Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 19.djvu/681

Rh P R A P R A 657 The chief value of this very remarkable work lies in the informa tion it gives concerning the condition of instrumental music in the early years of the 17th century. The plates include excellent representations of all the musical instruments in use at the time they were published, together with many forms even then treated only as antique curiosities. Many of these instruments are known to us only through these representations and the descriptions with which they are accompanied, the instruments themselves having long fallen into disuse, and no real examples having been preserved to us. Among the most important instruments described and figured are the whole family of flutes, oboes, and bassoons ; the different kinds of trombone, many of which exactly resemble those now in nse ; trumpets and horns of all conceivable varieties ; viols, violins, and basses ; the entire family of stringed and keyed instruments, including the psaltery, the spinet, the harpsichord, and a curious combination of the harpsichord and viol called the Nurembergisch Geigenwerck,&quot; known only through this description ; and finally the organ, to the historical and technical description of which an entire section is devoted. The work thus throws a light upon the earlier forms of instrumental music which to the historian is invaluable. In fact, without the information bequeathed to us by Prsetorius it would be impossible to reconstruct in theory the orchestra of the earlier half of the 17th century, during which the opera and the oratorio both sprang into existence, or even to understand the descriptions left us by other less careful writers. PRAGMATIC SANCTION, the technical name given to some decrees which have been issued as fundamental laws. The term is of Byzantine origin, the edicts of the Eastern emperors having been called &quot;pragmatics.&quot; There is a famous document known as the Pragmatic Sanction of St Louis, which contains six articles directed against the assumptions of the papacy ; but there are reasons for doubt ing its genuineness. In 1438 Charles VII. of France issued at Bourges a pragmatic sanction which embodied the most important decisions of the council of Basel. This decree formed the basis of the liberties of the Gallican Church. Louis XI. entered into negotiations with the papacy for its revocation ; but it continued in force until the time of Francis I., who substituted for it a concordat with Pope Leo X. The decisions of the council of Basel were also embodied in a pragmatic sanction by a diet which met at Mainz in 1439 ; but by the concordat of Vienna, concluded in 1448 by the emperor Frederick III. with Pope Nicholas V., most of the advantages which the diet had hoped to secure for the church in Germany were abandoned. The most famous of all pragmatic sanctions was that of the emperor Charles VI. In 1713 it was issued as a family statute, but, as the emperor proposed that it should become a fundamental law of the state, it was afterwards submitted to the diets of the lands ruled by the house of Austria by hereditary right. Having been accepted by the estates of Lower Austria and Bohemia in 1720, by the Hungarian diet in 1722, and by the remaining diets between 1720 and 1724, it was pro claimed as a fundamental law on the 6th of December 1724. By this edict it was decreed that the Austrian lands should always be united ; that they should be ruled by Charles VI. s male descendants ; that, if he had no male descendants, his territories should pass to his female descendants; and that, if his female descendants died without issue, the right of succession should belong to the daughters of his brother Joseph and to their male and female offspring in accordance with the law of primogeniture. In the interest of his daughter Maria Theresa the emperor spared no pains to secure from the empire and from the other powers guarantees for the execution of this law; and, when his nieces, who as the daughters of his elder brother might prove to be dangerous rivals of Maria Theresa, were married, one to the electoral prince of Saxony, the other to the electoral prince of Bavaria, he caused them to declare on oath that they abandoned their claims. Nevertheless after his death the pragmatic sanction led to the War of the Austrian Succession. In 1759 a pragmatic sanction was issued by Charles III. of Spain granting the throne of the Two Sicilies to his third son and his descendants. PRAGUE (German, Prag ; Bohemian, Praka), the capi tal of Bohemia, the seat of an archbishop, and the third largest town of the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy, lies on both banks of the Moldau in 50 5 N. lat. and 14 25 E. long., 150 miles to the north-west of Vienna and 75 miles to the south-south-east of Dresden. Its position, near the centre of the country and at the only point where the valley of the Moldau expands sufficiently to make room for a great city, marks it out as the natural capital of Bohemia, and the picturesque effect of its masses of build ings and innumerable spires and towers, filling the valley and climbing the hills on either side, is enhanced by their stirring historical background. The heights on the left bank descend somewhat rapidly to the river and are crowned by the venerable Hradschin, or palace of the Bohemian kings, which forms the dominant feature in every view of the town. On the other bank there is a considerable level space between the river and the base of the hills. An additional charm is lent to the scene by the pleasant green islands in the Moldau, which is here 500 to 1500 feet in width. The general features of the situation recall those of Budapest, and the smaller scale is fully compensated for by the greater variety and interest of the buildings. The town proper consists of four main divisions, the Altstadt and the Neustadt on the right bank of the Moldau, and the Kleinseite and the Hradschin on the left. Imme diately beyond the old line of circumvallation are the suburbs of Carolinenthal, Wyscherad, Smichow, and Wein- berg, while these in turn are adjoined by various outer suburban districts. Down to 1866 Prague was surrounded with walls and bastions, which, however, had long lost their military importance, and have since been, to a great 1. Imperial Palace. 2. St Vitus s Cathedral. 3. Belvedere Villa. 4. Palace Waldstein. 5. St Nicholas Church. 6. Capuchin Monastery. 7. St Loretto Church. 8. Strahow Monastery. 9. Rudolfinum. Plan of Prague. 10. Church of the Knights 17. of the Cross. 18. 11. Clemen tinum. 19. 12. Count Clam Gallas s 20. Palace. 21. 13. Town-house. 22. 14. Teyn Church. 23. 15. Carolinum. 24. 16. Civil Courts. 25, Nat. Boheni. Museum. Maria Schuee Church. Savings Bank. Bohemian Theatre. Neustadt Town-house. Technical College. Enimaus Church. Carlshof Church. Jewish Cemetery. extent, removed. The two sides of the river are connected by seven bridges, of which the most important are the Kaiser Franz suspension bridge, the new Palacky bridge, and the fine old Carls bridge. This last, erected between 1350 and 1500, is closed at each end by a mediaeval gate- tower, of which that to the east is particularly interesting. The numerous buttresses are adorned with statues of saints, XIX. 83