The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 344

PENDA, a Mercian king of the 7th century, who headed a reactionary movement of heathenism against the domination of Christianity in England, and for a time seemed to carry all before him, but Christianity, under the preaching of the monks, had gained too deep a hold, particularly in Northumbria, and he was overpowered in 665 in one final struggle and slain.

PENDENNIS, the name of a novel by Thackeray, from the name of the hero, and published in 1849-50 in succession to "Vanity Fair."

PENDLETON, a NW. suburb of Manchester, in the direction of Bolton, with extensive manufactures and collieries.

PENDRAGON, a t.i.tle bestowed on kings by the ancient Britons, and especially on the chiefs among them chosen by election, so called from their wearing a dragon on their shields or as a crest in sign of sovereignty.

PENELOPE, the wife of Ulysses, celebrated for her conjugal fidelity during his twenty years' absence, in the later half of which an army of suitors pled for her hand, pleading that her husband would never return; but she put them all off by a promise of marriage as soon as she finished a web (called after Penelope's web) she was weaving, which she wove by day and undid at night, till their importunities took a violent form, when her husband arrived and delivered her.

PENINSULAR STATE, the State of Florida, from its shape.

PENINSULAR WAR, a war carried on in Spain and Portugal during the years 1808 and 1814, between the French on the one hand and the Spanish, Portuguese, and British, chiefly under Wellington, on the other, and which was ended by the victory of the latter over the former at Toulouse just after Napoleon's abdication.

PENITENTIAL PSALMS or PSALMS OF CONFESSION, is a name given from very early times to Psalms vi., x.x.xii., x.x.xviii., li., cii., cx.x.x., which are specially expressive of sorrow for sin. The name belonged originally to the fifty-first Psalm, which was recited at the close of daily morning service in the primitive Church.

PENITENTS, ORDER OF, a religious order established in 1272 for the reception to the Church of reformed courtesans.

PENN, WILLIAM, founder of Pennsylvania, the son of an admiral, born in London; was converted to Quakerism while a student at Oxford, and for a fanatical attack on certain fellow-students expelled the University; his father sent him to travel in France, and afterwards placed him in charge of his Irish estates; his religious views occasioned several disputes with his father, and ultimately brought him into conflict with the Government; he spent several periods of imprisonment writing books in defence of religious liberty, among them "The Great Cause of Liberty of Conscience" (1671); then travelled in Holland and Germany propagating his views; his father's death brought him a fortune and a claim upon the crown which he commuted for a grant of land in North America, where he founded (1682) the colony of Pennsylvania--the prefix Penn, by command of Charles II. in honour of the admiral; here he established a refuge for all persecuted religionists, and laying out Philadelphia as the capital, governed his colony wisely and generously for two years; he returned to England, where his friendship with James II. brought many advantages to the Quakers, but laid him under hara.s.sing and undeserved prosecutions for treason in the succeeding reign; a second visit to his colony (1699-1701) gave it much useful legislation; on his return his agent practically ruined him, and he was a prisoner in the Fleet in 1708; the closing years of his life were clouded by mental decay (1644-1718).

PENNANT, THOMAS, traveller and naturalist, born near Holywell, Flintshire; studied at Oxford, but took no degree; in 1746 he made a tour of Cornwall; among his subsequent journeys, of which he published accounts, were tours in Ireland (1754), the Continent (1764), Scotland (1769 and 1772), and Wales; he wrote several works on zoological subjects, and published an amusing "Literary Life of the late Thomas Pennant, Esq., by Himself," 1793 (1726-1798).

PENNSYLVANIA (5,258), most populous but one of the American States, lies N. of Mason and Dixon's Line, separated by New Jersey, on the E. by the Delaware River, with Ohio on the W., New York on the N., and Lake Erie at the NW. corner. The country is hilly, being traversed by the Blue Mountains and the Alleghany ranges, with many fertile valleys between the chains, extensive forests, and much picturesque scenery. The c.u.mberland Valley in the W. is one of the best farming lands in New England. The Alleghany River in the W. and the two branches of the Susquehanna in the centre water the State. Pennsylvania is the greatest mining State in the Union; its iron-mines and petroleum-wells supply half the iron and most of the oil used in the country; its bituminous coal-beds in the W. are extremely rich, and the anthracite deposits of the E. are unrivalled; in manufactures, too, it ranks second among the States; these are very varied, the most valuable being iron, steel, and shipbuilding. Founded by Swedes, it pa.s.sed to English settlers in 1664; the first charter was granted to William Penn in 1681. In the Revolution it took a prominent part, and was among the first States of the Union. Education is well advanced; there are 20 State colleges. The mining population includes many Irish, Hungarian, and Italian immigrants, among whom riots are frequent. Of the agriculturists many are of Dutch descent, and about two millions still speak a Low German _patois_ known as Pennsylvanian Dutch.

HARRISBURG (39) is the capital; the metropolis is PHILADELPHIA (1,047), the second largest city in the country; while PITTSBURG (239), ALLEGHANY (105), SCRANTON (75), and READING (59) are among the many large towns.

PENNY, originally a silver coin, weighed in the 7th century 1/240-th of a Saxon pound, but decreased in weight till in Elizabeth's time it was 1/63 of an ounce troy. It was at first indented with a cross so as to be broken for halfpennies and farthings, but silver coins of these denominations were coined by Edward I. Edward VI. stopped the farthings, and the halfpence were stopped in the Commonwealth. Copper coinage was established in 1672. The present coins were issued first in 1860. They are half the size of their predecessors, and intrinsically worth one-seventh of their nominal value.

