PEEBLESSHIRE (19), a lowland Scottish county bordered by Lanark,
Midlothian, Selkirk, and Dumfries; comprises hilly pastoral land watered
by the upper Tweed; Windlestraw, Hartfell, and Broadlaw are the highest
of its grassy hills; among the lesser rivers are the Leithen and Quair;
some crops are grown, but most of the land is devoted to sheep grazing; a
little coal is found in the N.; the only towns are Innerleithen (3) and
PEEBLES (5), the county town, engaged in Tweed manufacture. The
county is known also by the name of Tweeddale; its representation in
Parliament is united with that of Selkirk.
PEEL (4), a fishing town and holiday resort on the W. coast of the
Isle of Man, 12 m. NW. of Douglas; it is noted for its castle.
PEEL, SIR ROBERT, English statesman, born near Bury, Lancashire, the
son of a wealthy cotton-spinner, to whose large fortune and baronetcy he
succeeded; graduated at Oxford in 1808, and next year entered Parliament
as Tory member for Cashel; he afterwards sat for his own university, and
after 1832 for Tamworth; he was appointed Under-Secretary for the
Colonies in 1811. and from 1812 till 1818 was Secretary for Ireland; in
1822 he became Home Secretary, but seceded from the Government when
Canning became Premier in 1827; the question at issue was Catholic
Emancipation, and it was characteristic of Peel that in the Government
which succeeded Canning's he had the courage, having changed his
opinions, to introduce the measure which removed the disabilities;
opposed to Reform he became leader of the Conservative opposition in the
Parliament of 1833; called to the Premiership in 1834 he could not
maintain his administration, and it was not till 1841 that the victory of
protection over the free-trade agitation gave him a stable majority in
the Commons; his first measure was a modification of the corn laws on
protectionist principles, 1842; then followed the 7d. income-tax and
general tariff revision; in 1845 the agitation for free-trade in corn was
brought to a crisis by the Irish potato famine; Peel yielded, and next
year carried the final repeal of the corn laws; his "conversion" split
the Tory party and he retired from office, becoming a supporter of the
Whig ministry in its economical and ecclesiastical policy; he was a
master of finance, an easy speaker, slow to form but conscientious to act
upon his convictions, a man of the highest character; his death was the
result of a fall from horseback (1788-1850).
PEEL TOWERS, the name given to fortresses of the moss-troopers on
the Scottish border.
PEELE, GEORGE, dramatist, of the Elizabethan period, born in London;
author of "Arraignment of Paris" and "David and Bathsabe," full of
passages of poetic beauty; has been charged with having led the life of a
debauchee and to have died of a disease brought on by his profligacy, but
it is now believed he has been maligned (1548-1597).
PEEPING TOM OF COVENTRY. See GODIVA.
PEERS, THE TWELVE, the famous warriors or paladins at the court of
Charlemagne, so called from their equality in prowess and honour.
PEGASUS, the winged horse, begotten of Poseidon, who sprung from the
body of Medusa when Perseus swooped off her head, and who with a stroke
of his hoof broke open the spring of Hippocrene on Mount Helicon, and
mounted on whom Bellerophon slew the Chimera, and by means of which he
hoped, if he had not been thrown, to ascend to heaven, as Pegasus did
alone, becoming thereafter a constellation in the sky; this is the winged
horse upon whose back poets, to the like disappointment, hope to scale
the empyrean, who have not, like Bellerophon, first distinguished
themselves by slaying Chimeras.
PEGU (6), a town of Lower Burma, in the province and on the river of
the same name, 46 m. NE. of Rangoon, is a very ancient city; the province
(1,162) is a rice-growing country, with great teak forests on the
mountain slopes.
PEI-HO, a river of North China, 350 miles long; formed by the
junction of four other rivers, on the chief of which stands Pekin; has a
short navigable course south-eastward to the Gulf of Pechili, where it is
defended by the forts of Taku.
PEIRCE, BENJAMIN, American mathematician and astronomer, born in
Massachusetts, U.S.; wrote on the discovery of Neptune and Saturn's
rings, as well as a number of mathematical text-books (1809-1880).
PEISHWAH, the name of the overlord or chief minister of Mahratta
chiefs in their wars with the Mohammedans, who had his head-quarters at
Poonah, the last to hold office putting himself under British protection,
and surrendering his territory; nominated as his successor Nana Sahib,
who became the chief instigator of the Mutiny of 1857, on account, it is
believed, of the refusal of the British Government to continue to him the
pension of his predecessor who had adopted him.
PEKIN (1,000), the capital of China, on a sandy plain in the basin
of the Pei-ho, is divided into two portions, each separately walled, the
northern or Manchu city and the southern or Chinese. The former contains
the Purple Forbidden city, in which are the Imperial palaces; surrounding
it is the August city, in which are a colossal copper Buddha and the
Temple of Great Happiness. Outside this are the government offices,
foreign legations, the temple of Confucius, a great Buddhist monastery, a
Roman Catholic cathedral, and Christian mission stations. The Chinese
city has many temples, mission stations, schools, and hospitals; but it
is sparsely populated, houses are poor, and streets unpaved. Pekin has
railway communication with Hankow, and is connected with other cities and
with Russia by telegraph. Its trade and industry are inconsiderable. It
is one of the oldest cities in the world. It was Kubla Khan's capital,
and has been the metropolis of the empire since 1421.
PELAGIUS, a celebrated heresiarch of the 5th century, born in
Britain or Brittany; denied original sin and the orthodox doctrine of
divine grace as the originating and sustaining power in redemption, a
heresy for which he suffered banishment from Rome in 418 at the hands of
the Church. A modification of this theory went under the name of
Semi-Pelagianism, which ascribes only the first step in conversion to
free-will, and the subsequent sanctification of the soul to God's grace.
PELASGI, a people who in prehistoric times occupied Greece, the
Archipelago, the shores of Asia Minor, and great part of Italy, and who
were subdued, and more or less reduced to servitude, by the Hellenes, and
supplanted by them. They appear to have been, so far as we find them, an
agricultural people, settled and not roving about, and to have had
strongholds enclosed in cyclopean walls, that is, walls consisting of
huge boulders unconnected with cement.
PELEUS, the son of Æacus, the husband of Thetis, the father of
Achilles, and one of the Argonauts, after whom Achilles is named Pelides,
i. e. Peleus' boy.
PELEW ISLANDS (10), twenty-six in number, of coral formation, and
surrounded by reefs; are in the extreme W. of the Caroline Archipelago in
the North Pacific, and SE. of the Philippines. They belong to Spain; are
small but fertile, and have a healthy climate. The natives are Malays,
and though gentle lead a savage life.
PELHAM, a fashionable novel by Bulwer Lytton, severely satirised by
Carlyle in "Sartor" in the chapter on "Dandies" as the elect of books of
this class.
PELIAS, king of Iolchus, and son of Poseidon, was cut to pieces by
his own daughters, which were thrown by them into a boiling caldron in
the faith of the promise of Medea, that he might thereby be restored to
them young again. It was he who, to get rid of Jason, sent him in quest
of the golden fleece in the hope that he might perish in the attempt.
PELICAN, a bird, the effigy of which was used in the Middle Ages to
symbolise charity; generally represented as wounding its breast to feed
its young with its own blood, and which became the image of the Christ
who shed His blood for His people.
PELIDES, a patronymic of Achilles, as the son of Peleus.
PELION, a range, or the highest of a range, of mountains in the E.
of Thessaly, upon which, according to Greek fables, the Titans hoisted up
Mount Ossa in order to scale heaven and dethrone Zeus, a strenuous
enterprise which did not succeed, and the symbol of all such.
PELISSIER, a French marshal, born near Rouen; was made Duc de
Malakoff for storming the Malakoff tower, which led to the fall of
Sebastopol in 1855; rose from the ranks to be Governor-General of
Algeria, the office he held when he died (1794-1864).
