firmities to which he now became subject, retarded Petrarch's resolution to pay his homage to the father of christendom in his proper residence; but at length in 1370, he undertook the journey. Having first made his will, he departed from Padua, but on ariving at Ferrara he was attacked with a severe illness. He there experienced the kindness and regard of the princes of Este; but he would not venture upon a farther progress, and returned to Padua. He retired to his villa of Arqua near that city, where he was scarcely settled before he had the mortification of hearing of Urban's return to Avignon, where he soon after died. His successor Gregory XI. wrote a letter to Petrarch expressive of his esteem, and his wishes to serve him, but a quiet retreat was now what he most desired. He was however constrained in 1373 to undertake a journey to Venice, on account of his patron Francesco da Carrara, who, having had a difference with the republic, was obliged to submit to the condition of sending his son son to ask pardon and swear fidelity, and was very desirous that Petrarch should accompany him. It was also to be his office to harangue the Venetian senate; but on making the attempt, he was so overcome by the dignity of the assembly and his own fatigue, that he stood silent. The discourse was deferred till the next day, on which he happily succeeded. On his return to his villa of Arqua he fell into a state of languor, in which he passed the concluding months of his life. At length, in the night of July 18, 1374, he was attacked with an apoplectic or epileptic fit, and was (according to the most probable of several accounts) found dead the next morning in his library, with his head resting on a book. His remains, attended by the Prince of Padua, Francesco da Carrara, the bishop, all the clergy, and the principal persons of the city, were deposited in the church of Arqua.

Petrarch was undoubtedly one of the most memorable characters of his age and nation; and although his countrymen may perhaps have estimated his genius at too high a rate, yet he has on various accounts merited the applause and admiration of posterity. Of the several kinds of writing in which he distinguished himself, his poetry is that on which his popular fame is chiefly founded. He himself had a scholar's predilection for his Latin poems, and particularly valued his "Africa" as the greatest effort of his talents and industry. But these have sunk into the oblivion which second-rate performances in a foreign language are sure to incur; whilst his Italian poems, reckoned by

himself only as juvenile amusements, the product of idleness and frivolity, still retain their place among the most admired compositions of their kind. That in fact he did not think meanly of them is, however, evident from the diligent correction he bestowed upon them, and the satisfaction he displays in having by their means immortalized the memory of his Laura. In these pieces he exhibits all the qualities of a true poet; for although in his sonnets and canzoni he frequently falls into a vein of artificial conceit, which he derived from the Provenzal poets, yet strains of sublime conception, of simple pathos, and of elegant description often break forth in language and versification which, according to the judgment of the best Italian critics, have never been surpassed.

Moral Philosophy was a topic in which Petrarch took great pleasure, and it has been the theme of many of his Latin works in prose. Of these are his books "De Remediis utriusque Fortune;"" De vera Sapientia ;" De Vita solitaria ;" "De Contemptu Mundi ;" and others. They are in general what might be expected from an age just beginning to revive from barbarism, filled with sentiments which now appear common-place, expressed in turgid and affected phraseology, yet occasionally exhibiting an elevated and vigorous tone of thought. His works "De Republica optime administranda," and "De Officio et Virtutibus Imperatoris," show the attention he had paid to political and military topics, but would now be deemed superficial. In divinity he was thoroughly orthodox, and he treated with great severity the impious doctrines of Averrhoes, against which, and against freethinking in general, he wrote a treatise " De sui ipsius et multorum Ignorantia." If in these points he was afraid to trust his reason, he applied it meritoriously in refuting and ridiculing the delusion of judicial astrology and alchemy, which were so prevalent in that age. Whether his avowed contempt for physic proceeded from a similar superiority to vulgar opinion, or from his ignorance of the principles of the art, must be judged of from an examination of what the art was at that period. In history he wrote two works, one entitled "Rerum Memorandarum, lib iv. ;" the other, a collection of lives of illustrious men, chiefly Roman; both of which are compilations of no great value. He also composed, for the use of a friend going to the Holy Land, a small piece entitled "Itinerarium Syriacum," containing a notice of all the places which he was to see in his route, and displaying his researches into the history and

geography of those times. The most valuable of his prose writings, however, are his letters, of which a great number is extant in print and in manuscript. Their style, indeed, is not very pure, and they are often diffuse and pedantic; but the curious notices of facts and manners with which they abound, and the frankness and simplicity with which he speaks of himself in them, render them highly interesting and instructive.

