An association of Pioneers under John Pascoe Fawkner and John Batman, who were the first colonists to settle on the shores of Port Phillip Bay, and therefore the founders of Melbourne, in 1835. Porteous Riots. An outbreak in Edinburgh in 1736, when the mob broke into the Tolbooth and hanged an officer named Porteous, who had been sentenced to death for firing on the crowd at an execution where he was in command of the guard, and afterwards reprieved. After executing their vengeance, the mob dispersed, and none of the rioters were ever detected. Portroyal. A religious and literary community established in Paris circ. 1594 by the Arnault family, the leaders of the Jansenists. Pascal was one of its most famous members. Portugal, Independence of. In 1640 the weakness of Spain under Charles IV induced the Portuguese nobles, headed by the Archbishop of Lisbon, to throw off their allegiance to the Spanish Crown, and proclaim their legitimate sovereign, the Duke of Braganza, King of Portugal by the title of John IV. The Spaniards accepted the situation, without any effort to maintain their authority. Portuguese Mars. Alfonso d’Albuquerque (1453-1515), the famous Indian Viceroy, was so called. Postal Convention, International. A convention of the principal States of Europe and America, held at Berne in 1874, at which a uniform rate of postage between the various States was agreed upon. Post-nati. The name given to James I’s Scottish subjects who were born after his accession to the English throne. The question arose as to whether they were aliens in England, and a legal decision was given to the effect that they were not aliens. Potato Famine. The failure of the potato crop in Ireland in 1847 is so called. It caused terrible distress, notwithstanding all the efforts made to relieve the sufferers, and thousands in consequence emigrated to America. Its effects on population, land tenure and other Irish questions have been very far-reaching. Potchefstroom, Volksraad of. The first Volksraad north of the Vaal River, established in 1840. Poyning’s Act. An Act introduced by Sir Edward Poyning, and passed in 1495, which declared that no Irish Parliament should be convoked until its programme of legislation had been sanctioned by the English Privy Council, and attested by the Great Seal. It was afterwards a source of endless complications between the Irish and English Governments, as it limited the absolute power of the Lord Lieutenant, and rendered impossible any policy of the English colony in Ireland to which the Mother Country was opposed. This Act was temporarily repealed in 1689, re-enacted in 1691, and finally rescinded in 1782. Praemunire, Statute of. A statute passed in 1392, finally confirming the Statute of Provisors of the previous reign, and declaring the realm of England to be free of all earthly subjection. The procuring of any Bull or other Papal instrument was made punishable by outlawry and forfeiture.