PELLA, the capital of Macedonia, and the birthplace of Alexander the
Great, stood on a hill amid the marches NW. of Thessalonica.
PELLEGRINI, CARLO, a caricaturist, born in Capua; came to London;
was distinguished for the inimitable drollery of his cartoons
(1838-1889).
PELLICO, SILVIO, Italian poet and patriot, born in Piedmont;
suffered a fifteen years' imprisonment in the Spielberg at Brünn for his
patriotism, from which he was liberated in 1830; he wrote an account of
his life in prison, which commanded attention all over Europe, both for
the subject-matter of it and the fascination of the style (1789-1854).
PELLISSON, PAUL, a man of letters and a wit of the age of Louis
XIV.; spent some five years in the Bastille, but after his release was
appointed historiographer-royal; in his captivity he made a companion of
a spider, who was accustomed to eat out of his hand (1624-1693).
PELOPIDAS, a Theban general, and leader of the "sacred band"; the
friend of Epaminondas; contributed to the expulsion (379 B.C.) of the
Spartans from the citadel of Thebes, of which they had taken possession
in 380, after which he was elected to the chief magistracy; gained a
victory over Alexander of Pheræ the tyrant of Thessaly, but lost his life
in 362 while too eagerly pursuing the foe.
PELOPONNESIAN WAR, a war of thirty years' duration (431-404 B.C.)
between Athens and Sparta, which ended in the supremacy of the latter,
till the latter was overthrown at Leuctra by the Thebans under
Epaminondas in 371 B.C. This war is the subject of the history of
Thucydides.
PELOPONNESUS (lit. the Isle of Pelops), the ancient name of the
Morea of Greece, the chief cities of which were Corinth, Argos, and
Sparta; it was connected with the rest of Greece by the Isthmus of
Corinth.
PELOPS, in the Greek mythology the grandson of Zeus and son of
Tantalus, who was slain by his father and served up by him at a banquet
he gave the gods to test their omniscience, but of the shoulder of which
only Demeter in a fit of abstraction partook, whereupon the gods ordered
the body to be thrown into a boiling caldron, from which Pelops was drawn
out alive, with the shoulder replaced by one of ivory.
PEMBROKESHIRE (89), a maritime county, the farthest W. in Wales; is
washed by St. George's Channel except on the E., where it borders on
Cardigan and Carmarthen. It is a county of low hills, with much indented
coast-line. Milford Haven, in the S., is one of the best harbours in the
world. The climate is humid; two-thirds of the soil is under pasture;
coal, iron, lead, and slate are found. ST. DAVID'S is a cathedral
city; the county town is PEMBROKE (18) on Milford Haven, and near it
is the fortified dockyard and arsenal PEMBROKE DOCK (10).
PEMMICAN, a food for long voyages, particularly in Arctic
expeditions, consisting of lean meat or beef without fat dried, pounded,
and pressed into cakes. The use of it is now suppressed.
PENANCE, in the Roman Catholic Church an expression of penitence as
well as the sacrament of absolution; also the suffering to which a
penitent voluntarily subjects himself, according to the schoolmen, as an
expression of his penitence, and in punishment of his sin; the three
steps of penitence were contrition, confession, and satisfaction.
PENANG or PRINCE OF WALES ISLANDS (91), a small fertile island
near the northern opening of the Straits of Malacca, off the Malay coast,
and 360 m. NW. of Singapore; is one of the British Straits Settlements,
of value strategically; it is hilly, and covered with vegetation; the
population are half Chinese, a fourth of them Malays; figs, spices, and
tobacco are exported. The capital is GEORGETOWN (25), on the island.
PROVINCE WELLESLEY (97), on the mainland, belongs to the same
settlement; it exports tapioca and sugar. The DINDINGS (2), 80 m.
S., are another dependency.
PENATES, the name given by the Romans to their household deities,
individually and unitedly, in honour of whom a fire, in charge of the
vestal virgins, was kept permanently burning.
PENDA, a Mercian king of the 7th century, who headed a reactionary
movement of heathenism against the domination of Christianity in England,
and for a time seemed to carry all before him, but Christianity, under
the preaching of the monks, had gained too deep a hold, particularly in
Northumbria, and he was overpowered in 665 in one final struggle and
slain.
PENDENNIS, the name of a novel by Thackeray, from the name of the
hero, and published in 1849-50 in succession to "Vanity Fair."
PENDLETON, a NW. suburb of Manchester, in the direction of Bolton,
with extensive manufactures and collieries.
PENDRAGON, a title bestowed on kings by the ancient Britons, and
especially on the chiefs among them chosen by election, so called from
their wearing a dragon on their shields or as a crest in sign of
sovereignty.
PENELOPE, the wife of Ulysses, celebrated for her conjugal fidelity
during his twenty years' absence, in the later half of which an army of
suitors pled for her hand, pleading that her husband would never return;
but she put them all off by a promise of marriage as soon as she finished
a web (called after Penelope's web) she was weaving, which she wove by
day and undid at night, till their importunities took a violent form,
when her husband arrived and delivered her.
PENINSULAR STATE, the State of Florida, from its shape.
PENINSULAR WAR, a war carried on in Spain and Portugal during the
years 1808 and 1814, between the French on the one hand and the Spanish,
Portuguese, and British, chiefly under Wellington, on the other, and
which was ended by the victory of the latter over the former at Toulouse
just after Napoleon's abdication.
PENITENTIAL PSALMS or PSALMS OF CONFESSION, is a name given
from very early times to Psalms vi., xxxii., xxxviii., li., cii., cxxx.,
which are specially expressive of sorrow for sin. The name belonged
originally to the fifty-first Psalm, which was recited at the close of
daily morning service in the primitive Church.
PENITENTS, ORDER OF, a religious order established in 1272 for the
reception to the Church of reformed courtesans.
PENN, WILLIAM, founder of Pennsylvania, the son of an admiral, born
in London; was converted to Quakerism while a student at Oxford, and for
a fanatical attack on certain fellow-students expelled the University;
his father sent him to travel in France, and afterwards placed him in
charge of his Irish estates; his religious views occasioned several
disputes with his father, and ultimately brought him into conflict with
the Government; he spent several periods of imprisonment writing books in
defence of religious liberty, among them "The Great Cause of Liberty of
Conscience" (1671); then travelled in Holland and Germany propagating his
views; his father's death brought him a fortune and a claim upon the
crown which he commuted for a grant of land in North America, where he
founded (1682) the colony of Pennsylvania--the prefix Penn, by command of
Charles II. in honour of the admiral; here he established a refuge for
all persecuted religionists, and laying out Philadelphia as the capital,
governed his colony wisely and generously for two years; he returned to
England, where his friendship with James II. brought many advantages to
the Quakers, but laid him under harassing and undeserved prosecutions for
treason in the succeeding reign; a second visit to his colony (1699-1701)
gave it much useful legislation; on his return his agent practically
ruined him, and he was a prisoner in the Fleet in 1708; the closing years
of his life were clouded by mental decay (1644-1718).
PENNANT, THOMAS, traveller and naturalist, born near Holywell,
Flintshire; studied at Oxford, but took no degree; in 1746 he made a tour
of Cornwall; among his subsequent journeys, of which he published
accounts, were tours in Ireland (1754), the Continent (1764), Scotland
(1769 and 1772), and Wales; he wrote several works on zoological
subjects, and published an amusing "Literary Life of the late Thomas
Pennant, Esq., by Himself," 1793 (1726-1798).
