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 PONIATOWSKI Poniatowski and Anna Leszczynska. The fol- lowing are the most distinguished of his de- scendants. I. Stanislaw, born in 1677, died in 1762. He attached himself to the fortunes of Stanislas Leszczynski and his protector Charles XII., accompanied the Swedish army to Rus- sia, and was at the battle of Poltava (1709), after which he was ambassador to Constanti- nople, and while there was skilful enough to involve the sultan in a war with Russia. After the death of Charles he supported Augustus II., by whom he was raised to several offices. Upon the death of Augustus (1733) he again joined the fortunes of Stanislas Leszczynski, and was taken prisoner at Dantzic by the Rus- sians. He wrote Remarque* (Pun seigneur polonais sur VHistoire de Charles XII. par Voltaire (the Hague, 1741). II. Stanislaw August, son of the preceding and of a princess Czar- toryska, born in Lithuania, Jan. 17, 1732, was elected king of Poland in September, 1764, and died in St. Petersburg, Feb. 12, 1798. (See POLAND.) III. Jozef Antoni, prince, and marshal of France, nephew of the preceding, born in Warsaw, May 7, 1762, drowned in the river Elster, Oct. 19, 1813. He entered the Austrian army, was in the campaign of 1787 against the Turks, and in 1789 was made a major general in the Polish army. In the war against Russia in 1792 he commanded on the Bug, and when the king, his uncle, acceded to the confederation of Targovitza, he left the service with most of the best officers; but when Kosciuszko raised the standard .of revolt in 1794, he served under him as" a volunteer, although in the campaign of 1792 Kosciuszko had been below him in military rank. In com- mand of a division he performed effective ser- vice during the two sieges of Warsaw, and after the capitulation of that city he went to Vien- na. In 1798 he returned to Warsaw, then un- der the dominion of Prussia, lived on his estates as a Prussian subject, and upon the occupation of that city by the French he joined their army, and during the campaign of 1807 commanded the Polish national army against the Russians. By the peace of Tilsit the duchy of Warsaw was created, and Poniatowski became its minister of war. In the war between Austria and France in 1809, he was compelled to evacuate the duchy, but invaded Galicia, and terminated the campaign by the occupation of Cracow. In the invasion of Russia in 1812 he commanded the Polish auxiliaries of the grand army. Just before the battle of Leipsic he was made by Napoleon a marshal of France, and after the battle was intrusted with the duty of covering the retreat of the French. The enemy had gained possession of the suburbs of the city, when with a small retinue he plunged into the deep stream of the Elster, in which he disap- peared. His body was recovered five days after. IV. Joseph, prince, a composer, second cousin of the preceding, born in Rome, Feb. 20, 1816, died in London, July 3, 1873. He was educated in Rome and Florence, joined 675 VOL. xiii. 45 PONTA DELGADA 701 the French army in Algeria, and in 1848 settled in the latter city. The grand duke of Tuscany gave him the right of citizenship and the title of prince of Monte Rotondo. He was twice returned to the Tuscan chambers, and was minister of Tuscany in Brussels and London. In 1854 he settled in France, and was natural- ized and made a senator. In 1870 he removed to London, where he supported himself by his musical talents during the last three years of his life. He composed Ruy Bias, Esmeralda, Pierre de Medicis, Don Desiderio, and other operas, and several masses. The last named opera was reproduced at the Theatre Italien in Paris in 1867. He had a fine tenor voice, and in his early life appeared several times upon the stage. PONS, Jean Louis, a French astronomer, born at Peyre, in Dauphiny, Dec. 25, 1761, died in Florence, Oct. 14, 1831. In 1789 he became connected with the observatory of Marseilles as usher, and rose to be director of the institu- tion. In 181 9 he became superintendent of the observatory at Marlia in the duchy of Lucca, and in 1825 of that of the museum at Florence. From 1801 to 1827 he discovered 37 comets. PONSARD, Francis, a French dramatist, born in Vienne, June 1, 1814, died at Passy, Paris, July 13, 1867. He studied and practised law, and early translated Byron's " Manfred " into French verse, and also published original poems. His tragedy Lucrece, rejected by Rachel and the Theatre Francais, was performed in 1843 at the Odeon, and made him famous as a re- storer of classical dramatic art. His Agnes de Meranie (1846), Charlotte Corday (1850), and other pieces, were less adapted for the stage. Immediately after the coup d'etat of Dec. 2, 1851, he accepted the office of librarian to the senate, for which he was taunted by Taxile Delord, with whom he consequently fought a duel. To show that he had not been prompted by mercenary motives, he wrote the comedy L'Honneur et I } argent, which was highly suc- cessful. He was admitted to the academy in 1855. His (Entires completes appeared in 1866, in 2 vols., and his Galatee in 1867. A monu- ment was erected to him in 1869. PONSON DU TERRAIL, Pierre Alexis de, vis- count, a French novelist, born at Montmaur, near Grenoble, July 8, 1829, died in Bordeaux, Jan. 30, 1871. He early became known as a sensational writer, and his novels, amounting to hundreds of volumes, had a large circulation among the populace, and have been translated into foreign languages. Among the best known of them are Les drames de Paris, comprising Les exploits de Rocambole and other stories relating to that personage, which he drama- tized under the same title in conjunction with Anicet-Bourgeois. PONTA DELGADA, a town on the S. side of the island of St. Michael (Sao Miguel), one of the Azores, in lat. 37 40' N., Ion. 25 86' W ; pop. in 1863, 15,885. It is tolerably. well built and substantial, and is defended on the sea