Although he was illiterate, ill-dressed, a poor speaker and a poor manager, and although all his undertakings resulted in practical failure, he aroused the admiration of Europe and called forth a host of disciples, who to the present day have carried out the principles of their master with the greatest enthusiasm. Pestalozzi was totally unable to cope with the world, but he awoke the minds of men to a sense of their responsibility to childhood and ushered in the 19th century as the educational age par excellence. He first sought to carry out his theories by collecting a number of orphans and outcast children upon a farm in Aargau to educate them by blending industrial, mental and moral training; but on account of faulty domestic economy this enterprise failed and was abandoned after a five years’ struggle. Soon after this he published Evening Hours of a Hermit. In this work he developed the following principles as the basis of education: In educating man seek first of all to know him. (2) The method whereby to educate anyone should be founded upon his own nature. (3) In his nature are hidden the forces that will draw out his faculties; therefore exercise them. (4) It is exercise that connects the wants of our nature with the objects that satisfy those wants; everyone’s education should answer to his own needs and the inner call of the soul. In later years Pestalozzi published How Gertrude Educates Her Children, the recognized exposition of Pestalozzian method. It sets forth that the education and development of human nature should be in harmony with natural laws; that in order to teach well we should study the processes of nature in man and its particular processes in individuals; and that observation, a spontaneous perception of things, is the method by which all objects of knowledge are brought home to us. This affirmation contains the essence of the whole theory of institutional education. In 1805 Pestalozzi moved his school from Berthond to Yverdon (Ifferten), which drew upon him the eyes of all Europe; but the same incapacity in practical affairs that had caused the failure of all his other schemes showed itself here, and in 1825 this school was closed, and Pestalozzi withdrew to Brugg, where he lived, an object of mingled pity and respect, until his death on Feb. 17, 1827.
Pesth or, rather, Budapest, is the capital of Hungary and, next to Vienna, the second city in Austria-Hungary. Pesth stands on the left, Buda on the right, bank of the Danube, 170 miles from Vienna, and since 1873 the two have been one municipality. The towns are connected by chain bridges and a railway bridge. Buda is much the older town, Pesth being an essentially, modern place — the growth of the 19th century principally. It has many fine streets and squares, and the buildings are noted for their large size and substantial appearance. Among them may be mentioned the Jewish synagogue, the parish church, the national museum and the parliament house. While Pesth stands on a plain, Buda is built on small, steep hills, and is backed by vine-clad slopes. Population of both towns 880,371. See Budapest.
Pet′als, the individual parts of the corolla or inner set of floral leaves. The petals are usually the showy members of a flower, their size, delicacy of texture and color giving it its character. See Flower.
Petard (pē-tärd′), an instrument for blowing open the gates of a fortress or demolishing palisades. It consisted of an iron or wooden case filled with powder and ball; this was firmly fastened to a plank provided with hooks, by which it was securely attached to a gate. The petard, which was lighted by a slow match, has been superseded by powder-bags.
Pe′ter the Her′mit, the apostle of the first crusade for the recovery of Jerusalem from the Mohammedans,was born at Amiens, France, about 1050. After serving as a soldier he became a monk, and is said to have made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land before 1094, when he began the preaching that started so many thousands on the famous march to Jerusalem. A portion of the first army was led by Peter himself, but at the siege of Antioch he attempted to desert, and, when several miles on his way home, was brought back by the soldiers of Tancred to receive a public reprimand. When Jerusalem was taken by the crusaders in 1099, Peter preached a sermon on the Mount of Olives. At the end of the crusade he returned to Europe and founded a monastery at Huy in Belgium, where he died on July 11, 1115.
Peter the Great (Peter Alexeievitch, emperor of Russia), was born at Moscow, June
PETER THE GREAT
11, 1672. His father died in 1676, leaving the kingdom to his oldest son, Feodor, Peter’s half-brother. Feodor died in 1682, without issue, after naming Peter as his successor to the exclusion of Ivan, his own full brother, who was weak-minded. This however, provoked an insurrection of the strelzi or militia, under the leadership of Ivan’s sister, who thereby succeeded in obtaining the coronation of Ivan and Peter as joint rulers, with herself as regent. Im-