PENNSYLVANIA (5,258), most populous but one of the American States,
lies N. of Mason and Dixon's Line, separated by New Jersey, on the E. by
the Delaware River, with Ohio on the W., New York on the N., and Lake
Erie at the NW. corner. The country is hilly, being traversed by the Blue
Mountains and the Alleghany ranges, with many fertile valleys between the
chains, extensive forests, and much picturesque scenery. The Cumberland
Valley in the W. is one of the best farming lands in New England. The
Alleghany River in the W. and the two branches of the Susquehanna in the
centre water the State. Pennsylvania is the greatest mining State in the
Union; its iron-mines and petroleum-wells supply half the iron and most
of the oil used in the country; its bituminous coal-beds in the W. are
extremely rich, and the anthracite deposits of the E. are unrivalled; in
manufactures, too, it ranks second among the States; these are very
varied, the most valuable being iron, steel, and shipbuilding. Founded by
Swedes, it passed to English settlers in 1664; the first charter was
granted to William Penn in 1681. In the Revolution it took a prominent
part, and was among the first States of the Union. Education is well
advanced; there are 20 State colleges. The mining population includes
many Irish, Hungarian, and Italian immigrants, among whom riots are
frequent. Of the agriculturists many are of Dutch descent, and about two
millions still speak a Low German _patois_ known as Pennsylvanian Dutch.
HARRISBURG (39) is the capital; the metropolis is PHILADELPHIA
(1,047), the second largest city in the country; while PITTSBURG
(239), ALLEGHANY (105), SCRANTON (75), and READING (59)
are among the many large towns.
PENNY, originally a silver coin, weighed in the 7th century 1/240-th
of a Saxon pound, but decreased in weight till in Elizabeth's time it was
1/63 of an ounce troy. It was at first indented with a cross so as to be
broken for halfpennies and farthings, but silver coins of these
denominations were coined by Edward I. Edward VI. stopped the farthings,
and the halfpence were stopped in the Commonwealth. Copper coinage was
established in 1672. The present coins were issued first in 1860. They
are half the size of their predecessors, and intrinsically worth
one-seventh of their nominal value.
PENNY WEDDING, a wedding at which the guests pay part of the charges
of the festival.
PENRITH (9), a market town of Cumberland, and tourist centre for the
English lakes; contains a very old church and school, and ruins of a
picturesque castle. Brewing, iron-founding, and timber-sawing are its
industries.
PENRYN (3), a Cornish market town at the head of Falmouth harbour;
has manufactures of paper, woollen cloth, and gunpowder. It has
considerable fishing industry, and ships the Penryn granite quarried
near.
PENSEROSO, II, a famous Italian poem by Milton, written in 1633.
PENSIONARY, THE GRAND, a State functionary of Holland, whose office,
abolished in 1795, it was to superintend State interests, register
decrees, negotiate with other countries, and take charge of the revenues,
&c.
PENTACLE. See PENTAGRAM.
PENTAGRAM, a symbol presumed to possess a magical influence,
particularly to charm away evil spirits, formed by placing the figure of
an equilateral triangle athwart another.
PENTAMERONE, a collection of tales in the Neapolitan dialect,
supposed to be told during five days by ten old women to a
pseudo-princess, and published at Naples 1637; is of great value to
students of folk-lore.
PENTATEUCH, the name given by Origen to the first five books of the
Bible, which the Jews call the Law or Five-fifths of the Law, the
composition of which has of late years been subjected to keen critical
investigation, and the whole ascribed to documents of different dates and
diverse authorship, to the rejection of the old traditional hypothesis
that it was the work of Moses, first called in question by Spinoza, and
shown to be untenable by JEAN ASTRUC (q. v.).
PENTECOST (i. e. fiftieth), a great feast of the Jews, so called
as held on the fiftieth day after the second of the Passover. It is
called also the Feast of Harvest, or Weeks of First-Fruits, the Passover
feast being connected with the commencement and this with the conclusion
of harvest. It is regarded by the Jews as commemorative of the giving of
the law on Mount Sinai, and will never cease to be associated in the
Christian memory with the great awakening from which dates the first
birth of the Christian consciousness in the Christian Church, the moment
when the disciples of Christ first realised in common that their Master
was not dead but alive, and nearer to them than He had been when present
in the flesh.
PENTELICUS, a range of mountains in Attica between Athens and
Marathon, famous for its quarries of fine white marble.
PENTHESILEA, the daughter of Ares and the queen of the Amazons; on
the death of Hector she came to the assistance of the Trojans, but was
slain by Achilles, who mourned over her when dying on account of her
beauty, her youth, and her courage.
PENTHEUS, a king of Thebes, opposed to the introduction of the
Bacchus worship into his kingdom, was driven mad by the god, and torn in
pieces by his mother and sisters, who, under the Bacchic frenzy, mistook
him for a wild beast.
PENTHIÈVRE, DUC DE, the father-in-law of Philippe Egalité, and the
protector of Florian (1725-1793).
PENTLAND FIRTH is the strait between the Orkneys and the Scottish
mainland connecting the North Sea with the Atlantic, 12 m. long by 6
broad, and swept by a rapid current very dangerous to navigation; 5000
vessels traverse it annually.
PENTONVILLE, a populous district of London, in the parishes of St
James's, Clerkenwell, and Islington, where is the Pentonville Model
Prison, built in 1840-42 on the radiating principle to accommodate 520
prisoners.
PENUMBRA, the name given to the partial shadow on the rim of the
total shadow of an eclipse, also to the margin of the light and shade of
a picture.
PENZANCE (14), the largest town in Cornwall, most westerly borough
in England, and terminus of the Great Western Railway, is beautifully
situated on the rocky W. shore of Mount's Bay; its public buildings
chiefly of granite. It has a fine harbour and docks, and is the centre of
the mackerel and pilchard fishing industries. Its mild climate makes it a
favourite watering-place.
PEOPLE'S PALACE, Mile End Road, London, is an institution for the
recreation and instruction of the East-end population, opened by the
Queen in May 1887, and owing its origin to the impulse given by Sir W.
Besant's "All Sorts and Conditions of Men." In it are a library, art
galleries, concert and reading rooms, baths, gymnasium, &c., and
technical classes and handicraft schools are held; these are attended by
5000 pupils, and the institution is visited by a million and a quarter
people annually.
PEPIN THE SHORT, king of the Franks, was the son of Charles Martel,
and at first shared with his brother Carloman the viceroyalty of the
kingdom under Hilderik III.; in 747 Carloman retired to a monastery, and
five years later Pepin deposed Hilderik and ascended the throne; his
kingdom embraced the valleys of the Rhine, the Rhône, and the Seine; he
united his interests with those of the Church, and in 756 entered Italy
to rescue the Pope from the threatened domination of the Lombards;
reduced Aistulf of Lombardy to vassalage, assumed the title of Patrician
of Rome, and by bestowing on Pope Stephen III. the "Exarchate" of the
Roman empire, laid the foundation of papal temporal sovereignty, five
cities being placed under his jurisdiction; his subsequent exploits
included the conquest of the Loire Valley and the expulsion of the Moors
from France; his fame was overshadowed by that of his son Charlemagne;
_d_. 678.
PEPSIN, an essential constituent of the gastric juice extracted from
the stomach of the calf, sheep, and pig, and used in medicine to supply
any defect of it in the stomach of a patient.
PEPYS, SAMUEL, author of a famous Diary, a scholarly man and
respected as connected with different grades of society; held a clerkship
in the Admiralty, and finally the secretaryship; kept a diary of events
from 1660 to 1669, which remained in MS. till 1826, when it was published
in part by Lord Braybrooke, and is of interest for the insight it gives
into the manners of the time and the character of the author; the latest
and completest edition of this Diary is that of H. B. Wheatley, published
in 1893-96, in eight vols. (1633-1703).
PERA, a suburb of Constantinople, on the N. side of the Golden Horn,
and the foreign diplomatic quarter.
PERÆA, "the country beyond," designated that part of Palestine
beyond or E. of the Jordan.
PERCEVAL, a hero of the legends of chivalry, famed for his
adventures in quest of the Holy Graal.
