It has already been stated that the Parthians were a Turanian race. Their success is to be regarded as the subversion of a tolerably advanced civilization by a comparative barbarism — the substitution of Tartar coarseness for Aryan polish and refinement. They aim- ed indeed at adopting the art and civilization of those whom they conquered, but their imitation was a poor travesty, and there is something ludicrously grotesque in most of their more ambitious efforts. At the same time they occasionally exhibit a certain amount of skill and taste, more especially where they followed Greek models. Their architecture was better than their sculpture. The famous ruins of Ctesiphon have a gran-
PARTICIPATION
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PARTRIDGE
Oinamentatiou of Arch at Takt-i-Bortan.
deur of effect which strikes everj' traveller; and the Parthian constructions at Akkerkuf. El Hammam, etc., arc among the most remarkable of Oriental remains. Nor was grandeur of general effect the only merit of their buildings. There is sometimes a beauty and del- icacy in their ornamentation wliich is almost worthy the Greeks. For specimens of Parthian sculpture and architecture, see Sir R. K. Porter, Travels, vol. i, plates 19- 24 ; vol. ii, plates 62-66 and 82, etc. For the general his- torj' of the nation, see Heeren, Manual of Anc. Bij<f. p. 229-305, Eng. transl. ; Smith, Diet, of Greek and Roman Geog. s. v. ; and especially Kavvlinson's Sixth Oriental Monarchy — Parthia (Lond. 1871), on whose article in Smith's Diet, of the Bible the above is chiefly founded. The geography of Parthia may be studied, besides the ancient authorities, in Cellar. Notit. ii, 700 ; Mannert, v, 102 ; Forbiger, Handb. ii, 546 sq. See also A me?: Ch. Rev. Oct. 1873, art. iii; Bibliotheca Saera, April, 1874, art. viii.
Parthian Coin.
Participation, the act of sharing jointly with others in any object or benefit. " Participation" is what is meant by "communion," when applied by the apostle to the body and blood of Christ sacramentally received. The "communion" is "on the part of the receivers of that ordinance ; the Greek word which is so rendered (Koivwvt'a) not signifying communication, as from the priest, of any benefit of which he is the dis- penser, but the partaking together, the joint enjoyment, of the spiritual benefits of which Christ, by the sacri- fice of himself, has called us to be partakers." See Communion.
Particular Baptists. See Baptists.
Particvilar Redemption. See Redemption.
Particularists, a name sometimes applied to Cal- vinists (q. v. ), at least such as hold the doctrine of par- ticular redemption and a limited atonement. See Grace.
Partington, John, INI.A., an English divine, was a native of Scotland. The time of his birth is not known to us. In 1732 he became minister of a dissent- ing congregation at Hampstead. He also preached at Founders' Hall, London, in 1738. He died in 1749. Partington published a Sermon (Jas. i, 17) on the right Improvement of the Gifts of God's Bounty (Lond. 1733, 8vo).
Partington, Josiall, a Presbyterian minister, was born in Jlanchestcr, England, Dec. 25,1801. He was educated privately, and studied theology under the care of a minister. In 18.'>2 he immigrated to the United States, was licensed and ordained hy Niagara Presby- tery, and preached succes>^ivcly for the churches of Knowlesville and IJyron, N. Y. ; Pelham, C. W. ; and in Youngstown, N. Y'., where ho died, Feb. 14, 1864. Sir. Partington was a man of sterling piety and earnest zeal for the Master. He possessed special command of lan- guage, good reasoning powers, and strong concentra- tion. He died with his armor on, and in the full tri- umph of faith in Jesus. See Wilson, J'rcsb. Hist. Alma- nac, 1867, p. 317. (J. L. S.)
Partition, Middle Wall of (jxia6Toi\ov rov
cppayjiov), an expression used by Paul to designate the Mosaic law as the dividing line between Jews and Gen- tiles (Eph. ii, 14). Commentators are not exactly agreed as to the special point of the comparison, wheth- er to the ?^n, or sacred fence of stone pillars erected in the Temple to warn off' all non-Jews (Josephns, ipKtov Xi^ivov opv(paKTov, Ant. xv. 11, 5), or the inner veil of the Most Holy Place (1 Kings vi, 21, "i3", " he made a partition"), which was rent at the crucifixion (Matt, xxvii, 51 ; comp. Heb. x, 20). See Tejiple.
Partridge (Heb. lore, X'n'p, so named from its calling, 1 Sam. xxvi, 20, Sept. i>vKT0K6pa^,\\\\g. per- dix; Jer. xvii, 11, Sept. iTfpciK,yi\\g. pei-dix), a bird mentioned in Scripture only in the two passages re- ferred to above. IJochart would understand by it the snijie {Hieroz. ii, 652 sq.), on the ground of the similar- ity of the word kore to the supposed Arabic karia ; but the argument rests on a very doubtful basis, and, be- sides, the snipe does not seem from the context to be the bird intended (see Faber on Harmer, Obsei-v. i, 306 sq.). Faber himself understands the same bird, called in Arabic katta or katha (see Hasselquist, Travels, p. 331 sq. ; Schiider, Spec. Bieroz. ii, 81), which, however, is really a quail (see Oedmann, Samml. ii, 54 sq., who, in ii, 57, identifies the karia of Arabic writers with the Merops ajnaster, or bee-eater). For the former theo- ries on the meaning of the word, see Rosenmiiller, ad Bochart, ii, 736 ; Gesenius, Thesaur. p. 1232 sq. — Wi- ner, ii, 306.