(St), the apostle, born at Bethsaida, was son of John, Jona, or Joanna, and brother of St Andrew (John i. 42, 43.) His first name was Simon or Simeon; but when our Saviour called him to the apostleship, he changed his name into Cephas, that is, in Syriac, a stone or a rock; in Latin, petra, whence Peter. He was a married man; and had his house, his mother in law, and his wife, at Capernaum, upon the lake of Gennearet (Mark i. 29. Mat. viii. 14. Luke iv. 38.) St Andrew, having been first called by Jesus Christ, met his brother Simon, and told him (John i. 41.) we have found the Messiah, and then brought him to Jesus. Jesus beholding him, said to him, You are Simon son of Jona; henceforth you shall be called Cephas, that is, stone or rock. After having passed one day with our Saviour, they returned to their ordinary occupation, which was fishing. Yet it is thought they were present with him at the marriage of Cana in Galilee. This happened in the 30th year of the vulgar Christian era.

Towards the end of the same year, Jesus Christ being on the shore of the lake of Gennearet, saw Peter and Andrew busy about their fishery, and washing their nets (Luke v. 1, 2, 3.) He entered into their boat, and bid Peter throw out his nets into the sea, in order to fish. Peter obeyed him, though he had already fished the whole night without catching anything. They took so many fishes at this draught, that their own vessel, and that of James and John sons of Zebedee, were filled with them. Then Peter threw himself at the feet of Jesus, and said to him, Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinner. Then Jesus said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. He said the same thing to James and John; and immediately they quitted their boats and nets, and followed our Saviour.

Some time after, Jesus coming to Capernaum entered into the house of St Peter, where his mother-in-law lay sick of a fever. He immediately healed her, and she began to minister to him (Luke iv. 38. and Mat. viii. 14.) A little while before the feast of the passover of the following year, being the 3rd of the vulgar era, after Jesus returned into Galilee, he made choice of twelve apostles, among which St Peter has always the first place (Mat. x. 2. Luke vi. 13.) One night that Jesus Christ walked upon the waters of the lake of Gennearet, St Peter asked him leave to come and meet him (Mat. xiv. 28, 29.) Jesus gave him leave; but he seeing a great wave coming, was afraid, and therefore began to sink. Then Jesus held him up, and said, O man of little faith, why was you afraid? Afterwards landing on the other side of the lake, and the multitude that he had fed the day before beyond the lake being come to him at Capernaum, he spoke to them of his body and of his blood which he was to give to his disciples to eat and drink. This so offended the multitude, that several of them quitted him thereupon. He therefore asked his apostles if they also would leave him; to which Peter replied, To whom shall we go, Lord; for thou hast the words of eternal life (John vi. 53, 54, &c.) One day, as our Saviour was near Cesarea Philippi, he asked his apostles whom the world took him for? they answered, that some said he was John the Baptist; others, Elias; and others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. But whom do you say I am? says Jesus Christ. Simon Peter answered, Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus then said unto Peter, Blest art thou, Simon Barjona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my father which is in heaven (Mat. xvi. 13, 14, &c.) And I say unto thee, that, as thou art Peter, so upon this rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it; and I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth shall be loosed in heaven. About six or eight days after this, our Saviour taking Peter, James, and John, up a high mountain, apart from the other disciples, showed them a glimpse of his glory, and was transfigured before them (Mat. xvi. 1, 2, &c. and Luke ix. 28.) Whereupon Peter, seeing Moses and Elias together with Jesus, cried out to them in an ecstacy, Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you please, we will make three tents; one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elias.

Jesus returning from thence to Capernaum, those that gathered the tribute-money came to Peter, and said, Does not your master pay tribute? Whereupon Jesus ordered Peter to throw his line into the sea, and that he should find wherewith to pay the toll for them two in the mouth of the first fish he should take. Peter obeyed; and finding a piece of money in the mouth of the fish, he gave it to the tribute-gatherers, as he was directed. One day, as Jesus was discoursing concerning the forgiveness of injuries (Mat. xviii. 21, 22.), St Peter asked him, how often they must forgive, and whether it was sufficient to pardon an offender seven times? Jesus told him, I say, you must pardon not only as far as seven times, but even seventy times seven. Upon another occasion (Mat. xix. 27—29.), as our Saviour was speaking of the danger of riches, Peter said to him, Lord, we have left all things to follow thee; what reward shall we have for it? Jesus answered him, I tell you in truth, that you who have left all things to follow me shall receive an hundred fold even in this world, and in the other eternal life; and at the last day, when the Son of man shall come to judge the world, you shall sit upon twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel.

On the Tuesday before our Saviour's passion, Peter showed him the fig-tree he had cursed the evening before, which was now dried up and withered (Mark xi. 12—21.). And the day following, as they sat upon the mountain of Olives, he, with the other apostles, asked Jesus when the temple was to be destroyed (Mat. xxiv. 1, 2, &c. Mark xiii. 1, 2, &c. Luke xxii.) On Thursday he was sent with St John to prepare all things for the passover; and at evening, when Jesus was come into the city with his apostles, and being set down at table, began to speak of him that should betray him, Peter made signs to John to ask him who this should be (John xiii. 24.) After supper, the disciples entered into a dispute which should be the greatest among them; whereupon Jesus Christ, laying aside his garments, betook himself to wash their feet, to give them an example of humility in his own person. St Peter at first made some difficulty, and would not suffer his master to wash his feet: but Jesus telling him, that if he did not wash his feet, he could have no part in him; St Peter replied, Lord, wash not only my feet, but my hands and head also (John xiii. 6—10.)

Some time after, Jesus said to him (Luke xxii. 31, 32, &c.), Peter, Satan has desired to sift you as men sift wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail: and when you are converted, confirm your brethren. By this he warned St Peter of his fall, that was just at hand, and of his renouncing him; from which, by the afflaintance of God, he was afterwards to recover. St Peter then asked him, where he was going? and said, he was ready to follow him everywhere, not only to prison, but to death itself. But Christ Peter declared to him, that he would be so far from following him to death that he would abjure him three times that very night before the cock should crow, or before break of day. When supper was ended, he went to the garden of Olives, where, taking Peter, James, and John, he went with them apart, that they might be witnesses of his agony. Peter, though before he had showed so much resolution, yet fell asleep with the rest; which occasioned Jesus to say to him, Do you sleep, Simon? Could you not watch with me one hour? (Mark xiv. 37. Mat. xxvi. 40, &c.)

Judas being come with the soldiers to seize Jesus, Peter drew his sword, and cut off the right ear of one called Malchus, who was servant to the high-priest: but Jesus bid him put up his sword into the scabbard; and told him, that all those that fought with the sword should perish by the sword: and at the same time healed Malchus's ear (John xviii. 10, &c.) Peter followed Jesus afar off, as far as the house of Caiaphas, and was let in by means of another disciple, who was known in the family. The soldiers and servants that had brought Jesus, having lighted a fire in the middle of the hall, Peter mingled among them to warm himself also; when a maid-servant, having looked earnestly upon him, said, Surely this man was with Jesus of Nazareth. But Peter made answer, I know not what you say, for I do not so much as know the man. Presently after he went out into the porch, when immediately the cock crew. A little while after another maid said to those that were present, This man was with Jesus of Nazareth. But Peter denied it with an oath. About an hour after, one of the company affirmed that Peter was a disciple of Jesus. Others insisted upon the same thing; and said, that surely he was one of them, for his very speech betrayed him to be a Galilean. Lastly, one of them, being a kinsman of Malchus whose ear Peter had cut off, affirmed the same thing; and asked him, Did not I see you with him in the garden? Peter again denied it with an oath, protesting, that he did not know the man. And at the same time the cock crowed the second time. Then Jesus, being in the same hall, and not far from Peter, looked upon him; and Peter then remembering what Jesus had said to him, that before cock-crow he should deny him thrice, he went out of Caiaphas's house, and wept bitterly (Mat. xxvi. 73, 75. Mark xiv. 34, 72.)

