to employ to the most advantage the talents of many teachers. He was void of worldly prudence, and this want was an abundant source of vexations to him and others throughout his life. The idea of communicating all instruction by immediate address to the sensations or conceptions, and effecting the formation of the child by constantly calling all his powers into exercise, instead of making him a mere passive recipient, selecting the subjects of study in such a way that each step shall best aid the further progress of the pupil, is original with him. It is not the acquisition of skill in reckoning, reading, writing, drawing, singing, &c., but the exercise of the powers of the child by means of these subjects, which Pestalozzi makes the object of elementary education. The principles of his method are clearly developed in his Wochenschrift für Menschenbildung (3d and 4th vols., 1810 and 1812). This publication, with the reply of his assailant, Niederer, to the Report on Pestalozzi's Institution at Yverdun (addressed to the diet in 1810), Gruner's Letters from Burgdorf (in German, in 1806), and Johannsen's Criticism of Pestalozzi's Method (in German, 1804), afford a satisfactory view of his system. He himself did not consider his system entirely complete. From Spain, France, Prussia, and many other countries, testimonies of honor and regard were sent to him from the governments; and his pupils have spread as far as European civilization extends His exterior was extremely simple. His negligent black dress, his broad Swiss dialect, and blunt manners, without any kind of ceremony, showed the honest Swiss. In 1818, he undertook a new edition of his complete works, the proceeds of which he destined for a new school for poor children. He died February 17, 1827, at Brugg, in Aargau.-See his autobiography, The Scenes of my Life while at the Head of my Institutions of Education at Burgdorf and Yferdun (Leipsic, 1826); also Ed. Biber's Memoirs on Pestalozzi and his Plan of Education (London, 1831).

PESTH, OF PEST (anciently Transacincum); a city of Hungary, on the Danube, opposite to Buda, with which it is connected by a bridge of boats three quarters of a mile long; 90 miles south-east of Presburg, 113 south-east of Vienna; lon. 19° 14' E.; lat. 47° 32′ N.; population, 61,502, of which 45,000 are Catholics. Buda is the residence of the viceroy, and accounted the capital of Hungary, yet Pesth is the seat of the high courts of jus

tice, and the place of meeting for the diet. It is situated on a plain; the streets are tolerably spacious and regular, and the houses substantial, but not elegant. It contains eleven Catholic, one Lutheran, one Reformed, and two Greek churches, two synagogues, four convents, three hospitals, a university, a gymnasium, a public library, and a royal museum. The university was transferred hither from Buda in 1784, and is the only one in Hungary. It has four faculties, and is richly endowed, having a library of 60,000 volumes, a botanic garden, an observatory, &c. The number of regular professors is 43, and the number of students is about 1000; and in the gymnasium, 701. The lectures in the university are generally given in Latin. Pesth is the most populous and most commercial town in Hungary. The Danube affords means of intercourse with a considerable tract of country. There are four annual fairs, which are numerously attended. The manufactures comprise silk, cotton, leather, jewellery, musical instruments, and tobacco.

PESTILENCE. (See Plague, and Spasmodic Cholera.)

PESTUM, or PESTO. (See Pæstum.) PETAL; among botanists, an appellation given to the flower leaves, in opposi tion to the folia, or common leaves.

PETALITE; a mineral first discovered in the mine of Uto, in Sweden, and interesting as having led to the discovery of a new alkali. (See Lithia.) It is possessed of the following properties: massive; fracture splintery and imperfectly conchoidal; lustre resinous; color white, occasionally tinged with red or blue; translucent; tough; hardness the same with that of feldspar; specific gravity, 2.439. It consists of silex 79.21, alumine 17.22, and lithia 5.76. If exposed to a high degree of heat before the blow-pipe, it becomes glassy, semi-transparent and white; but melts with difficulty, and only on the edges. When gently heated, it emits a blue phosphorescent light. This rare substance is found in Massachusetts, at Bolton, in a lime quarry, associated with pyroxene, sphene and scapolite.

PETARD, in the art of war; a metallic engine, somewhat resembling a highcrowned hat, which is loaded with powder. Its use is, in a clandestine attack, to break down gates, bridges, barriers, &c., to which it is hung, by means of a wooden plank attached to it. It is also used in countermines, to break through the enemy's galleries, and give their mines vent.

