Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 11.djvu/673

 PELLETIER

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PELLISSIER

mained always a Greek town, and formed the northern boundary of Jewnsh Parens ("Bel. Jud.", Ill, iii, 3). As a part of the kingdom of Agrippa it offered in a. d. 66 a safe refuge to the httle Christian community of Mt. Sion who, under the leadership of St. Simeon, took refuge there during the revolt of the Jews, and the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans (Eusebius, " H. E.", Ill, v; Epiphanius, "Haer.", xxix, 7). When, after three years of war and massacres, the second Jewish revolt had been suppressed by Rome (132-5), and Emperor Adrian had rebuilt Jerusalem under the name of iEUa Capotolina", a part of the community living at Pella re-established themselves by order of the un- circumcised bishop, Mark, on Mount Sion. Never- theless Christianity persevered at Pella, as testified by Ariston (born there in the second century, and author of the "Dialogue of Jason and Papiscos"), numerous Christian tombs and some inscriptions ("Revue biblique, 1S99, VIII, 22). Le Quien (Oriens chris- tianus. III, 697-700) mentions only three bi.shops: Zebennus in 449; Paul in 518; and Zachary in ,532. The ruins of Pella may be seen at Tabakat-Fahil beyond the Jordan and opposite Scythopolis or Beisan; the necropolis and a Christian basiUca with three naves are noteworthy.

Smith. Did. of Greek and Roman Geog.. II. 570; Shobmakeh, Pella (London, 1S88): ^cAos d'Orient, III {1S99), 83.

S. Vailh6

Pelletier, Pierre-Joseph, b. in Paris, 22 March, 1788; d. there, 19 July, 1842. His father, Bertrand Pelletier, a pharmacist and a follower of Lavoisier, filled several government offices in France after (he Revolution, dying at the early age of thirty-six. Like his father, the son showed precocity in science and fol- lowed in his steps in the doctrines of Lavoisier. The son's attention was directed to materia medica and to the vegetable alkaloids. He was associated with Ca- ventou in the discovery of quinine in 1820 and without any thought of possible remuneration, if the discovery was kept secret, published his results to the world. It was in 1827 that the Montyon prize of 10,000 francs was awarded to him by the Paris Academy of Science for the discovery, this being the sole reward for so great an achievement. Strychnine was another of his discoveries and his memoir on the subject was pub- lished in Paris in 1818. He was professor in the Ecole de pharmacie in Paris and in 1832 became one of its adjunct directors. He was appointed a member of the Conseil de salubrite of Paris and held other positions of honour. In 1S40 he was elected to the Academy of Sciences. The natural alkaloid — pelletierine — and three others were named after him by their discoverer, Tauret. Among his works may be cited: "Notice sur la matiere verte des feuilles", in collaboration with Caventou (Paris, 1817); "Analyse chimique des quin- quinas" (Paris, 1821); "Notice sur les recherches chimiques" (Paris, 1829), etc. Pelletier, as Cauchy testifies, was a convinced Catholic.

La grande encyclopidie : Larousse, DicUonnaire unitersel; Knelleb, Das Ckrialentum (2nd ed., Freiburg, 1904).

T. O'CoNOR Sloane.

Pellico, Silvio, Italian author and patriot, b. at Saluzzio, Italy, 24 June, 1788; d. at Turin, 31 Jan., 1854. His father was a government employee and Silvio spent his youth in different places in Italy, mak- ing also a four-years' sojourn in Lyons. At the age of twenty he was in Milan, where he made the acquaint- ance of several of the best Italian writers, among whom were Monti, Foscolo, and Manzoni. Here he taught French in a school, conducted by the Government, for soldiers' orphans, and when the Austrian authorities deprived him of this post, he served as a private tutor in different families, especially in that of Count Luigi Porro Lambertenghi, one of the leading opponents of Austrian dominion in the land. Lambertenghi founded in 1819 the periodical "II Conciliatore", which, as a XL— 39

