What is it, but a continued perpetuated voice from heaven, resounding for ever in our ears? to give men no rest in their sins, no quiet from Christ's importunity, till they awake from their lethargick sleep, and arise from so mortiferous a state, and permit him to give them life.

Hammond. Under the same moral, and therefore under the Holyday. same perpetual law. A cycle or period begins again as often as it ends, and so obtains a perpetuity.

Holder.

Mine is a love, which must perpetual be, If you can be so just as I am true. Dryden. This verse is every where sounding the very thing in your ears; yet the numbers are perpetually varied, so that the same sounds are never repeated twice. Id. What the gospel enjoins is a constant disposition of mind to practise all Christian virtues, as often as time and opportunity require; and not a perpetuity of exercise and action; it being impossible at one and the same time to discharge variety of duties.

PERPIGNAN, Ruscino, an ancient, large, and strong post town, and the principal place of the department of the Eastern Pyrenees, France, containing 15,800 inhabitants. It has an inferior court of judicature, under the royal court of Montpellier, a chamber of commerce, a mint, a superintendency of the customs, an agricultural society, a society of arts, a communal college, and a school for drawing architectural. This town is pleasantly situated on the right bank of the Tet, at its junction with the Baisse. It is built at the foot and on the declivity of a hill, which overlooks a magnificent plain, to the west of which rises the Canigon, one of the highest of the Pyrenean mountains; to the north the Corbieres mountains; to the east the sea, hidden by a range of verdant hills, and to the south the road to Catalonia. The temperature is quite warm at a few leagues from the town the orange grows in the open field, and even in the valley,

not well built, presents an agreeable aspect; there are several fine public buildings in it, and some fine walks recently planted.

This place is of the greatest importance, as it forms the pass from Roussillon into Catalonia. Its fortifications, considerably augmented by Vauban, were almost entirely renewed in 1823; and the citadel, so situated as to command the town, has been rendered very strong, and capable of resisting successive attacks. At different periods Perpignan has sustained sieges, which put the constancy and courage of its inhabitants to the severest trial. The most memorable of these was in 1475, under Louis XI., which has been compared to those of Saguntum and Numantia ; for eight months the people suffered all the horrors of famine, and at last the place was taken by storm. It was besieged without success in 1542, in the reign of Francis I., by an army of 400,000 men. In 1642 Louis XIII. took it after a siege of three months. This is the native town of Carrere, the celebrated physician, and the painter Rigaud.

Here are manufactures of cloth, woollen stuffs, lace, cork, and leather; and a trade is carried on in Rivesalses wines, brandy, grain, oil, fine wool, iron, silk, corks, &c. There is a very flourishing fold here, in which are 150 Thibetian goats. The public places are the library, containing 13,000 volumes, the cabinets of natural history and philosophy, the place d'armes, a grand rectangle, one side of which is occupied by barracks capable of containing 5000 men; the royal square, the town-hall, the justice-hall, the beautiful walk between the glacis of the town and the watering canal, the bridge over the Tet and the citadel, where there is a very deep well to which you descend by a flight of stairs; it is supplied by a fountain, inexhaustible in the greatest droughts. Perpignan is eighty-one miles south-east of Carcassone, forty-five south of Narbonne, thirty-three east of Prades, twenty-four north-west of PortVendre, and 705 south of Paris, in long. 0° 34' E., lat. 42° 42' N.

PERPLEX', v. a. & adj. PERPLEX EDLY, adv. PERPLEX EDNESS, n. s. PERPLEXITY.

per

Fr. perplex; Ital. perplesso; Lat. plexus. To embarrass; entangle; distract; torment; vex; involve; make intricate; complicate: as an adjective, intricate; complicated; difficult; but perplexed is the modern and better word: perplexedly and perplexedness follow the senses of the adjective: perplexedness and perplexity mean embarrasment; intrication; involution of affairs or of mind.

Being greatly perplexed in his mined to go into Persia.

mind, he deter

1 Mac. iii. 31. put me into such Sidney.

The fear of him ever since hath
perplexity, as now you found me.
The royal virgin, which beheld from far,
In pensive plight and sad perplexity,
Came running fast to greet his victory.