But it is not only as an author that literature is indebted to Petrarch: no one had a greater share in bringing to light those writers of antiquity, the revived study of whose works was the great instrument of dispelling the barbarism of the dark ages. He was actuated by a kind of enthusiasm in this matter, and was indefatigable, both in his own researches, and in solicitations to his friends in different parts, for the same purpose. The works of Cicero, an author for whom he had the highest veneration, were especially the object of his assiduous enquiry, and to him is owing the discovery of the valuable Familiar Epistles of that great man. Although his reading was chiefly confined to Latin authors, yet he extended his search to the Greek, and his literary reputation procured him from Constantinople the present of a copy of Homer's poems. The library which by means of great care and expence he collected, appears to have been considerable for the time, and he speaks with rapture of the delight which he took in it. He was however disposed to part with it, probably on account of the trouble it gave him in his frequent removals; and in 1362 he made an offer to the republic of Venice to present it to that capital for public use, provided a commodious place were allotted for its reception. His offer was gratefully accepted, and a part, at least, of his books appear to have been so disposed of; but a letter of Boccacio, written on the news of Petrarch's death, implies that he was then in possession of a valuable library. Petrarch speaks likewise of a collection which he had made of imperial medals in gold and silver, and which he offered to the Emperor Charles IV. No earlier mention occurs of a treasure of that kind.

The esteem in which this great man was held by his countrymen was shown by the countless tribe of commentators on his works, especially his Italian poems, which appeared from his death almost down to modern times. His frequent obscurity and mystical turn of thought have given abundant scope to their glosses and paraphrases, which they have carried to an un

sufferable degree of prolixity. The editions of his poems have been almost innumerable. The earliest was that of Venice, 1470, fol. The best is one also of Venice, 1756, 2 vols. 4to. He is said to have had twenty-five different biographers. Of these the Abbé de Sade is the most copious and curious in his researches. The preceding narrative has chiefly been derived from the accurate and judicious Tiraboschi.—A.

PETRI, BARTHOLOMEW, a celebrated professor of philosophy and divinity in the LowCountries, who flourished in the 16th and former part of the 17th century, was a native of Brabant, and born about the year 1545. He filled the chair of philosophy in the University of Louvain, for ten years, with high reputation; but in 1580, being compelled by the civil wars to relinquish his appointment, he removed to the University of Doway in Flanders, where he passed the remainder of his life. In this seminary he had the degree of doctor of divinity conferred upon him, and was appointed professor in that faculty. He was also promoted to a canonry of St. Amatus. His death took place in 1630, when he was about 85 years of age. He published "Commentaria in Actus Apostolorum," 1622, 4to.; "Gulielmi Estii Opus posthumum in Paulinas, ceterasque Canonicas Epistolas," with additions, supplying what Estius had left unfinished on part of the first, and the whole of the second and third Epistles of St. John; " Apostolicæ Sedis Definitiones Veteres de Gratia, cum Annotationibus in Epistolam S. Cælestini Papæ pro B. Augustino," &c. 1616, 8vo.; "Præceptiones Logicæ, superiorum Disciplinarum ac præsertim S. Theologiæ Exemplis illustratæ, lib. ii." 1625, 8vo.; and " Vincentii Lirinensis contra Hæreses Libellum aureum," with notes, and an apologetical dissertation on the author and his writings prefixed, 1611, 12m0. Valerii Andrea Bibl. Belg. Moreri. Nouv. Dict. Hist.-M.