Very probably he remained in secret, and in tears, all the time of our Saviour's passion, that is, all Friday and Saturday following; but on Sunday morning, Jesus being risen, and Mary having been at the tomb, and not finding the body of Jesus, she came in haste into the city, to tell Peter and John that they had taken away their master, and that she could not find where they had put him. Peter and John made haste thither, and John coming first, did not go into the sepulchre. Peter then coming up to him, presently stooped down, and saw the linen clothes wherein the body had been wrapt. He went then into the sepulchre, and John with him; after which they returned to Jerusalem, not knowing what had come to pass. But soon after Jesus appeared to the holy women, who had come first to the sepulchre, and bid them give his apostles notice of his resurrection. And the same day our Saviour also appeared to Peter, to comfort him, and assure him that his repentance had been acceptable to him.

Some days after, St Peter being returned into Galilee as Jesus had commanded him, and going to fish in the sea of Galilee, or in the lake of Gennearet, with some other of the apostles, Jesus appeared to them on the shore, and bid them throw out their nets on the right side of the vessel. They threw them out, and took such a multitude of fishes that they could not draw up their nets again. Then St John said to Peter, It is the Lord. Peter immediately girded up himself, for he was naked, and swimming to shore he came to Jesus; then drawing their nets to shore, Jesus dined with them. After dinner, Jesus said to Peter, Simon, son of Jona, do you love me more than these? He answered, Yea, Lord, you know that I love you. Jesus says to him, Then feed my lambs. He put the same question to him again; and Peter making the same answer, our Lord said to him again, Feed my sheep. This he repeated a third time; at which St Peter was troubled, and said, You know, Lord, that I love you. Jesus replied to him, “Feed my sheep. I tell you for a truth, that when you were young, you girded yourself and went where you pleased; but now you are old, another shall gird you, and lead you where you would not go.” This he said to let him know what death he was to die. At the same time, Peter seeing St John the Evangelist, said to our Saviour, Lord, what must become of him? Jesus answered, “If I will that he tarry till I come, what does that concern you? Do you follow me?” Thus he refused to declare in what manner St John should end his life.

After that Jesus Christ had ascended into heaven, and that the apostles had been witnesses of his ascension, they returned to Jerusalem, to wait there for the Holy Ghost, whom our Saviour had promised to send them; and being assembled together in a house, they continued there in prayer, and in the union of charity, till the time that the Holy Ghost descended upon them, in the form of tongues of fire. During this interval, St Peter proposed to the apostles, and to the rest of the assembly, to fill up the place that the traitor Judas had left vacant in the apostleship. The proposal was agreed to by all; and two persons were proposed, Joseph Barsabas and Matthias: upon this last the lot fell; and from that time he was admitted one of the apostles. The tenth day after the ascension of our Saviour, being the day of Pentecost, the Holy Ghost having descended upon the apostles, and upon all the faithful that were assembled with them, and having replenished them with supernatural gifts, and especially with the gift of tongues, all those who were witnesses of this miracle expressed their admiration at it; and there being upon that day at Jerusalem a great many Jews from several provinces of the east, they could not comprehend by what means these men, who were Galileans, should speak the languages of all these pagan nations (Acts ii. 1, 2, &c.) Some of them said, that the apostles were full of new wine. But St Peter standing up, told them, that what they heard and saw was not the effect of drunkenness, but was the completion of the promise that the Holy Ghost had made by the prophet Joel (ii. 28.), to send his spirit upon all flesh, and to give the spirit of prophecy to young and old, to men and women. He afterwards spoke to them of Jesus Christ, and told them that he was the true Messiah, that he was risen from the dead as the scripture had foretold he should; declaring that himself and the other apostles were witnesses of his resurrection; of his ascension into heaven, and of the mission of the Holy Ghost, the visible effects of which they saw with their own eyes in the gifts of languages wherewith they had been replenished.

Then those that heard him were touched with compunction, and asked the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do? Peter answered them, Repent, and be baptized, and you shall receive the Holy Ghost. Then he instructed them, baptized them, and that very day three thousand persons were added to the church (Acts iii., i., 2., &c.) Some days after, St Peter and John, going to the temple at the hour of prayers, met at a gate of the temple a man who had been lame from his birth, so that he was carried about. This man seeing Peter and John, asked alms of them; upon which Peter said to him, Silver or gold I have not; but such as I have I give thee: In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, rise up and walk. Presently the man got up, and went into the temple along with them, lifting up his voice, and glorifying God. He held St Peter, telling the people then assembled all that happened unto him. Then Peter, taking this occasion, told the people, that it was not by his own power that he had performed the miracle they so much wondered at, but that it was by the power of Jesus Christ that this man was healed. He then laid before them the great crime they had committed, in putting Jesus Christ to death, who was the Saviour of the world, and the Messiah; and after he had shewn them by all the prophecies that Christ was to die thus, he exhorted them to repentance, and to make a proper use of the death of Christ.

He was thus speaking to the people, when the priests and Sadducees coming upon them, laid hold on Peter and John, and put them in prison, until the day following, it being now late (Acts iv. 1, 2, &c.) But the number of those that were converted this day at the second preaching of St Peter was about five thousand. The day following, the rulers, magistrates, and chief priests being assembled on this occasion, ordered the apostles to be brought before them; and then asked them, by whose authority they performed the miracle of healing the lame man? St Peter answered, that it was in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had crucified, and whom God raised again from the dead. The assembly were surprised at the boldness of the apostles upon this occasion; but came to a resolution to dismiss them, charging them at the same time to teach no more in the name of Jesus; and threatening them if they should persist in disobedience to these orders. The two apostles returned to their brethren, and related to them all that had passed; which having heard, the brethren raised their voices to heaven, begging God to give them strength and courage to declare his word with perfect liberty; and having finished their prayers, the place shook wherein they were assembled, and they were again filled with the Holy Ghost.

At this time many of the faithful sold their estates, and brought the money to the apostles (id. v. 1, 2, &c.) Of this number was a man called Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, who, by a private agreement between themselves, concealed a part of the money for which they had sold their land, and brought the rest to St Peter, as if it were the whole sum. Ananias came first; and St Peter said to him, Ananias, how came Satan to seduce you, and to prevail with you to lie to the Holy Ghost, by concealing part of the price of your land? It is not men that you thought to impose on, but God. Immediately Ananias fell down dead, and they carried him out and buried him. About three hours after his wife Sapphira came in, and St Peter said to her almost the same things he had before said to her husband, and immediately she fell down also, and gave up the ghost. This affair infused a great awe in the whole church, and amongst all those that heard of it. (See Acts v.)

