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* PRAYER-BOOK. 352 PREBEND. Lectures on the First Prayer-Book of Edward TI. (ib., 1881). PRAYER FOR THE DEAD. The practiee which prevails in the Koman Catholic. Greek, and other Oriental churches of praying for the souls of the deceased with the intention and ex- pectation of obtaining for them an alleviation of their suiTerings after deatli. because of venial sins, or of the penalty of mortal sins, remitted but not fully atoned for during life. The doc- trine of purgatory, or a middle state of imrga- tion after death before the soul can enter heaven, naturally gives rise to the practice of prayer for the dead, though there are those who pray for the dead, yet do not explicitly accept the doc- trine of purgatory. The two doctrines are. how- ever, closely connected, especially in conjunction with the related doctrine of the conununion of saints. (See Saint.) A belief in the etlicacy of prayer for the dead existed in practically all of the ancient religions, especially those of Egypt, India, and China. The existence of this belief, implicit, if not explicit, aflfords the only rational explanation of many of the practices of the Greeks and Latins with regard to their dead. Among the Jews the custom of prayer for the dead is attested by the well-known text in II. Maccabees xii. 44^ 45. that it is "a holy and wholesome thought to ]iray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins." The prac- tice of prayer for the deail is equally recognizable in the early Christian Church. The parable of Lazarus and the rich man evidently portrays a definite belief in the inter-comnuuiion of this earth with the world beyond the grave. The Fathers of the first centuries, Clement of Alex- andria, Tertullian, Saint Cyprian, and especially Saint .John Chrysostom. Saint Cyril of .lerusa- lem, and Saint Augustine, frequently allude to prayers for the dead. The Liturgies of all the rites without exception contain such pravers. Prayer for the dead has been a constant tradition of the Roman Catholic and Eastern churches. The Protestant churches, with some exceptions, have repudiated the i)raetice. Prayers for the dead were not forbidden in the English Church, and there is an almost unbroken tradition of ecclesi- astical authorities, including such names as An- drewes, Barrow. Ken. Weslcv, and Keble, who approved of it. Consult;' Luckock. Afti-r Dpath (ih., 1879); Plnmptre. The Spirits in Prison (ib., 1884) ; :runiford. Tiro Ancient Treatises on Purrintoni (Xew York, 1894). PRAYING INSECT, or JIantis. See Man- tis. PREACHING FRIARS. See Dominicans. PRE- ADAMITES. Supposed inhabitants of the earth anterior tcj Adam. The term is ap- plied particularly to a theory advanced by Isaac de la Peyr^re (better known by his Latinized name Percriiis), which he attempted to prove from the Bible. Peyrfre was born of a Calvinist family of Bordeaux in 1.594. and was attached to the service of the Prince of Cond^. His theory was first made public in Paris in 1655. in the form of a commentary on Romans v. 12-14 en- titled Precndamitce. The same year he published the first part of a formal treatise on the pre- Adamite hypothesis, and the theological conse- quences to be derived therefrom, entitled Si/stema Throhifiirvm e.r Prcrndrimitiirinn Hiipnthesi. Ac- cording to his hypothesis Adam was the progen- itor of the Jewish race only, and it is only of iiim and his race that the Bible is designed to supply the history. Other races existed on earth before that of Adam; but of them the Bible con- tains no record, nor did the ilosaie law regard them or impose any obligation upon them. It was only luider the gospel that they began to be comprehended in the law, which through Christ was given to all the human races of the earth; and it is in this seijse that sin is said ( Rom. v. 13) to "have been in the world until the law." but not to have been "imputed when the law was not." For the pre-Adamite race, as the law was not, there was no letnil offense. The only evil which Peyr6re recognized was natural evil. The same limited interpretation he extended to most other details of the Mosaic history. Thus he regarded the deluge as partial, being confined onl_v to the Adamite race. Other miraculous narratives of the Pentateuch and even of other books he restricted similarly. As his book was published in the Low Coun- tries, he fell under the animadversion of the In- quisition, and eventually was arrested in the diocese of Mechlin, but was released at the in- stance of the Prince de Conde. He afterwards went to Rome, where he conformed to the Roman Catholic Chui-ch. and made a full retraction of his erroneous opinions (Episiola ad Philoti- mum, Rome. 1657). He was offered preferment by the Pope, Alexander VII.. but returned in preference to Paris, where he entered the Semi- nary of Notre Dame des Vertus, in which he resided till his death in 167(3. For a modern dis- cussion of this theme, consult Winchell. Pre- adaniifes (Boston. 1880). PREAULT, pra'o', Auguste (1809-79). A French sculptor, born in Paris. He was a pupil of David d'Angers and an ardent admirer of the Romantic School. For fifteen years both Salons were closed against his sculpture, because of his defense of these principles. His works include "Clemence Isaure." ".Jacques Civur," "Ophelia," a bronze has relief, and several stat- ues and fimeral monuments in the Paris churches and cemeteries. PRE AUX CLERCS, ]ira 6 klark. Le. A large plain once extending to the gates of Paris, northeast of the Abbey of Saint Germain des Pres, on the left bank of the Seine, so called because in the Middle Ages it was a resort of the students of the university. The part owned by the abbey attracted students by being nearer, and riots with the monks resulted in legislation by Avhich it was ceded to the luiiversity in 1368. Later it was a resort of fashion and duelists. It is now covered by the Fauliourg Saint Germain. PREB'END (ML. prwhenda, prebend, allow- ance of food and drink, feni. sg. or neu. pi. of Lat. prcehendus, gerundive of prwbcre, pnehibere, to offer, from pr<c. before + habere, to have). Originally, a portion of food, clothing, or money allowed to a monk or other cleric out of the reve- nues of a cathedral or collegiate church. After the_ organization of chapters of canons for the maintenance of the daily services in the Bishop's church, endowments came to be made for their support, the canons usualh- living in common. ^^^len, about the eleventh century, canons ceased to live in common, each received a share of the revenues of the cathedral, called a prebend. At the present time in the Church of England all