joined a valuable "Dissertatio de Circulatione sanguinis et Chyli Motu;" in which he demonstrated the course of the venous blood even in the vena portarum and the pulmonary veins, and made some other important observations on the motion of the blood and chyle. His work was reprinted at Paris in 1654, with the addition of a "Dissertatio nova de Thoracicis Lacteis," in which he refuted the theoretical objections of Riolan by new and decisive experiments. Pecquet also wrote some papers on anatomical subjects, in the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences, (of which society he was admitted a member in 1666,) and in the Journal des Savans. He was physician to the famous financier Fouquet, who used to confer with him in his leisure hours on scientific topics. A theory which this ingenious physiologist had unfortunately adopted concerning the alimentary nature of vinous spirit, made him not only advise the liberal use of brandy to others, but indulge in it so freely himself, that it shortened his days, and he died under the age of 50, in 1674. Halleri Bibl. Anatom. Eloy, Dict. Hist. Med. -A.

PEDRUSI, or PEDRUZZI, PAUL, a learned antiquary, was born of a noble family at Mantua in 1646. He entered among the Jesuits, and distinguished himself by his knowledge of history and antiquities. He was chosen by Rannucio Duke of Parma, to arrange his rich and curious cabinet of medals, and give explanations of them. In 1694 he began to publish an account of this collection, under the title of "I Cesari in oro raccolti nel Farnese Museo e publicati colle loro congrue interpretazioni," Parma, fol.; and he continued his labours till his death in 1721. At that time seven volumes had been published: the eighth was edited by Peter Piovene, a brother Jesuit. The whole forms ten tomes, and bears the name of the "Museo Farnese." Moreri. Tiraboschi. Saxii Onomast.-A.

PEIRCE, JAMES, a learned English protestant dissenting divine in the 17th and early part of the 18th century, was the son of reputable parents, in good circumstances, and born at London in the year 1673. Having had the misfortune to lose both his father and mother while yet a child, he was taken under the care of his guardian, Mr. Matthew Mead, a celebrated minister at Stepney, in whose house he was instructed in the first rudiments of learning by a private tutor. Afterwards he was placed in different grammar-schools, till he was pre

pared for entering upon a course of academical studies, when he was sent to the University of Utrecht, in Holland. Here he constantly attended the lectures of Witsius, Leydecker, Grævius, Leusden, and other eminent professors, and cultivated a friendship with some of the most distinguished of his fellow-students, particularly with Adrian Reland, who continued to be his correspondent after he attained to considerable celebrity as a professor. From Utrecht Mr. Peirce removed to Leyden, where he had the opportunity of hearing Gronovius, Spanheim, and other professors of the highest character in the republic of letters. Having spent between five and six years in these seminaries, he returned to England, and lived for some time with his relations at London; and then took private apartments at Oxford, where he procured access to the Bodleian Library. After this, at the request of his friends, he preached a Sunday-evening lecture at Mile's Lane, in London, and occasionally in other places, without interesting himself with the disputes then existing between the Presbyterians and Independents. With the ministers of the former denomination he became well acquainted, and at their earnest solicitations settled at Cambridge, where he acquired the respect and esteem of many members of the University. From Cambridge he removed to Newbury, in Berkshire, where he appeared to advantage, in the year 1707, in a controversy with Dr. Wells, a clergyman of Leicestershire. That gentleman, out of his zeal for the interests of the Church of England, had published, and circulated with great activity," A Letter to Mr. Peter Dowley," a dissenting minister, by which he laid himself open to animadversion, in consequence of the account which he gave in it of the principles and practices of the Dissenters. This Mr. Peirce undertook to controvert, and published in succession eight "Letters" to the author, in which he convicted him, not only of various mistakes, but of unjust and calumnious misrepresentations. After the termination of this controversy, Mr. Peirce published, at different periods, various able polemical tracts, relating to the rites imposed under the Establishment, the validity of the dissenting ministry and presbyterian ordination, and the imputed sin of schism, for the titles of which we must refer to our authorities.

