Leo X in 1513. They continued under the sovereignty of the ])opes till 1543, when they were alienated by pope Paul III, and with the surrounding territory were erect- ed into a duchy for his natural son Pier-Luigi Farnese, the grandfather of Alessandro Farnese, the celebrated regent of the Low Countries. On the extinction of the male line of Farnese in 1731, by the death of the eighth duke, Antonio, his niece Elizabeth, the queen of Philip V of Spain, obtained the duchies for her son Don Carlos, who, however, exchanged them in 1735 with Austria for the throne of the Two Sicilies. In 1748 they were restored, along with Guastalla, to Spain, and became a duchy for the infante Don Philip, with a reversion to Austria in case of the failure of his male descendants, or of any of them ascending the Spanish or Neapolitan throne. Philip was succeeded in 17G5 by his son Fer- dinand, who was an able and enlightened ruler, and ex- pelled the Jesuits in 1768. He died in 1802, and his dominions were immediately taken possession of by the French, and were incorporated with France, under the designation of the department of Taro, in 1805. In 1814, by the treaty of Paris, Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla were presented as a sovereign duchy to the ex-empress IMaria Louisa, a proceeding strongly op- posed by the king of Spain, who demanded them for his sister, Maria Louisa, the widow of Louis, king of F'tru- ria, the son of duke Ferdinand. However, in 1817, it was settled that IMaria Louisa of Austria should pos- sess the duchies, and that on her death they should de- scend to I'>rdinand Charles, duke of Lucca, the son of Maria Louisa of Spain, and the rightful heir ; and on failure of his heirs Parma should revert to Austria, and Piacenza to Sardinia. The empress governed very much after the Austrian fashion, but with gentleness, though liberal sentiments were looked upon by her with little favor. On her death in 1847 the duke of Lucca suc- ceeded as Charles II, and certain exchanges of territory, previously settled by the great powers, took place Avith Tuscany and Modena — the chief of which being the transfer of Guastalla to Modena in exchange Tor the dis- tricts of Villa Franca, Treschietto, Castevoli, and Me- lazzo, all in Massa-Carrara, resulting in a loss to Parma of about 77 English square miles of territory, and a gain of 193 English square miles. This transfer w'as not made without great discontent on the part of the in- habitants. The duke's rule was severe and tyrannical, and on an address being presented to him with a view of obtaining a reform of certain abuses, and a more lib- eral political constitution, similar to what Tuscany had obtained (February, 1848) from its grand-duke, he threw himself into the arms of Austria, and consented to the occupation of his territory by Austrian troops. In March, 1848, a revolution broke out, and the duke was compelled to grant the po])ular demands, but he almost immediately retired from the country. Parma joined with Sardinia in the war of 1848-1849 against Austria, but on the triumph of the latter power was compelled to receive Charles III (his father, Charles II, having resigned his throne, March, 1849) as its ruler. The new didvC recalled the constitution which his father had been compelled to grant, and punished with great severity the active agents of the revolutionary movements in his dominions. His arbitrary measures were effectively seconded by his chief minister, an Englishman named Ward, who shared the pidjlic obloquy Avith liis master. After Charles Ill's assassination in March, 1854, his widow, Louise-!Marie-Therese de Bourbon, daughter of the last duke of Berry, assumed the government for the behoof of her son Robert I, and made some at- tempts at political reform; but owing to the excited state of the people they were little effective, and she and her son were compelled to leave the country in 1859, on the outbreak of a new war between Sardinia and Austria. On INIarch 18 of the following year the country was annexed to Sardinia, and now forms a part of the kingdom of Italy, constituting the two provinces of Parma (area 1251 English square miles, population
PARMA
697
PARMENIDES
258,502) and Piaccnza (area 965 English square miles, population 210,933), a few of the outlying districts, amounting to about 150 square miles, being incorpo- rated with other provinces.— Chambers.
Parma, the chief town of the province of the same name in Italv, and formerly the capital of the duchy of Parma, is situated on both sides of the river Parma, twelve miles south from the Po, seventy-five miles south-east from Jlilan, and about the same distance east-north-east from Genoa. It is reported to have been the seat of a Church council in 1187, presided over bj' pope Gregory VIII, but nothing is known of the synodal decisions. See Hefele, Concilienfjesch. v, 649; also iv, 791.
Parniash'ta (Hcb. Parmashtah', nd'^'na, prob. from the old Pers.//Y/, very, and mathista, the greatest =permaf/nus ; Sept. Mapficc(7vi.ivd v. r. Map/j-avifia), the seventh named of the sons of Ilaman slain by the Jews in Shushan (Esth. ix, 9). B.C. 473.
Parmelee, Ashbel, D.D., a Presbyterian divine, was born in West Stockbridge, Mass., Oct. IS, 178-4. He received an early pious training, and during a revi- val in 1802 he was converted, and soon after entered upon a course of stud\', intending to obtain a liberal ed- ucation and enter the ministry; but his health became impaired, and he was compelled to desist from study. In 1806, having given up the hope of a collegiate edu- cation, he began the study of theology with the Rev. Lemuel Ilaynes, of Rutland, Vt., where he remained for more than a year, and then completed his course with the Rev. Holland Weeks, of Pittsford,A't. He was li- censed Sept. 27, 1808; entered upon his work in Cam- bridge, Vt., where he labored six months, and the next six months at Hinesville, Vt. ; in October, 1809, he commenced preaching in INIalone, N. Y., and was or- dained pastor of the Congregational Church in that place Feb. 10, 1810. After a pastorate of more than thirty-five years he resigned. In x\pril, 1845, he be- came pastor at Bangor, N. Y. ; in 1848, chaplain in the state prison at Clinton, N. Y. ; in 1851, pastor at Cham- plain, N. Y. ; in 1854, at Constable, N. Y. ; and in 1857 he returned to Malone, and preached in his old pulpit till his death, May 24, 1862. Dr. Parmelee loved the work of the ministry with all his lieart. He was an excellent minister, and naturally gifted as a speaker. See Wilson, Presh. /list. A Imanac, 1863, p. 306 ; Congre- gational Quar. 1862, p. 392. (J. L. S.)