The number of believers considerably increased every day; so that they even brought out the sick into the streets, and laid them where Peter was to pass, that at least his shadow might cover some of them, by which means they were healed of their distempers. Then the high-priest and his associates, that is, the Pharisees, caused the apostles to be apprehended and put into prison. But an angel brought them forth, and bid them go into the temple, and there boldly declare all the words of life which God had taught them. This they performed: upon which the princes and priests caused them to be brought before them; and having demanded why they had disobeyed their orders, in continuing to speak still in the name of Jesus Christ, Peter and the apostles answered, that it was more necessary to obey God than man. This answer provoked them very much, and they were going to condemn them to death, when Gamaliel prevailed with them to change their resolution, by representing to them, that if this matter proceeded from God, it was in vain for them to oppose it; but if otherwise, then it should soon vanish of itself. So they dismissed the apostles, after giving them thirty-nine stripes a piece, and charged them to speak no more in the name of Jesus Christ.

After the martyrdom of St Stephen, a persecution was carried on against the faithful at Jerusalem, and they were obliged to take shelter in several places. The apostles alone continued at Jerusalem (Acts viii. 1, 2, 3, &c.) St Philip the deacon going to Samaria, the Samaritans received the word of the Lord, and several of them were baptized. Then St Peter and St John repaired thither also, to give them the Holy Ghost; which St Philip, being only a deacon, had not power to do. Simon the magician was also baptized among others; and admiring the power that the apostles had, of conferring the Holy Ghost, would have bought the same power of the apostles, and accordingly offered money to St Peter. But Peter with indignation replied to him, Thy money and thou perish together, who thinkest the gifts of God can be bought with money! Thou hast no part with us, nor hast any pretensions to this ministry, for thy heart is not right before God. Repent therefore of this wickedness, and pray to God if perhaps he will pardon the wicked thoughts of thy heart. After this Peter and John returned again to Jerusalem. See Acts viii.

The fire of persecution being now pretty well extinguished, St Peter departed from Jerusalem (Acts ix. 32, &c.), and visiting the disciples from city to city, he came also to see the saints that dwelt at Lydda. Here he found a man called Aeneas, who had been paralytic for eight years. St Peter said to him, Aeneas, rise up; Jesus Christ the Lord cures you. He presently got up; and all that dwelt at Lydda that saw the miracle were converted to the Lord. There was also at Joppa a certain holy woman, named Tabitha, who happening to die while St Peter was at Lydda, the disciples sent to desire him to come to them. Whereupon St Peter came, and entering into the chamber where Tabitha lay dead, he caused every body to go out, and betook himself to prayers. Then turning himself towards the corpse, he said, Tabitha, arise. At which instant she opened her eyes, and seeing St Peter, she sat up. This miracle was much famed at Joppa, and was the occasion that many were converted. St Peter stayed there a good while, taking up his lodging with one Simon a tanner.

Now there was at Caesarea of Palestine a centurion called Cornelius, a man that feared God (Acts x. 1, 2, 3.), and to whom it was revealed by an angel, that he should send to Joppa to Peter, who should tell him what he had to do. Cornelius immediately sent two of his servants; and while they were upon the road, the Lord sent a vision to Peter, to prepare him to go to this man without any scruple, although he was not a Jew; for as yet the door of the gospel had not been opened to the Gentiles. St Peter, then being at the top of the house, fell into a trance, and saw, as it were, a great sheet of linen let down from heaven, which was full of all kinds of animals and reptiles, both clean and unclean. He had this vision three times, and heard a voice, saying, Arise Peter, kill and eat. But Peter answered, Lord, I have never eaten any thing unclean. The voice replied, Call not that unclean which God has purified. After which the sheet was again taken up into heaven. At the same time, the men came in that had been sent by Cornelius. They acquainted him with what had happened to their master, and desired him to go along with them to Caesarea. The day following St Peter set out thither, and was accompanied by some of the brethren of Joppa. (See Acts x.)

When Peter was returned to Jerusalem, the faithful of the circumcision said to him, why have you gone unto the uncircumcised, and why did you eat with them? But Peter having related to them all that passed, they were satisfied, and glorified God who had given the gift of repentance leading to life as well to the Gentiles as to the Jews. It is thought, that a little after this Peter went to Antioch, where he founded the Christian church of which he was bishop (Gal. ii. 11.) It is believed that he continued here seven years, though not constantly: for during this time, he went to Jerusalem, and to the provinces of Asia Minor, to Bithynia, Cappadocia, and Pontus, as is concluded from the epistle that he afterwards addressed to the faithful of these provinces. From thence he went to Rome, in the 42d year of the Christian era; and it is thought that at his leaving Antioch he there fixed St Ignatius in his place. Eusebius thinks, that the chief occasion of his going to Rome was to oppose Simon Magus, who by his deceits had perverted a great number of persons. However, the presence of St Peter, and the true miracles that he opposed to the tricks, of Simon, ruined, or much diminished, the reputation of this impostor.

St Peter, leaving Rome, came to Jerusalem at the passover, in the 44th year of the Christian era, when Herod Agrippa began to persecute the church. That prince put St James the Greater, brother of John, to the sword (Acts xii. 1, &c.) and perceiving that his death was agreeable to the Jews, he moreover caused Peter to be apprehended and put in prison, with a design of executing him publicly after the passover. But the very night that Herod thought of putting him to death, as Peter, loaded with chains, was asleep between two soldiers, the angel of the Lord awakened him, broke off his chains, opened the prison door, and brought him out the length of a street. Then the angel leaving him, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, where many of the faithful were assembled at prayers; and having knocked at the door, a damsel named Rhoda came to open it; but when she heard Peter's voice, instead of opening the door, she ran in a transport of joy to acquaint the family that Peter was at the door. Those that heard her could not believe it, and said, it was his angel, and not himself; but continuing to knock, and being let in, he informed them of what had happened to him.

He then left Jerusalem; but we are not told what became of him till the time of the council held at Jerusalem in the year 51. It is thought that before this time he made his second journey to Rome, from whence he wrote his first epistle.

St Peter was obliged to leave Rome in the year 51 by order of the emperor Claudius, who had banished all Jews from thence, because of the tumults they continually raised there, excited by one Chrestus, as Suetonius says, meaning probably by this name Jesus Christ. The apostle then returned into Judea, where was held the council of Jerusalem; in which, after a strict examination of the matter proposed to Peter and the apostles, he spoke to them with much wisdom, saying (Acts xv. 7, 8, &c.), that God having given his Holy Ghost and the gift of faith to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews, they ought not to impose the yoke of the legal observances on the new converts, which (as he says) neither he nor our fathers have been able to bear. But we believe, that it is through the grace of Jesus Christ that both we and they shall be saved. St James the Less, bishop of Jerusalem, seconded this opinion of St Peter; and the council came to this conclusion, That no new obligation should be imposed on the Gentiles, but only that they should be required to abstain from fornication, from the use of blood, and from meats offered to idols. The resolution of this council was written to the faithful of Antioch, because it was there this question was first started.