Mr. Peirce's next publication was a work of much greater importance, and was called for by the appearance of " A Defence of the Doc

trine and Discipline of the Church of England," written in the Latin tongue, and submitted to the judgment of foreign divines, by Dr. Nichols, Latin secretary to the society for the propagation of the gospel. In this work the author had given such a view of the controversy between the Church and the Dissenters, as was intended to expose the latter to the censure and condemnation of their foreign brethren; on which account Mr. Peirce was earnestly solicited to undertake their vindication in the same language, for the purpose of counteracting the effects of Dr. Nichols's performance. To such an undertaking our author was very averse, apprehending that long disuse had unfitted him for writing in that learned dialect, with the accuracy and elegance which became both the cause which he was to defend, and the reputation and character of the persons to whom he was to address himself. His objections, however, being over-ruled, he at length gratified the desire of his friends, by publishing a well written volume, entitled, "Vindicia Fratrum Dissentientium, &c." 1710, 8vo., in which, according to the opinion of his brethren at home, and the learned upon the continent, he gave a full and satisfactory answer to his antagonist. To this performance Dr. Nichols determined not to make any reply. Mr. Peirce, therefore, considered this controversy to be at an end, and, satisfied that the foreign divines were now in possession of the arguments on both sides of the question, resisted the entreaties of his friends, who were very urgent with him to translate his work into English. What their persuasions could not effect, was afterwards produced by the proceeding of a clergyman of the Church of England, who, after the death of Dr. Nichols, published an English version of his treatise; recommending it in the preface to the Dissenters, as well adapted to produce conviction on their minds, without the least intimation that any answer to it had ever been given to the world. Mr. Peirce, finding that this performance was much recommended to English readers, was at length induced to yield to the wishes of his friends; and in the year 1717, published "A Vindication of the Dissenters in Answer to Dr. William Nichols's Defence of the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England; in three Parts; written first in Latin, and now translated into English, with large Additions," 8vo. The first part contains the history of nonconformity; the second treats of the doctrine of the Church of of England; and the third contains all the

heads relating to discipline and worship: so that this performance presents the reader with a view of almost the whole controversy between the Established Church and the Dissenters.

In the mean time, Mr. Peirce had removed from Newbury to Exeter, whence an unanimous invitation had been sent to him, by the three united congregations of Dissenters in that city, to succeed one of their ministers deceased; and as the surviving ministers joined the people in the invitation, and the whole assembly of united ministers in Devonshire and Cornwall seconded their choice, he was induced to accept it. In this situation he gave the greatest satisfaction in the discharge of his pastoral office, till there arose a controversy concerning the explication of the doctrine of the Trinity, which was productive of the most disagreeable and disgraceful consequences. But before we proceed to relate them, it is proper to observe, that when the controversy relating to the corporation and test acts was agitating, in 1718, our author took a part in it, in " Letters" to a friend, and to Dr. Snape upon the subject, and in defences of the last-mentioned piece against the animadversions of Dr. Sherlock. With respect to the doctrine of the Trinity, Mr. Peirce had been educated in the commonly-received notion, and habituated, from his youth, to the use of unscriptural forms of expression, for which he long retained a great veneration. However, having this principle as early and as deeply impressed upon his mind, "That the Scriptures are the only rule of our faith," he always paid the highest regard to the sacred writings. Hence, from his first entrance on the work of the ministry, he generally took care to usc their language in his sermons, when he introduced any doctrinal topic; and as he advanced in years, he grew more careful in his adherence to this practice. The doctrine of the Trinity he looked upon as a mystery, which it would be to little purpose to enquire into; and, despairing of satisfaction with regard to the difficulties which offered themselves to him on the subject, he became more and more averse from thinking or speaking of it. But his attention was unavoidably drawn to it by the clamour which was raised concerning his friend Mr. Whiston, for whom he had a high esteem, as a learned and pious man; and it gave him no little pain to understand, that Mr. Whiston had declared against the doctrine generally reputed orthodox. Suspecting that such a change in his creed must have been produced by other writings than the

sacred Scriptures, he took the liberty of sending him a letter, in which he expostulated with him in a friendly manner, and produced some arguments in support of the Trinitarian doctrine against the Unitarians. In his answer, Mr. Whiston waved entering into the question, and referred Mr.Peirce to some papers relating to it which he was preparing for the press. After some time, these papers were published, in five vols.; and upon a diligent perusal of them, together with Dr. Clarke's "Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity," Mr. Peirce was convinced that he must part with some beloved opinions, or else renounce the authority of the holy Scriptures.