PERCEVAL, SPENCER, English statesman, born in London, son of the
Earl of Egmont; bred to the bar; entered Parliament as a supporter of
Pitt, and held a succession of posts under different administrations,
attaining the Premiership, which he held from 1800 to 1812, on the 11th
of May, of which year he was shot dead by a madman of the name of
Bellingham in the lobby of the House; he was devoted to the throne, and a
man of upright character but narrow sympathies (1762-1812).
PERCIVAL, JAMES GATES, American poet and geologist, born at
Kensington, Connecticut; took his degree at Yale in 1815, and qualified
as a medical practitioner; he was for a few months professor of Chemistry
at West Point, but retired and gave himself to literature and geology;
his scientific works are valuable; "Prometheus and Clio" appeared in
1822, "Dream of a Day" in 1843; he died at Hazel Green, Wisconsin
(1795-1856).
PERCY, a noble English family of Norman origin, the founder of which
accompanied the Conqueror, and was rewarded with grants of land for his
services; a successor of whom in the female line, Henry, the father of
the famous Hotspur, was created Duke of Northumberland in 1377.
PERCY, THOMAS, English prelate and antiquary, born at Bridgenorth,
Shropshire, the son of a grocer; devoted himself to the collection of old
ballads, and published in 1765 "Reliques of Ancient English Poetry"; he
published also ballads of his own, among them "The Hermit of Warkworth,"
and was the author of "O Nannie, wilt thou gang wi' me?" he associated
with Johnson, Burke, and other notables of the period, and was a member
of Dr. Johnson's Literary Club; became bishop of Dromore in 1782, where
he was held in affectionate regard; was blind for some years before he
died (1729-1811).
PERDICCAS, a favourite general of Alexander the Great, who, when on
his deathbed, took his signet ring off his finger and gave it to him; he
became an object of distrust after Alexander's death, and was
assassinated in Egypt.
PEREIRA, JONATHAN, pharmacologist, born in London; author of the
"Elements of Materia Medica," a standard work; was examiner on the
subject in London University (1804-1853).
PEREKOP, ISTHMUS OF, connects the Crimea with the S. of Russia; is
pierced by a ship-canal.
PEREZ, ANTONIO, Spanish statesman, and minister of Philippe II.,
born in Aragon; was the tool of the king in the murder of Escoveda, the
confidant of John of Austria; was convicted of betraying State secrets
and imprisoned, but escaped; being in possession of royal secrets, which
he published, Philippe tried every means to arrest him, but Perez evaded
capture, and found refuge in France, where he died in poverty
(1539-1611).
PERFECTIONISM, the doctrine that moral perfection is by divine grace
attainable in the present life.
PERFECTIONISTS, an American sect or society founded by John Humphrey
Noyes in 1848 at Oneida, New York State, on Communistic principles, but
owning no law save that of the Spirit, and subject to no criticism but
the judgment they freely passed on one another, a system which they were
obliged to modify in 1880 so far as to recognise the rights of matrimony
and the family, and to adopt the principle of a joint-stock limited
liability company, on which lines the community is proving a prosperous
one.
PERGAMOS, the citadel of Troy, a name frequently given by the poets
to the city itself.
PERGAMOS, an ancient city of Mysia, in Asia Minor; founded by a
colony of Greek emigrants in 3rd century B.C., and eventually the centre
of a province of the name, which was subject for a time to Macedonia, but
threw off the yoke and became independent, till it became a Roman
province by bequest on the part of Attalus III. in 133 B.C. The city
possessed a library second only to that of Alexandria, contained one of
the seven churches mentioned in the Revelation, and gave its name to
parchment, alleged to have been invented there.
PERI, in the Eastern mythology a fairy being of surpassing beauty,
begotten of fallen spirits, and excluded from Paradise, but represented
as leading a life of pleasure and endowed with immortality; there were
male Peris as well as female, and they were intermediate between angels
and demons.
PERIANDER, the tyrant of Corinth from 625 to 585 B.C., was one of
the seven sages of Greece, and a patron of literature and the arts; Arion
and Anacharsis lived at his Court.
PERICLES, the great Athenian statesman, born in Athens, of noble
parentage; was a devoted disciple of Anaxagoras; entered public life 467
B.C. as a democrat, and soon became head of the democratic party, to the
increase of the power of the citizens and annihilation of the domination
of the oligarchy centred in the Areopagus; hostile to territorial
aggrandisement, he sought, as his chief ambition, the unification of
Greece in one grand confederacy, but was defeated in this noble aim by
the jealousy of Sparta; he put down all rivalry, however, in Athens
itself, and established himself as absolute ruler with the consent of the
citizens, reforming the laws, adorning the city, and encouraging
literature and the arts, masters, many wise in the one and skilful in the
other, he had at his disposal, such as few or none of the cities of the
world had ever before or have had since; the resulting prosperity did but
enhance the envy of the other States, Sparta in particular, and two years
before he died the spirit of hostility took shape in the outbreak of the
PELOPONNESIAN WAR (q. v.); he had surrounded the city with
walls, and his policy was to defend it from within them rather than face
the enemy in the field, but it proved fatal, for it tended to damp rather
than quicken the ardour of the citizens, and to add to this a plague
broke out among them in 430 B.C., which cut down the most valiant of
their number, and he himself lay down to die the year after; he was a
high-souled, nobly-bred man, great in all he thought and did, and he
gathered around him nearly all the noble-minded and noble-hearted men of
his time to adorn his reign and make Athens the envy of the world; _d_.
429 B.C.
PÉRIER, CASIMIR, a French banker and politician, born at Grenoble;
took part in the Revolution of 1830, became Minister of the Interior in
1831; suppressed the insurrections at Paris and Lyons; died of cholera
(1777-1832).
PERIGEE, the point in the orbit of the moon or a planet nearest the
earth.
PÉRIGORD, an ancient territory of France, S. of Guienne, famous for
its truffles, of which PÉRIGUEUX (q. v.) was the capital; united
to the Crown of France by Henry IV. in 1589, it is now part of the
department of Dordogne and part of Lot-et-Garonne.
PÉRIGUEUX (31), chief town of the department of Dordogne, France, on
the Isle, 95 m. by rail NE. of Bordeaux, is a narrow irregular town with
a cathedral after St. Mark's in Venice, museum of antiquities, and
library; iron and woollens are the industries; truffles and truffle pies
are exported.
PERIHELION, the point on the orbit of a planet or comet nearest the
sun.
PERIM, a small barren, crescent-shaped island at the mouth of the
Red Sea, belonging to Britain, and used as a coaling-station.
PERIPATETIC PHILOSOPHY, the name given to the philosophy of
Aristotle, from his habit of walking about with his disciples as he
philosophised in the shady walks of the Lyceum.
PERNAMBUCO (130), a seaport in N. Brazil, consists of three portions
connected by bridges: Recife, on a peninsula, the business quarter; San
Antonio, the modern quarter, on an intermediate island; and Bon Vista, on
the mainland; manufactures cotton and tobacco, and has shipbuilding
yards; the trade chiefly with England, the United States, and France; it
is the capital of a province (1,100) of the name, producing sugar and
cotton.
PERONELLA, in fairy legend a pretty country lass who exchanges
places with an old wizened queen, and receives the homage due to royalty,
but gladly takes back her rags and beauty.
PEROWNE, STEWART, Bishop of Worcester, born at Burdwân, of Huguenot
extraction, educated at Cambridge; became a Fellow of Corpus Christi;
held several academic and ecclesiastical appointments; an eminent Hebrew
scholar and exegete; his chief work a commentary on the Psalms; _b_.
1823.
PERPIGNAN (28), a town on the Têt, 7 m. from the sea; a fortress in
the French department of Pyrénées-Orientales; has a cathedral of the 14th
century and a bourse in Moorish-Gothic, and manufactures wine and brandy;
belonged originally to Aragon; was taken by France in 1475, and retaken,
after restoration to Spain, in 1642, since which time it has belonged to
France.
