POOR LAWS. 244 POPE. of bastard chikln^n upon the mother strongly marks this tendency. For an extended discus- sion of the history of the poor Uiws in various countries, sec Pavi'ERISM. POOR RATE. The name of the tax raised in KnWaud for the maintenance of the public poor relfef. The first tax levied for this purpose was in 1573. The assessment and collection were in charge of the Overseers of the Poor (q.v.). The earlier levies seem to have been on the basis of the number of acres owned, but later degrees of value were recognized. The Overseers were made subject to the courts and their assessment had to be countersigned bv two justices. Great inequal- ities arose in the dillerent parislies, and no Hxed basis of assessment was reached until 1830. wh<ni the Parochial Assessment Act (ti and 7 William IV.) established the jirinciide that the "net rent is the standard of ratal>le value." This act was permissive only, but in 1S4.5 the justices were em- powered to appoint an assessment committee, for the purpose of determining the county rate. Owing to the varying eontriluitions of the different par- ishes, the' law of ISlil (24 and 25 Vict., c. .55) made the share of each parish to accord with its ratable value, and in lS(i2 the Union Assess- ment Committee Act was passed. This required the Guardians to appoint a committee, to which the Overseers of each parish submit their lists of property. These lists are made public, and propertv-owners are given a cliance to appear and to appeal. The list given out by this committee becomes the basis for levying the rate. In 18G7 a special act was passed to meet conditions in London. In 1800 the amount raised by the poor rates was £21,236.297, but of this £11.8'J2,l!tO was turned over to other departments. See Pai:pebism ; Poor Laws. Consult Nicholls, Eixtory of the En(lU»h Poor Lair (London. 1854), third volume by ilackay (London, 1898). POOR RICHARDS ALMANAC. A popular almanac published by Henjamin Franklin in 1732. and continued ior twenty-five years. As "Richard Saunders" Franklin supplied in his almanacs, of which 10.000 were sold yearly, a fund of proverbs, homely wisdom and common sense of the greatest practical value to the people of this country. POOR ROBIN. ■ The assumed name of the author of an almanac, first issued in 10G2 and continued until 177li. It was ascribed wrongly to Kobert Herrick. and is sujjposed to be the work of illiani Winstanley. Throughout the seventeentlt century a ni'iiiber of publications were issued under the name of "Poor Robin," the most popular of Avhich was Poor Robin's Jcxis (1007 I. POOR'S ROLL. In the law of Scotland, the list of litigants unable to pay the fees of court, and therefore allowed to sue in forma pauperis. This privilege is granted only after special appli- cation and satisfying the court of the poverty. The warrant is granted only upon advice of coun- sel that the i)rop<ised action is probably a good cause, and when granted remains in force for two years, and during that time the pauper is exempt from all fees of court, and has the gratuitous services of counsel and agents. See Forma Pauperis. In. POOR-WILL. A small nightjar {Phalwtwp- iilus yutalli) abundant on the Western plains of the United States, named from its two-syl- labled characteristic note. The plumage is peeu- liarlv soft, and bronzy, or silver-gray. The puor- wilflays white, unspotted eggs. Compare Wuip- rOORWILl. POPAYAN, po'pi-yiin'. Capital of the De- part imiit of Cauca, Colombia. It is situated near the banks of the river Cauca, 225 miles southwest of Bogota, in a wide and beautiful ])lain 0000 feet above the sea, and dominated by the volcano of Purace (Map: Colombia, H 3). It has a cathedral and a college, and some manu- factures of woolen goods. Population, about 10.000. Popaydn was fninded in 153(i by P.elal- cazar. In the eighteenth century it was an ini- ])nrtant commercial and gold-ininiiig centre, and a mint was established there in 1749. It suffered much in the civil wars, and is now in decay. POPE. See Papacy. POPE, Alexander (1G88-1744). An English poet, born in London, May 21, 1088. His father, a linen draper, withdrew from business about 1700, and settled at Binlield, in Windsor Forest; in 1710 be moved to Cliiswick on the Thames, near London. The poet's mother was Edith Turner, who belonged to a Yorkshire family. The elder Pope was a Roman Catholic, and to this faith the poet also nominally adhered, thus de- barring himself from a university career. He learned to read from an old aunt and received some education in two Catholic schools as well as from private tutors (Roman Catholie |n-iests), but for the most part he taught himself. He read widely in English poetry and studied French, Italian, Latin,' and Greek. Thus left to himself . he never became an accurate scholar. Soon after the death of his father (1717) he leased (1719) a house and five acres of land at Twickenham, on the banks of the Thames, whither be withdrew with his mother, to whom he was tenderly at- tached, and there he dwelt till his death. In the famous villa Pope was visited by the most cele- brated wits, statesmen, and beauties of the day. He died May 30, 1744. In bis tenth year Pope was stricken by'an illness which distorted his frame and rolibeil him of his plumpness and his color. His physical infirmity, .susceptible temiicrament, and incessant study rendered his life "one long disease." He was. Lord Chesterfield said, "the most irritable of all the nciuis irrilahile rntim, offended with trifles, and never forgetting or for- giving them." Of his many quarrels, that with Addison was least justifiable. Yet when no dis- turbing jealousy, vanity, or rivalry intervened, Pope was generous and atl'ectionate. as witness the long friendship with Arbuthnot, Gay, and Swift, and his devotion to his mother. Pope was the most precocious of English poets. t the age of twelve he wrote the Oiir to i^oliiiide and a translation of the first book of the Thcbais of Statins (not published till 1712); and at fcmrteen or thereabouts, an epic called Alexander, which he burned about 1717. By 1700 he had com- posed bis Pa&torals. which were first published in Tonson's Miscellanies in 1709. The smooth and melodious verses at once made Pope known. The experiment in the pastoral was followed by the Essay on Criticism (1711), which ex- p'ounded the canons of taste ; the Messiah ( 1712) ; Windsor Forest (1713), a descriptive poem, less artificial than the Pastorals; and the ^"P"; °f the Lock (first draft 1712; completed in 1714),