"The reader," observes Mr. Peirce, "will easily imagine that this must have been a terrible shock to me, and that I must have had a great concern upon my mind, when I found myself at a loss about a doctrine of which I had been all along fond, to a great degree of uncharitableness. However, this caused me to read the Bible with more care, and make it more my prayer to God, that I might be led into the truth." It was not long before he was fully satisfied that the common opinion could not reasonably be esteemed a fundamental article of the Christian faith. This was the state of his mind when he settled at Exeter; from which time he avoided making use of the common doxology, as well as introducing any nice points of speculation into the pulpit. Nevertheless, as he was always careful to speak of what he believed to be Scripture doctrines in the words of Scripture, he gave no offence, and his ministerial labours were well received, till the bigotry of a weak orthodox minister, and the imprudent zeal of one of his colleagues, laid the foundation of a contest, which will reflect eternal disgrace on the memory of the party which was formed against him. Having taken a journey to London in the spring of the year 1717, his place was one day supplied by the orthodox minister above referred to, who took the opportunity to preach a very furious sermon, in which he charged some of the Dissenters at Exeter with "damnable heresies, denying the Lord that bought them;" and thus sounded the alarm from the pulpit upon points which he afterwards confessed that he had not studied. When Mr. Peirce, therefore, returned from London, he found the people of the united congregations all in a flame, and was applied to by three of the principal people of that in which he chiefly officiated, who desired him to preach upon the subject of the satis faction of Christ, in order to put a stop to the contention. This he determined to do, and VOL. VIII.

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accordingly delivered a sermon, in which he treated concerning the death of Christ as a propitiatory sacrifice, by speaking what he apprehended to be truth in such a manner was the least likely to give offence to any of his hearers. For some time this discourse seemed to have the intended effect; and Mr. Peirce went on in his former method of plain practical preaching, flattering himself that no further disturbance would arise.

But the suspicious temper and censorious zeal of our author's orthodox colleague would not suffer him to be at rest. This man took delight in circulating every idle tale, and invidious cavil, that might raise against him the suspicion of heresy; and the tendency of his preaching, likewise, was inflammatory. At length, a resolution was taken by him and his friends for bringing the affair before the assembly of the united ministers of Devonshire and Cornwall, under the pretence of making it appear to the world, that the Exeter ministers, and others in that neighbourhood, were not Arians, as was currently reported Against this method of proceeding Mr. Peirce earnestly protested: instead of which he proposed, that those ministers who paid any regard to such reports, should take such opportunities as they might think proper, to vindicate themselves from the suspicion; observing, at the same. time, that the bringing of such an affair into the assembly would certainly tend to create a division amongst them, and by that means contribute to spread more widely the reports which they wished to suppress. His orthodox brethren, however, would not listen to his remonstrances, but submitted the matter to the judgment of the assembly, in September 1718. The avowed object of the meeting, with respect to the point in question, was, to obtain a declaration against the errors of those who denied the divinity of our Saviour, and to clear the members from the imputation of heresy. Many of the ministers present were of opinion, that it was neither necessary nor expedient that any such declaration should be made in the assembly, and desired that the expediency of it should be calmly and fairly discussed, as they had several reasons to offer against it. But, with all their importunity, they could not obtain leave to offer their reasons: their voices were drowned in the clamour of the majority: some of them were very rudely interrupted, and others illiberally reflected upon, and menaced. Finding themselves thus treated, they remonstrated against such violent, arbitrary, and irregular proceedings, as well as