PERRAULT, CHARLES, French man of letters, born in Paris; bred to the
bar; distinguished as the author of inimitable fairy tales, which have
immortalised his name, as "Puss in Boots," "Cinderella," "Bluebeard,"
&c., as also "Parallel des Anciens et des Modernes," in which his aim was
to show--an ill-informed attempt--that the ancients were inferior in
everything to the moderns (1628-1703).
PERSECUTIONS OF THE CHURCH, by which are meant those at the hands of
Imperial Rome, are usually reckoned 10 in number, viz., those under Nero
in 64, Domitian 95, Trajan 107, Hadrian 125, Marcus Aurelius 165, Severus
202, Maximinus 235, Decius 249, Valerianus 257, and Diocletian 303;
besides these there were others quite as deadly within the Church itself
on the part of orthodox against heterodox, or Catholic against
Protestant, and Established against Nonconformist.
PERSEPHONE, in the Greek mythology the daughter of Zeus and Demeter,
the Proserpine of the Romans. See PROSERPINE.
PERSEPOLIS, the ancient capital of Persia, represented now by its
ruins, which stand 25 m. from the NW. shores of Lake Niris, on the banks
of the Murghab River, though in its palmy days it was described as "the
Glory of the East."
PERSEUS, in the Greek mythology the son of Zeus and Danaë, and the
grandson of Acrisius, king of Argos, of whom it was predicted before his
birth that he would kill his grandfather, who at his birth enclosed both
his mother and him in a chest and cast it into the sea, which bore them
to an island where they became slaves of the king, Polydectes, who sought
to marry Danaë; failing in his suit, and to compel her to submission, he
ordered Perseus off to fetch him the head of the Medusa; who, aided by
Hermes and Athena, was successful in his mission, cut off the head of the
Medusa with the help of a mirror and sickle, brought it away with him in
a pouch, and after delivering and marrying Andromeda in his return
journey, exposed the head before Polydectes and court at a banquet, which
turned them all into stone, whereupon he gave the Gorgon's head to Athena
to place on her shield, and set out for Argos; Acrisius hearing of his
approach fled, but was afterwards killed accidentally by his grandson,
who in throwing a discus had crushed his foot.
PERSIA (7,000), occupies the tableland 5000 ft. high between the
Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea on the S., the Caspian Sea and Turkestan on
the N., Armenia on the W., and Afghanistan and Beluchistan on the E., and
is a country three times as large as France; lofty mountain ranges
traverse it from NW. to SE. and gird its northern boundary; the highest
peak is Mount Demavend, 18,500 ft., in the Elburz, overlooking the
Caspian. Most of the rivers evaporate inland; only one is navigable, the
Karun, in the SW.; Lake Urumiyah, in the NW., is the largest, a very salt
and shallow sheet of water. The eastern half of the country is largely
desert, where the sand is swept about in clouds by the winds. With little
rain, the climate is intensely hot in summer and cold in winter. Forests
clothe the outer slopes of the mountains, and scanty brushwood the inner
plains. Wheat and barley are grown on higher levels, and cotton, sugar,
and fruits on the lower, all with the help of Irrigation. Agriculture is
the chief industry; there are manufactures of carpets, shawls, and
porcelain. The internal trade is carried on by caravans; foreign trade is
not extensive, and is chiefly in Russian hands; the exports include
opium, carpets, pearls, and turquoises. The capital is Teheran (210), a
narrow, crooked, filthy town, at the southern foot of the Elburz. Tabriz
(180), in the NW., is the emporium of trade. Ispahân (60), Meshed (60),
Barfurush (60), and Shiraz (30) are the other important towns. The
Government is despotic; the emperor is called the Shah. The people are
courteous and refined in manner, witty, and fluent in speech; they are of
Aryan stock and Mohammedan faith. The original empire of Persia was
established by Cyrus 537 B.C. A century later decay set in. Revival
under Parthian and Sassanian dynasties lasted from 138 B.C. till A.D.
639. Persia became then a province of the Arabs. From the 14th century it
fell under Mongol sway, and again in the 16th century under Turkish. The
present dynasty was founded in 1795. The future of the country is in
Russian and British hands.
PERSIAN GULF, a great inland sea lying between Arabia and Persia,
and entered from the Indian Ocean through the Gulf of Oman; is 650 m.
long and from 50 to 250 m. broad. The Arabian coast is low and sandy, the
Persian high. The chief islands are in the W., where also is the Great
Pearl Bank. The only river of importance received is the Shat-el-Arab,
which brings down the waters of the Euphrates and the Tigris.
PERSIAN WARS, wars conducted by Persia in the three expeditions
against Greece, first in 490 B.C. under Darius, and defeated by the
Athenians under Miltiades at Marathon; the second, 480 B.C., under
Xerxes, opposed by Leonidas and his 300 Spartans at Thermopylæ and
defeated by the Athenians under Themistocles at Salamis by sea; and the
third, in 479 B.C., under Xerxes, by the Greeks under the Spartan
Pausanius at Platæa.
PERSIANS, a name given to sculptured draped male figures used as
columns.
PERSIANS, THE, belonged to the Aryan race, hence Iran, the original
name of their country; they were related rather to the Western than the
Eastern world, and it is from them that continuous history takes its
start; they first recognised an ethereal essence, which they called
Light, as the principle of all good, and man as related to it in such a
way that, by the worship of it, he became assimilated to it himself.
Among them first the individual subject stood face to face with a
universal object, and claimed a kinship with it as the light of life. The
epoch thus created was the emancipation of the human being from dependent
childhood to self-dependent manhood, and it constituted the first epoch
in the self-conscious history, which is the history proper, of the human
race. The idea the Persians formed of the principle of good came far
short of the reality indeed, but they first saw that it was of purely
illuminating quality and universal, and that the destiny of man was to
relate himself to it, to know, worship, and obey it. With the ethereal
principle of good they associated an equally ethereal principle of evil,
and, as they identified the one with light, they identified the other
with darkness. Man they regarded as related to both, and his destiny to
adore the one and disown the other as master. As the light had no portion
in the darkness, and the darkness no portion in the light, the religion
arose which pervades that of the Bible, which requires the children of
the former to separate from those of the latter.
PERSIFLAGE, a French term for a light, quizzing mockery, or
scoffing, specially on serious subjects, out of a cool, callous contempt
for them.
PERSIGNY, FIALIN, DUC DE, a French statesman, a supporter all along
of Louis Napoleon, abetting him in all his efforts to attain the throne
of France, from the affair of Strasburg in 1836 to the _coup d'état_ of
December 1851, and becoming in the end Minister of the Interior under
him; had to leave France at his fall (1806-1872).
PERSIUS, the last king of Macedonia; was conquered by Paulus
Æmilius, and died captive at Rome 167 B.C.
PERSIUS, Roman satirist, born in Etruria, was a pupil and friend of
Cornutus the Stoic; a man much esteemed, who died young, only 28; wrote
six short satires in the purity of a white-souled manhood, of much native
vigour, though not equal to those of Horace and Juvenal, and that have
commanded the regard of all scholars down to the present time; they have
often been translated (34-62).
PERTH (30), the county-town of Perthshire, on the Tay, 22 m. W. of
Dundee: is a beautifully situated town, with fine buildings, the only
old one being the restored St. John's Church. Its industries are dyeing
and ink-making. At Scone, 2 m. distant, the kings of Scotland were
crowned; and the murder of James I., the Gowrie conspiracy, and the
battle of Tippermuir are but a few of its many historical associations.
"The Five Articles of Perth," adopted by a General Assembly held there in
1618, did much to precipitate the conflict between the Royal power and
the Scottish Church; they enjoined kneeling at the Lord's Supper,
observance of Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, and Pentecost,
confirmation, and the private administration of the sacraments.