Some time after, St Peter coming to Antioch (Gal. ii. 11, &c.), he eat and drank with the Gentiles, without regarding that distinction of meats enjoined by the law. But after that, when some of the faithful of Jerusalem came to Antioch, being converted Jews, St Peter, out of fear to offend them, separated himself from the converted Gentiles, and would no longer eat with them as before. St Paul, fearing that what St Peter did might be interpreted as if he had a desire to oblige the Gentiles to judaize, and to submit themselves to the yoke of the law, and so to revoke and annul what he himself had determined in the council of Jerusalem, he withstood Peter to his face, and openly expostulated with him, telling him, he was much in the wrong to endeavour to oblige the Gentiles, at least tacitly by his own manner of acting, to live as the Jews do; and St Peter received this reprehension with silence and humility.

The particulars of St Peter's life are little known from the 51st year of the vulgar era, in which the council of Jerusalem was held, till his last journey to Rome, which was some time before his death. Then being acquainted by revelation that the time of his death was not far off (2 Pet. i. 14.), he had a mind to write to the faithful that had been converted by him, to put them in mind of the truths he had before taught them. He sent them therefore his second epistle.

St Peter and St Paul came to Rome about the same time, in the year of Christ 65, where they performed many miracles, and made many converts. Simon Magus by his tricks continued here to deceive the people, pretending himself to be the Messiah, and even attempting to ascend into heaven; for having caused himself to be carried up into the air by his demons, in a fiery chariot, St Peter and St Paul betook themselves to their prayers; and then the impostor, being forsaken by his demons, fell down upon the ground, which fall some time afterwards occasioned his death. See Simon Magus.

Soon after this, St Peter was taken up and thrown into prison, where it is said he continued for nine months; at last he was crucified at Rome in the Via Ostia; with his head downwards, as he himself had desired of his executioners. This he did out of a sense of humility, for fear it should be thought, as St Ambrose says, that he affected the glory of Jesus Christ, and the more to augment the pain of his execution.

It is said, that the body of St Peter was at first buried in the catacombs, two miles from Rome, from whence it was afterwards transported to the Vatican, where it has lain ever since. His festival is celebrated with that of St Paul on the 29th of June. St Peter died in the 66th year of the vulgar era, after having been bishop of Rome for about 24 or 25 years. His age might be about 74 or 75 years. It is generally agreed, that St Linus was his successor. The following is the portraiture that Nicephorus gives us of St Peter, which he has probably taken from the ancient pictures that were preserved of this apostle. He was not fat, but pretty tall and upright, having a fair and palish countenance. The hair of his head and beard was thick, frizzled, and not long. His eyes were black, and blood-shot; his eye-brows protuberant and lofty; his nose something long, and rather flat than sharp.

The two epistles of St Peter are addressed to those Jewish converts who were scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, &c. not only upon the persecution raised at Jerusalem, but upon former dispersions of the Jews into those places on several other occasions. The first epistle is principally designed to comfort and confirm them under those fiery trials and manifold temptations they were then subject to, and to direct and instruct them how to behave in the several states and relations both of the civil and the Christian life, that they might not be engaged in those rebellions against Caesar and his officers, then fomented among the Jews; and that they might stop the mouths of those who spoke against them as evil doers. In the second epistle, he prosecutes the same subject, to prevent their apostacy from the faith, on account of any persecutions they were liable to. He likewise guards them against the corrupt principles of the gnostics; and those who scoffed at the promise of Christ's coming, as if it would never be verified.

St Peter's style, says a modern author, expresses the noble vehemence and fervour of his spirit, the full knowledge he had of Christianity, and the strong assurance he had of the truth and certainty of his doctrine; and he writes with the authority of the first man in the college of the apostles. He writes with that quickness and rapidity of style, with that noble neglect of some of the formal consequences and niceties of grammar, still preserving its true reason, and natural analogy (which are always marks of a sublime genius), that you can scarce perceive the pauses of his discourse and distinction of his periods. The great Joseph Scaliger calls St Peter's first epistle majestic; and we hope he was more judicious than to exclude the second, though he did not name it.

A noble majesty, and becoming freedom, is what distinguishes St Peter; a devout and judicious person cannot read him without solemn attention and awful concern. The conflagration of this lower world, and future judgment of angels and men, in the third chapter of the second, is described in such strong and terrible terms, such awful circumstances, that in the description we see the planetary heavens and this our earth wrapped up with devouring flames, hear the groans of an expiring world, and the crushes of nature tumbling into universal ruin.

The authority of the second epistle of St Peter was for some time doubted of, as Origen, Eusebius, St Jerome, and others have observed. What made the ancients call it in question, is the difference of its style from the first. The third chapter, which describes the catastrophe of the visible world, made Grotius think this epistle was wrote after the taking of Jerusalem; because that was not to happen till after the destruction of that city; upon which he conjectures, that Simeon bishop of Jerusalem is the author of this epistle, and that the inscription which carries St Peter's name is corrupted. But the best critics admit this epistle to be the genuine work of St Peter, who discovers himself, where he says, that he was present at our Lord's transfiguration; and where he tells the Jews, this was the second letter he had written to them. The reader may see this question fully discussed, and the authority of this epistle established beyond all doubt, by the learned Dr Sherlock, in his Dissertation on the authority of the Second Epistle of St Peter.

St Peter has been made the author of several books; such were, his Acts, his Gospel, his Revelation, his work about preaching, and another about judgment. There is extant a large history of St Peter, called the Recognitions, ascribed to St Clement.

Peter of Blois, a learned man of the 12th century, was born about the year 1120, at the city of Blois in France, from whence he derived his name. His parents being opulent, gave him a learned education. In his youth, when he studied in the university of Paris, he was excessively fond of poetry; and when he was a little further advanced in life, he became no less fond of rhetoric, to the study of which he applied with the greatest ardour. From Paris he removed to Bononia in Italy, to acquire the civil and canon law; in the knowledge of both which he very much excelled. He appears from his writings to have cultivated medicine, and several branches of the mathematics, with no little care and success. The study of theology was the chief delight and business of his life, in which he spent the greatest part of his time, and made the greatest progress. But unfortunately it was that scholastic theology, which confused in vain attempts to prove and explain the many absurd opinions which then prevailed in the church, by the subtleties of Aristotelian logic. In attempting to explain in this manner the most absurd of all opinions that ever existed amongst mankind, he was the very first person who employed the famous word transubstantiation, which was soon after adopted by the church of Rome, and hath ever since made so great a noise. Being appointed preceptor to William II, king of Sicily in 1167, he obtained the custody of the privy seal; and, next to the archbishop of Palermo, the prime minister, had the greatest influence in all affairs. But his power was not of long duration; for the archbishop being banished in 1168, our author soon after left the court of Sicily, and returned into France. He was not long, however, without a royal patron, being invited into England by Henry II, who employed him as his private secretary, made him archdeacon of Bath, and gave him some other benefices. When he had spent a few years at court, he conceived a disgust at that way of life (of which he hath drawn a very unpleasing picture in one of his letters), and retired into the family of Richard archbishop of Canterbury, who had made him his chancellor about the year 1176. In this station he continued to the death of the archbishop in 1183, enjoying the highest degree of favour with that prelate, though he used much freedom in reproving him for his remissness in the government of the church. Our author remained in the same station in the family of archbishop Baldwin, who succeeded Richard, acting both as his secretary and chancellor. He was also sent by that prelate on an embassy to Rome in 1187, to plead his cause before Pope Urban III, in the famous controversy between him and the monks of Canterbury about the church of Hackington. After the departure of his friend and patron Baldwin for the Holy Land in 1191, our author was involved in various troubles in his old age, the causes of which are not distinctly known; and died about the end of the 12th century. He appears from his works, which may be justly reckoned among the most valuable monuments of the age in which he flourished, to have been a man of great integrity and sincere piety, as well as of a lively inventive genius and uncommon erudition. His printed works consist of 134 letters, which he collected together at the desire of Henry II; of 65 sermons delivered on various occasions; and of 17 tracts on different subjects.