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against the intrigues which had been made use of to procure a majority against them. At length, after much warm altercation, the members of the assembly proceeded to make their declarations, each for himself; a few only excepted, who, disclaiming the authority of any man, or body of men, to demand their opinion, nobly refused to make any declaration. The conduct of the latter, in firmly withstanding an inquisitorial encroachment on their Christian liberty, was afterwards highly applauded by Mr. Pierce, who regretted that he had not joined himself to their honourable band; but at the time, he had no scruples about the lawfulness of making such a declaration, and followed the example of his colleagues, that he might avoid the clamour which the acting a different part from them might have occasioned.

While the assembly was sitting, no objection was made to any of the declarations which had been delivered; but afterwards Mr. Peirce's was accused of falling short of the standard of orthodoxy. Upon this, the gentlemen who managed the temporal affairs of the united congregations, presumed to wait upon Mr. Peirce, and two of his colleagues, and to require from them a declaration of their faith in prescribed terms, leaving them three forms for their choiee. To this requisition, with a becoming spirit, they positively refused to submit; when the managers made application for advice to the dissenting ministers of London. It is little to the credit of these ministers, that, without any communication with Mr. Peirce and his colleagues, and upon receiving information from one side only, they should have taken upon them to send advice to the managers, for their government in this business, accompanied with their signatures to the first article of the Church of England, which they held out as the test of orthodoxy. In consequence of their advice, the managers called in seven ministers from the neighbourhood of Exeter, to settle the affair; but they were all party-men, who acted with such partiality and injustice, that they would not admit Mr. Peirce and his colleagues to a hearing, before they had come to a final determination respecting their method of proceeding. When this was done, Mr. Peirce and his three colleagues were convened before the managers, and, after a paper which the ministers had drawn up and subscribed was first read to them, they were asked this question, "Whether they owned that the Son of God was one God with the Father?" Having desired that time might be

allowed for giving their answers, Mr. Peirce was told that they must give them immediately, and every plea by which he supported the request was rejected. Upon this, Mr. Peirce's orthodox colleague, who had such a share as we have seen in kindling the flame, gave his unqualified assent to the question, and another of the number offered them an explication, in the words of Bishop Pearson, which they would not accept; but Mr. Hallet, who had been settled amongst them more than thirty years, united with Mr. Peirce in refusing to subscribe the test which had been drawn up for them. "I told them," says Mr. Peirce, that " I had over and over declared, I would subscribe no religious tests at all that were not expressed in Scripture-words: that if they made it a religious test, that three and two make five, I would refuse to subscribe it. And I gave this reason for my stiffness, that I verily believed, that the worst mischief had been done to the church of God by imposing unscriptural creeds or tests upon men; and that now God had stirred up a noble spirit in men, in whom we little expected it, to plead against impositions; and therefore I could not in conscience tamely give up the liberty they were so bravely defending."

On the day after this conference, the proprietors of the meeting-house where Mr. Hallet and Mr. Peirce used to preach, took possession of the keys, allowing them, however, the use of a smaller house for the ensuing Sunday: but, in the following week, at a meeting of the proprietors of the other houses, it was determined, without consulting the people of the respective congregations, that our two persecuted divines should not have the use of either of the buildings for public worship. The scandalous injustice of this proceeding cannot be condemned with too much severity. Mr. Peirce did not contest the right of the people to choose or to eject their own ministers; and, had the exclusion of himself and Mr. Hallet from the pulpits been their act, he would have acquiesced in their determination; but, as the meeting-house in which he had officiated had been erected at the common expence, and the proprietors were so constituted for this sole reason, that the law requires such property to be vested in some particular persons, Mr. Peirce maintained that the rights of the people were openly invaded, and, consequently, that he and his colleague were arbitrarily and iniquitously dispossessed of what they were as justly entitled to, as they were to their own houses. In these circumstances, it was