PETRI, CHRISTIERN, a learned Danish divine and various writer in the 16th century, was born under the reign of King John, but we are not furnished with the date either of his birth or of his death. He pursued his studies during several years at Paris, where he was admitted to the degree of A. M. Upon his return to his native country, he was made canon of Lunden, and also chancellor of that see. Afterwards he took a second journey to Paris, where he was entrusted with the care of editing "Danica Historia, lib. xvi. Autore Saxone Grammatico," in folio, which made its appearance in the year 1514. It should seem

that he was in Denmark at the time when King Christiern II. was compelled to fly from that country, since he was one who followed him into exile. Soon after that event, and until the time when that prince was imprisoned and his affairs became desperate, Petri took up his residence in Flanders, where he renounced the communion of Rome, and embraced the principles of the Reformation. Upon this change in his religious creed, he became very zealous and active in propagating the opinions which he had adopted; and with this view wrote and published various works at Antwerp, in the Danish language, from 1528 to 1531, both years inclusive. Among others he published, in 1529, "The New Testament, translated into Danish." Nor was he less zealous in making converts from popery, after his return to his native country in 1532. Like Luther, and many other of the leading Protestant divines, he shewed in the most unequivocal manner his condemnation of that antichristian law of the Romish church which imposes on the clergy a life of celibacy, by entering into the matrimonial connection. He is said to have died at a very advanced age under the reign of Christiern III. who permitted him to retain to the last the emoluments of his canonry at Lunden. Besides the articles already mentioned, he published "Postillæ," &c. in folio, being a collection of sermons in Danish, which made their first appearance at Paris in 1515, and were afterwards printed at Leipsic in 1518; "The Psalter of David, translated into Danish ;""Questions concerning Faith and Charity," 1531; " A Treatise on the true Way of Salvation," 1531; "Concerning Divine Grace and Confession," 1532; "The History of Olaus, or Holger," "Corpus Historie Danicæ, ex Gallico in Latinum translatum, ex Mandato Christierni II.;" "Breviarium Lundense emendatum," 1517; "Carmina Petri justissimi legiferi Seelandici, Notis illustrata, Danicè et Latinè," 1515; "De liberali Puerorum Institutione," 1531; "Vocabularium in usum Inventutis Danicæ," 1514; "De Familia et Posteritate Dani, primi Regis Daniæ," &c. Moreri.—M.

PETRI, SUFFRID, see Suffrid.

PETRONIUS ARBITER, CAIUS, or TITUS, was the author of a Latin work, entitled "Satiricon," which, in an imperfect state, has come down to modern times. He is commonly supposed to have been the same person as A. Petronius, mentioned by Tacitus in the 16th book of his Annals, under the reign of Nero, as a favourite of that prince, and a

victim to his suspicion. "He was one (says that historian) who passed his days in sleep, and his nights in business and pleasure; and as others acquire celebrity by active exertions, he obtained it by his indolence. He was regarded not as a common debauchee and spendthrift, but as a proficient in studied luxury; and his words and actions, the more they were marked with an air of carelessness and negligence, the more they pleased as denoting a simplicity of character. In the station of proconsul of Bithynia, and afterwards of consul, he, however, displayed vigour and talents for public affairs: but afterwards relapsing into vicious indulgence, or, at least, affecting it, he was received among the few intimates of Nero, as the director of his pleasures; and that emperor considered nothing as peculiarly delicate and refined which had not the approbation of Petronius." This degree of favour excited the envy of Tigellinus, who accused him to Nero as being the friend of one condemned for a conspiracy. He was detained in custody at Cuma, where, impatient of the suspense between hope and fear, he opened his veins. He died, A. D. 66, as he had lived, with perfect indifference; and he sent as a last legacy to the tyrant a sealed paper, reproaching him with his infamous and unnatural debaucheries.

But whether this Petronius was the author of the work in question is a subject of great controversy; for whilst its contents are not unsuitable to a man of such a character, the style and other circumstances have been thought better to suit a later period of Roman literature. The birth-place of the author has also been a matter of dispute; some referring it to Rome, where the Petronii were a family of distinction; others to Gaul, on the authority of some lines of Sidonius Apollinaris. With respect to the "Satiricon" itself, it is a farrago of verse and prose, of topics and stories serious and ludicrous, intermixed with the most detestable obscenity, and so mutilated that no connection can be made out. That some of the scenes in it are the satire against Nero, written by Petronius in his last moments, has been commonly supposed, but with great improbability. A new fragment was discovered at Trau in Dalmatia, published in 1664: its genuineness was warmly discussed among the critics, but has been generally admitted. On the other hand, some additional fragments produced by Nodot in 1694, have been rejected. The difficulties of this author, and, it may be added, the nature of his subjects, have caused him to be