PERTH (8), the capital of West Australia, on the Swan River.
PERTHSHIRE (122), the most beautiful and varied county in Scotland,
occupies the whole of the Tay Valley and part of the Forth, and is
bounded by nine other counties. The N. and W. are mountainous, with many
rivers and lakes, and much of the finest scenery in Scotland; the
Trossachs and Loch Katrine are world famed. In the E. is extensive
woodland and the Carse of Gowrie, one of the most fertile of Scottish
plains. Ben Lawers is the highest mountain, Loch Tay the largest lake.
Much of the soil is good only for sheep farms, deer forests, and grouse
moors; the county is visited annually by thousands of tourists and
sportsmen.
PERTINAX, HELVIUS, Roman emperor in succession to Commodus; rose
from the ranks by his military services to the imperial dignity, which he
was pressed to accept against his will, and was assassinated by the
Prætorian Guards less than three months after, in consequence of the
reforms he projected in order to restore the ancient discipline of the
army (126-193).
PERTURBATIONS, name given to irregularities or slight deviations in
the movement of a heavenly body, due chiefly to the neighbourhood of
another point in its orbit.
PERU (3,000), a country in the W. of South America, twice the size
of Austro-Hungary, lies between Brazil and Bolivia and the Pacific, with
Ecuador on the N. and Chile on the S.; it consists of a seaboard plain,
hot and rainless, but intersected by rich river courses, in which sugar,
cotton, and coffee are grown; the Andes chains, snow-tipped and
presenting every kind of climate and variety of vegetation on their
slopes and in their valleys, rich in minerals and yielding chiefly great
quantities of silver; and the Montana, the eastward slopes of the Andes,
clad with valuable forests where the cinchona is cultivated, and the
upland basins of the Ucayalé River and the Upper Amazon, very fertile,
with great coffee and cacao plantations and abundant rain; the chief
articles of export are silver, nitre, guano, sugar, and wool. Lima (200),
the capital, is 8 m. inland from its port Callao (35); has an old
cathedral, and is the chief centre of commerce; its principal merchants
are Germans. The government is republican; the ruling classes are of
Spanish descent, but half of the population are Inca Indians and a
quarter are half-castes. From the 12th to the 16th centuries the Incas
enjoyed a high state of civilisation and an extensive empire administered
on socialistic principles; they attained great skill in the industries
and arts. The Spanish conqueror Pizarro, landing in 1532, overthrew the
empire and established the colony; after three centuries of oppression
Peru threw off the Spanish yoke in 1824. The history of the republic has
been one of continual restlessness, and a war with Chile 1879-84 ended in
complete disaster; recovery is slowly progressing.
PERUGIA (17), Italian walled city on the right bank of the Tiber,
127 m. by rail N. of Rome, with a cathedral of the 15th century, some
noteworthy churches, a Gothic municipal palace, picture gallery,
university, and library; is rich in art treasures and antiquarian
remains; it has silk and woollen industries; it was anciently called
Perusia, and one of the cities of ancient Etruria, and in its day has
experienced very varied fortunes; it was the centre of the Umbrian school
of painting.
PERUGINO, his proper name VANNUCCI, Italian painter, born near
Perugia, whence his name; studied with Leonardo da Vinci at Florence,
where he chiefly resided; was one of the teachers of Raphael, painted
religious subjects, did frescoes for churches that have nearly all
perished, a "Christ giving the Keys to Peter" being the best extant;
Ruskin contrasts his work with Turner's; "in Turner's distinctive work,"
he says, "colour is scarcely acknowledged unless under influence of
sunshine ... wherever the sun is not, there is melancholy and evil," but
"in Perugino's distinctive work"--to whom he therefore gives "the
captain's place over all"--"there is simply _no_ darkness, _no_ wrong.
Every colour is lovely and every space is light; the world, the universe,
is divine; all sadness is a part of harmony, and all gloom a part of
light" (1446-1524).
PESCHIERA, one of the fortresses of the QUADRILATERAL (q. v.),
on an island in the Mincio, 14 m. W. of Verona.
PESHAWAR or PESHAWUR (84), a town on the Indian frontier, and
centre of trade with Afghanistan, is 10 m. from the entrance of the
Khyber Pass, on the Kabul River, and though ill-fortified is a bulwark of
the empire, being provided with a large garrison of infantry and
artillery.
PESHITO (i. e. simple), a version of the Bible in Syriac, executed
not later than the middle of the 2nd century for Judaic Christians in the
Syrian Church, the version of the Old Testament being executed direct
from the Hebrew and that of the New being the first translation of the
Greek of it into a foreign tongue, and both of value in questions
affecting exegesis and the original text; the New Testament version
contains all the books now included except the Apocalypse, Jude, 2 Peter,
and 2 and 3 John.
PESSIMISM, a name given now to a habit of feeling, now to a system
of opinion; as the former it denotes a tendency to dwell on the dark or
gloomy side of things, culminating in a sense of their vanity and
nothingness, while in the latter it is applied to all systems of opinion
which lay the finger on some black spot in the structure of the life of
the world or of the universe, which so long as it remains is thought to
render it unworthy of existence.
PESTALOZZI, JOHANN HEINRICH, a celebrated educationist, born at
Zurich; founder of a natural system of education, beginning with
childhood, and who, however unsuccessful in the working of it himself
from his want of administrative faculty, persuaded others by his writings
to adopt it, especially in Germany, and to adopt it both enthusiastically
and successfully; his method, which he derived from Rousseau, was based
on the study of human nature as we find it born in the child, and it
aimed at the harmonious development of all its innate capabilities,
beginning with the most rudimentary (1745-1827).
PESTH or BUDAPEST (492), on the left bank of the Danube,
forming one municipality with Buda on the right, is the capital of
Hungary, and 173 m. by rail E. of Vienna; Pesth is built on a plain,
joined to Buda by three bridges, the last on the Danube, and is a
thriving modern city, with picture galleries, parliament house, library,
university, science schools, many baths, and public gardens; it makes
machinery, agricultural implements, cutlery, flour, &c., and does a great
trade in corn, wool, hides, wines, and bacon.
PETALISM, banishment in Sparta similar to ostracism in Athens,
procured by writing the name on an olive leaf.
PETARD, a cone-shaped explosive machine for bursting open gates,
barriers, &c., made of iron and filled with powder and ball.
PETASUS, the winged-cap of the god Mercury.
PETCHORA, the largest river in Northern Russia, rises in the Ural
Mountains and flows N. through Vologda and Archangel, then westward and
N. again, entering the Arctic Ocean by a large, island-studded estuary,
after a course of 1000 m. through sombre forests and wild, sombre
scenery.
PETER, THE APOSTLE, originally called Simon, was a fisherman on the
Sea of Galilee; one of the first called by Christ to become a disciple;
the first to recognise, as the foundation-stone of the Church, the
divinity in the humanity of His Master, and the first thereafter to
recognise and proclaim that divinity as glorified in the cross, to whom
in recognising which, especially the former, was committed the keys of
the kingdom of heaven, and who accordingly was the first to open the door
of it to the Gentile world. He was the principal figure in the history of
the early Christian Church, but was soon eclipsed by the overpowering
presence and zeal of Paul. Tradition, indeed, has something to tell of
him, but from it little of trustworthy can be gathered except that he
finished his career by martyrdom in the city of Rome. This Apostle is
represented in Christian art as an old man, bald-headed, with a flowing
beard, dressed in a white mantle, and holding a scroll in his hand, his
attributes being the keys, and a sword in symbol of his martyrdom.
PETER, THE FIRST EPISTLE OF, addressed especially to Jewish
Christians in certain churches of Asia Minor, the members of which were
suffering persecution at the hands of their adversaries as evil-doers;
was written to exhort them to rebut the charge by a life of simple
well-doing, and to comfort them under it with the promise of the return
of the Lord.