Peter the Hermit. See Croisade and Hermit.

Peter I, justly styled Peter the Great, czar, and afterwards... afterwards emperor, of Russia, founder of the Russian empire; for though the country was well known, and of great antiquity, yet it had no extent of power, of political influence, or of general commerce, in Europe, till his time. He was born in 1672; and was proclaimed czar when but ten years of age, in exclusion of John his elder brother, who, being of a fickle constitution, was at the same time very weak in his understanding. The princess Sophia, his half sister, made an insurrection in favour of John; and to put an end to the civil war, it was at last agreed that the two brothers should jointly share the imperial dignity. Peter had been very ill brought up, not only through the general defects of the Russian education, but likewise through the arts of the princess Sophia, who surrounded him with every thing that might stifle his natural desire of knowledge, deprave his mind, and enervate it with pleasures. Notwithstanding this, his inclination for military exercises discovered itself in his tenderest years. He formed a company of 50 men, commanded by foreign officers, clothed and exercised after the German manner. He entered himself into the lowest post, that of a drummer; and never rose otherwise than as a soldier of fortune. Herein his design was to teach his nobility, that merit, not birth, was the only title to military employments. He reinforced his company with several others, till at last he had got together a considerable body of soldiers. As he then had no war on his hands, he exercised them in all sorts of mock engagements, and by this means secured to himself a body of well-disciplined troops.

The sight of a Dutch vessel, which he had met with on a lake belonging to one of his pleasure-houses, made such an impression on his mind, that he conceived the almost impracticable design of forming a navy. His first care was to get some Hollanders to build some small vessels at Moscow; and he passed two successive summers on board English or Dutch ships, which set out from Archangel, that he might instruct himself in every branch of naval affairs (a). In 1695 czar John died, and Peter was now sole master of the empire. In 1698 he sent an embassy to Holland; and went incognito in the retinue, and visited England as well as Holland, in order to inform himself fully in the art of ship-building. At Amsterdam he worked in the yard as a private ship-carpenter, under the name of Peter Michael; but he has been often heard to say, that if he had never gone to England, he had still remained ignorant of that art. In 1700 he had got together a body of standing forces, consisting of 30,000 foot; and now the vast project he had formed displayed itself in all its parts. He opened his dominions, which till then had been shut up, having first sent the chief nobility of his empire into foreign countries to improve themselves in knowledge and learning. He invited into Russia all the foreigners he could meet with, who were capable of instructing his subjects in any manner, and offered them great encouragement to settle in his dominions. This raised many discontented; and the despotic authority he exerted on that occasion was scarcely powerful enough to suppress them. In 1700, being strengthened by the alliance of Augustus king of Poland, he made war on Charles XII, king of Sweden. His first ill success did not deter him; for he used to say, I know that my armies must be overcome for a great while; but even this will at last teach them to conquer. He afterwards gained considerable advantages; and founded Petersburg in 1703. In 1709 he gained a complete victory over the Swedes at Poltava. In 1712 he was inclosed by the Turks on the banks of the Pruth; and seemed inevitably lost, had not the czarina Catherine bribed the grand vizir, and the czar's prudence completed his deliverance. In 1716 he made a tour through Germany and Holland, and visited the royal academy of sciences at Paris. It would be endless to enumerate all the various establishments for which the Russians are obliged to him. He formed an army according to the manner of the politest and most experienced nations: he fitted out fleets in all the four seas which border upon Russia: he caused many strong fortresses to be raised after the best plans; and made convenient harbours: he introduced arts and sciences into his dominions, and freed religion from many superstitions abuses: he made laws, built cities, cut canals, &c.; was generous in rewarding, impartial in punishing; faithful, laborious, and humble; yet was not free from a certain roughness of temper natural to his nation. He had indeed cured himself of excesses in drinking; but he has been branded with several other vices, particularly cruelty. He published the unfortunate history of his son prince Alexis (b); towards whom some blame his severity, while others think

(a) The following circumstance, it is said, in some measure determined Peter to attempt those reformation which he afterwards accomplished. Great events have been sometimes the effect of little causes; and it is at least possible, that without the occurrence we are going to relate, Russia might still have been in a state of barbarism. A young Genevee, called Le Fort, about 1695, went to Moscow with the Danish ambassador. The czar Peter, who was then 19 years old, fell in company with this Genevee, who had soon learnt the Russian tongue, and spoke almost all the tongues of Europe. Le Fort ingratiated himself with the prince, entered into his service, and soon afterwards into his familiarity. He made him comprehend that there was a different manner of living and reigning from what had unhappily obtained throughout his vast and miserable empire. A prince must be born with an uncommon greatness of soul to listen readily to a stranger, and to be able to divest himself of the prejudices of a throne and of his country. The czar was sensible that neither himself nor his people were yet to be reckoned among men; and that he had an empire to form, but could have no assistance at home. From that time he took a resolution to leave his dominions; and set out, like another Prometheus, to borrow celestial fire for animating his countrymen.

(b) Alexis, like his father, is said to have married a slave, and, like him, quitted Moscow secretly, but had not the same success in his undertakings; and the being but a bad imitator of his father, cost him his life. He became an example of the most terrible severity that ever was given from the tribunal of the throne; but, what think it no more than was necessary. He perfectly knew the honour due to persons of merit; and not only heaped honours upon them during their life, but gave them marks of esteem even after their death. He died of the strangury in 1725, and left the world with the magnanimity of a hero and the piety of a Christian.

Peter was tall of stature, and of a bold and majestic aspect, though sometimes disfigured by convulsions, which altered his features. This deformity was ascribed to poison, given him, as it is said, by his sister Sophia; but it was indeed no other than wine and brandy, which he often drank to excess, relying too much on the strength of his constitution. He conversed with persons in all stations, from the mechanic to the general of an army; and his conversation was neither like that of a barbarian who makes no distinction between men, nor of a popular prince who seeks to please all the world, but that of a person who aims at instruction. He loved women as much as the king of Sweden, his rival, dreaded them, and all were equally agreeable to him as well in bed as at board; he valued himself on drinking large draughts, rather than sipping delicious wines. We are told that kings and legislators should never suffer themselves to be transported by passion; but never was any man more passionate than Peter the Great, nor more merciless. In a king this is more than an infirmity for which we make amends by confessing it; but it was generally remarked of Peter, and he himself said to a magistrate of Holland, at his second voyage, "I have reformed my nation, and have not been able to reform myself." It is true, the cruelties with which he is reproached were not novelties at the court of Moscow, any more than at that of Morocco; it was not uncommon to see a czar, with his own royal hand, inflict 100 lashes of a bull's pizzle on the naked shoulders of a prime officer of the crown, or of a lady of the palace, for failing in their duty, by getting drunk; or to try the goodness of his sabre, by striking off the head of a criminal. Peter had himself performed some of those ceremonies of his country;

