Peul'thai (Heb. Peiillethatf, '~'~y~. my wages;
Sept. <1'oX.\ojm. - f Obed-ed the last named of
eight (1 Chron. xxvi. 5); he belonged to the family of Asa.ph of the tribe of Levi, and was one of the porters of the tabernacle in the reign of David. 11. ( '. cir. i<>-i>.
Peutinger, Konrat>, a German writer noted for his antiquarian labors, was horn at Augsburg in 1 165; studied in German and Italian universities, and was em- ployed iii hi> native city by the authorities of the place and by the emperor as counsellor. He was a many- sided, educated man. and is celebrated not only as a writ- er, hut also as a humanist, and was greatly interested in Luther when he first appeared against the Romanists. See Hagen, Deutsckland's literarische Zustand* im Zeit- alter der Reformation, vol. i. (J. II. W.)
Pevernage, Axi>t:i'. a Belgian writer, was horn in 1.M1 at Courtray. At firsl music teacher in the collegiate church at Courtray. he abandoned this place to settle in Antwerp, where he passed the last ten or twelve years of his life in the capacity of simple mu- sician of the cathedral, lie established in his house weekly concerts, and there was heard the most beauti- ful music of the composers then in repute. He died at Antwerp duly 30, 1589. We have of his woks. Can- Hones sacra (Antwerp. 1574 1591, 5 pts. Ito); some masses, religious fragments, .and a collection compiled from different authors under the title of Da lesU (ibid. 1583, 1593, 4to). See Paquot, M Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generate, xxxix, 776.
Pew (anciently put .-<>ld Ft.puy; Datch,puyi ; Lat. podium, " anything on which to lean;" s'app enclosed seat in churches. The old French word puit meant a balcony, a gallery built on hulks or posts • •( timber; .and it has been unnecessarily suggested that
pew may only he a form of podium, a book-desk, or the
crutch used by monks before sitting was permitted. In
I he early da\ S oft he Anglo-Saxon and Some of I he Nor- man churches, a stone bench afforded the only Bitting accommodation for members or visitors. In the year
1319 the ] pie arc spoken of as Bitting on the ground
or Branding. Al a later period the people introduced
PEW
51
PEW
low, three-legged stools, and they were placed in no or- der in the church. Directly after the Norman conquest seats came in fashion. Church-seats were in use in Eng- land some time before the Reformation, as is proved by numerous examples still extant, the carving on some of which is as early as the Decorated Period, i. e. before A.D. 1400, and records as old as 1450 speak of such seats by the name of pues. They were originally plain fixed benches, all facing east, with partitions of wainscoting about three feet high.
Headington, Oxfordshire.
After the Reformation seats were more appropriated, a crowbar guarded the entrance, bearing the initial of the owner. It was in 1508 that galleries were thought of. As early as 1G14 pews were arranged to afford com- fort by being baized or cushioned, while the sides around were so high as to hide the occupants; probably under the influence of the Puritans, who, objecting to some parts of the service which they were compelled to attend, sought means to conceal their nonconformity. An early specimen of a pew of this kind exists in Cuxton Church, Kent. Up to a period some time after the Reformation the naves of churches, which were occupied by the con- gregation, were usually fitted with fixed seats, as they had been from the 14th century downwards, at the least : these seats varied in height from about two feet and a half to three feet, and were partially enclosed at the ends next the passages, sometimes with what are called bench-ends: sometimes these rose considerably above the wainscoting, and were terminated with carved fin- ials or poppies, but they are more frequently ranged
Steeple Aston, c. 1510.
with the rest of the work, and were often straight at the top and finished with the same capping-moulding : these end enclosures occupied about the width of the seat, and the remainder of the space was left entirely open. The partitions sometimes reached down to the floor, and sometimes only to a little below the seats: they were usually perfectly plain, but the wainscoting next the cross passages was generally ornamented with panellings, tracery, small buttresses, etc.: opposite to the seat at the back of each division or pew a board was frequently fixed, considerably narrower, intended to support the arms when kneeling. This mode of fitting the naves of churches was certainly very general, but it is difficult to ascertain when it was first introduced, the great majority of specimens that exist being of the Perpendicular style. See Standard.
In England pews were assigned at first only to the patrons of churches. A canon made at Exeter, in 1287, rebukes quarrelling for a seat in church, and decrees that none shall claim a seat as his own except noblemen and the patrons. Gradually, however, the system of appropriation was extended to other inhabitants of the parish, to the injury of the poor, and the multiplication of disputes. The law of pews in England is briefly this : All church-seats are at the disposal of the bishop, and may be assigned by him either (1) directly by faculty to the holders of any property in the parish ; or (2) through the churchwardens, whose duty it is, as officers under the bishop, to " seat the parishioners according to their degree." In the former case the right descends with the property, if the faculty can be shown, or im- memorial occupation proved. In the latter, the right can at any time be recalled, and lapses on the party ceasing to be a regular occupant of the seat. It ap- pears that by common law every parishioner has a right to a seat in the church, and the churchwardens are bound to place each one as best they can. The prac- tice of letting pews, except under the church-building acts, or special local acts of Parliament, and, much more, of selling them, has been declared illegal, except for the chapels of the Dissenters, who need the income of the pews for the payment of the pastor's salary. In Scot- land pews in the parish churches are assigned by the heritors to the parishioners, who have accord- ingly the preferable claim on them ; but when not so occupied they are legally open to all. As is well known, pews in dissenting churches are rented as a means of revenue to sustain general charges. In some parts of the United States pews in churches are a mat- ter of annual competition, and bring large sums. Lat- terly in England there has been some discussion as to the injuriously exclusive character of the " pew system," and a disposition has been manifested to abolish pews altogether, and substitute movable seats available by all indiscriminately. Several pamphlets have appeared on the subject. The Times remarks that in dealing with this subject the first question is not the letting of pews, but the appropriation of seats. In most country churches the seats are more or less appropriated, but the pews are seldom rented. When we consider the matter from this point of view, does it not seem reason- able, as a matter of mere order and decency, that those who regularly attend a church should have their appro- priated places within it? If the churches are thrown completely open, they are thrown open not only to the parish, but to the whole world. In one of the best known of the London churches the incumbent lately complained from the pulpit that his parishioners could not obtain seats in the church which had been expressly built for them, and he announced his intention of alter- ing the system. Another church, in Wells Street, which was especially built for the accommodation of a poor district, and in which all the seats are free, is usurped every Sunday by an aesthetic congregation of well- dressed people, who come to enjoy the excellent per- formance of the choir. Such a result would always take place where the preacher was popular or the ser-