PETER, THE SECOND EPISTLE OF, addressed to all who anywhere bore the
Christian name; appears to have been written not long before his death to
counteract certain fatal forms of error, at once doctrinal and practical,
that had already begun to creep into the Church, and against which we
meet with the same warnings in the Epistle of Jude, the doctrinal error
being the denial of Christ as Lord, and the practical the denial of Him
as the way, the truth, and the life, to the peril of the forfeiture of
eternal life.
PETER, THE WILD BOY, a savage creature of 13 years of age, found in
1725 in a forest of Hanover, who was accustomed to walk on all fours, and
climb trees like a squirrel, living on wild plants, grass, and moss, and
who could not be weaned from these habits, or taught to speak more than a
syllable or two; he wore a brass collar with his name on it; at length
refused all food, and died in 1786.
PETER MARTYR, 1, a Dominican notorious for his severity as a member
of the Inquisition, murdered by a mob at Como in 1252, became the patron
saint of the Inquisition. 2, A Protestant reformer, born at Florence,
became a monk and abbot at Lucca, from which, on embracing the doctrines
of the Reformation, he was forced to flee, first to Switzerland and then
to England in the reign of Edward VI., but had to retreat from thence
also on the accession of Mary to Strasburg, and at length to Zurich,
where he died (1500-1562). 3, A historian, born at Arona, rose to become
bishop of Jamaica, wrote on the discovery of America, _d_. 1525.
PETER THE GREAT, emperor of Russia, son of the Czar Alexei, born at
Moscow; succeeded his half-brother Feodor in 1682, but was forced for a
time to share the throne with his half-sister Sophia, acting as regent
for her brother Ivan; conscious of his imperfect education, he chose a
Genoese named Lefort as his preceptor, and after some years' careful
training he deposed Sophia, and entered Moscow as sole ruler in 1689;
with the help of Lefort and Patrick Gordon, a Scotsman, he proceeded to
raise and discipline an army on the European model, and determined also
to construct a navy; to reach the sea he made war on the Turks, and
possessed himself of the port of Azov, at the mouth of the Don; hither he
invited skilled artificers from Austria, Venice, Prussia, and Holland,
and a navy was built; from 1697 to 1698 he visited the countries on the
Baltic and England, acquiring vast stores of information, working as a
shipwright in the Dutch yards, and finally taking back with him an army
of mechanics; on his return he vigorously reformed the Russian press,
schools, and church, introduced European manners and literature, and
encouraged foreign trade; desirous now of an opening on the Baltic, he
began in 1700 a long contest with Sweden, marked first by many defeats,
notably that of Narva, then the seizure of Ingria, and founding of the
new capital St. Petersburg 1703, the victory of Pultowa 1712, seizure of
the Baltic provinces and part of Finland 1713, and finally by the Peace
of 1721, which ceded the conquered territories to Russia; in 1711 the
Turks had recovered Azov; in 1722 war with Persia secured him three
Caspian provinces; Peter pursued a vigorous and enlightened policy for
the good of Russia, but his disposition was often cruel; his son Alexei
was put to death for opposing his reforms, and on his own death he was
succeeded by the Empress Catherine I., the daughter of a peasant, who had
been his mistress, and whom he had married in 1712 (1672-1725).
PETER THE HERMIT, a monk, born in Amiens, of good family, who is
credited with having by his preaching kindled the enthusiasm in Europe
which led to the first Crusade; he joined it himself as the leader of an
untrained rabble, but made a poor figure at the siege of Antioch, where
he was with difficulty prevented from deserting the camp; he afterwards
founded a monastery near Liège, where he died (1050-1115).
PETERBOROUGH (25), an English cathedral city, on the Nen, partly in
Huntingdonshire and partly in Northamptonshire, on the edge of the Fen
country, 76 m. N. of London; has an old town-hall, manufactures of farm
implements, trade in malt and coal, and is a great railway centre; the
cathedral is one of the finest in Britain, of very varied architecture,
was restored and reopened afterwards in 1890.
PETERBOROUGH, CHARLES MORDAUNT, EARL OF, saw some active service as
a volunteer in Charles II.'s navy, and on the accession of James II.
threw himself into politics as an opponent of the king; William III.
showed him great favour; he was of the Queen's Council of Regency when
William was in Ireland, but imprudent intriguing brought him a short
confinement in the Tower in 1697; the war of the Spanish Succession was
the opportunity which brought him fame; appointed to the command of the
British and Dutch forces, which fought for Charles of Austria, he reduced
Barcelona 1705, and Valencia 1706; retook Barcelona from the French, and
but for Charles's hindrance would have entered Madrid; differences with
other generals led to his recall in 1707; the rest of his life was spent
in retirement; he was the friend of Pope, and held by him in genuine
esteem; he died in Lisbon (1658-1735).
PETERHEAD (12), a seaport on the E. coast of Aberdeenshire, 30 m.
NE. of Aberdeen; built irregularly of reddish granite; has a free library
and museum, and is the seat of a convict prison; the chief industry is
herring-fishing; there are two harbours, and a third, a great harbour of
refuge, is in course of construction.
PETERHOF (14), a town on the Gulf of Finland, 18 m. W. of St.
Petersburg, with a palace of the Czar built in 1711 by Peter the Great.
PETERLOO, a name, suggested by Waterloo, given to an insurrectionary
gathering in 1819 of workers in St. Peter's Field, Manchester, to demand
Parliamentary reform, and which was dispersed by the military to the
sacrifice of 13 lives and the wounding of 600, a proceeding which excited
wide-spread indignation, and contributed to promote the cause which it
was intended to defeat.
PETER'S, ST., church at Rome, is built, it is alleged, over the tomb
of St. Peter, and on the site of the basilica erected by Constantine and
Helena in 306. The original structure after falling into decay was begun
to be rebuilt in 1450, and finally consecrated by Urban XIII. in 1626. It
is the largest and grandest church in Christendom, covers an area of over
26,000 square yards, the interior of it in length being 206 yards, the
transept 150 yards, the nave 150, and the dome 465. It contains thirty
altars, and is adorned with numerous statues and monuments.
PETER'S PENCE, an annual tribute of a silver penny per household in
England to support the chair of St. Peter at Rome, and which continued
more or less to be levied from the end of the 8th century till the days
of Elizabeth, when it ceased. The payment has been revived since 1848 in
Britain, France, and Belgium in compensation to the Pope for loss of his
territorial possessions.
PETERWARDEIN (4), a strong Austrian fortress on the right bank of
the Danube, near the Servian frontier, 40 m. NW. of Belgrade; stands
among unhealthy marshes.
PÉTION DE VILLENEUVE, JÉRÔME, born at Chartres; figured in the
French Revolution as a zealous republican, member of the Tiers État, one
of the commission to reconduct the royal family from Varennes; was mayor
of Paris in the year of the September massacres, 1792; was first
President of the Convention, and, though his influence was declining,
member of the first Committee of Defence, 1793; his attack on Robespierre
proving unsuccessful he committed suicide; his body was afterwards found
on the Landes of Bordeaux half devoured by wolves; was surnamed the
"Virtuous," as Robespierre the "Incorruptible"; was of the Girondist
party; had "unalterable beliefs, not hindmost of them," says Carlyle,
"belief in himself" (1783-1793).
PETITE NATURE, a French term applied to pictures containing figures
less than life-size, but with the effect of life-size.
PETITION OF RIGHT, a petition presented to Charles I. by the Commons
in 1628, and that became law by the king's acceptance of it. It sought
for and obtained the abolition of certain grievances which the country
unconstitutionally suffered from, such as taxation or levying of money
without consent of Parliament, imprisonment without cause shown,
billeting of troops, and recourse to martial law in a time of peace. This
petition Charles I. would at first fain have evaded, but the Commons
would be satisfied with nothing less than its acceptance entire.