is much to the honour of the empress Catherine, she had no hand in the misfortunes of that prince, who was born of another woman, and loved nothing that his father loved. Catherine was not in the least suspected of acting the cruel stepmother. The great crime of the unfortunate Alexis was his being too much a Russian, and his disapproving every thing that was grand and immortal, and projected by his father for the glory of the nation. One day, hearing some Moscowites lamenting the insupportable fatigues they were to undergo in the building of Petersburg, he said, "Take courage, this city will not stand long." When he was called to attend his father in a journey of 600 or 700 leagues, which the czar often made, he feigned sickness. He took violent purges for a distemper which he had not; and such quantities of medicines, with excessive drinking of brandy, impaired his health and his wits. At first he had an inclination to learning, was acquainted with geometry and history, and had learnt the German tongue; but he hated war, and would never learn it; for which he was most reproached by his father. They had married him in 1711 to the princess of Wolfenbuttel, sister of the empress comfort to Charles VI. This marriage was unfortunate; the princess was often abandoned for a debauch in brandy, and for Afrodina, a Finland wench, of a large stature, well made, and very agreeable. It is reported that the princess died of chagrin, if it be possible for chagrin to prove mortal; and that afterwards the czarowitz secretly espoused Afrolina in 1713, when the empress Catherine had just brought him a brother, at which he had no reason to be uneasy.

The misunderstandings between the father and the son became every day more serious; till at length the father, about the year 1716, threatened the prince to disinherit him; and the prince told him that he intended to go into a monastery.

The czar, in 1717, renewed his journeys, as well with a view to politics as curiosity. He came at last into France. If the son had entertained an inclination to revolt, if he had actually had a party formed in his favour, now was the time to declare himself; but instead of remaining in Russia, making himself popular, and creating dependents, he took a journey in his turn, having with much difficulty scraped together some thousands of ducats which he had secretly borrowed. He threw himself under the protection of the emperor Charles VI., brother of his deceased wife. They kept him for some time incognito at Venice, from whence he passed to Naples, where he resided almost a year, while neither his father nor any person in Russia knew the place of his retreat.

While the son kept himself thus concealed, the father was at Paris, where he was received with all the respect paid him in other places, but with a gallantry nowhere to be found but in France. If he went to visit a manufactory, and one piece of work attracted his sight more than another, he was presented with it the next day. He went to dine at the Duke d'Antin's at Petitbourg, where the first thing he saw was his own picture at full length, in the same habit that he wore. When he was at the royal mint of medals, they struck all kinds before him, and presented him with them; at last they struck one which they let drop on purpose at his feet, and left him to take it up. He there saw himself perfectly engraven with these words, Peter the Great. The reverse was a Fame, and round her in letters Vires acquirit eundo; an allusion no less just than flattering to a prince who really acquired new merit by travelling.

After he had seen this country, where everything disposed men to gentleness and indulgence, he returned to his own, and resumed his severity. He had engaged his son to return from Naples to Petersburg, from whence that young prince was conducted to Moscow before the czar his father; who began with depriving him of his succession to the throne, by making him sign a solemn act of renunciation at the end of January 1718, in consideration of which act the father promised the son to spare his life. Le Fort, however (see note A), had authority enough over him at times to pay his hand even when lifted up to strike, but he had not Le Fort always near him.

The Czar's first marriage is thus related in the memoirs of Peter Henry Bruce, Esq. "It took place in 1690, when he was only 18. He was married to Ottokeffia Lapuchin, a boyar's daughter, by whom he had prince Alexis; some time after he turned her away, and that her up in a monastery, on suspicion of disloyalty to his bed. It was said, that in one of her jealous fits she charged prince Menzikoff with carrying the czar to drabs of his former acquaintance, who had been his customers for cakes; up-raiding him with his first occupation; and that Menzikoff ever after bore an irreconcilable enmity to both her and her son. After the divorce, one Miss Mons, a very beautiful young lady, born at Moscow, of foreign parents, was much in favour with the czar; but when he was abroad, Mr Keylerling, then residing at Moscow as envoy from the king of Prussia, paid his addresses to, and married her. When the czar returned, he was so much offended at Keylerling, that he ordered him to leave Moscow, which occasioned his immediate recall by the king his master, who sent another in his room. It was believed, if his public character had not protected him, he would have severely felt his majesty's displeasure.

"The czar was some time after smitten with the charms of another beautiful young lady, the daughter of a foreign merchant in this city: he first saw her in her father's house, where he dined one day. He was so much taken with her appearance, that he offered Peter any terms she pleased, if she would live with him; which this virtuous young woman modestly refused: but dreading the effects of his authority, she put on a resolution, and left Moscow in the night, without communicating her design even to her parents. Having provided a little money for her support, she travelled on foot several miles into the country, till she arrived at a small village where her nurse lived with her husband and their daughter, the young lady's foster-father, to whom she discovered her intention of concealing herself in the wood near that village: and to prevent any discovery, she set out the same night, accompanied by the husband and daughter. The husband being a timber-man by trade, and well acquainted with the wood, conducted her to a little dry spot in the middle of a morass, and there he built a hut for her habitation. She had deposited her money with her nurse to procure little necessaries for her support, which were faithfully conveyed to her at night by the nurse or her daughter, by one of whom she was constantly attended in the night-time.

"The next day after her flight, the czar called at her father's to see her, and finding the parents in anxious concern for their daughter, and himself disappointed, fancied it a plan of their own concocting. He became angry, and began to threaten them with the effects of his displeasure if she was not produced; nothing was left to the parents but the most solemn protestations, with tears of real sorrow running down their cheeks."

It was not altogether improbable that such an act would have been some time or other annulled. The czar, therefore, in order to give it more force, forgetting that he was a father, and only remembering that he was the founder of an empire, which his son might overturn, and involve in its ancient barbarity, ordered a public process to be drawn up against that unfortunate prince, for some concealment, with which he was charged, in the confession that they had exacted of him.

An assembly was held of the bishops, inferior ecclesiastics, and professors; who found in the Old Testament, that those who curse their father or their mother should be put to death; that David indeed had pardoned Absalom, who had rebelled against him, but that Absalom was never pardoned by God. Such was their opinion, without drawing any conclusion; but it was in effect signing a warrant for his death. Alexis had not in fact cursed his father, neither had he ever revolted like Absalom; he had never lain publicly with the king's concubines, but he had left the kingdom without his father's permission, and had written letters to his friends, in which he only signified that he hoped they would one day be mindful of him in Russia. But whatever might be his case, of 124 lay judges, who were appointed to sit on him, there was not one that judged his offences less than capital; and those who could not write, made others sign for them. It is reported in Europe, that the czar had got translated from Spanish into Russian the criminal process against Don Carlos, that unfortunate prince whom his father Philip II. had confined in a prison, where the heir of that great monarchy ended his days. But there was nothing like a process carried on against Don Carlos, nor was it ever known whether that prince died a natural or a violent death. Peter, the most despotic of princes, wanted not an example. Certain it is that the prince died the day after the sentence, and that the czar had at Moscow one of the best apothecary's shops in Europe. It is probable, however, that the prince Alexis, the heir of the most extensive empire in the world, being condemned unanimously by his father's subjects, which were one day to be his own, might die of the sudden shock and change given to the body at the apprehension of so strange and dismal a sentence. The father went to see his son in his last agonies; and it is said he shed tears. In felix utaque ferent ea fata nepotes. These tears, however, did not prevent the wheels from being covered with the broken limbs of his son's friends. He beheaded his own brother-in-law Count Lapuchin, brother to his wife Ottokeffia Lapuchin whom he had divorced, and uncle to prince Alexis. The prince's confessor had also his head cut off. If Moscow has been civilized, she has, it must be confessed, paid dear for her politeness.