much studied by the curious literati, and have produced numerous editors and commentators, chiefly French, German, and Dutch. It is to the credit of England that none of its scholars have contaminated themselves with the attempt to elucidate him. The most elaborate edition is that of Burman, first published in 1709, Ultraj. 2 vols. 4to. Moreri. Tiraboschi - A. PETTY, SIR WILLIAM, a person remarkable for his inventive talents, and for the success of his schemes for his own benefit and that of the public, was the eldest son of a clothier at Rumsey in Hampshire, where he was born in 1623. From his boyhood he was fond of attending to the performances of artificers, such as smiths, joiners, &c. and copying them. He was educated at the grammar-school of his native place, and at the age of 15 went to the university of Caen in Normandy, for further improvement in mathematical studies and the French language. As a proof of his early attention to pecuniary profit, it is said that he maintained himself there by means of a small stock of merchandize. Ön his return, he entered into the royal navy, but in what capacity does not appear. His service there, however, must have been short, since, upon the breaking out of the civil war in 1643, he again went abroad, and passed three years in France and the Low-Countries. His studies appear at this time to have been chiefly medical, and at Paris he dissected in company with the celebrated Hobbes. He must also have followed some gainful traffic, since he has recorded that he returned ten pounds richer than he went out. In 1647 he obtained a patent from the parliament for an invention of the art of double writing, which appears to have been by means of a copying instrument. In the following year he published a piece of four sheets, 4to. entitled" Advice to Mr. Samuel Hartlib for the advancement of some particular parts of learning;" the general scope of which was to extend education to a variety of objects of utility in common life. Having no objection to compliance with the existing powers, he went to Oxford, whence the parliamentary visitors had ejected the royalists, and gave instructions in anatomy and chemistry to the younger students. He was appointed deputy to the professor of anatomy, who unfortunately" had an insurmountable aversion to the sight of a mangled corpse;" and in 1649 he was created a doctor of physic by dispensation from the delegates of the university. About the same time he was elected a fellow of Brazen-nose college; and he was a member of that Oxford Society for cultivating

YOL. VIII.

natural knowledge, which was the parent of the Royal Society. He succeeded in 1650 to the anatomical professorship in Oxford; and soon after, employed his interest so effectually as to be chosen professor of music at Gresham college, a sinecure place. The chief source of his fortune was his appointment in 1652 to be physician to the army in Ireland. Besides his pay and private practice, he made a large sum by contracting to effect the admeasurements of lands in Ireland, forfeited by the rebellion, and intended for recompences to the soldiery. By his skill in mathematics he performed this work with great exactness; and it gave him ́ that knowledge of the state and value of property there which enabled him to lay out to great advantage in purchases of land the savings of his economy. It is not to the purpose of this work to trace all the steps by which he at length realized a fortune which has since been the basis of a splendid peerage, and it will be sufficient biographically to notice the principal employments that were conferred upon him. He was made one of the commissioners for dividing the lands he had surveyed among the army; clerk of the council; and secretary to Henry Cromwell when lord lieutenant of Ireland. In Richard's parliament of 1658 he served as burgess for West Looe in Cornwall; and in the next year he was impeached by Sir Hierome Sankey for malpractices in his distribution of the Irish lands. He was at that time in Ireland, but returned to answer the charge in his place, and the parliament being adjourned, the matter was not brought to issue. He was afterwards removed from all public employments, though the lord lieutenant continued his friend, and spoke handsomely of him. When the Restoration took place he was in Ireland. Upon his return he was graciously received by Charles II., and made one of the commissioners of the court of claims. In 1661 he received the honour of knighthood, and obtained a patent constituting him surveyorgeneral of Ireland. What was of more importance, all the forfeited lands which had been allotted to him, were confirmed by new grants to himself and his wife.

