1 passim; Wilberforce, Pract, View, ch. i\.;j ■'.; Smith, Theory of Moral Sent. i. 233; Fitzosborne, Letters, No. is. Buck, Theol Did.
Praise of God is a reverent acknowledgment of the i i rfections, « orks, and benefits of God, and of the i Bowing from them to mankind, usually ex- pressed in hymns of gratitude and thanksgiving, and especially in the rcccpti.ni of the Holy Eucharist, that ".sacrifice of praise'' and sublimest token of our joy, and which lias received the name {tvyapiaria) because it is the highest instance of thanksgiving in which Christians can he engaged. Praise and thanksgiving arc generally considered as synonym s, yet s e dis- tinguish them tints: "Praise properly terminates in God, on account of his natural excellences and perfections, and is that act of devotion by which we confess and ad- mire Ids several attributes; but thanksgiving is a more contracted duty, anil imports only a grateful sense and acknowledgment of past mercies. We praise God for all his glorious acts of every kind that regard cither us or other nun— for liis very vengeance, and those judg- ments which lie sometimes sends abroad in the earth: but we thank him, properly speaking, for the instances of his goodness alone, and for such only of these as we ourselves arc some way concerned in."' — Buck, Theol. /ili/. See Atterbury, Sermon on Psalm 1, 14; Saurin, . voL i. ser. 14; Tillotson, Sermons, ser. 146 (conclusion). See I h inksgiving.
Praise-meeting, a meeting recently inaugurated in this country, ii r-t in New England, tor a service of song by the congregation. The i.e. .pie gather, and. un- der the lead of some compcici't precentor, unite in a ser- vice which i- wholly, or almost wholly, musical, and in which all participate.
Pra Mogla is. in the mythology of the Siamese, a celebrated disciple of Sommonacodom, then- great samt
and protector. His statue, which represents two bodies. is often found beside t he slat uc of his master. I le was bo compassionate and benevolent thai he attempted t.> extinguish the tire ..i hell by turning the earth upside
down, and gathering in his hand all burning things he found: but the fire destined to punish the lost for their Bins was -.. violent that ii burned t.. ashes everything
that was near, and dried up rivers and seas. In bis
distress Pra Mogla recurred to his master himself. 1 hi
samt .-nil. I easily have fulfilled hiswishes, but lie feared lest mankind, free from thai salutary tenor, should fall
into greater depravity, and i he fire was suffered to keep burning. The wisdom of the god was admired, bul the fc ,,i the disciple was memorialized by numberless images and statues.
Pran i-. in Mm. hi mythology, the breath, the vital principle, which dwells in ever} man. and has its scat
in the heart; it is the divine principle of motion thai everywhere hie ami activity, through which
alone i he whole nature can Subsist, and which manifests ils.ll iii the animal world by the act ..f breathing.
Pran Nathis, a seel among the Hindus which was originated by Pran Nath. who, being versed in Moham- medan as well as Hindu learning, endeavored to recon-
cile the two religions. With this view he composed a work called The Mahitdriyal, in which texts from the Koran and the Vedas are brought together, and shown not t.. be i ssentially different from each other. Bundel- kimd is the chief scat of the Beet, and in l'unna they have a building in one apartment of which, on a table covered with gold doth, lies the volume of the founder. "As a tesl ..I the disciple's consent," says Prof.H.H. Wilson, •• to the real identity ol th< i sa nee of the Hindu and Mohammedan creed-, t be ceremony of the initiation
-i-t- of eating in the society of members of both
communions: with this exception, and the admission of the general principle, it docs not appear that the two classes confound their civil or even religious distinc- tion- : they continue I., of-, rve the praotio. 9 and ritual of their forefathers, whether Mussulman or Hindu, and the union, beyond thai of community or thai ol eating, is no more than any rational individual of either Bed is fully prepared i..r. ..r the admission that the God of both and of all religions is one and the same."
Pranzimas, a name f.r destiny among the Lithu- anians, which, according t.« immutable laws, directs the gods, nature, and men. and whose power know- no limit.
Pra Rasi are. in themj thologyof the Siamese, her- mits who live in complete seclusion, and. bj many years of a contemplative existence, have acquired a knowl- edge of the most recondite mysteries of nature. Those mysteries are described on the wall which encircles the world, and thence the l'ra Rasi gathered their knowl- edge. Thus they possess the secret of flying, of assum- ing any form at their pleasure, of making precious met- als, etc. As they know also the means of giving their body indefinite duration, they could enjoy eternal lite: yet every thousand years they make a voluntary sacri- fice of their life by burning themselves on a heap of wood, with the exception of one, who awakens the saints again to renewed life. There are religious writings which indicate the means of getting to these hermits, but it is said to be a very dangerous enterprise. See Vollmer, Mi/l/ioln//isc/n_s Worterbuch, s. v.