The remainder of the czar's life was nothing but a series of grand projects, labours, and exploits, that seemed to efface the memory of his excessive severities, which were perhaps necessary. He made frequent speeches to his court and to his council. In one he told them that he had sacrificed his son to the welfare of his dominions. their cheeks, to convince him of their innocence, and ignorance of what was become of her; assuring him of their fears that some fatal disaster must have befallen her, as nothing belonging to her was missing, except what she had on at the time. The czar, satisfied of their sincerity, ordered great search to be made for her, with the offer of a considerable reward to the person who should discover what was become of her, but to no purpose: the parents and relations, apprehending she was no more, went into mourning for her.

"Above a year after this she was discovered by an accident. A colonel who had come from the army to see his friends, going a-hunting into that wood, and following his game through the morass, he came to the hut, and looking into it saw a pretty young woman in a mean dress. After inquiring of her who she was, and how she came to live in so solitary a place, he found out at last that she was the lady whose disappearance had made so great a noise: in the utmost confusion, and with the most fervent intrigues, he prayed him on her knees that he would not betray her; to which he replied, that he thought her danger was now past, as the czar was then otherwise engaged, and that she might with safety discover herself, at least to her parents, with whom he would consult how matters should be managed. The lady agreed to this proposal; and he set out immediately, and overjoyed her parents with the happy discovery: the issue of their deliberations was to consult Madame Catherine (as she was then called) in what manner the affair should be opened to the czar. The colonel went also upon this business, and was advised by Madame to come next morning and she would introduce him to his majesty, when he might make the discovery and claim the promised reward. He went according to appointment; and being introduced, told the accident by which he had discovered the lady, and represented the miserable situation in which he found her, and what she must have suffered by being so long shut up in such a dismal place, from the delicacy of her sex. The czar showed a great deal of concern that he should have been the cause of all her sufferings, declaring that he would endeavour to make her amends. Here Madame Catherine suggested, that the thought the best amends his majesty could make, was to give her a handsome fortune and the colonel for a husband, who had the best right, having caught her in pursuit of his game. The czar, agreeing perfectly with Madame Catherine's sentiments, ordered one of his favourites to go with the colonel, and bring the young lady home; where she arrived to the inexpressible joy of her family and relations, who had all been in mourning for her. The marriage was under the direction and at the expense of the czar, who himself gave the bride to the bridegroom; saying, that he presented him with one of the most virtuous of women; and accompanied his declaration with very valuable presents, besides setting on her and her heirs three thousand rubles a-year. This lady lived highly esteemed by the czar, and every one who knew her. Besides the concurring reports of other people, I had the story from her own mouth."

On the whole, that Peter I. was a great man, few will deny who know what real greatness is. A minute account of the life of this distinguished emperor would make a large volume; we have been able to give but the mere outlines of it: the anecdotes, however, at the end, show in some degree the nature of the man; at all events they show one important truth, that it is a more difficult thing to reform one's self than to reform a kingdom; to conquer one's passions, than to conquer the world. The Russians, however, if there is any good in civilization, owe to him everything; and they seem to be sensible of it; for a very pompous oration was delivered to his memory by Michael Lomonosoff, before the Academy of Sciences at St Petersburg, on the 26th of April 1755. For a minute account of his improvements, &c. see Russia, Petersburg, and Catherine I.

Peter the Wild Boy. This extraordinary creature occasioned great speculation among the learned; but we do not know that any satisfactory causes have been assigned for the striking difference betwixt him and other human beings.

The following account of him is extracted from the parish register of North church, in the county of Hertford. "Peter, commonly known by the name of Peter the Wild Boy, lies buried in this churchyard, opposite to the porch. In the year 1725 he was found in the woods near Hamelen, a fortified town in the electorate of Hanover, when his Majesty George I. with his attendants, was hunting in the forest of Hertford. He was supposed to be then about 12 years of age, and had subsisted in those woods upon the bark of trees, leaves, berries, &c. for some considerable length of time. How long he had continued in that wild state is altogether uncertain; but that he had formerly been under the care of some person, was evident from the remains of a shirt collar about his neck at the time when he was found. As Hamelen was a town where criminals were confined to work upon the fortifications, it was then conjectured at Hanover that Peter might be the issue of one of those criminals, who had either wandered into the woods and could not find his way back again, or being discovered to be an idiot was inhumanly turned out by his parents, and left to perish or shift for himself. In the following year, 1726, he was brought over to England, by the order of Queen Caroline then princess of Wales, and put under the care of Dr Arbuthnot with proper masters to attend him. But notwithstanding there appeared to be no natural defect in his organs of speech, after all the pains that had been taken with him he could never be brought distinctly to articulate a single syllable, and proved totally incapable of receiving any instruction. He was afterwards intrusted to the care of Mrs Titchbourn, one of the queen's bed-chamber women, with a handsome pension annexed to the charge. Mrs Titchbourn usually spending a few weeks every summer at the house of Mr James Fenn, a yeoman farmer at Axter's End in this parish, Peter was left to the care of the said Mr Fenn, who was allowed £31. a-year for his support and maintenance. After the death of James Fenn he was transferred to the care of his brother Thomas Fenn, at another farm-house in this parish called Broadway, where he lived with the several successive tenants of that farm, and with the same provision... fion allowed by government to the time of his death, Feb. 22, 1785; when he was supposed to be about 72 years of age.

"Peter was well made, and of the middle size. His countenance had not the appearance of an idiot, nor was there any thing particular in his form, except that two of the fingers of his left hand were united by a web up to the middle joint. He had a natural ear for music, and was so delighted with it, that if he heard any musical instrument played upon, he would immediately dance and caper about till he was almost quite exhausted with fatigue: and though he could never be taught the distinct utterance of any word, yet he could easily learn to hum a tune. All those idle tales which have been published to the world about his climbing up trees like a squirrel, running upon all fours like a wild beast, &c. are entirely without foundation; for he was so exceedingly timid and gentle in his nature, that he would suffer himself to be governed by a child. There have been also many false stories propagated of his incontinence; but, from the minutest inquiries among those who constantly lived with him, it does not appear that he ever discovered any natural passion for women, though he was subject to the other passions of human nature, such as anger, joy, &c. Upon the approach of bad weather he always appeared sullen and uneasy. At particular seasons of the year he showed a strange fondness for stealing away into the woods, where he would feed eagerly upon leaves, beech-malt, acorns, and the green bark of trees, which proves evidently that he had subsisted in that manner for a considerable length of time before he was first taken. His keeper therefore at such seasons generally kept a strict eye over him, and sometimes even confined him, because if he ever rambled to any distance from his home he could not find his way back again: and once in particular, having gone beyond his knowledge, he wandered as far as Norfolk, where he was taken up, and being carried before a magistrate, was committed to the house of correction in Norwich, and punished as a sturdy and obstinate vagrant, who would not (for indeed he could not) give any account of himself: but Mr Fenn having advertised him in the public papers, he was released from his confinement, and brought back to his usual place of abode.