The whole atchievement of this doubtful war,

Spenser.

and do, as it were, in a phrensy.

Perplexity not suffering them to be idle, they think Hooker.

Themselves with doubts the day and night perplex. Denham.

Their way

Milton.

flow the soul directs the spirits for the motion of the body, according to the several animal exigents, is perplex in the theory. Glanville's Scepsis.

Let him look for the labyrinth; for I cannot discern any, unless in the perplexity of his own thoughts. Stillingfleet.

He perplexes the minds of the fair sex with nice speculations of philosophy, when he should engage their hearts. Dryden.

I ask whether the connection of the extremes be not more clearly seen, in this simple and natural disposition, than in the perplexed repetitions and jumble of five or six syllogisms?

Locke.

What was thought obscure, perplexed, and too hard for our weak parts, will lie open to the understanding in a fair view.

Id.

Obscurity and perplexedness have been cast upon St. Paul's Epistles, from without.

We both are involved

In the same intricate perplext distress. Chloe's the wonder of her sex,

'Tis well her heart is tender,

How might such killing eyes perplex, With virtue to defend her.

Id.

Addison.

Granville.

My way of stating the main question is plain and clear; yours obscure and ambiguous: mine is fitted o instruct and inform; yours to perplex and confound a reader. Waterland.

Cowper.

Hard task for one who lately knew no care, And harder still as learned beneath despair; His hours no longer pass unmarked away, A dark importance saddens every day; He hears the notice of the clock, perplexed, And cries, Perhaps eternity strikes next. PER'QUISITE, n. s. Lat. perquisitus. PER QUISITED, adj. Something above regular wages or gains: supplied with perquisites. But what avails the pride of gardens rare, However royal, or however fair,

If perquisited varlets frequent stand,

And each new walk must a new tax demand?

To what your lawful perquisites amount. Swift. PERQUISITE, in law, is any thing gotten by a man's own industry, or purchased with his money; in contradistinction to what descends to him from his father or other ancestor.

PERRAULT (Charles), son of an advocate in parliament, was born at Paris, in 1626. Colbert chose him first clerk of the buildings, of which he was superintendant, and afterwards made him comptroller-general of the finances under him. He was one of the first members of the academy of belles lettres and inscriptions, and was received into the French academy in 1671. His poems La Peinture, and La siecle de Louis le Grand, are well known. He drew up elegies of great men of the seventeenth century, with portraits, and produced other esteemed

works.

PERRAULT (Claude), brother of Charles, was born at Paris in 1613; and was bred a physician, though he never practised but among his relations, friends, and the poor. He excelled in architecture, painting, sculpture, mathematics,

physics, and all those arts that relate to designing and mechanics. When the academy of sciences was established, he was one of its first members, and was chiefly depended on for mechanics and natural philosophy. His works are, A French translation of Vitruvius; Memoires pour servir à l'Histoire Naturelle des Animaux, fol. 1676, with figures; Essais de Phisique, 4 vols. 12mo, 1688; Recueil des Plusieurs Machines de nouvelle Invention, 4to. 1700, &c. He died in 1688.

PERRAULT (Nicholas and Peter), brothers of the two last, made themselves also known in the literary world.

PERRON (James Davy Du), a cardinal distinguished by his abilities and learning, born in Bern, in 1556; and educated by Julian Davy, his father, a very learned Calvinist. Philip Desportes, abbot of Tyron, made him known to Henry III. king of France, who conceived a great esteem for him. Some time after Du Perron abjured Calvinism, and embraced the ecclesiastical function. After the murder of Henry III. he retired to the house of cardinal de Bourbon, and took great pains in bringing back the Protestants to the church of Rome. He chiefly contributed to engage Henry IV. to change his religion and that prince sent him to negociate his reconciliation to the holy see, in which he succeeded. Du Perron was consecrated bishop of Evreux while he resided at Rome. He was made cardinal in 1604 by pope Clement VIII. at the solicitation of Henry IV. who afterwards nominated him to the archbishopric of Sens. He also sent him to Rome with cardinal Joyense, in order to terminate the disputes between Paul V. and the Venetians. He died at Paris in 1618. His works were collected after his death, and published at Paris in 3 vols. folio.

