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 PALGEAVE PALIMPSEST 11 aging clerk in a law office till 1822, when he was employed by the commissioners of rec- ords. He had edited a collection of Anglo- Norman chansons in 1818, but first became known as the editor of the "Parliamentary "Writs," published by the commissioners of public records (4 vols. fol., 1827-'34). He was admitted to the bar at the Inner Tem- ple in 1827. In 1831 he published a pamphlet on " Conciliatory Reform," and a " History of England: the Anglo-Saxon Period," in Mur- ray's " Family Library." About the same time he was elected fellow of the royal society and of the society of antiquaries. In 1832 he was knighted "for his general services and his attention to constitutional and parliamentary IRerature." His "Rise and Progress of the English Commonwealth" (2 vols. 4to, 1832) is devoted to the Anglo-Saxon polity and man- ners, and is especially valuable to the student of English jurisprudence. In 1833 he was ap- pointed by the king one of 20 commissioners to inquire into the existing state of the muni- cipal corporations of England and Wales ; but dissenting from the report of the majority of the commission, he presented his own views in a " Protest" (1835). On the reconstruction of the record office in 1838 he was appointed deputy keeper of her majesty's public records, and continued in this office till his death. His other works are : Eotuli Curia Regis (2 vols., 1835) ; " Calendars and Inventories of the Trea- sury of the Exchequer" (3 vols., 1836) ; "Doc- uments illustrating the History of Scotland" (1837); "Truths and Fictions of the Middle Ages: the Merchant and the Friar" (1837); " Essay upon the Authority of the King's Coun- cil" (1844); and " History of Normandy and England" (4 vols., 1851-'64). He also wrote the first edition of Murray's "Handbook to North Italy," and was for many years a con- stant contributor to the " Quarterly Review." II. Francis Turner, an English poet, son of the preceding, born in London, Sept. 28, 1824. He completed his education at Oxford, and was successively vice principal of a normal college, assistant in the educational department of the privy council, and private secretary to Earl Granville. His principal works are: "Idyls and Songs " (London, 1854) ; " Essays on Art " (1866) ; "A Life of Sir Walter Scott" (1867) ; "Hymns" (1867; enlarged ed., 1868); and "Lyrical Poems" (1871). III. William Clifford, brother of the preceding, born in Westminster, Jan. 24, 1826. He graduated at Oxford in 1846, and in 1847 was commissioned as second lieutenant in the 8th Bombay native infantry. He left India in 1853, resigned his commis- sion, joined the Roman Catholic church, and became a member of the society of Jesus. After his novitiate he completed his theologi- cal studies in the Jesuit seminary at Laval, was ordained priest, and at his own request was sent to the Jesuit mission in Syria, where his intimate knowledge of Arabic gave promise of special usefulness. Wishing to extend the field of missionary enterprise into the unex- plored countries of central Arabia, he sub- mitted his project to the general of the society and the propaganda, who gave it their appro- bation, while the French government, as the protector of the Syrian missions, furnished the necessary funds. He set out from Maan on the western verge of the Sherarat desert June 16, 1862, travelled under the disguise of a physi- cian through the territories subject to the Wa- habees, escaped from their capital, Riyad, with great risk to his life, Nov. 24, and arrived at, Katif, in Hasa, Dec. 22. After having suf- fered shipwreck on the coast of Oman, he re- turned to Europe through Bagdad and Aleppo. He left the society of Jesus in 1864, and pub- lished "Personal Narrative of a Year's Jour- ney through Central and Eastern Arabia " (2 vols., London, 1865), receiving for it the gold medal of the French geographical society. In July, 1865, Palgrave was sent to the East on a special mission for the release of the English and other prisoners held by the Abyssinian monarch Theodore. He remained in Egypt till June, 1866, when he returned to England, and was appointed consul at Sukhum-Kall July 23, and at Trebizond May 20, 1867. He is at present (1875) consul at St. Thomas, West In- dies. In 1 872 he published ' * Essays on Eastern Questions " and " Hermann Agha," and in 1875 " Alkamah's Cave, a Story of Nejd." PALIKAO, Charles Gnillanme Marie Apollinaire Antoine Consin-Montauban, count de, a French soldier, born in Paris, June 24, 1796. In early life he served in the French army in Spain, and afterward in Algeria, where he became a gen- eral of division in 1855. In 1858-'9 he held various commands in France, and in 1860 dis- tinguished himself as commander in China, in conjunction with the English forces, especial- ly at Pa-li-kia-ho (Sept. 21), whence his title. The spoliation of the Chinese summer palace near Peking caused the legislative body to dis- allow the annuity of 50,000 francs which had been proposed for him ; but it was discovered in 1872 that the emperor had appropriated 600,000 francs from the Chinese indemnity for the benefit of Palikao, without a shadow of authority. In August, 1870, after the 'first reverses of the French arms, he succeeded Emile Ollivier as prime minister, and acted at the same time as minister of war. He organ- ized a large force at Chalons, formed several new army corps, placed Trochu in command of Paris, published fictitious reports of victo- ries, and was held in a great measure respon- sible for the disaster of Sedan, after which he fled to Belgium. In December, 1871, he pub- lished a vindication of his administration. PALI LANGUAGE. See INDIA, RACES AND LANGUAGES OF, vol. ix., p. 216. PALIMPSEST (Gr. Tra/U'^^ffrof, from TraAw, again, and T/^V, to rub), a parchment which has been written upon twice or oftener, the prior writing having been erased and the sur- face prepared for the new by rubbing. The