1

"A Christian Directory, guiding men to their Salvation, &c. with many corrections and additions by the Author himself." This book is really an excellent one, and was afterwards put into modern English by Dr. Stanhope, dean of Canterbury; in which form it has gone through eight or ten editions. 9. "Responsio ad Eliz. Reginæ edictum contra Catholicos," Romæ, 1593, under the name of And. Philopater. 10. "A Conference about the next Succession to the Crown of England, &c." 1594, under the feigned name of Doleman. This piece was the production of cardinal Allen, Inglefield, and others, who furnished the materials, which Parsons, who had a happy talent this way, put into a proper method. Parsons's style is among the best of the Elizabethan period *. II. "A temperate Wardword to the turbulent and seditious Watchword of sir Fr. Hastings, knight," &c. 1599, under the same name. 12. "A Copy of a Letter written by a Master of Arts at Cambridge, &c." published in 1583. This piece was commonly called "Father Parsons's Green Coat," being sent from abroad with the binding and leaves in that livery, but there seems reason to doubt whether this was his (see Ath. Ox. vol. II. new edit. note, p. 74). 13. "Apologetical Epistle to the Lords of her Majesty's Privy Council, &c." 1601. 14. "Brief Apology, or Defence of the Catholic Ecclesiastical Hierarchy erected by pope Clement VIII. &c." St. Omers, 1601. 15. "A Manifestation of the Folly and bad Spirit of secular Priests," 1602. 16. "A Decachordon of ten Quodlibetical Questions," 1602. 17. "De Peregrinatione." 18. "An Answer to O. E. whether Papists or Protestants be true Catholics," 1603. 19. "A Treatise of the three Conversions of Paganism to the Christian Religion," published (as are also the two following) under the name of N. D. (Nicholas Doleman), in 3

*The intention of this book was to support the title of the Infanta against that of king James, after the death of queen Elizabeth, and to prove that there are better titles than lineal descent. It is remarkable that this weapou, which was obliquely aimed at Elizabeth, should afterwards be employed against Charles I. Ibbotson's pamphlet concerning the power of parliaments, &c. which was published preparatory to the destruction of that prince, was no more than a republication of Doleman (or Parsons), with

very few alterations. Bradshaw's long speech at the king's condemnation, and a considerable part of Milton's "Defensio pro Populo Angl." are chiefly borrowed from the same performance; and it was even reprinted in 1681, when the parliament were debating the subject of the exclusion of the duke of York; but in 1683 the university of Oxford ordered it to be burnt by the hands of the hangman. Dodd labours hard to prove that Parsous was not the author of it.

vols. 12mo, 1603, 1604. 20. "A Relation of a Trial made before the king of France in 1600, between the bishop of Evreux and the lord Plessis Mornay," 1604. 21. "A Defence of the precedent Relation, &c." 22. "A Review: of ten public Disputations, &c. concerning the Sacrifices and Sacrament of the Altar," 1604. 23. "The Forerunner of Bell's Downfall of Popery," 1605. 24. "An Answer to the fifth Part of the Reports of Sir Edward Coke, &c." 1606, 4to, published under the name of a Catholic Divine. 25. "De sacris alienis non adeundis, questiones duæ," 1607. 26." A Treatise tending to Mitigation towards Catholic subjects in England, against Thomas Morton (afterwards bishop of Durham)," 1607. 27. "The Judgment of a Catholic Gentleman concerning king James's Apology, &c." 1608. 28. "Sober Reckoning with Thomas Morton," 1609. 29. "A Discussion of Mr. Barlow's Answer to the Judgment of a Catholic Englishman concerning the Oath of Allegiance," 1612. This book being left not quite finished at the author's death, was afterwards completed and published by Thomas Fitzherbert. The following are also posthumous pieces: 30. "The Liturgy of the Sacrament of the Mass," 1620. 31. "A Memorial. for Reformation, &c. ;" thought to be the same with "The High Court and Council of the Reformation," finished after twenty years' labour in 1596, but not published till after Parsons's death; and republished from a copy presented to James II. with an introduction and some animadversions by Edward Gee, under the title of, "The Jesuits Memorial for the intended Reformation of the Church of England under their first Popish Prince," 1690, 8vo. 32. There is also ascribed to him, "A Declaration of the true Causes of the great Troubles pre-supposed to be intended against the Realm of England, &c. Seen and allowed, anno 1581." 33. Parsons also translated from the English into Spanish, "A Relation of certain Martyrs in England," printed at Madrid 1590, 8vo. Several of his MSS. are preserved in Baliol college library, particularly a curious one entitled "Epitome controversiarum hujus temporis.'

PARUTA (PAUL), a noble Venetian, born in 1540, was made historiographer of the republic in 1579, and

1 Ath. Ox. vol. I. new edit.—Biog. Brit. art. Parsons.-Dodd's Ch. Hist. Berrington's Panzani, Introduction, p. 24.-Gent. Mag. LXIV. where is a fine portrait of Parsons.

afterwards was employed in several embassies, was made governor of Brescia, and finally elected a procurator of St. Mark. Such was his character for wisdom, integrity, and zeal for the public welfare, that he was called the Cato of Venice. He died in 1598, at the age of 58. He cultivated the sciences and general literature, and was the author of several works of merit. Among these are: "Della Perfezione della vita Politica;" "Discorsi Politici," published by his sons in 1599; "A History of Venice, from 1513 to 1551, with the Addition of an Account of the War of Cyprus:" written also in Italian, but he had begun to write it in Latin, in imitation of the style of Sallust, and had finished four books in that language. A new edition of this history was given by Apostolo Zeno in

1703.1

PARUTA (PHILIP), a learned antiquary, was a noble of Palermo, and secretary to the senate of that city, where he died in 1629. He was author of several works, but is principally known by his "Sicilia descritta con Medaglie," Palermo, 1612, fol. This work was afterwards enlarged by Leonardo Agostini, and printed at Rome in 1649, and at Lyons in 1697. Havercamp published a Latin edition. of it in three volumes folio, 1723, which makes part of the Italian Antiquities of Grævius and Burman. ?