:

PERROT (Nicholas), lord of Ablancourt, a man of uncommon genius, born at Chalons in 1606. After studying philosophy about three years he was sent to Paris to follow the law. At eighteen years of age he was admitted advocate of parliament, but soon discontinued his practice. In 1637 he was admitted a member of the French academy; he died in 1664. His works are mostly translations.

PERRUKE, PERUKE, or PERIWIG, was anciently a name for a long head of natural hair; such, particularly, as there was care taken in the adjusting and trimming of. The Latins called it coma; whence part of Gaul took the denomination of Gallia Comata, from the long hair which the inhabitants wore as a sign of freedom. The word is now used for a set of false hair, curled, buckled, and sewed together on a frame or cawl ; anciently called capillamentum or 'false peruke.' The ancients used false hair, but the use of perukes, in their present mode, has not existed two centuries.

PERRY, n. s. Fr. poirè, from poire; Belg. peerdranck. Cyder made of pears.

Perry is the next liquor in esteem after cyder, in the ordering of which, let not your pears be over ripe before you grind them; and with some sorts of pears, the mixing of a few crabs in the grinding is of great advantage, making perry equal to the redstreak cyder. Mortimer.

PERRY, the best pears for perry are those which are most tart and harsh. Of these the Bosbury pear, the Bareland pear, and the horse pear, are the most esteemed for perry in Worcestershire, and the squash pear in Gloucestershire.

PERRY (Captain John), an engineer, who resided long in Russia, having been recommended to the czar Peter, while in England, as a person capable of serving him on a variety of occasions relating to his new design of establishing a fleet, making his rivers navigable, &c. He was author of The State of Russia, 1716, 8vo., and An Account of the stopping of Dagueham Breach, 1721, 8vo. He died February 11th,

1733.

PERRY (James), an English journalist, was born at Aberdeen,. October 30th, 1756. After receiving his education in the high school of that place, he was entered of the Marischal College, with a view to the law; but the failure of his father, who was a builder, put an end to that design, and in 1774 he went successively to Edinburgh and to Manchester, as a mercantile clerk; but in 1777 he pushed on in quest of fortune to London. Here he became a writer in The General Advertiser, which paper prospered well under his management. In 1782 he became the first editor of The European Magazine, in which he had Dr. William Thomson for a coadjutor, though the work did not answer till Mr. Isaac Reed undertook the management. Mr. Perry now engaged in conducting The Gazetteer, and was also the editor of Debrett's Parliamentary Debates. At length he purchased The Morning Chronicle, which paper made his fortune. He died at Brighton, December 4th, 1821. He was twice the object of a public prosecution, once for publishing the Resolutions of the Derby Meeting; and secondly, for a paragraph respecting his present majesty, then prince of Wales. On the former occasion he was defended by lord Erskine; on the latter he pleaded his own cause with great ability, and both times obtained a verdict of acquittal. For many years the Morning Chronicle, under the management of Mr. Perry, might be deemed a sort of official organ of the Whig opposition, a feature which it immediately lost on his death.

PERSECUTE, v. a. Fr. persecuter, of PERSECUTION, n. s. Lat. persecutus; Ital. PERSECUTOR. persequire; Span. and Port. persequir; of barb. Lat. persequi. To pursue intently; hence malignantly; harass with penalties; importune: the nouns follow these

The Jews raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them. Acts xiii. 50. Id. xxii.

I persecuted this way unto the death.

Ile endeavoured to prepare his charge for the reception of the impending persecution; that they might adorn their profession, and not at the same time suffer for a cause of righteousness, and as evil doers. Fell. Relate,

For what offence the queen of heaven began

To persecute so brave, so just a man. Dryden. Christian fortitude and patience had their opportunity in times of affliction and persecution. Sprat.

