les=, Sannazora, the Neapolitan poet called "The
Christian Virgil." Most of his poems were published under the assumed
name of _Actius Sincerus_ (1458-1530).

At last the Muses ... scattered ...
Their blooming wreaths from fair Valclusa's bowers [_Petrarch_]
To Arno [_Dante and Boccaccio_] ... and the shore
Of soft Parthenope.

Akenside, _Pleasures of Imagination_, ii. (1744).

=Partington= (_Mrs._), an old lady of amusing affectations and ridiculous
blunders of speech. Sheridan's "_Mrs. Malaprop_" and Smollett's
"_Tabitha Bramble_" are similar characters.--B. P. Shillaber (an
American humorist).

I do not mean to be disrespectful; but the attempt of the lords to
stop the progress of reform reminds me very forcibly of the great
storm of Sidmouth, and the conduct of the excellent Mrs. Partington
on that occasion. In the winter of 1824, there set in a great flood
upon that town; the tide rose to an incredible height; the waves
rushed in upon the houses; and everything was threatened with
destruction. In the midst of this sublime storm, Dame Partington,
who lived upon the beach, was seen at the door of her house with
mop and pattens, trundling her mop, squeezing out the sea-water,
and vigorously pushing away the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic was
roused, Mrs. Partington's spirit was up; but I need not tell you
that the contest was unequal. The Atlantic beat Mrs. Partington.
She was excellent at a slop or puddle, but should never have
meddled with a tempest.--Sydney Smith (speech at Taunton, 1831).

=Partlet=, the hen, in "The Nun's Priest's Tale," and in the famous
beast-epic of _Reynard the Fox_ (1498).--Chaucer, _Canterbury Tales_
(1388).

_Sister Partlet with her hooded head_, the cloistered community of nuns;
the Roman Catholic clergy being the "barn-door fowls."--Dryden, _Hind
and Panther_ (1687).

=Partridge.= Talus was changed into a partridge.

_Partridge_, cobbler, quack, astrologer, and almanac-maker (died 1708).
Dean Swift wrote an elegy on him.

Here five feet deep, lies on his back,
A cobbler, starmonger, and quack,
Who, to the stars in pure gold will,
Does to his best look upward still,
Weep all you customers that use
His pills, his almanacs, or shoes.

_Partridge_, the attendant of Tom Jones, as Strap, is of Smollett's
"Roderick Random." Faithful, shrewd, and of child-like simp