literary organ, voiced the doctrines of the Romantic writers as opposed to those of the Classicist school, and, as a political organ, combatted all foreign domi- nation in Italy. Pelhco played an important part in the editing of this periodical. In 1820, with a fellow- worker, Pietro Maroncelli, he incurred suspicion as a member of the Carbonari, and, having been arrested by order of the Austrians, was imprisoned first in the Piombi at Venice and next in the dungeon of San Michele di Murano. After a perfunctory trial he and Maroncelli were condemned to death, but this penalty was soon commuted into one of imprisonment with hard labour, and they were taken to the fortress of Spielberg in Moravia. After eight years of incarcera- tion and much suffering, Pellico was released (1830). During the remainder of his hfe, broken down by the hardships of imprisonment, he remained entirely aloof from politics, and preferred a life of seclusion.

Pellico is not one of the great Italian authors of the nineteenth century; yet he is one who has endeared himself permanently to the Italian heart by a single document, his prison diary, "Le mie Prigioni". In this work, which rapidly became popular and passed into foreign languages, he relates in simple and unaf- fected prose his experiences and emotions during the whole period of his confinement. There is no tone of bitterness in his manner; his attitude throughout is that of the genuinely devout and resigned Cathohc, and he records with infinite detail and often with pro- foundly pathetic effect his daily experience in his vari- ous prisons. His little account of the spider which he trained to eat from his hand is one of the best remem- bered passages of modern Italian prose. The very gentleness and homeliness of its narrative made his "Prigioni " the favourite that it is, and well has it been said that the book did more harm to Austria than any defeat on the field of battle. His other writings are: "Liriche", full of religious devotion and patriotic fervour; "Cantiche" or "Novelle poetiche", roman- tic in inspiration and concerned with medieval life and manners; twelve tragedies; the "Doveri degli uo- mini", a prose compilation of precepts and example, intended to teach right living to the young; his copi- ous correspondence ("Epistolario"), and a prose ver- sion of Byron's "Manfred". Only eight of the trag- edies have been published, the most famous of which, "Francesca da Rimini", dealing with the Dantesque tradition, was performed successfully in 1818; it en- gaged at once the attention of Byron and he trans- lated it into English. The "Francesca" ranks next in importance among his works to the "Prigioni".

Opere (Milan, 1886); Epistolario (Florence, 1856); Le mie Prigioni, ed. Paravh, Sonzogno, and others; Poesie e leilere inedite (Rome, 1898); Prose e Iragedie scelte (Milan, 1899); RiNlERl, Delia vita e delle opere di S. P. (3 vols.. Turin, 1898- 1901); Briano.S. P. (Turin, 1861); Pabavia in «erae Coiifempo- raine, 1853-1; DiniEB in Revue des Deux Mondes (Sept.. 18-12).

J. D. M. Ford.

Pellissier (Pellicier), Gdillaume, b. at Mel- gueil in Languedoc, about 1490; d. at the castle of lilontferraud, 1508. He made a brilliant course in law and theology and travelled in France and Italy. In 1527 his uncle. Bishop of Maguelonne, appointed him canon and shortly afterwards his coadjutor. He be- came the next bishop in 1529. Francis I entrusted him with several important missions; in 1529 he accompanied Louise de Savoie to Cambrai and con- cluded peace with Charles V. In 1533 at Marseilles he arranged with Clement VII for the marriage of the Duo d'Orl(ans (Henri II) and Catherine de' Medici. He obtained permission for the translation of his epis- copal see from Maguelonne to Montpellier from Paul III in 1536. Four years later he was sent as ambassa- dor to Venice, and brought back a large number of Greek, Syriac, and Hebrew MSS. An ardent Human- ist, he was arrested on suspicion of heresy by order of the Parliament of Toulouse, and imprisoned in the castle of Beaiucaire, though he easily freed himself