Pope of Geneva.
A nickname of Calvin.
Popish Plot.
A pretended plot in the reign of Charles II, having for its object the assassination of the King and the forcible establishment of the Roman Catholic religion. The arch-informer, Titus Oates, was a renegade English clergyman, who had been admitted into the Jesuit order. It is possible that there may have been some such scheme on foot, but the so-called revelations of Oates and his fellow-informers were nothing but a tissue of absurdities. Unfortunately, the murder by some person unknown of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey, before whom Oates made his first deposition, so inflamed the popular mind that no justice could be expected, and five Catholic peers denounced by Oates were sent to the Tower, while many innocent priests and others were condemned and executed.
Popular Sovereignty.
The political doctrine in the United States that the question of negro slavery was one for each Territory or State to decide for itself. It was perhaps better known as Squatter Sovereignty.
Populists.
A party formed at Cincinnati in 1891, under the style of the People’s Party of the United States. Their “platform,” drawn up by Ignatius Donnelly, consists of the following “planks” among others: Abolition of National Banks, Free Coinage of Silver, Laws against Alien Landowners, Graduated Income-tax, and National Control of Railways.
Porcari, Conspiracy of.
An attempt, under the leadership of Stefano Porcari in 1453, to restore republican institutions in Rome. It was the final struggle of the Romans against the temporal domination of the Popes.