PBESSENSE. 379 PRESTON. ence of the Evangelical Church from the State. He died in Paris, April 8, 1891. He founded the Revue Chretieime and the liuUetin Theologique, and ■wrote many popular works, of which the following have appeared in English translation: The Redeemer: Discourses (1804) : The Land of the Gospel: Sotes of a Journey to the East (1865); Jesus Christ: Hi» Times. Life, and Work (1866); The ilysterij of buffering, and Other Discourses (1868); the Church and the French Reiolution ; a History of the Relations of Church and State, from 17S9 to lSO.i (1860) ; Rome and Italy at the Opening of the (Ecumeni- cal Council (1870): Contemporary Portraits (1880) ; A Htudy of Origins: or, the Prohlcms of Knowledge, of Being, and of Duty ( 1883) . PRESSENSE, Fr.xcis Dehault de (18.53 — ). A French publicist, born in Paris. He entered the diplomatic service in 1879, was ap- pointed secretary of embassy at Constantinople in 1880, and later in the same year at Washing- ton. Having turned to journalism, ha became one of the principal contributors to the Temps. He was prominent as a defender of Dreyfus, and through the press and by lectures carried on an important campaign in behalf of the accused cap- tain. Among his publications are: L'lrlande et V Anglet erre depuis Vacte d'union justju' a nos jours (1889) ; Le cardinal Manning (1896) ; and Un hcros. Le lirntenant-coloncl Picquart (1898). PRESS-GANG. See Impressment. PRESS'LER, Max Robert ( 1815-86 i. A Ciernian forester, born in Dresden. He studied at the School of Technolog;s- thei-e, and taught in Zittau and in the Academy of Forestry at Tharandt until 1883. Pressler contributed largely to the advance of forestry by his inventions, among which the most important is the Mess- I'necht for measuring the height of trees, and by his writings, which are full of novel theories for the most part based on exact calculation. Der rntionelle Wnldwirt tind sein Xachhaltswaldba u hochstcn Reinertrags (1858-85), his chief work, is a protest against the methods of the old school. PRES'TER JOHN, i.e. Presbyter, or Priest John. A supposed Christian king and priest, whose territory was believed during the Middle Ages to lie either in Asia or Africa. The first record of this personage appears in the chronicle of Otho of Freisingen. who lived in the twelfth century. From that time the legend grew and developed. It was believed, and various travelers so reported, that the Xestorian Christians had built up a large monarchy ruled over by a priest- king named .John. Letters from this mysterious personage addressed to the Byzantine Emperor or the Pope were circiilated. giving marvelous ac- counts of the inhabitants and the wealth of the territory. In the fourteenth century the home of Prester .John was generally believed to be in Africa, where it was identified with the Christian Kingdom of Abyssinia. Consult: Yule, Cathay and the Way Thither (Hakluyt Society, 2 vols., London, 1866) ; id.. Book of hir Marco Polo (2 vols., London. 1874) ; Oppert. Der Presbyter Johannes in Hage und Gesehichte (2d ed., Ber- lin, 1870) ; Zarncke, Der Priester Johannes (Leip- zig, 1876-79). PRESTO (It., quick). In music, a direction that a piece should be performed in a very rapid manner. In this tempo conductors mark only the Vol. XVI. —25. first beat. The term prestissimo is also some- times used to denote the utmost possible rapidity of execution. PRES'TON. A manufacturing and market town in Lancashii'e, England, on the Ribble, at the head of its estuary. 21 miles north-northeast of Liverpool (Map: England, D 3). The town is well laid out and is surrounded with pleasing scenery. The chief public buildings are the town liall, which contains the guild hall and exchange; the Preston and County of Lancashire royal in- firmary: the corn exchange and market house: the house of correction and court-house; the institu- tion for the diffusion of useful knowledge; the public library; and the institute and school for the blind. Saint Walburge's Roman Catholic Church is noted for its lofty spire. 306 feet high. Preston's great municipal enterprise was the acquisition of the dock and harbor rights of the Ribble in 1883 for $364,000 and an outlay on im- provements of over .$6,000,000. The channel was deepened to admit vessels of 1000 tons, and a dock of 40 acres with warehouses and 6798 feet of quayage was built. About 2500 vessels of about 350.000 tons burden enter and clear the port annually. Its principal export is coal ; its im- jiorts are grain, iron, and timber. Besides the Ril)ble harbor rights, the town owns its water supply, tramways, markets, refuse destructor, sewage farm, and maintains baths, free libraries, and three large public parks. Cotton and linen are extensively manufactured. There are iron and brass foundries, iron ship-building yards, carriage works, machine shops, and malting, brewing, and rope-making establishments. Several great fairs are lield here during the year, besides the usual weekly markets. Originally called Priest's Town, from its eccle- siastical institutions, it received its first charter from Henry II. The celebrated Preston guild of merchants has held bi-decennial festivals since 1329, the earliest on record. During the Civil AVar the town declared for the King, but was taken by the Parliamentary forces, and near the town Oliver Cromwell overwhelmed the Scots in 1648. It figured in the .Jacobite rebellions of 1715 and 1745. In 1832 .Joseph Livesey here originated the total abstinence movement. Popu- lation, in 1891, 107,573; in 1901, 112,982. For histories of Preston, consult : Hewitson, History of Preston (Preston.' 1883) ; Fishwick, History of the Pari.sh of Preston (Rochdale, 1900). PRESTON, Harriet Waters (c.l843— ). An American novelist and translator, born in Dan- vers, Mass. Her chief original works are: Aspeii- dale (1871); Lore in the yineteenth Century (187.3) ; Is That All? (1876) ; A Year in Eden (with Louise Dodge, 1887); Private Life of the Romans (189"r). Noteworthy among her translations are: The Life of Madame Sicetchine, The Writings of Madame fSwetchine. Celebrated Women (selected from Sainte-Beuve's Portraits de femmes), Sainte-Beuve's Madame Desbordes- Yalmore, Paul de Musset's Alfred de Musset, ^Mistral's Mireio and Calendau, and The Georgics of Vergil. PRESTON, .John- Smith (1809-81). An American political leader and a soldier in the Confederate service, born at Abingdon, Va. He graduated at Hampton-Sidney College in 1824, and after study at the L'niversity of Virginia and
