Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/526

* PKOSELYTE. 458 PROSSNITZ. ture as 'proselvte of liglitcou^sness,' in addition to submi tins to the rite of circumcision had to receive instrucfion in the tests ol .I.idaism and usually was obliged to carr>- out thai precepts strietlV He was obliged to cut loose from heathen associations altogether and after a cer- tain time the ceremony of the ritualistic bath to symbolize his purification from the uncleanliness of heathenism was also insisted upon, in 1 ales- tine proper converts to Judaism do not appear to have been encouraged by the rabbis. Pharisa- ism discountenanced missionary efforts, and the growth of the new Christian religion, which threatened the lowering of all barriers, led to a further insistence upon the rabbinic ideal, wlucli tended toward the separation of the Jews from the rest of mankind. Among the Jews, however, who lived in the Greek colonies, an active projja- "anda was carried on. more particularly during the century before our era. and the movement liere was not without its elTecf on those who re- mained in the mother country. A part at least of the Hellenistic Jewish litera- ture is distinctly intended for heathen readers, written to convince them of the falsity of their own religion, and of the superiority of .Judaism. To be sure, the Judaism advocated in this litera- ture ^vas no longer a pure jjroduct. and itself shows traces of the influence of Ureek thought; Tet in its main lines it was in kpe])ing with the doctrines and tendencies of Palestinian and Baby- lonian Judaism. As a result of these proselytiz- ing tendencies. Christianity found the way op'ened when the new religion felt strong enough to begin active missionary elTorts; and in the measure that the Jewish Christians abandoned distinctively .Jewish customs and rites, they at- tracted many to their ranks who had been pre- pared for the new faith l)y the dissemination of Hellenistic thought. In this manner Christianity reaped the benefits of the labors of the Jewish propagandist and became essentially a mission- ary religion. Judaism also continued to make converts, as the history of the Khozan .Jews seems to show. But it gradually became charac- terized by a decided discouragement of additions to its ranks, increasing its restrictions and sur- rounding admission into the synagogue with dif- ficulties that only a very limited number could overcome. Kini.ioGR.vpHY. Sehiirer, History of the Jeicish Peoph: in the Time of Jesus Christ (Eng. trans,, Edinburgh, 1S85-00) ; Bertholet, Die Stclltinfi der Jsraelitrn iind iler Jtiden zii den Fremdrn (Frei- burg, isnii) : Weber, Die jiidische TheoUigie (I-eipzig, 1807) ; Graetz, Geschichte der Juden, vol, i, (Berlin, 18.54; Eng, trans., Philadelphia, 1873). See Centii-ES. PROSERTINA (Lat., from Gk. Ui:pae<!>6vi/, Pn-scphoni', Utpaeipdveia, Persephoneia. of un- known etymology). In Greek mytholog>'. the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. The story of her abduction by Hades, the search and sorrow of her mother,' and the return of Proserpina for a part of the year to the upper world, is given under Ceres, where also is discussed the nature of the two goddesses, who were commonly joined in the cult. In Homer she appears as the dread consort of Hades, the ruler of the lower world, and enemy of life. With this probably belongs the genealogy that made her daughter of the Styx, This side is, however, far more prominent in literature and art than in the cult. In imprecations her name is frequently invoked along with Hades and the Furies, who' in Orphic theology are even called her daughters. So she rules the dead, and death comes in oliedience to her eominand, while it is as her .servant that Hermes leads the souls to her kingdom, Xot that she is always stern, for in the%tories of Orpheus and Alcestis she appears as moved to pity. In art, when with her mother, she is sometimes represented as of more girlish form, but even here she carries the torch of the goddess of the lower world. When represented with Hades, she is altogether the queen, com- monly enthroned, and holding the sceptre, or some- times the bunch of wlieat, which conveys a rem- iniscence of her gentler function, PROSKUBOV, pru'sku-rof. A town in the Government of Podolia, Russia, situated near the Bug, about 00 miles north of Kanienetz-Podolsk. It ha- an extensive sugar mill and manufactures of flour and tobacco. Population, in 1897, 22,915. PROSODY (Lat. promdia. from Gk. Trpocyr.ia. from Trpdr, pros, toward + (liBVt'Jdc. song, from fdeiv, udi'iii. to sing), A term which originally meant the tone or accent of a syllable, and later was applied to a song sung to music. At the present time it is loosely regarded as that part of gram- mar which trea'ts of quantity, accent, and the laws fif versiticatinn (q.v,). PROSPECT PARK. See Brooklyn. PROSPERITY ROBINSON. A name ap- plied liy William ( obbelt to Frederick Robinson, Earl of Ripon. who boasted of the prosperity of the country in the House of Commons just before the tinniicial crisis of 1S2.5. PROS'PERO. The banished Duke of ;Milan in Shakespeare's Tempest, a wise and noble ma- gician living on a desert island with his daughter Miranda. Some traits in the character seem to have been intended to suggest James I., before whom the play was first performed: but in more points it resembles Shakespeare himself at the close of his public career. PROS'PER OF AQUITA'NIA, S.int ( c.400- c4li3l. A learned layman of the fifth century, born in Aquitania. Little is known of his life except that he was in Gaul from 428 until 434, and after that date probably lived m Rome. It was he who induced Poi)e Celestine to write a letter to the bishops of Gaul expressly confirm- ino- Saint Augustine's doctrine of grace, and he was recognized as the accredited defender of the Church's"^ teaching on the subject against the Semi-Pelagians. His Chrrmicle (f'hronieon ton- suUire) was completed in Rome. It is a continua- tion of that of .Jerome and brings it up to 4.5a. dealing especially with the history of dogma and of heresies. _ . . i i-ii His works, from the Benedictine text of l/ll, are in lligne, Patrolorjia Latina, li. For his teaching on grace, consult Wiirter. Prosper ion Ariuitfinicn iiber Gnade wul Freiheit (Freiburg, 18071. PROSS, Solomon. A spy and villain in Dick- ens's Tale of Two Cities. His sister. Jliss Pross a red-haired, ungainly, but unselfish woman, Iivefl with Lucie Manette, and accidentally kiUed Madame Defarge. PROSSNITZ, pros'nits (Bohemian Proste- jor) A manufacturing town of the Crownland of Moravia, Austria, in the fruitful plain of Hanna, 11 miles southwest of Olmlitz (Map: Aus-