PETECCHIE. (See Plague.)

PETER I, Alexiewitsch, the Great, czar and emperor of Russia, born at Moscow, May 30 (June 11, new style), 1672, was the eldest child of the czar Alexis Michailowitsch, by his second wife, Natalia Kirilowna, daughter of a Russian boiar. Blessed with a healthy constitution and a vigorous mind, Peter attracted general attention while he was but a child; and Alexis wished to pass by his two elder sons, the sickly Feodor and the feeble Ivan, and appoint Peter his successor. But the ambitious Sophia, daughter of Alexis by his first marriage, prevented the elevation of her half-brother. Feodor III, however, the successor of Alexis (1676–1682), passed over Ivan, and named Peter, yet a minor, his successor. On the death of Feodor, Peter was accordingly proclaimed czar. But Sophia excited a rebellion of the Strelitzes, by the report that Ivan had been put to death by Peter, and that her own destruction was resolved upon. When Ivan afterwards appeared, the Strelitzes exclaimed, "Thou art our czar!" "I will be so," answered the trembling Ivan, "only on condition that my dear brother shall share my throne." Peter was, therefore, crowned with Ivan, June 23, 1682. The Strelitzes again rebelled; but Peter escaped with his mother to a monastery, which protected him from the fury of the insurgents. In the mean time, the cavalry of the czar hastened to his rescue, and overpowered the rebels, thirty of whom were beheaded to prevent future seditions. But Sophia, taking advantage of the weakness of Ivan and the youth of Peter, became constantly more assuming: her name was finally subscribed to the imperial ukases with those of the two czars, and her image was stamped on the reverse of the coins. Peter, meanwhile, was silently developing his manly and warlike spirit. He formed two companies of soldiers from the young men of his own age, in whose ranks he himself served. Their commander was the young Lefort. (q. v.) Sophia considered this amusement as well calculated to remove her brother from state affairs, and heard with pleasure of the excesses in which Peter and his favorites indulged. But the accomplished and enthusiastic Lefort was instilling a large amount of valuable knowledge into the mind of the inquisitive czar, in whom the early instructions of Sotow (an experienced diplomatist), and Francis Timmermann (a German mathematician), and the lessons of his mother, had already laid a solid foundation for the improvement of his mind and the

formation of his character. Sophia herself soon perceived his superior talents, when, in the beginning of 1688, he appeared, for the first time, in the privy council. In 1689, Peter's marriage with Eudoxia Federowna Lapuchin, effected through the influence of his prudent mother, withdrew him from his former orgies, and gave him a new hold on the affections of the people. Sophia, having desired to be present, as regent, at a religious celebration, at which the czars themselves were commonly present, Peter opposed it in vain; and, a few faithful Strelitzes having betrayed to him her intention to assassinate him with his wife, mother, and sister, he took refuge with them in the monastery of Troizkoi. Here he summoned to his aid general Gordon, a Scotchman, who, with all the foreign officers, immediately hastened to Peter. The czar soon found himself surrounded by numerous friends, and Sophia was obliged to take the veil. Peter then made a solemn entry into Moscow, and, in sight of all the people, embraced his brother Ivan, who left all the power in the more able hands of his brother. The first ain of Peter was the formation of a standing army, according to the European tactics. Lefort and Gordon trained the new troops, among whom were a great number of Huguenots, who had fled to Russia, after the repeal of the edict of Nantes. Peter soon saw himself surrounded by 20,000 well disciplined troops, and, at the same time, engaged in forming a naval force. His father, Alexis, desirous to trade with Persia by means of the Caspian sea, had procured a ship to be built by some Dutch shipwrights, which arrived at Astrachan, but was there burned by the Cossacks, and of the crew only two, one of whom was the gunner, Karsten Brand, returned to Moscow. Brand now became Peter's principal ship-builder, and, in 1693, the emperor sailed to Archangel in his own ship, the St. Peter, to purchase clothes for his army. In 1794, he entered Archangel with several Russian vessels, and appointed prince Romanadowski admiral of the fleet. Regarding commerce as of the utmost importance for the civilization of his subjects, he cast his eyes upon the Black and Baltic seas, into which the great rivers of his empire emptied themselves. Being at war with the Porte, he first turned his attention to the outlet of the Don; at this point, he wished to conquer Azoph, to procure an emporium on the Black sea. In July, 1695, he commenced the attack by land, but

