Pletz, Joseph, doctor of theology, imperial chap- lain, and abbot of the monastery of the Holy Virgin of Pagrany, Hungary; imperial counsellor, consistorial counsellor, deacon-emeritus of the metropolitan chapter of St. Stephen, at Vienna; director of the theological studies in the Austrian empire, referent of the same, assistant of the imperial commission of studies, director and president of the theological faculty: and. in 1835, ex-rector magniricus of the University of Vienna, mem- ber of the high schools of Vienna, Pesth, and Padua, etc., was born at Vienna Jan. 3, 1788 ; attended the lessons of the gymnasium of St. Anna ; studied philosophy and theology at the University of Vienna; received orders Aug. 30, 1812, and was appointed adjunct at the univer- sity, prefect of the studies, and librarian in the episcopal seminary. During the years 1814 and 1815 he taught dogmatics at the High School of Vienna. In 1816 he was appointed chaplain of the court, and first director of the studies at the institute for the education of secu- lar priests, then recently founded by Francis I. In 1823 he was called upon to teach dogmatics at the University of Vienna, and Feb. 15, 1827, he became canon of the metropolitan chapter of St. Stephen. He received suc- cessively the functions and dignities mentioned above, and discharged the duties thereof with active zeal, com- mendable prudence, with disinterestedness and consci- entiousness, for the good of the State and the Church. A fit of apoplexy put an end to his restless activity, in 1841. Pletz was a worth}', unblemished priest, a learned theologian, a zealous protector of true science, and at the same time a father to the poor, a consoler of the afflict- ed, a helper in need, and to his friends a true and up- right friend. Besides several works of edification and some sermons, which he published in the years 1817- 1833, he wrote a number of essays in Frint's theolog- ical journal, and in his own, which he edited from 1828 to 1840, under the title of Neue theologische Zeiischrift (Vienna), in twelve annual volumes; the thirteenth, commenced by Pletz, was completed by his friend, Prof. Seebach.
Plicata, the "folded" chasuble worn on Good Fri- day by the deacon and subdeacon, or by a priest, folded on the shoulder, when acting as a deacon. It is a relic of ancient usage, anterior to the use of the dalmatic and tunic, when they wore the trabea rolled up in front to leave their hands free and unencumbered, and is also a peculiarity belonging to times of penance.
Pliny the- Younger, or Caius Cjec. P. Secundus, the nephew and adopted son of the elder Pliny, was born at Como in A.U. 01 or 62; was a pupil of Quintilian; and pleaded successfully as an advocate in his nineteenth year. He was successively tribune of the people, pre- fect of the treasury, consul, proconsul in Pontus and Bithynia, and augur: and died, universally esteemed, in 115. The name of Pliny the Younger has, from the days of Tertullian, been mentioned with peculiar inter- est by Christian writers on account of the testimony which he bore concerning the Christians of his day in Bithynia. They form the subject of a rather Long let- ter (x, 97) to Trajan, written about forty years after the death of St. Paul, and followed by a short answer from Trajan. With all his advantages of education, Pliny was superstitious and credulous. Though a kind- hearted man even to slaves (viii, 1, 1G, 19), he was in- tolerant and cruel to the Christians; and, according to his own account, he put to death the Christians of Bi- thynia who would not abjure their religion, though he considered it only an innocent superstition. The mate- rials for Pliny's life may be collected from his Epistles, from which a brief notice has been drawn up by Cella- I rius, and one more elaborate by Masson ; there is also a
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v. -rv complete Life of Pliny, with abundant references to his letters, prefixed to E. Thii rfeld's German trans- lation of the "Epistles and Panegyric" (Munich, 1828). But the reader is referred to the Epistles themselves for the most gratify ing notice of Pliny the Young epistle l" in_'. as Melmoth observes, "a kind of historical Bketch, wherein we have a view of him in some striking attitude either of active or contemplative life." Pliny's Epistles have been translated into English by Lord < >r- rery and Mr. Melmoth. The best edition of Pliny's Epistles is thai ofCortins and Longolius (Amst. 1734, i| the editions of the Epistles and Panegyric ie n commended those oft Ihristopher Cel- 13, I -in.' i; 1 1 ..tin., with Life by Masson 1,1703,8 . Gierig (Leips. 1806,2 vols. 8vo), and Gesuetan and Schaefer (ibid. l*o.">). < »f his writings, the letter addressed to the emperor Trajan in the year 107 is considered one of the most important documents remaining of early Christian history, and we therefore transcribe here some portion ofit. After men- tioning the difficulty of his own situation, and his per- plexity in what manner to proceed against men charged with no other crime than the name ol Christian, the writer proceeds as follows :
"Others were named by an informer, who at first con- fessed themselves Christians, and afterwards denied it; the i .--i said they had been Christians, but bad left them dree years ago, some longer, and one or more above twenty years. They all worshipped your image and the Statues of the gods; these also reviled Christ. They affirmed that the whole of their fault or error lay