PAS

265

PAT

" ive ntor "

* Ce "tmL°v ^ ut i g certain that it had been treated of,*® e tic 9 i . ore Pascal’s time, by Cardan, and other arith-^ ''mters.

the*},^’ ^ >asca ^ was in the twenty-fourth year of his age,be . e ' st expectations were formed of the advantages* en °Unc ' n science from his labours, he on a sudden

( iev°t e( j ]?• 4 ” e stu dy of mathematics, and all human learning;

bee lInse ^ wholly to a life of mortification and prayer ;'Wed. tT as S reat a devotee as almost any age has pro-file worl^ 6 Was not ' > however, so completely abstracted fromlt 5 and •’ as to he wholly indifferent to what was passing inWi 8ts l* 11 ^he disputes between the Jesuits and the Jan-Ce * e brat Pf f J( ecarne a partisan of the latter, and wrote his*'arrr e 0 f j -Pro vincial Letters, published in 1656, under thefalcnts of de Mentalte, in which he only employed hisj fer 8 i. ' Vl ' an d humour in ridiculing the former. Theseatl gu a „ e aVe been translated into almost all the Europeanthe'j' ’ a . n< i probably nothing did more injury to the causeaifiisojf. o Ults ‘ The course of life which he prescribed to. 8 Tr axso T 1 un ^ avoura ble to his health of body and mind.C ! rc Um s t a n became in some measure affected, and, in theseS, ° a Win,,v' Ces ’ a n accident produced on his mind an impres-Wssiorr C0U M not be effaced. In 1654, while he wasw’l Seine in a coach-and-four, the two leadinga Parang me un manageable at a part of the bridge whereriver n? 3 P arl W down, and plunged over the side into^bichn,; Tht fir weight fortunately broke the traces, byCa, e<l 0n ? s i-be other horses and the carriage were extri-j,® brink of the precipice.

a hd

so

In his then enfeebled

va r a v Ser , ious were its effects on him, that he never after--tt> ile i b;! d the possession of his mental faculties. He always6i(1 « nf !, t lat he was on the edge of a vast abyss on the leftm llm > a nd he would at no time sit down till a chairA-fter l ed th ere, to assure him there was no real danger,(it I 1 , u .;' a W"i s bing some years in this miserable state, he diebS^o 662 > at the age of 39. , , + ,

v<^GES, the avenues or accesses which lead to thebass‘" lpartmen ts of a building.n r ' r Ses »«st always be convenient to give ready access,° tl 'cr bocHonal in width and height to the magnitude of ther .. ar 'merits, and with suitable decorations.

•„ r , , , or Pastel, (from the Latin pastillus,) amongU P ivitt’ &0 - a sort of paste, made of several colours, ground

oht was too much for the unfortunate Pascal;

- cray ong ^ ater ._ either together or separately, in order tot| 1( f AS'pQpjV o P a >nt with on paper or parchment.lj,j . *'- r nj)]p a "nJA, (Greek) in antiquity, apartments near

' ’"ess ’ lor Iodcdn Of tlta rvootnnli/iv? or nrinota

fiia"

‘h,

. you are conducted to a emp , st0 „\ l0rus

lively ,' ; e f w,<i of these courts, and e ., ou the

deit y \ v ; tl * s ll P 'be veil, which is the do , or SOTn e

0t ''er ari - Un ’ which is nothing but a dog ‘ t ; at c;u -W fc al ” Apuleius speaks of the pastophon that

In t v yr ’ ari goddess. . courts sur-

'onnci’, jornple of Jerusalem there were twobfittrvj r Wlt b gallerie

f ? r 'be

beci

,° r tlig and round about were several lodging-

'"cense ^ UeSts to biy up wood, wine, oil, salt, meal,

for ft Vestm ents, valuable vessels, and provisionsT «e Sac.i‘ft„„„ i__i„ .

Jt 3tvj Ill j ! ^ tl tenaoce Sa f' adces and bimps, as also for "the support

eC 'to 2 „, KA L-STAFP

'he priests. See 1 Chron. ix. 26, 33 ;

Vo>*H.• h.

STAFF, the official staff used by a bishop.

PATE, in fortification, a kind of platform, like what theycall a horse-shoe; not always regular, but generally oval,encompassed only with a parapet, and having nothing to flankit. It is usually erected in marshy grounds, to cover a gateof a town, or the like.

PATEN, a plate or salver employed in the eucharist.

*■ PATEEA, (from pateo, I am open,) among antiquaries,a goblet, or vessel, used by the Romans in their sacrifices, inwhich they received the blood of their victims, offered theirconsecrated meats to the gods, and made libations.

On medals, the patera is seen in the hands of severaldeities; and frequently in the hands of princes, to mark thesacerdotal authority joined with the imperial, &c. HenceF. Joubert observes, that besides the patera, there is fre-quently an altar, upon which the patera seems to be pouringits contents.

The patera is an ornament in architecture, frequentlyintroduced in friezes, fascias, and imposts, over which arehung festoons of husks or flowers; or they are sometimesused by themselves, to ornament a space ; and in this case itis common to hang a string of husks or drapery over them ;sometimes they are much enriched with foliage, and havea mask or head in the centre.

In vol. xiv. of the Archasologia, a description and plateare given of a Roman patera and vase dug up when sinking aditch in Essex, in June, 1800. Theywere found near an ancientRoman road, between Camelodunum and Camboritum. “ Themetal vase and patera merit attention, as none similar to thefirst have been figured or described in the works of the society;nor do I know that any like either have been presented fortheir inspection. The vase is of that form which Montfauconhas figured in his 2d vol., pi. 19, fig. 10, and calls a preeferi-culum, used by the Romans at their sacrifices, for pouringwine into the patera. See p. 88, where he controverts Festus’sopinion that the prasfericula were without handles. Another,more nearly resembling that here represented, is given in his3d. vol., pi. 24, fig. 9, and called by Beger an epichysis, butnot allowed to be such by Montfaucon. The metal paterawhich belongs to the above, differs from the earthen pater®in general, by being bossed in the centre, a circumstance noteasily to be accounted for, unless it was for the firmer fixingthe prffiferieulum upon, when placed with the body at thetime of interment.” With the above Roman antiquities werefound several little cups of Samian ware. “ The uses of theseelegant little cups have not,” the antiquary contitTnes, “ thatI know of, been ascertained by any author. The real pur-poses to which they were applied must remain at present inobscurity.”

It may be stated, also, that the Hindoos, in their sacrificesand ceremonies, have immemorially used, and still use, articlesexactly similar to those described in vol. xiv. of the Arcli®o-logia, plates 4 and 5 ; and it is curious to see how nearly theyagree in form. A comparison of the article in the plates justadverted to, with those in plates 83, 86, and 105 of theHindoo Pantheon, will strikingly evince this. The sacrificialvase, in the latter plate, has the same form, though moreelaborately ornamented, as the above described pricferieulum;and the others exhibit metallic circular pater®, and the centralembossment, which, though “ not easily accounted for,” isfound among Hindoo mystics to have very profound allusions.The Roman patera has also the mysterious rim, or yoni,respecting which the reader may consult the work lastreferred to. Dr. Clarke, in his Travels, notices that “ thepatera used by priestesses in the rites of Ceres, had thispyramidal node or cone in the centre. A priestess is repre-sented holding one of these, on a bas-reliet, in the vestibuleof Cambridge University library .” Vol. ii., p. 334. Greek-