soon found it necessary to change the storming to a blockade. In the mean time, he hastened back to Moscow, embraced his dying brother Ivan, and furnished his subjects, who were suffering from the bad crops, with corn from Riga and Dantzic, in Russian ships. At the same time, he collected skilful engineers and artillerists from Austria, Brandenburg and Holland, and introduced greater uniformity into the army, of which the boiar Alexis Semenowitsch was the nominal commander, while Gordon, Lefort and Golowin were in fact its soul. The new shipyard, at Woronesch, on the Don, furnished him, as early as 1696, with a fleet of 23 galleys, two galleasses, and four fire-ships, with which he defeated the Turkish fleet, in sight of Azoph. All relief by sea being now cut off, he pushed the siege with renewed vigor, and in two months (July 29) the Russians entered Azoph. To secure the possession of this key to the Black sea, Peter ordered fifty-five ships of war to be built, and a canal to be constructed connecting the Volga and the Don, and sent a number of the young nobles to Italy and Holland, to learn the art of ship-building, and to Germany to become acquainted with military discipline. After having suppressed (Feb. 2, 1697) a conspiracy of the Strelitzes and several noblemen against his life, in which he displayed much personal courage, he travelled in foreign countries. The affairs of the government, during his absence, were committed to prince Romanadowski and three boiars; and the Strelitzes were dispersed throughout the country, to secure the internal tranquillity of the empire. He set out on his celebrated journey in April, 1697, travelling, not in the character of czar, but as a member of an embassy, which was to visit foreign courts, according to the old Russian custom. Having passed through Esthonia, Livonia (countries then belonging to Sweden), Brandenburg, Hanover and Westphalia, he arrived at Amsterdam, where he worked, incognito, in a Dutch ship-yard. From Amsterdam, he went to the village of Saardam, where he appeared in the dress of his own country, and caused himself to be enrolled among the workmen, under the name of Peter Michaeloff. Here he lived in a little hut for seven weeks, made his own bed, and prepared his own food, corresponded with his ministers at home, and labored at the same time in ship-building. He then returned to Amsterdam, and superintended the building of a ship of war of sixty guns, which he sent to Archangel. Noth

ing passed him unobserved; he caused every thing to be explained to him, and even performed several surgical operations. The petition of the Jews of Holland to be received into his country he refused. He was induced, by his love for the sea, to accept the invitation of king William III to visit London. Here Peter resided in the royal ship-yard, and often declared that, if he were not czar of Russia, he would be an English admiral. He took into his service upwards of 500 personsofficers, engineers, cannoneers, surgeons, &c. He received a doctorate from the university of Oxford, and, after a stay of three months, went through Holland and Dresden to Vienna. But an insurrection of the Strelitzes induced him to hasten home, and he arrived at Moscow Sept 4, 1698. The insurrection had already been suppressed by Gordon; but Peter erected a bloody tribunal; every day of the succeeding month saw the blood of the rebels flow; and as there were the strongest reasons to suspect his sister Sophia of being the author of this disturbance, he caused twenty-eight gibbets to be erected, and 130 of the conspirators to be executed before her monastery; and three of them, who had drawn up a petition to Sophia, were hung before the windows of her cell, with the petitions in their hands. Five hundred were banished; the corps of the Strelitzes was abolished, and the last remains finally became extinct in Astrachan in 1705. It was probably merely from personal dislike that he accused his wife Eudoxia, who was impatient of his amours, of being engaged in the conspiracy. She was banished to Suzdal, where she was obliged to take the veil, under the name of Helen. To reward his faithful adherents, he established the order of St. Andrew, August 30, 1698, which Golowin was the first to receive. The death of his favorite Lefort and of Gordon plunged him into the deepest grief. Menzikoff (q. v.), who rose from obscurity by his talents and activity, now became the favorite of Peter. He supplied the place of the Strelitzes by twenty-seven new regiments of infantry, and two of dragoons (in all 32,029 men), who, within three months, were disciplined and brought into marching order. Nothing but merit and length of services was regarded in the appointment of officers. Peter devoted himself with incessant activity to the internal regulation of his empire, which assumed, by degrees, the appearance of a new creation. The manner of collecting the public taxes was simplified; the Ger

