his patron the elector palatine would bring upon him^ self by accepting the crown of Bohemia caused him to change his residence. He terrified himself with a thousand bad omens; he feared the success of the Im- perialists; and, considering the books he had written against the pope and Bellarmine, he looked upon it as the most dreadful calamity that could happen to him to fall into the hands of the monks ; for which reason he gladly complied with those who advised him to provide in time for his own safety, and accordingly he retired to the town of Anweil, in the duchy of Zweibrt'icken. near Landau (October, 1621). He left that place shortly after and went to Neustadt, but did not even stay long there, but returned to Heidelberg, in order to spend his last days at his beloved home, and so to be buried near the professors of the university. He died June, 1586. The expository works of Parous are his most numer- ous, and were long greatly esteemed on the Continent. They have been published collectively at Geneva and at Frankfort. Among them are commentaries on Genesis. Hosea, Matthew, several of Paul's Epistles, the Apoca- lypse, and A dversaria on other parts of the Bible. Al- though the Biblical writings of Parajus are superseded, it is impossible to deny to them considerable merit, both in the exegetical exposition of the sacred text and his practical deductions. The greatest drawback to this merit arises from the long theological (chieflj' polemical) discussions with which the commentary is overburdeueci. His commentary on Romans is well known to English theologians for the anti-monarchical principles which it embodies, and which gave so much offence to king James I and the University of Oxford. All of Parffius's works were published by his son at Frankfort-on-the-]Main in 1647 (3 vols. foL). See Jlid- dleton. Evangel. Bioyr. ii, 401 sq. ; and the Memoir in vol. i of the works, also published separately since. (J. H. W.)
Parafrenarii, the coachmen of the higher clergy in the ancient Christian Church. They had also the care of their stables and horses. They were sometimes reckoned among the number of the clergy, but of an inferior order.
Paraguay, a republic of South America, which, as represented on most maps, is confined to the peninsula between the rivers Paraguay and Parana, as far north as about the parallel of 21- 30', but which actually, by recent treaties with neighboring states, has so consider- ably enlarged that it now embraces an extensive region called the Chaco, west of the Paraguay, and as far south as the river Vermejo, and west as the meridian of 61° 20', and a tract lying between the Parana and the Uraguay. The whole area, according to ofiicial sta- tistics, is in round numbers 348,000 square miles, of which 131,000 square miles are comprised between the rivers Paraguay and Parana, 196,000 square miles are west of the Paraguay, and upwards of 21,000 square miles are between the Parana and Uraguay. The peninsula between the rivers is still the important part of Paraguay. A mountain-chain called Sierra Anam- bahy, which traverses it from north to south, and bifurcates to the east and west towards the southern extremity, under the name of Sierra Maracaju, divides the tributaries of the Parana from those of the Para- guaj-, none of which are very considerable, although they are liable to frequent and destructive overflows. As regards its physical character, the northern portion of the country is mountainous, especially towards the east. The southern portion is one of the most fertile districts of South America, consisting of hills and gentle slopes richly wooded, of wide savannas, which afford excellent pasture -ground, and of rich alluvial plains, some of which, indeed, are marshy, or covered with shallow pools of water (only one lake, that of Ypao, deserving special notice), but a large proportion ■ of the land is of extraordinary fertility and highly cultivated. The banks of the rivers Parana and Par-
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aguay are occasionally belted with forest ; but, in gen- eral, the low lands are destitute of trees. The climate, for a tropical country, is temperate, the thermometer occasionallj' rising to 100^ in summer, but in winter be- ing usually about 45°. The natural productions are very varied, although they do not include the precious metals or other minerals common in South America. Much excellent timber is found in the forests. Several trees yield valuable juices, as the India-rubber and its cognate trees; and an especially useful shrub is the Mate, or Paraguay tea-tree, which forms one of the chief articles of commerce, being in general use throughout La Plata, Chili, Peru, and other parts of South America. The tree grows wild in the north-eastern districts, and the gathering of its leaves gives employment in the season to a large number of the native population. Wax and hone}^ are collected in abundance, as is also cochineal, and the medicinal plants are very numerous. The chief cultivated crops are maize, rice, coifee, cocoa, in- digo, mandioc, tobacco, sugar-cane, and cotton.
One half of tlie land is national property, consisting partly of the lands formerly held by the Jesuit missions, or by other religious corporations, partly of lands never assigned to individuals, partly of lands confiscated in the course of the revolutionary ordeal through which the country has been passing. The national estates have, for the most part, been let out in small tenements, at moderate rents, the condition of the tenure being that they shall be properly cultivated. Agriculture, though it has in recent years made considerable prog- ress, nevertheless is still far from the standard of Eu- ropean progress. Only about 30,000 square miles of the whole territory are in cukivation. There are few manufactures — sugar, rum, cotton and woollen cloths, and leather being the only industrial productions. In- deed, the commerce of the country is chiefly in the hands of the government, which holds a monopoly of the export of the Paraguay tea, and in great part of the timber trade. The population consists of whites of Spanish descent, native Indians, negroes, and a mix- ture of these several races, who call themselves " Pa- raguayos," but are usually called " Pardos." The In- dians are most numerous. They are mostly of the friendly tribe Guaranis, whose language is also the lan- guage of the country. By a census which was taken i.i 1857, the population was reported at 1,337,421, but the inaccuracy of this census is now generally conced- ed, and the population of Paraguay, considerably re- duced in recent times by war with Brazil and internal strife (see below), is now generally estimated to be about 1,000,000.