PAS. See FEUQUIERES.

2

PASCAL (BLAISE), a French mathematician and philosopher, and one of the greatest geniuses and best writers that country has produced, was born at Clermont in Auvergne, June 19, 1623. His father, Stephen Pascal, was president of the Court of Aids in his province, and was also a very learned man, an able mathematician, and a friend of Des Cartes. Having an extraordinary tenderness for this child, his only son, he quitted his office and settled at Paris in 1631, that he might be quite at leisure to attend to his son's education, of which he was the sole superintendant, young Pascal never having had any other master. From his infancy Blaise gave proofs of a very extraordinary capacity. He was extremely inquisitive; desiring to know the reason of every thing; and when good reasons were not given him, he would seek for better; nor would he ever yield his assent but upon such as appeared to him well grounded. What is told of his manner

1 Chaufepie,-Niceron, vol. XI.

? Landi Hist. Lit. d'Italie.-Dict. Hist.

of learning the mathematics, as well as the progress he quickly made in that science, seems almost miraculous. His father, perceiving in him an extraordinary inclination to reasoning, was afraid lest the knowledge of the mathematics might hinder his learning the languages, so necessary as a foundation to all sound learning. He therefore kept him as much as he could from all notions of geometry, locked up all his books of that kind, and refrained even from speaking of it in his presence. He could not how

He

ever prevent his son from musing on that science; and one day in particular he surprised him at work with charcoal upon his chamber floor, and in the midst of figures. The father asked him what he was doing: "I am searching," says Pascal, "for such a thing;" which was just the same as the 32d proposition of the 1st book of Euclid. asked him then how he came to think of this: "It was," says Blaise, "because I found out such another thing;" and so, going backward, and using the names of bar and round, he came at length to the definitions and axioms he had formed to himself. Of this singular progress we are assured by his sister, madame Perier, and several other persons, the credit of whose testimony cannot reasonably be questioned.

From this time he had full liberty to indulge his genius in mathematical pursuits. He understood Euclid's Elements as soon as he cast his eyes upon them. At sixteen years of age he wrote a treatise on Conic Sections, which was accounted a great effort of genius; so much so, that Des Cartes, who had been in Holland a long time, upon reading it, fancied that M. Pascal the father was the real author of it. At nineteen he contrived an admirable arithmetical machine, which would have done credit as an invention to any man versed in science, and much more to such a youth.

About this time his health became so impaired, that he was obliged to suspend his labours for the space of four years. After this, having seen Torricelli's experiment respecting a vacuum and the weight of the air, he turned his thoughts towards these objects, and undertook several new experiments, one of which was as follows: having provided a glass tube, 46 feet in length, open at one end, and hermetically sealed at the other, he filled it with red wine, that he might distinguish the liquor from the tube, and stopped up the orifice; then having inverted it, and

placed it in a vertical position, with the lower end im mersed into a vessel of water one foot deep, he opened the lower end, and the wine descended to the distance of about 32 feet from the surface of the vessel, leaving a considerable vacuum at the upper part of the tube. He next inclined the tube gradually, till the upper end became only of 32 feet perpendicular height above the bottom, and he observed the liquor proportionally ascend up to the top of the tube. He made also a great many experiments with siphons, syringes, bellows, and all kinds of tubes, making use of different liquors, such as quicksilver, water, wine, oil, &c.; and having published them in 1647, he dispersed his work through all countries.

All these experiments, however, only ascertained effects, without demonstrating the causes. Pascal knew that Torricelli conjectured that those phenomena which he had observed were occasioned by the weight of the air, though they had formerly been attributed to Nature's abhorrence of a vacuum: but if Torricelli's theory were true, he reasoned that the liquor in the barometer tube ought to stand higher at the bottom of a hill, than at the top of it. In order therefore to discover the truth of this theory, he made an experiment at the top and bottom of a mountain in Auvergne, called le Puy de Dome, the result of which gave him reason to conclude that the air was indeed heavy. Of this experiment he published an account, and sent copies of it to most of the learned men in Europe. He also renewed it at the top and bottom of several high towers, as those of Notre Dame at Paris, St. Jaques de la Boucherie, &c.; and always remarked the same difference in the weight of the air, at different elevations. This fully convinced him of the general pressure of the atmosphere; and from this discovery he drew many useful and important inferences. He composed also a large treatise, in which he fully explained this subject, and replied to all the objections that had been started against it. As he afterwards thought this work rather too prolix, and being fond of brevity and precision, he divided it into two small treatises, one of which he entitled "A Dissertation on the Equilibrium of Fluids ;" and the other, "An Essay on the Weight of the Atmosphere." These labours procured Pascal so much reputation, that the greatest mathematicians and philosophers of the age proposed various questions to him, and consulted him respecting such difficulties