The deaths and sufferings of the primitive Christians had a great share in the conversion of those learned Pagans, who lived in the ages of persecution.

cutor.

Addison.

Henry rejected the pope's supremacy, but retained every corruption besides, and became a cruel perseSwift. PERSECUTION, in a more restrained sense, is the sufferings of Christians on account of their religion. Historians usually reckon ten general persecutions, the first of which was under the emperor Nero, thirty-one years after our Lord's ascension; when that emperor, having set fire to the city of Rome, threw the odium of that execrable action on the Christians, who under that pretence were wrapped up in the skins of wild beasts and worried and devoured by dogs; others were crucified, and others burnt alive. The second was under Domitian, in the year 95. In this persecution, St. John the apostle was sent to the isle of Patmos, in order to be employed in digging in the mines. The third began in the third year of Trajan, in the year 100, and was carried on with great violence for several years. The fourth was under Antoninus the philosopher, when the Christians were banished from their houses, forbidden to show their heads, reproached, beaten, hurried from place to place, plundered, imprisoned, and stoned. The fifth began in the year 197, under the emperor Severus. The sixth began with the reign of the emperor Maximinus in 235. The seventh, which was the most dreadful persecution that had ever been known in the church, began in the year 250, in the reign of the emperor Decius, when the Christians were in all places driven from their habitations, stripped of their estates, tormented with racks, &c. The eighth began in the year 257, in the fourth year of the reign of Valerian. The ninth was under the emperor Aurelian, A. D. 274; but this was very inconsiderable; and the tenth began in the nineteenth year of Dioclesian, A. D. 303. In this dreadful persecution, which lasted ten years, houses filled with Christians were set on fire, and whole droves were tied together with ropes, and thrown into the sea.

PERSEPOLIS, formerly the capital of Persia, situated in N, lat. 30° 30′ E., long. 84°; now in ruins, but still remarkable for the most magnificent remains of a palace or temple that are now perhaps to be found in the world. This city stood in one of the finest plains in Persia,

Wisdom xi. 20.

Heavy persecution shall arise

On all, who in the worship severe

Of spirit and truth.

Milton.

What man can do against them not afraid,
Though to the death; against such cruelties
With inward consolations recompensed;
And oft supported so, as shall amaze

Their proudest persecutors. Id. Paradise Lost.

and in different places, two, four, or six leagues in breadth. It is watered by the great river Araxes, now Bendemir, and by a multitude of rivulets besides. Within the compass of this plain are between 1000 and 1500 villages, all adorned with pleasant gardens, and planted with shady trees. The entrance of this plain on the west side has received as much grandeur from

nature, as the city it covers could do from industry or art. It consists of a range of mountains steep and high, four leagues in length, and about two miles broad, forming two flat banks, with a rising terrace in the middle, the summit of which is perfectly plain and even, all of native rock. In this there are such openings, and the terraces are so fine and so even, that one would be te upted to think the whole the work of art, if th great extent, and prodigious elevation thereof, did not convince one that it is a wonder too great for aught but nature to produce. Undoubtedly these banks were the very place where the advanced guards from Persepolis took post, and from which Alexander found it so difficult to dislodge them. One cannot from hence descry the ruins of the city, because the banks are too high to be overlooked: but one can perceive on every side the ruins of walls and of edifices, which heretofore adorned the range of mountains of which we are speaking. On the west and on the north this city is defended in the like manner: so that, considering the height and evenness of these banks, one may safely say that there is not in the world a place so fortified by nature.

The mountain Rehumut, in the form of an amphitheatre, encircles the palace, which is one of the noblest and most beautiful pieces of architecture remaining of all antiquity. Authors and travellers have been exceedingly minute in their descriptions of these ruins; and yet some of them have expressed themselves so differently from others, that, had they not agreed with respect to the latitude and longitude of the place, one would be tempted to suspect that they had visited different spots. These ruins have been described by Garcias de Silva Figueroa, Pietro de la Valle, Chardin, Le Brun, and Mr. Franklin. We shall adopt the description of the latter, as being exceedingly distinct, and given by a traveller intelligent and unassuming.

