The State of Illinois, U.S.A., is so called from the vast expanse of level prairie it contains. Precariae. Grants of Church lands to laymen during the Middle Ages, often extorted by force. They were generally for the life of the grantee, but were sometimes renewed to his successor. Predial Servitude. The condition of villeinage under the feudal system. _See_ Villeins. Preobajensky. A secret political police, established by Peter the Great of Russia. It was somewhat similar in constitution to the modern “Third Section.” It was abolished by Peter III in 1762. Presburg, Confederation of. A confederation of the Austrian, Bohemian and Hungarian States against the Emperor Rudolph II, formed by his brother Matthias in 1608. He succeeded in wresting these possessions from Rudolph. Presburg, Treaty of. A treaty between France and Austria, signed in December, 1805, a few days later than the Treaty of Schönbrunn. Austria, left at Napoleon’s mercy by the defection of Prussia, was forced to accept what was practically a measure of spoliation. She surrendered Venice and the Adriatic provinces to Italy, and portions of her dominions to Bavaria, Würtemberg and Baden, while she recognized the erection of Bavaria and Würtemberg into kingdoms, and agreed to abstain from interference in the affairs of Naples. Pretoria Convention. A convention signed in 1881, after the Majuba disaster, between Great Britain and the Transvaal. The Transvaal was granted complete internal independence, under British suzerainty, Great Britain to have control of the foreign policy of the Transvaal, and to be represented by a Resident at Pretoria. Pretoria, Treaty of. A treaty between Portugal and the Transvaal, signed in 1869, providing for the delimitation of the frontier between their respective territories. Pride’s Purge. The name given to the forcible removal from the House by Colonel Pride and his troopers of over a hundred members of the majority of the Long Parliament. The ejected members were imprisoned, and the remnant, known as the Rump, fell completely under the domination of the army. Priests’ Charter. _See_ Pfaffenbrief. Prince Florizel. A nickname of George IV, derived from the name he assumed in his correspondence with Mrs. Mary Robinson (Perdita). Prince of Alchemy. A sobriquet of Rudolph II, Emperor of Germany. Princes Expulsion Bill. A Bill passed by the French Chambers in 1886, expelling from French territory all claimants to the throne and their immediate heirs. As a consequence, Prince Napoleon and the Comte de Paris and his family left France. Princess Party. The party headed by the Churchills, who supported the Princess Anne during the reign of William III. Principe de la Paz. The Prince of the Peace, the title of Godoy, the minister of Charles IV of Spain, in the last decade of the eighteenth century. Prisoner of Chillon.