man costume was introduced; beards began to disappear; the numerous retinue of the boiars was diminished; foreign travel was in a manner necessary to secure the prince's favor; printing presses, were set up, and useful works introduced; schools were established in all the large towns; and new ecclesiastical institutions organized. When the patriarch Adrian died, at Moscow, in 1700, the czar left this office, but little inferior in authority to the papal, unfilled. The armistice of two years between Russia and Turkey, stipulated in the peace of Carlovitza, between the Porte and Austria, was prolonged (1700) to thirty years; but, at the same time, war was declared against Sweden. Patkul (q. v.) had now matured the alliance of the czar with Augustus, king of Poland, and no indications of good will on the part of the young Charles XII, of Sweden, could divert Peter from his designs. (See Northern War.) Peter occupied Ingria, and attacked Narva. The young king of Sweden (see Charles XII) flew to its relief, and defeated 38,000 Russians with 8000 Swedes, November, 30, 1700. This defeat did not shake the resolution of Peter. "I know," said he, "that the Swedes will often defeat us, but we are learning. Our turn to conquer will come at last." Fresh troops were immediately assembled, arms were provided, and the victory of the Russians over the Swedes on the Embach (Jan. 1, 1702), laid the first foundation for their future triumphs. Noteburg (which received from Peter the name of Schlusselburg) and Marienburg were taken; among the inhabitants of the latter, who were carried into Russia, was the orphan Catharine. (q. v.) After a triumphal entry into Moscow, and a short delay at Woronez, Peter returned to the theatre of the war on the Baltic, where Menzikoff had been throwing up fortifications for the protection of the new docks, at the influx of the Olonza into lake Ladoga. For the same purpose, on the first of May, Peter took Nyenschantz, a fortress at the mouth of the Neva. Four days after, with thirty small vessels, on board of which he served as captain of bombardiers, he took two Swedish ships of war at the mouth of the same river. To reward him for his services on this occasion, admiral Golowin created him knight of St. Andrew. As Nyenschantz was too far from the sea, and not sufficiently secure, Peter determined to construct a new fort, to protect the mouth of the Neva. He here built a small wooden hut, in the Dutch style,

from which he superintended his new work. May 27, 1703, the foundation of the fortress was laid, which the czar called St. Petersburg. The work was commenced under the direction of an Italian architect, and 20,000 men, from every part of the empire, were soon employed upon it. While engaged in this work, he determined to build a city, which should serve as a commercial emporium, to connect Russia with the rest of Europe. In four months, the fortress of St. Petersburg was completed, and the city was also gradually rising. Many of the workmen, unwilling to undertake the long journey to their homes, settled here, where they were besides welcomed by the czar, as they were serviceable in erecting houses for the rich. Many Swedes, Finns and Livonians, driven from home by war, eagerly hastened to the new city, where they received the land in their own right; so that, in two years (1705), besides VasiliOstrov, where the first private houses were built, the island of St. Petersburg and the admiralty quarter were settled. (See Petersburg.) Under the direction of Menzikoff, the fortress of Cronschlot arose from the sea, at a short distance, for the protection of Petersburg. More than 8000 horses, and as many men, perished in the labor of transporting the materials for building; but in March of the following year, the cannons thundered from the walls of Cronschlot. In the mean time, Austria, Holland and England made every exertion to destroy the alliance of Peter with Augustus of Poland. Charles left his great enemy in the heart of Livonia, and marched to Saxony to compel Peter's ally to abdicate his throne. Peter, on the other hand, commenced his new operations by the destruction of a Swedish flotilla of thirteen ships on lake Peipus. Dorpat, Narva and Ivangorod were captured, and the Swedish army was finally destroyed under the walls of Pultawa (July 8, 1709). The czar, now promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general in the army, and rear-admiral in the fleet, wrote from the field of battle to admiral Apraxin in Petersburg-"Our enemy has experienced the fate of Phaeton, and the foundation of our city on the Neva is, at length, firm." Peter immediately hastened back to his favorite city on the Neva, where he made preparations to connect lake Ladoga with the Wolga, and concluded commercial treaties with France, Italy and the Hanseatic towns. Having celebrated his victory by a triumphal entry into Moscow, and reorganized the army, consisting of 33 regi