The ascent to the columns is by a grand staircase of blue stone containing 104 steps. The first objects that strike the beholder on his entrance are two portals of stone, about fifty feet in height each; the sides are embellished with two sphinxes of an immense size, dressed out with a profusion of bead work, and, contrary to the usual method, they are represented standing. On the sides above are inscriptions in an ancient character, the meaning of which no one hitherto has been able to decipher.

At a small distance from these portals you ascend another flight of steps, which lead to the grand hall of columns. The sides of this staircase are ornamented with a variety of figures in bassorelievo; most of them have vessels in their hands; here and there a camel appears, and at other times a kind of triumphal car, made after the Roman fashion; besides these are several led horses, oxen, and rams, that at times intervene and diversify the procession. At the head of the staircase is another basso-relievo, representing a lion seizing a bull; and close to this are other inscriptions in ancient characters. On getting to the top of this staircase, you enter what was formerly a most magnificent hall; the natives have given this the name of chehul minar, or

forty pillars; and, though this name is often used to express the whole of the building, it is more particularly appropriated to this part of it. Although a vast number of ages have elapsed since the foundation, fifteen of the columns yet remain entire; they are from seventy to eighty feet in height, and are masterly pieces of masonry: their pedestals are curiously worked, and appear little ' injured by the hand of time. The shafts are enfluted up to the top, and the capitals are adorned with a profusion of fret-work. From this hall you proceed along eastward, until you arrive at the remains of a large square building, to which you enter through a door of granite. Most of the doors and windows of this apartment are still standing; they are of black marble, and polished like a mirror: on the sides of the doors, at the entrance, are bassi-relievi of two figures at full length; they represent a man in the attitude of stabbing a goat: with one hand he seizes hold of the animal by the horn, and thrusts a dagger into his belly with the other; one of the goat's feet rests upon the breast of the man, and the other upon his right arm. This device is common throughout the palace. Over another door of the same apartment is a representation of two men at full length; behind them stands a domestic holding a spread umbrella: they are supported by large round staffs, appear to be in years, have long beards, and a profusion of hair upon their heads. At the south-west entrance of this apartment are two large pillars of stone, upon which are carved four figures; they are dressed in long garments, and hold in their hands spears ten feet in length. At this entrance also the remains of a staircase of blue stone are still visible. Vast numbers of broken pieces of pillars, shafts, and capitals are scattered over a considerable extent of ground, some of them of such enormous size that it is wonderful to think how they could have been brought whole and set up together. Indeed, all the remains of these noble ruins indicate their former grandeur and magnificence, truly worthy of being the residence of a great and powerful monarch.

These noble ruins are now the shelter of beasts and birds of prey. Besides the inscription abovementioned, there are others in Arabic, Persian, and Greek. Dr. Hyde observes that the inscriptions are very rude and artless; and that some, if not all of them, are in praise of Alexander the Great; and therefore are later than that conqueror. PERSES, the last king of Macedonia. See MACEDON.

Dryden. Wait the seasons of Providence with patience and perseverance in the duties of our calling, what difficulties soever we may encounter. L'Estrange.

To persevere in any evil course makes you unhappy in this life, and will certainly throw you into everlasting torments in the next. Wake.

Patience and perseverance overcome the greatest

difficulties.

Clarissa. And perseverance with his battered shield. Brooke. PERSEVERANCE, in theology, a continuance in a state of grace to a state of glory. About this subject there has been much controversy in the Christian church. All divines, except Unitarians, admit that no man can ever be in a state of grace without the co-operation of the Spirit of God; but the Calvinists and Arminians differ widely as to the nature of this co-operation. The former, at least such as 'call themselves the true disciples of Calvin, believe that those who are once under the influence of divine grace can never fall totally from it, or die in mortal sin. The Arminians, on the other hand, contend that the whole of this life is a state of probation; that without the grace of God we can do nothing that is good; that the Holy Spirit assists, but does not overpower our natural faculties; and that a man, at any period of his life, may resist, grieve, and even quench the Spirit. See THEOLOGY.