With much difficulty that our ejected ministers could procure a place for the temporary exercise of their functions, till the friends who adhered to them were able to build a commodious house for that purpose. But their persecutors were not contented with the injuries which they had already made them suffer. No means were left unattempted to excite the popular rage against them; and even the pulpit itself was prostituted to this base purpose. Such vile slanders were propagated every where concerning them, and particularly concerning Mr. Peirce, that he and his friends were often openly insulted as they passed along the streets. Being stigmatized with the name of Arians, they were held out as objects of public odium and execration, and such as adhered to them were threatened with the loss of their trade. Under such an outrageous persecution, Mr. Peirce found it necessary, for the vindication of his own character, and that of his friends, to lay a true state of the affair before the public; and, accordingly, published "The Case of the Ministers ejected at Exon," 1719, 8vo. This was followed by a series of controversial tracts, by our author and different opponents, the titles of which may be seen in our authorities; till at length, Mr. Peirce published a larger treatise upon the subject, in the year 1720. This work was entitled, "The Western Inquisition: or, a Relation of the Controversy which has been lately among the Dissenters in the West of England," 8vo. and contains a full account of the origin, progress, and issue of the scandalous persecution with which our author was harrassed. No sooner did this piece make its appearance, than notice was given, by an advertisement in the public papers, that a confutation of it would soon be published. The promised performance came out in 1721, under the title of " An Answer to Mr. Peirce's Western Inquisition, &c." 8vo., without a name, and with little credit to the argumentative talents, the candour, or the good manners of the compilers, who formed the whole strength of the party of his opponents. Mr. Peirce took his leave of this controversy, by a very able and satisfactory reply to the preceding piece, entitled, "Inquisition honesty displayed: or, the Western Inquisition defended against the pretended Answer, &c." 1722, 8vo. Mr. Peirce, being now disengaged from the frequent interruptions of his theological ftudies, occasioned by the circumstances and publications already noticed, applied himself, during the remainder of his life, to the diligent discharge of his pastoral duties among a re

spectable and select flock, by whom he was highly honoured and beloved; and to the completing of some explanations of the Sacred Writings, in which he had made a confiderable progress. The first fruits of his learned studies were given to the world in 1725, but without his name, in "A Paraphrase and Notes on the Epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians," 4to.; in which he endeavoured to follow the admirable rules and example of Mr. Locke, whom he confidered as having done more than any other writer towards rendering St. Paul's Epistles easy and intelligible. This publication met with a reception much more favourable than the author had reason to expect, and encouraged him to follow the same plan in explaining some others of St. Paul's Epistles. Accordingly, in the same year, he published " A Paraphrase and Notes on the Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians," 4to. He likewise defigned to proceed with similar commentaries on all the other Epistles attributed to this Apostle, excepting those which had been before paraphrased by Mr. Locke. His next attempt was on “The Epistle to the Hebrews," which he did not live to finish; for while he was engaged in it, he was attacked by a disorder which put an end to his life, on the 30th of March 1726, in the 53d year of his age. As he was persecuted during his life-time, so religious bigotry pursued him with animosity to the grave. For his relations having directed that a Latin inscription, containing an encomium on his learning and virtues, should be cut on a tomb-stone, the Rector of St. Leonard's parish, near Exeter, in which his remains were deposited, would not permit it to be placed in his church-yard; stating, that he could not, in conscience, suffer a person so notorious for his heresy, to be warmly recommended to posterity in any place under his care and inspection. When it was afterwards requested that these words might be inscribed on his tomb, "Here lies the reverend, learned, and pious Mr. JAMES PEIRCE," still the Rector refused his consent; observing, that Mr. Peirce could not be reverend, because he was not lawfully ordained, and that he was not pious, because he taught errors: so that, for the quiet of the Rector's conscience, the inscription is only "Mr. JAMES PEIRCE's Tomb, 1726." On a monument erected to his memory in the meeting-house in which he officiated, besides being characterized by the epithets which the Rector's scruples rejected, he is held out to the veneration of posterity, as a rational, judicious,