Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 19.djvu/418

Rh P L P L placed in a merchant s office, but as he showed a disin- ; cliuation for business his father at last permitted him to , begin preparatory studies for the university. In 1815 he , entered the university of North Carolina, where in 1818 ( he graduated with the highest honours. Called to the bar, in 1820, he speedily made for himself a high reputation, and in 1823 he entered the State legislature. In August , 1825 he was chosen to represent his district in Congress, to which he was re-elected every succeeding two years until 1839. As a strong supporter of Democratic opinions he identified himself with every important discussion, and, though he was not a brilliant speaker, his solid abilities, extraordinary energy, and indomitable will soon gave him a place in the front rank of politicians. In 1835 he was chosen speaker of the House of Representatives, to which he was re-elected in 1837, and in 1839 he was elected governor of Tennessee. In 1844 he was the Democrat candidate for the presidentship, and was chosen over Clay by a majority of sixty-five electoral votes. The election in great measure turned on the annexation of Texas, which was effected before his inauguration. One of the earliest questions with which his administration had to deal was the boundary of Oregon, which, although he had previously declared the title of the United States to Oregon to be &quot; clear and undisputed,&quot; was finally fixed at the parallel of 49 instead of 54 40. Following the annexation of Texas came the Mexican war, resulting in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 2d February 1848, by which New Mexico and California were ceded to the United States. Other im portant measures of his administration were the admission of Iowa and Wisconsin to the Union, the adoption of a low tariff in 1846, the organization of the department of the interior, and the adoption of the method of collecting Government revenues by specie without the aid of the banks. Polk retired from office 4th March 1849, and died in Nashville, 15th June of the same year. Life of the Hon. James Knox Polk, with a Compendium of his Speeches, 1844; Chase, History of the Polk Administration, 1850. POLLACK (Gadus pollachius), a species of cod-fish, abundant on rocky coasts of northern Europe, and extend ing as far south as the western parts of the Mediterranean, where, however, it is much scarcer and does not attain to the same size as in its real northern home. In Scotland and some parts of Ireland it is called Lythe. It is dis tinguished from other species of the genus Gadus by its long pointed snout, which is twice as long as the eye, with projecting lower jaw, and without a barbel at the chin. The three dorsal fins are composed of respectively 12, 18 or 20, and from 17 to 19 rays, and the two anal fins of 31 and 19 or 20. A black spot above the base of the pectoral fin is another distinguishing mark. Although pollack are well-flavoured fish, and smaller individuals (from 12 to 16 inches) excellent eating, they do not form any considerable article of trade, and are not preserved, the majority being consumed by the captors. Specimens of twelve pounds are common, but the species is said to attain 24 pounds in weight. POLLAN (Coregonus pollan), a species of the Salmonoid genus Coreyonus which has been found in the large and deep loughs of Ireland only. A full account of the fish by its first describer, W. Thompson, may be found in his Natural History of Ireland, vol. iv. p. 168. POLLIO, CAIUS ASINIUS (76 B.C.-4 A.D.), a Roman orator, poet, and historian, who played a conspicuous part in the troubled history of his time, was born in 76 B.C. In his twenty-second year (54 B.C.) he impeached unsuccess fully C. Cato, who in his tribunate (56) had acted as the tool of the triumvirs. In the civil war between Ca3sar and Pompey, Pollio sided with Ctu.sar, and after the successful campaigns against the remnants of the Pompeian party in Africa and Spain he was raised to the proctorship, and received the command of the war in Spain against Sextus Pompeius. At the time of Caisar s assassination (March 15, 44) Pollio was in Spain. He was defeated by Sextus Pompeius and fled for his life. But by Lepidus s influence a peace was patched up and Sextus left Spain, while Pollio remained with three legions under him. During the war between Mark Antony and the senate, Pollio, in a letter to Cicero, declared himself on the side of the senate, but found pretexts for waiting to cast in his lot with the victor. In fact no sooner had Octavian become reconciled to Antony and Lepidus, and compelled the senate to rescind the decrees against them, than Pollio joined Lepidus with two legions. Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian now formed the triumvirate (43), and Pollio was nominated consul for the year 40 B.C. Meantime he was entrusted by Antony with the administration of Gallia Trans- padana, and in superintending the distribution of the Mantuan territory amongst the veterans he used his influence to save from confiscation the property of the poet Virgil. When L. Antonius, brother of Mark Antony, revolted against Octavian and was besieged in Perusia (41-40), he entreated Pollio to hasten to his relief. Pollio advanced hesitatingly, but was fain to take refuge in Ravenna when Octavian marched to meet him. After the fall of Perusia Octavian and Antony were reconciled for a time by the peace of Brundisium, which Pollio helped to negotiate. He was now consul (40) ; Virgil s famous fourth eclogue is addressed to him in his consulship. Next year Pollio was sent by Antony against the Parthini, an Illyrian people who adhered to Brutus. He was success ful, took the town of Salonae, and celebrated a triumph in the same year. The eighth eclogue of Virgil is addressed to Pollio while engaged in this campaign. From the spoils of the war he constructed the first public library at Rome. 1 Thenceforward Pollio withdrew from active life and devoted himself to literature. When Octavian invited him to join in the war against Antony which ended in the battle of Actium, Pollio declined on the score of his former friend ship with Antony. He seems to have maintained to a certain degree an attitude of independence if not of opposi tion towards Augustus. He lived to a green old age, and died in his villa at Tusculum in 4 A.D. Pollio was a distinguished orator ; his speeches showed ingenuity and care, but were marred by an affected archaism which rendered them somewhat crabbed and harsh. He wrote tragedies also, which Virgil declared to be worthy of Sophocles, and a prose history of the civil wars of his time from the first triumvirate (60 B.C.) down 1 The library was in the Atrium Libertatis, which was also erected by Pollio (Isidor., Orig.,vi. 5; Sueton., Aug., 29 ; Ovid, Trist., iii. 1, 71). The situation of this Atrium is uncertain. There was an older Atrium Libertatis near the Forum (Cic. Ad Att., iv. 16, 8), but we are precluded from identifying it with that of Pollio by the lan guage of Isidore and Suetonius, who imply that Pollio built a new Atrium. Perhaps Pollio s Atrium was connected with the temple of Liberty on the Aventine (Livy, xxiv. 16); this would be strongly confirmed by Martial (xii. 3, 6), if we could be sure that his &quot; donms alta Remi &quot; referred to the Aventine. Mr A. W. Verrall (Studies in Horace, p. 113) has made it probable that Dion Cassius (xlix. 43) confused the Pollian with the Octavian library, and that accordingly 33 B. c. is the date of the dedication of the former library and not of the latter, which we know from Plutarch (Marc., 30) to have been dedicated not earlier than 23 B. c., the date of Marcellus s death. But Mr Verrall s conjecture that &quot; in the great reconstructions of Augustus &quot; the Pollian library was absorbed in the Octavian seems negatived by Ovid, Trist., iii. 1, 69-72, where &quot;atria&quot; certainly refers to the Pollian library, and &quot;templa vicino juncta theatre,&quot; probably refers to the Octavian library, which was in the Porticus Octavise, adjoining the twin temples of Jupiter and Juno, and close to the theatre of Marcellus (see Burn, Rome and the Campagna, p. 306 sq.}. Pliny (N. //., xxxvi. 24) also refers to &quot; Pollionis Asini monumenta &quot; as being distinct from the Porticus Octavia}. Moreover, there is no evidence that the two libraries were even near each other ; if the Pollian was on the Aventine, they were separated by nearly the whole breadth of the city.