PERSEUS, in fabulous history, the son of Jupiter by Danae, the daughter of king Acrisius. See ACRISIUS and DANAE. Many miracles are related of this hero by the poets. Having engaged to bring the head of Medusa to Polydectes king of Seriphos, who had educated him, Minerva gave him her shield, Mercury lent him his wings and caduceus, with his dagger made of diamonds called herpe; and Pluto lent him his helmet, which rendered him invisible. Thus equipped, Perseus flew through the air, visited the Graiæ, and their sisters the Gorgons; killed Medusa, and brought away her head; gave birth to Pegasus and Chrysaor from her blood; turned the giant Atlas into a mountain by a sight of her head; killed the sea monster that was going to devour Andromeda; married that princess; changed her uncle Phineus and his troops, who were going to carry her off from him, into stones; and made the same metamorphosis upon Polydectes when he was going to ravish Danae. Having afterwards killed his grandfather Acrisius accidentally, by throwing a quoit, he refused to succeed him in the throne of Argos, and exchanged it for that of Tirynthus; after which he founded the city of Mycena, of which he became king, and where he and his posterity reigned for 100 years. He flourished, according to most chronologists, in 1348 B. C.; but according to Sir Isaac Newton only in 1028.

PERSEUS, in astronomy. See ASTRONOMY.

PERSEUS. See MACEDON. This unfortunate monarch left a daughter and two sons, Philip and Alexander. The latter was bred a carpenter, but, having acquired some learning, became secretary to the senate of Rome.

PERSHORE, or PEARSHORE, an ancient market town of Worcestershire, is situated on the north side of the river Avon, 103 miles northwest by west from London, on the direct road to Worcester. It consists of two parochial divisions; viz. the vicarage of St. Andrew, and the chapelry of Holy Cross. Pershore is a town of great antiquity, and is said to have derived its name from the number of pear-trees which grow in its vicinity. According to bishop Tanner, Oswald, a nephew of Ethelred, king of Mercia, founded a monastery here in 689; but William of Malmsbury asserts that Egelward, duke of Dorset, in the reign of Edgar, was the first founder. Gough, in his additions to Camden, only accounts for the discrepancy, by stating that it was considerably enlarged and increased in its endowments by Egelward. It became an abbey of Benedictine monks, dedicated at first to the blessed Virgin and the apostles Peter and Paul, but afterwards to St. Edburga. Belonging to the abbey was a large church, called the Holy Cross, 280 feet in length, and 120 broad. Of the abbey itself there are but few vestiges; but the church has been repaired, and used for parochial purposes. It has a lofty square tower, and contains several old monuments. In ancient times, the principal approach to the abbey was. through Lice Street, a Saxon appellation derived from the corpses for interment being carried along that street. A small part of the gateway on the north side is still in existence; near it was the chapel of St. Edburga, a daughter of king Edward the Elder. Pershore has at present two churches, that of Holy Cross abovementioned, and All Saints, which is small, but neat, and has a square tower. The town consists principally of one street, about three-quarters of a mile in length, and has many respectable houses. The manufacture of stockings is the chief pursuit of the inhabitants. It formerly sent members to parliament, but none have been returned since the 23d of Edward I. It has a market on Tuesday, and three annual fairs.

PERSIA, a most ancient and celebrated empire of Asia, the limits of which have been variously stated. At present, according to Sir William Jones, Persia is the name of only one province of this extensive empire, which, by the natives, and all the learned Mussulmans in India, is called Iràn. The same learned writer is confident that Iràn, or Persia in its largest extent, formerly comprehended within its outline the lower Asia.

OF ANCIENT PERSIA. The most ancient name of this country was Elam, or Ælam, from Elam the son of Shem, from whom its first inhabitants are descended. Herodotus calls its inhabitants Cephenes; and in very ancient times the people are said to have called themselves Artæi, and the country where they dwelt Artæa. In the books of Daniel, Esdras, &c., it is called by the names of Pars, Pharas, or Fars, whence the modern name of Persia; but whence those