PENNY WEDDING, a wedding at which the guests pay part of the charges of the festival.

PENRITH (9), a market town of c.u.mberland, and tourist centre for the English lakes; contains a very old church and school, and ruins of a picturesque castle. Brewing, iron-founding, and timber-sawing are its industries.

PENRYN (3), a Cornish market town at the head of Falmouth harbour; has manufactures of paper, woollen cloth, and gunpowder. It has considerable fishing industry, and ships the Penryn granite quarried near.

PENSEROSO, II, a famous Italian poem by Milton, written in 1633.

PENSIONARY, THE GRAND, a State functionary of Holland, whose office, abolished in 1795, it was to superintend State interests, register decrees, negotiate with other countries, and take charge of the revenues, &c.

PENTACLE. See PENTAGRAM.

PENTAGRAM, a symbol presumed to possess a magical influence, particularly to charm away evil spirits, formed by placing the figure of an equilateral triangle athwart another.

PENTAMERONE, a collection of tales in the Neapolitan dialect, supposed to be told during five days by ten old women to a pseudo-princess, and published at Naples 1637; is of great value to students of folk-lore.

PENTATEUCH, the name given by Origen to the first five books of the Bible, which the Jews call the Law or Five-fifths of the Law, the composition of which has of late years been subjected to keen critical investigation, and the whole ascribed to doc.u.ments of different dates and diverse authorship, to the rejection of the old traditional hypothesis that it was the work of Moses, first called in question by Spinoza, and shown to be untenable by JEAN ASTRUC (q. v.).

PENTECOST (i. e. fiftieth), a great feast of the Jews, so called as held on the fiftieth day after the second of the Pa.s.sover. It is called also the Feast of Harvest, or Weeks of First-Fruits, the Pa.s.sover feast being connected with the commencement and this with the conclusion of harvest. It is regarded by the Jews as commemorative of the giving of the law on Mount Sinai, and will never cease to be a.s.sociated in the Christian memory with the great awakening from which dates the first birth of the Christian consciousness in the Christian Church, the moment when the disciples of Christ first realised in common that their Master was not dead but alive, and nearer to them than He had been when present in the flesh.

PENTELICUS, a range of mountains in Attica between Athens and Marathon, famous for its quarries of fine white marble.

PENTHESILEA, the daughter of Ares and the queen of the Amazons; on the death of Hector she came to the a.s.sistance of the Trojans, but was slain by Achilles, who mourned over her when dying on account of her beauty, her youth, and her courage.

PENTHEUS, a king of Thebes, opposed to the introduction of the Bacchus worship into his kingdom, was driven mad by the G.o.d, and torn in pieces by his mother and sisters, who, under the Bacchic frenzy, mistook him for a wild beast.

PENTHIeVRE, DUC DE, the father-in-law of Philippe Egalite, and the protector of Florian (1725-1793).

PENTLAND FIRTH is the strait between the Orkneys and the Scottish mainland connecting the North Sea with the Atlantic, 12 m. long by 6 broad, and swept by a rapid current very dangerous to navigation; 5000 vessels traverse it annually.

PENTONVILLE, a populous district of London, in the parishes of St James's, Clerkenwell, and Islington, where is the Pentonville Model Prison, built in 1840-42 on the radiating principle to accommodate 520 prisoners.

PENUMBRA, the name given to the partial shadow on the rim of the total shadow of an eclipse, also to the margin of the light and shade of a picture.

PENZANCE (14), the largest town in Cornwall, most westerly borough in England, and terminus of the Great Western Railway, is beautifully situated on the rocky W. sh.o.r.e of Mount's Bay; its public buildings chiefly of granite. It has a fine harbour and docks, and is the centre of the mackerel and pilchard fishing industries. Its mild climate makes it a favourite watering-place.

PEOPLE'S PALACE, Mile End Road, London, is an inst.i.tution for the recreation and instruction of the East-end population, opened by the Queen in May 1887, and owing its origin to the impulse given by Sir W.

Besant's "All Sorts and Conditions of Men." In it are a library, art galleries, concert and reading rooms, baths, gymnasium, &c., and technical cla.s.ses and handicraft schools are held; these are attended by 5000 pupils, and the inst.i.tution is visited by a million and a quarter people annually.

PEPIN THE SHORT, king of the Franks, was the son of Charles Martel, and at first shared with his brother Carloman the viceroyalty of the kingdom under Hilderik III.; in 747 Carloman retired to a monastery, and five years later Pepin deposed Hilderik and ascended the throne; his kingdom embraced the valleys of the Rhine, the Rhone, and the Seine; he united his interests with those of the Church, and in 756 entered Italy to rescue the Pope from the threatened domination of the Lombards; reduced Aistulf of Lombardy to va.s.salage, a.s.sumed the t.i.tle of Patrician of Rome, and by bestowing on Pope Stephen III. the "Exarchate" of the Roman empire, laid the foundation of papal temporal sovereignty, five cities being placed under his jurisdiction; his subsequent exploits included the conquest of the Loire Valley and the expulsion of the Moors from France; his fame was overshadowed by that of his son Charlemagne; _d_. 678.