Of greater interest to the reader is the scientific character of Sir William Petty, with which we now proceed. He had been made a fellow of the college of physicians; and when the Royal Society was incorporated, he was in the list of the first council. In 1663 he engaged the public attention by his invention of a double-bottomed ship to sail against wind and tide. His trial vessel performed

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very well in a voyage from Dublin to Holyhead and back; but on a second voyage it was lost in a great storm, and no further experiment seems to have taken place. He presented a model of this ship to the Royal Society, to which body he also in 1665 communicated a paper on ship-building, which is said to have been kept private by the president, Lord Brounker, as an important state secret. Whether it was this or another work that was printed after his death with the title "A Treatise on Naval Philosophy in three Parts," seems dubious. His principal and most valuable writings were on the subject of political arithmetic. Of these he published a number of separate tracts, which were reprinted collectively in 1699 in an 8vo. volume. Several of them relate to the growth and population of London, and comparisons between it and Paris and other capitals. One of them especially, entitled "Political Arithmetic," discusses all the topics connected with national wealth and improvement, with the particular view of pointing out the means of augmenting the power and prosperity of England. The state of Ireland, with which few persons were better acquainted, is considered in other of his writings, particularly in a "Treatise on Taxes and Contributions," which went through four editions. Some of his papers in the Philosophical Transactions are on mathematical and chemical subjects. The uncommon activity of his mind is strikingly displayed by the great variety of these productions of his pen, while at the same time he was indefatigable in business, and never lost sight of the main object of improving his fortune. For the latter purpose he established upon his Irish estates iron works and fisheries, opened lead mines, and carried on a timber trade. He was of great service to the poor by providing them with employment, in which he thought the most useful charity towards them consisted. Having thus fully occupied the term of existence allotted to him he was cut off by a gangrene in his foot, the consequence of a gouty swelling, in the 65th year of his age, December 1687, at his house in Westminster, and was buried in his native town of Rumsey. He was regarded as a person of great worth as well as extraordinary talents and acquirements. Of his religious opinions he thus speaks in his last will: " I die in the profession of that faith, and in the practíce of such worship, as I find established by the laws of my country: not being able to believe what I myself please; nor to worship God better than by doing as I would be done

The widow of Sir William, daughter of Sir Hardress Waller, was created Baroness of Shelburne in 1688, which title became hereditary in the family. Biogr. Brit.— A.

A

PEUCER, GASPARD, a physician, mathematician, and man of learning, was born in 1525 at Bautzen in Lusatia. He was educated at the university of Wittemberg, where he was received into the house of Melanchthon, one of whose daughters he married in 1550. He applied particularly to the studies of mathematics and medicine, and was made professor of the former at Wittemberg in 1559. In the following year he took the degree of doctor of physic and obtained a medical chair in the same university. Having imbibed the religious opinions of his father-in-law, but attended with more ardour of disposition, he published in 1565 a sixth book of Carion's chronicle, in which he launched out into bitter invectives against the church of Rome and its heads. suspicion of attachment to the doctrines of the sacramentarians caused him in 1576 to be imprisoned first at Dresden, and then at Leipsic, by Augustus Elector of Saxony, and he was not liberated till ten years after by Christian, the successor of Augustus. During his confinement, not being allowed paper and ink, he wrote his thoughts upon the margins of old books with ink made of burnt crusts tempered in water. He retired to the states of his protector the prince of Anhalt, where he died in 1602. Peucer was the author of various works, both in mathematics and medicine. One of the most remarkable was entitled "De variis Divinationum generibus," 1553, 8vo., frequently reprinted, and translated into French: it is a piece of much curious erudition, but displaying a great share of credulity. A large part of it relates to medical prognostics. A passage in it has been produced as implying the author's knowledge of the circulation of the blood; but it is in fact only a statement of the Galenical doctrine. One of his works is biographical, entitled "Vitæ illustrium Medicorum." He edited the works of Melanchthon in 5 vols. fol. 1601. Melchior Adam. Moreri. Eloy Dict. Med.-A.

PEUTINGER, CONRAD, a learned German, was born at Augsburg in 1465. He pursued his studies in the principal universities of Italy,