Pradt, Dominique Dufour de, a F.rench prelate and diplomatist, was born at Allanches, in Auvergne, April 23, 1759. He studied for some time at the mili- tary school, but gave the preference to the ecclesiastical career, and gained in 178(5 the degree of doctor of the- ology. Cardinal de la Rochefoucauld, archbishop of Rouen, bestowed upon him the title of vicar-general and one of the richest prebends of his cathedral. In 1789 the clergy of the diocese sent him to the Etats-Gene- raux, where he sided with the clerical and monarchical minority. He followed his patron into exile, and at- tended him at Minister, in 1800, in his last hours. In 1798 Pradt published anonymously his most celebrated work, L1 Antidote au Congres de Rastadt (Hamburg, 8vo). In 1800 he published, again anonymously, La Prusse et sa Neutralite (8vo). His opinion, as ex- pressed in these writings, was that the Revolution would prove fatal to France. Cancelled from the roll of the emigrants, he returned to Paris, and was intro- duced by his relation, general Duroc, to the first consul. The latter was given to understand that military des- potism could find no more faithful servant. De Pradt was appointed chaplain of the new emperor and bishop of Poitiers; he was, as such, consecrated by pope Pius VII himself, in the church of Saint-Sulpice, Feb. 2, 1805. The " chaplain of the god Mars," as he called himself, followed his master to Milan. In 1808 he was at Ba- yonne as one of the negotiators of the convention which removed the Bourbons from the throne of Spain, and was rewarded with a bounty of fifty thousand francs and the archiepiscopal see of Mechlin (May 12, 1808). He was one of the nineteen bishops who, March 25, 1810, solicited from the pope the dispensation which Napoleon wanted for his marriage with Maria Louisa. In 1811 he was a member of the second commission ap- pointed for the purpose of preparing the questions to be proposed to the National Council, and the emperor, Aug. 20, appointed him member of the deputation sent to Sa- vone to submit the decrees of that council for the pope's approbation. In the ensuing year he was sent as am- bassador to Warsaw, where he opened with a speech the Polish diet, June, 1812. It was here that a spirit of opposition commenced to stir in the supple priest, and he was sent back to his diocese. He returned to France with the allies, who, he says, by his advice, "determined to break entirely with Napoleon and his dynasty, and i-e-establish the Bourbons on the throne." De Pradt owed to his relations with Talleyrand his nomination as grand-chancellor of the Legion of Honor, and the dignity of grand-cross of the order. In 1815 he retired to Auvergne, and in 1816 he accepted a life- rent of 12,000 francs from William, king of the Nether- lands, in exchange for his archbishopric. In the reign of Louis XVIII he was pleased to side with the opposi- tion. He wrote some brilliant pamphlets against the government: one of them brought him before the Cour d' Assises of the Seine, where he was defended by the elder Dupin. In 1827 he was elected depot}' of Cler- mont-Ferrand. After the revolution of July his opin- ions underwent a new change: he again declared for unmitigated royalty and against the liberty of the press, He died at Paris March 18, 1837. We mention, among his numerous writings, Histoire de I' A mbassade dans le VIII.— G g
Grand-DucH de Varsovie (Paris, 1815, 1826, 8vo). In this amusing and witty composition he holds a review over the personages of the empire with uncommon satir- ical sharpness. We find in it the following regarding the principal figure : <; The genius of Napoleon was fitted at the same time for the stage of the world and for that of the mountebanks; it was represented by royal attire mixed with the dress of a clown. The god Mars was nothing but a kind of Jupiter-Scapin, the like of which the world had never seen :"—Memoires historiques suv la Revolution d'Kspagne (Paris, 1816, 8vo) :— Des Colo- nies, et de la Revolution actuelle de I'A merique (ibid. 1817, 2 vols. 8vo):— Les Quatre Concordats (ibid. 1818-20, 3 Vols. 8vo), one of his most curious writings: — E Europe apres le Congres d'A i.c-la-( 'hapelle (ibid. 1819, 8vo) : — - Le Congres de Carlsbad (ibid. 1819, 8vo) :— E Europe et VAmerique depuis le Congres d 'Aix -la-Chapelle (ibid. 1821-2, 2 vols. 8vo) : — L Europe et VAmerique en 1821 et Ann. suit: (ibid. 1821-4, 4 vols. 8vo) : — Du Jesuitisme ancien et moderne (ibid. 1825-6, 8vo). etc. See E Ami de la Religion (1837) ; Pe'rennes, Biog. univ. supplem. au Diet. hist, de Feller; Jauffret, Mem. Mst. sur les Affaires eccles. de France; Rabbe, etc., Biog. univ. et portat. des Contemporains ; Que'rard, La France litter.— Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generate, s. v. ; Lond. Qu. Rev. Jan. 1816, Monthly Rev.xol lxxx (1816). Fraeadamites. See Preadajiites. Praebend. See Prebend. Prascentor. See Precentor. Praecones (i.e. heredds) is a name sometimes given to deacons, because it was their duty to pronounce the usual formularies of exhortation, etc., during the cele- bration of divine service. The word prceco corresponds to the Greek Ki)pv$, and gave rise to the English Church term bidding prayer. The deacons were required to bid prayer in the congregation, i. e. to dictate to the people the usual forms of prayer in which they were to join, and to act as their director and guide in all the other parts of divine service. The word prcedico is used in a similar signification. See Bidding Prayer.