and kind disposition, always ready to help or to phase. and of charming modesty. .Nature made him a stam- merer, inn he completely conquered this defect. He was often seen in the streets with a lantern in his hands, like Diogi n< -. w hose customs and habits he had taken to imitate, lie died at Rome Ma\ 21, 1497. He left several work-, n mucin- of a profound and rale erudi- tion. Thej were published at Hagenau (1520). His Opera varia were edited at Mentz (1521, 8vo); they comprise, l>< Sacerdotiis, />' Jurisperitis. 1>> Romano- rum Magistratibus : />■ Legibus and Di Antiquitatibus int, is Roma: along with Compendium //is/mi" Ro- manes ab interitu Gordiani usqut adJustinum /7J, orig- inally edited at Venice (1498, 4to). tie explained and commented besides on several classical authors, and de- voted his care to edition- of s.illu-i. Columella) Varro, Festus, Nonniu- Marcellus, and I'liny the younger. His
commentaries on Virgil were printed at Basle | 1 fe86, fol.i. See eh ii.<t inn Schools dm/ Scholars, ii. 31G, 370; Tiraboscbi, Storia ihlln Letter. Ital. vol. vi. pt i: Gin- guene, Hist, litter, d'ltali ; Hallam, Lit. //is/, of Eu- ropi (Harpers ed.), i- 266; Sabellicus, Vita Pomponii Leeti (Strasb. L510, lto)«- Hoefer, A *ouv. Biog. Generate, s. v.
Pomps oi the Devil, a term used in the form of solemn renunciation which preceded baptism in the ancient Christian Church. Thi form referred to is given by the author of 7//< Apostolical Constitutions in
these word-. •• I renounce Satan, and hi- work-, and his
pomps, and hi- -erviee. and his angels, ami his inven- tions, and all thine- that belong to him. or that are sub- ject to him." By the pomp- of the devil appear to have been meant the shows and games of heathen idol- atry. And even alter idolatry was in a e;reat measure destroyed, and the pul.lie -anus and shows in honor of
the -oil- were 1 1 i-eolit II l lied, the e\pii--ioll " pomps"
wa- -till used in the form of renunciation to eradicate the vanity, lewdness, and profaneness which bo exten- sively prevailed. Some have attempted to trace this renunciation back to apostolic time-, founding it on the exhortation of Paul to Timothy: '-Lay hold on eternal life, w hereunto thou art also called, and ha-l professed a
good profession before many witnesses." < others, again,
are content to derive it from ancient tradition. That it existed from a remote period in the history of the < 'hris- tian Church is admitted on all hand- : and BUCh wa- the
importance attached to this renunciation that, as soon a.- baptisteries were built, a place wa- assigned peculiarly to thi- service, the porch or anteroom being set apart for this purpose. The catechumens on entering were
placed w itli their faces to the we-t. and then command- ed to renounce Satan and all his pomps, with s g< st-
ure and rite expressing indignation, as by stretching out their hands, or folding them, or striking them together; and sometimes by exsufflation, or spitting at him a- if he wire present In this ceremony the faces of the catechumens were turned towards the west as being the place of darkness, ami therefore suitable for the re- nunciation of him who is the prince of darkness. The form of renunciation was repeated three time-, either because there were three things which wen- renounced in their baptism- -the devil, his pomps, and the world or to signify the three Persons of the Trinity, by whom thej were adopted a- son- upon renouncing Satan: or because it was usual in <-a-e- of civil adoption and i man- cipation of slaves for the master to yield up hi- right by a triple renunciation. See Bingham, christian An- tiquities; Kiddle. ( 'hrisiin/i Antiquities; Staunton. Eccles. Did. s. v.
Ponce, Pedro, a Spanish Benedictine monk in the convent of Ofia, in < >ld Castile, was horn about 1530. lie i- considered the inventor of the art of teaching the dumb to speak, which he carried to considerable perfi c- tion. According to Ambrosio .Morale- (Antiguedades de Espafla | Alcala, 1575], fol. 38), Ponce had to instruct two brothers and one sister of the constable of Castile. and a son of the gran justicia ofAragon, all of whom
wire horn deaf and dumb. These pupil- made such
progress that, after - time, they not only wire able
to write correctly, but also to answer any questions put
to them. One of them. Don Pedro de Ycl.i.-co. who lived to be only twenty year- of age, -poke and wrote
Latin as well as his mother tongue, and was at the time of hi- death making considerable progress in the Gre< k language. Another of Ponce's pupils became a Benedic- tine monk, and wa- able to make confession and explain
his creed by word of mouth. These facts were attested by the best Spanish writer- of the time, as well as by sir keiielm Digby, who, in his Two Treatises concerning tin Body and Soul of Man | Paris, it'll, cap. sxviii, note 8), -a_\ -. "This prie.-t brought the young lord to .-peak as distinctly as an\ man whatsoever; and I have often
discoursed with him whiles 1 wayted upon the prince
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391
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of Wales in Spaine." According to the same author (p. 254), and to Juan de Castaniza ( Vida de San Benito), Ponce wrote a treatise in Spanish, in which he ex- plained his method, and laid down certain rules as the result of his observations ; but this interesting work has been lost, though it is generally believed that Juan Pa- blo Bonet, who in 1620 published his Reduction </<- las Letras, y A lie para enseflar a hablar los Mudos (4 to), saw and consulted it. Ponce died in 1584, and was buried in the convent of his order. — English Cyclop, s. v.