Hind and Panther. After holding various diplomatic posts, in which he showed ability and discretion, he entered Parliament in 1700, and, deserting the Whigs, joined the Tories, by whom he was employed in various capacities, including that of Ambassador at Paris. On the death of Queen Anne he was recalled, and in 1715 imprisoned, but after two years released. In 1719 a folio ed. of his works was brought out, by which he realised £4000, and Lord Harley having presented him with an equal sum, he looked forward to the peace and comfort which were his chief ambition. He did not, however, long enjoy his prosperity, dying two years later. Among his poems may be mentioned Solomon, which he considered his best work, Alma, or the Progress of the Mind, The Female Phaeton, To a Child of Quality, and some prose tales. His chief characteristic is a certain elegance and easy grace, in which he is perhaps unrivalled. His character appears to have been by no means unimpeachable, but he was amiable and free from any trace of vindictiveness.
PROCTER, Adelaide Ann (1825-1864).—Poetess, eldest dau. of Bryan W. P. (q.v.). Many of her poems were first pub. in Household Words and All the Year Round, and afterwards coll. under the title of Legends and Lyrics (1858), of which many ed. appeared. In 1851 Miss P. became a Roman Catholic. She took much interest in social questions affecting women. She wrote the well-known songs, Cleansing Fires and The Lost Chord, and among her many hymns are, I do not ask, O Lord, that Life may be, and My God, I thank Thee who hast made.
PROCTER, Bryan Waller ("Barry Cornwall") (1787-1874).—Poet, b. at Leeds, and ed. at Harrow, went to London and practised successfully as a solicitor. Thereafter he became a barrister, and was, 1832-61, a Commissioner of Lunacy. By 1823 he had produced four vols. of poetry and a tragedy, Mirandola (1821). His works include Dramatic Scenes (1819), A Sicilian Story, Marcian Colonna (1820), The Flood of Thessaly (1823), and English Songs (1832), which last will perhaps survive his other writings. P. was he friend of most of his literary contemporaries, and was universally beloved.
Prout, Father (See {{SBDEL lkpl|Mahony, Francis Sylvester|Mahony, F. S.|nosc=x).
PRYNNE, William (1600-1669).—Controversial writer, b. near Bath, ed. at Oxf., studied law at Lincoln's Inn, of which he became a bencher, but soon became immersed in the writing of controversial pamphlets. After the Unloveliness of Lovelocks and Health's Sicknesse (1627-30) appeared his best known controversial work, Histrio-Mastix, or a Scourge for Stage Players (1633), a bitter attack on most of the popular amusements of the day. It was punished with inhuman severity. P. was brought before the Star Chamber, fined £5000, pilloried, and had both his ears cut off. Undeterred by this he issued from his prison a fierce attack upon Laud and the hierarchy, for which he was again fined, pilloried, and sanded on both cheeks with the letters S. L. (seditious libeller). Removed to Carnarvon Castle he remained there until liberated in 1641 by the Long Parliament. He soon after became a member of the House, and joined with extreme, but not inexcusable, rancour