PETÖFI, SANDOR, celebrated Magyar poet and patriot, born in the
county of Pesth, of poor parents; first announced himself as a poet in
1844; wrote a number of war-songs; fought in the cause of the revolution
of 1848, and fell in the battle of Schässburg; his poetry inaugurated a
new era in the literature of his country (1823-1849).
PETRA, a ruined city, and once the rock capital of Edom, and
afterwards of Arabia Petræa; was a place of some importance at one time
as a commercial centre; the name Petra signifies rock.
PETRARCH, FRANCESCO, the famous Italian lyric poet, born at Arezzo,
in Tuscany, whither his father had gone when exiled with Dante from
Florence; spent his youth in Avignon; intended for the profession of law,
devoted his time to the study of Cicero and Virgil; met Laura in the
church of St. Clare there in 1327, a lady of surpassing beauty; conceived
a passion for her which she could not return, and wrote sonnets in praise
of her, which immortalised both himself and her; after travel in France
and Germany he retired in 1337 to the valley of Vaucluse, where he
composed the most of his poems, and his reputation reached its height in
1341, when he was crowned laureate in the Capitol of Rome; he was in
Italy when tidings reached him of the death of Laura in 1348, on the
anniversary of the day when he first met her, upon which he gave
expression to his feelings over the event in a touching note of it in his
Virgil; we find him again at Rome in 1350, and after moving from place to
place settled in Arqua in 1370, where he died; his Latin works are
numerous, and include an epic on the Second Punic war, Eclogues, Epistles
in verse, and Letters of value giving the details of his life; his fame
rests on his lyrics; by those alone he still lives, and that more from
the finished art in which they are written than from any glow of feeling
they kindle in the reader's heart (1304-1374).
PETRI, LAURENTIUS, a Swedish Reformer; was a disciple of Luther;
became professor of Theology and first Protestant archbishop of Upsala,
and superintended the translation of the Bible into Swedish (1499-1573).
PETRIE, FLINDERS, Egyptologist, son of an Australian explorer; after
explorations at Stonehenge, surveyed the pyramids and temples of Ghizeh
in 1881-82; excavated for the Egyptian Exploration Fund Nankratis, Am,
and Defenneh; has achieved many other important works of the kind, and
issued a popular work, "Ten Years' Diggings in Egypt"; _b_. 1853.
PETRIE, GEORGE, Irish archæologist, born in Dublin, of Scottish
parentage; bred to art; executed Irish landscapes, but is best known for
his "Essay on the Round Towers of Ireland," a work of no small interest
(1790-1866).
PETROLEUM, is the common name of a series of rock oils found in
large quantities in the United States and Canada, near Rangoon, and in
the neighbourhood of the Caspian Sea. The oil issues from the rocks, or
is drawn from subterranean reservoirs, where its presence is supposed to
result from natural distillation of vegetable and animal substances, and
after refining, put in the market as benzoline, paraffin, and lubricating
oil. It is extensively used in the industries, and has been applied as
fuel to steamships.
PÉTROLEUSE, was a name given to certain Parisian women of the
Commune of 1871, who poured petroleum on the Hôtel de Ville and other
buildings to burn them.
PETRONIUS, a Roman satirist and accomplished voluptuary at the court
of Nero, and the director-in-chief of the imperial pleasures; accused of
treason, and dreading death at the hands of the emperor his master, he
opened his veins, and by bandaging them bled slowly to death, showing the
while the same frivolity as throughout his life; he left behind him a
work, extant now only in fragments, but enough to expose the abyss of
profligacy in which the Roman world was then sunk at that crisis of its
fate; _d_. 63.
PETTIE, JOHN, painter, born at Edinburgh; his works, chiefly
historical, were numerous, and of a high character (1839-1893).
PETTY, SIR WILLIAM, political economist, born in Hampshire; was a
man of versatile genius, varied attainments, and untiring energy; was
skilled in medicine, in music, in mechanics, and in engineering, as well
as economics, to which especially he contributed by his pen (1623-1687).
PETTY JURY, a jury of 12 elected to try a criminal case after a true
bill against the accused has been found by a Grand Jury.
PETTY OFFICERS, officers in the navy, consisting of four grades, and
corresponding in function and responsibility to non-commissioned officers
in the army.
PETTY SESSIONS, name given to sessions of justices of the peace to
try small cases without a jury.
PEUTINGER, CONRAD, an Augsburg antiquary, left at his death a
13th-century copy of a 3rd-century map of the Roman military roads, now
in the Imperial Library at Vienna, known as the "Tabula Peutingeriana"
(1465-1547).
PFÄFERS, hot springs near a village of the same name in the Swiss
canton of St. Gall; have been in use for 800 years.
PFAHLBAUTEN, lake dwellings of prehistoric date in Switzerland.
PFALZ, the German name for the Palatinate.
PFEIFFER, IDA, a celebrated traveller, born in Vienna; being
separated from her husband, and having completed the education of her two
sons and settled them in life, commenced her career of travel in 1842, in
which year she visited Palestine, in 1845 visited Scandinavia, in 1846
essayed a voyage round the world by Cape Horn, in 1851 a second by the
Cape of Good Hope, and in 1856 an expedition to Madagascar, returning at
the end of each to Vienna and publishing accounts of them (1797-1858).
PFFLEIDERER, OTTO, a philosophical theologian, born in Würtemberg,
professor at Jena, and afterwards at Berlin; has written on religion, the
philosophy of it and sundry developments of it, in an able manner, as
well as lectured on it in Edinburgh in connection with the Gifford trust,
on which occasion he was bold enough to overstep the limits respected by
previous lecturers between natural and revealed religion, to the
inclusion of the latter within his range; _b_. 1830.
PFORZHEIM (29), manufacturing town in Baden, in the N. of the Black
Forest; manufactures gold and silver ornaments, and has chemical and
other factories.
PHÆDRUS, a Latin fabulist, of the age of Augustus, born in
Macedonia, and settled in Rome; originally a slave, was manumitted by
Augustus; his fables, 97 in number, were written in verse, and are mostly
translations from Æsop, the best of them such as keep closely to the
original.
PHAËTHON (i. e. the shining one, and so called from his father),
the son of HELIOS (q. v.); persuaded his father to allow him for
one day to drive the chariot of the sun across the heavens, but was too
weak to check the horses, so that they rushed off their wonted track and
nearly set the world on fire, whereupon Zeus transfixed him with a
thunderbolt, metamorphosed his sisters who had yoked the horses for him
into poplars and their tears into amber.
PHALANSTERY, a body of people living together on the Communistic
principle of Fourier; also the building they occupy.
PHALANX, among the Greeks a body of heavy infantry armed with long
spears and short swords, standing in line close behind one another,
generally 8 men deep, the Macedonian being as much as 16; its movements
were too heavy, and it was dashed in pieces before the legions of Rome to
its extinction; it was superseded by the Roman legion.
PHALARIS, a tyrant of Agrigentum, in Sicily, in the 6th century, who
is said, among other cruelties, to have roasted the victims of his
tyranny in a brazen bull which bears his name; the "Letters of Phalaris,"
at one time ascribed to him, have been proved to be spurious.
PHALLUS, a symbol of the generative power of nature, being a
representation of the male organ of generation, and associated with rites
and ceremonies of nature-worship in the early stages of civilised life,
and the worship of which was supposed to have a magic influence in
inducing fertility among the flocks and herds, as well as in the soil of
the earth.
PHARAMOND, a Knight of the Round Table, and the reputed first king
of the Franks.
PHARAOH, a name, now proper, now common, given in the Old Testament
to the kings of Egypt, identified with that of the sun-god Phra, and
applied to the king as his representative on earth; some 10 of the name
occur in the Bible, and it is matter of difficulty often to distinguish
one from another.