The country afterwards called Æolis the ancient Greeks to be the work of the Cyclopes; but they, as well was occupied by Pelasgians (Herod., vii. 95); and hence Antandros as those at Epirus, are obviously of a later date than those of Tiryns, was called Pelasgic in the time of Herodotus (vii. 42). Tralles in Caria on which they are a marked improvement. In this case, though the was a Pelasgic town (Niebuhr,“ Rom. Hist.,' vol. i., p. 33), and two of blocks are still large, irregular, polygonal masses, they are fitted caretheir towns on the Hellespont, Placia and Scylace, were still extant in fully to each other, and present a smooth exterior surface. the time of Herodotus (i. 57).

The Pelasgians were also widely spread over the south of Italy; and the places in which they appear to have been settled are indicated by Mr. Malden ('Rom. Hist.') and Niebuhr ('Rom. Hist.').

The connection between the Pelasgic and Hellenic races has been a subject of much controversy among modern writers. Many critics have maintained that they belonged to entirely different races, and some have been disposed to attribute to the Pelasgians an Etruscan or Phænician origin. "It is true that many of the Greek writers speak of the Pelasgians and their language as barbarous, that is, not Hellenio; and Herodotus (i. 57) informs us that the Pelasgian language was spoken in his time at Placia and Scylace on the Hellespont. This language he describes as barbarous; and on this fact he mainly grounds his general argument as to the ancient Pelasgian tongue. The ancient writers differ as much respecting the degrees of civilisation which the Pelasgi attained before they became an Hellenic people, as they do

Walls of a Temple at Epirus. respecting their original language. According to some ancient writers (all however only repeating traditions), they were little better than a Walls of this kind are found in many parts of Greece, and are of race of savages till conquered and civilised by the Hellenes; but others great antiquity. Myoenæ was designated the "well-built" by Homer; represent them, and perhaps more correctly, as having attained a con- but its massive walls were neglected and ruinous when Pausanias and siderable degree of civilisation previous to the Hellenic conquest. even when Thucydides wrote. A later and more improved style of Many traditions represent the Pelasgians as cultivating agriculture and Pelasgian masonry is that seen in many of the older fortified portions the useful arts ; and a modern writer (Thirlwall, Greece, vol. i., of Greek cities, and in some of the cities of Etruria. In this mode p. 59) rather fancifully supposes that the most ancient form of their the blocks are still irrogular in size, and more or less polygonal, but name (Ilenaoyol) signified inhabitants or cultivators of the plain. they are laid with an approximation to horizontality. From this the next step was comparatively easy to the so-called Cyclopean masonry Besides the principal entrance, which was reached by a zig-zag flight of the ancient Etrurians, which consisted of squared blocks laid with of steps, there were postern gates; passages connected the upper and out cement in horizontal courses. [ETRUSCAN ARCHITECTURE.] The lower fortresses, and there were semicircular bastions and projecting walls of Cosa, near Orbitella, afford a good example of the latest form defences with retirements in the walls which served to cover the of Pelasgic masonry, with, in the upper part, the earliest Etruscan. approaches. But the most remarkable constructive features remaining Cosa, there can be little doubt, was a Pelasgian city before it was are galleries formed in the walls ; that in the eastern wall consisting colonised by the Etruscans.

of two parallel passages, the centre of which has six recesses or niches in the exterior wall.

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Walls of Cosa.

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Of Pelasgian buildings, properly so called, the examples remaining are few, and comparatively unimportant. Of their palaces, which judging from Homer's description of that of Odysseus, and indications in other early writers, must have possessed a certain amount of splen. dour, no remains exist. They were probably built for show rather than permanency, and may, as has been conjectured, have been constructed chiefly of wood : at any rate they have long perished. Nor are any temples or religious edifices extant. The most remarkable of the existing structures are the subterranean domed buildings called treasuries, but which were more probably tombs, of which that at Mycenæ is the oldest and most important example. This is now usually called the Treasury of Atreus ; but its local name appears to be the Tomb of Agamemnon. Constructed under the slope of a hill, the approach to it is by a passage 20 feet wide. The doorway was flanked by highly ornamented semi-columns, portions of which still

Gallery at Tiryns. remain. The interior consists of two domicular chambers. The dome of the largest is 47 feet 6 inches in diameter, and 50 feet high. A

“These niches,” says Colonel Leake, who brought to his examinadoorway leads from it to a smaller chamber, which is about 23 feet in tion of the fortifications professional as well as archæological knowledge, diameter. The domes are formed by horizontal courses of stones, each “ were probably intended to serve for the defence of the galleries; and course projecting beyond that beneath. The walls, of course, gradually the galleries for covered communications to towers or places of arms approach towards the top, which is closed by a large single slab, thus at the extremity of them. One of these still exists at the south-west forming an equilateral pointed instead of a semicircular vault. These angle.” These galleries, it will be observed, were formed by making are the largest structures of that kind known. The walls of the larger the courses of stones project over each other, the curved form of a chamber have numerous nail-holes, in horizontal rows, and near the pointed arch being given by cutting the inner surface of the projecting apex of the dome several nails still project from the surface. These stones. are believed to be the fastenings of the brazen plates with which the

Openings of this form are frequent in doorways and in Pelasgic walls were covered : this being probably one of those “ brazen remains in Italy, as well as in Greece, though no example of a true chambers " of which mention is frequently made by Greek writers. arch occurs. We give an illustration from Segni in Latium. The entrance doorway, like nearly all Pelasgian doorways, is formed by two large upright blocks of stone, or jambs, which incline slightly inwards towards the top, and a larger block, or lintel, laid on them. The opening is 18 feet high, 11 feet wide at bottom, and somewhat less at top; the lintel is formed by a block of stone 27 feet long and 16 broad. Over the doorway is a triangular opening. The façade was ornamented with serni-columns and slabs of coloured marbles, with peculiar zigzag carvings in an essentially Oriental style. The characteristic Ionic scroll also occurs. Two similar but smaller and less elaborate structures occur at Mycenæ. Remains of another, known as the Treasury of Minyas, are found at Scripu, the site of the BrBotian Orchomenos; and others in a more or less perfect condition elsewhere.

The walls of Tiryns, of which we spoke above, were a part of the original fortifications, a branch of engineering in which the Pelasgi attained remarkable proficiency, and they are the best remaining example of the fortifications of the heroic ages.

The fortifications occupied the summit of a rocky height (the Acropolis) and covered an area of 660 feet by 180. The walls are in

Walls and Gateway at Segni. places above 20 feet high, but have been higher; their average thick. ness is 25 feet. According to Colonel Leake "the fortress appears to The fortifications at Mycenæ are even more remarkable from their have consisted of an upper and lower enclosure, of nearly equal dimen. extent than those at Tiryns. Their builders, as has been mentioned, sions, with an intermediate platform, which may have served for the were said to be the Cyclopes; they were destroyed as far as they could defence of the upper castle against an enemy in possession of the be destroyed by the Argives, 466 B.C. What remains of them consists ower one."

of an irregular enclosure above 1000 feet long by nearly 700 broad, and

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