"Notwithstanding the extraordinary and savage state in which Peter was first found greatly excited the attention and curiosity of the public; yet, after all that has been said of him, he was certainly nothing more than a common idiot without the appearance of one. But as men of some eminence in the literary world have in their works published strange opinions and ill-founded conjectures about him, which may seem to stamp a credit upon what they have advanced; that posterity may not through their authority be hereafter misled upon the subject, this short and true account of Peter is recorded in the parish-register by one who constantly resided above 30 years in his neighbourhood, and had daily opportunities of seeing and observing him."

Perhaps it may not be disagreeable to our readers if we present them with Lord Monboddo's account of this extraordinary creature (a). "It was in the beginning of June 1782 (says his Lordship) that I saw him in a farm-house called Broadway, within about a mile of Berkhamsted, kept there upon a pension which the king pays. He is but low of stature, not exceeding five feet three inches; and although he must now be about 70 years of age, has a fresh healthy look. He wears his beard; his face is not at all ugly or disagreeable; and he has a look that may be called sensible and sagacious for a savage. About 20 years ago he was in use to elope, and to be missing for several days; and once, I was told, he wandered as far as Norfolk; but of late he has been quite tame, and either keeps in the house or saunters about the farm. He has been the 13 last years where he lives at present; and before that he was 12 years with another farmer, whom I saw and conversed with. This farmer told me, that he had been put to school somewhere in Hertfordshire, but had only learned to articulate his own name Peter, and the name of King George, both which I heard him pronounce very distinctly. But the woman of the house where he now is (for the man happened not to be at home) told me, that he understood every thing that was said to him concerning the common affairs of life; and I saw that he readily understood several things that she said to him while I was present. Among other things, she desired him to sing Nancy Dawson; which he did, and another tune which she named. He never was mischievous, but had always that gentleness of nature which I hold to be characteristic of our nature, at least till we became carnivorous, and hunters or warriors. He feeds at present as the farmer and his wife do; but, as I was told by an old woman (one Mrs Collop, living at a village in the neighbourhood called Hempstead, who remembered to have seen him when he first came to Hertfordshire, which she computed to be 55 years before the time I saw her), he then fed very much upon leaves, and particularly upon the leaves of cabbages, which he ate raw. He was then, as she thought, about 15 years of age, walked upright, but could climb trees like a squirrel. At present he not only eats flesh, but has also got the taste of beer, and even of spirits, of which he inclines to drink more than he can get. And the old farmer above-mentioned, with whom he lived 12 years before he came to this last farmer, told me, that he had acquired that taste before he came to him, which is about 25 years ago. He has also become very fond of fire, but has not yet acquired a liking for money; for though he takes it, he does not keep it, but gives it to his landlord or landlady, which I suppose is a lesson that they have taught him.

(a) This eccentric writer, in support of his hypothesis, that man in a state of nature is a mere animal, without clothes, houses, the use of fire, or even speech, adduces the orang-outang, or man in the woods, and this Peter the wild man and others, as examples. He denies the want of the organs of speech as an objection, and infers they only want the artificial use of them. him. He retains so much of his natural instinct, that he has a fore-feeling of bad weather, growling and howling, and showing great disorder, before it comes.

"Thele are the particulars concerning him which I observed myself, or could learn by information from the neighbourhood." From all these facts put together his lordship makes the following observations:

"1st, Whatever doubts there may be concerning the humanity of the orang-outang, it was never made a question but that Peter was a man.

"2ly, That he was, as the Dean [Swift] says, of a father and mother like one of us. This, as I have said, was the case of two savages found in the dismal swamps in Virginia, of the one found in the island of Diego Garcia, and of him that was discovered by M. de Roy in the Pyrenees, and in general of all the savages that have been found in Europe within these last 300 years; for I do not believe, that for these 2000 years past there has been a race of such savages in Europe.

"3ly, I think there can be no reason to doubt of what was written from Hanover, and published in the newspapers, that he was found going upon all four, as well as other solitary savages that have been found in Europe. It is true that others have been found erect; which was the case of the two found in the dismal swamp of Virginia, likewise of the man of the Pyrenees, and of him in the island of Diego Garcia: but these I suppose were not exposed till they had learned to walk upright; whereas Peter appears to have been abandoned by his parents before he had learned that lesson, but walked as we know children do at first.

"4thly, I think it is evident that he is not an idiot, not only from his appearance, as I have described it, and from his actions, but from all the accounts that we have of him, both those printed and those attested by persons yet living; for as to the printed accounts, there is not the least information of that kind in any of them, except in one, viz. Wye's letter, no. 8, wherein is said, that some imputed his not learning to speak to want of understanding; which I should think showed rather want of understanding in those who thought so, when it is considered that at this time he had not been a year out of the woods, and I suppose but a month or two under the care of Dr Arbuthnot, who had taken the charge of his education. The Dean indeed tells us, that he suspected he was a pretender, and no genuine wild man, but not a word of his being an idiot. And as to the persons living, not one with whom I have conversed appeared to have the least suspicion of that kind; though it is natural that men who were not philosophers, and knew nothing of the progress of man from the mere animal to the intellectual creature, nor of the improvement of our understanding by social intercourse and the arts of life, but believed that man when he came to a certain age has from nature all the faculties which we see him exert, and particularly the faculty of speech, should

(b) Lord Monboddo, far from thinking speech or articulation natural to man, rather wonders how he can by any teaching or imitation attain to the ready performance of such various and complicated operations. Add to this, when the organs are completely formed to one language, how hard it is to make them answer another. beautiful and diversified; that to the north being the most extensive and pleasing. It commands the prospect of the lake, which is of an oval form; its cultivated borders, interspersed with villages and castles, with the towns of Nilau and Bienne standing upon the farther extremity. Agreeable walks are carried through the woods, and terminate in a circular pavilion placed in the centre of the island. Before the troubles in France, on Sunday, and particularly the vintage-time, this island was filled with parties who amused themselves with wandering about the woods or dancing in the circular pavilion. How they employ themselves now it is not so easy to say, as it was overrun and subjected by the forces of that unhappy nation, and of course tainted with their destructive principles. It was retaken by the Spaniards, and properly belongs to the king of Sardinia. There is only one farm-house on the island, in an apartment of which Rousseau was lodged.

**Peter-Pence**, was an annual tribute of one penny, paid at Rome out of every family at the feast of St Peter. And this tax the Saxon king, when he went in pilgrimage to Rome about the year 740, gave to the pope partly as alms and partly in recompense of a house erected in Rome for English pilgrims. And this continued to be paid generally until the time of King Henry VIII. when it was enacted, that from henceforth no person shall pay any penions, Peter-pence, or other impositions, to the use of the bishop or see of Rome.