Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/771

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PERCY
PEREIRA

He entered the army at an early age, and saw his first active service under Prince Ferdinand in Ger- many. Although he did not approve of the war with the American colonies, he offered his services to the crown, and served in this country in 1775-'(j with the rank of brigadier-general. He led the first brigade of Dutch fusileers to re-enforce the expedition that was sent by Gen. Gage to Lexing- ton on 19 April, 1775, and prevented the destruc- tion of Col. Francis Smith's command, but he per- mitted his troops to plunder the houses by the wayside in their retreat, and wantonly to murder several citizens, afterward officially lending him- self to the falsehood that the Americans " scalped and cut off the ears of the wounded who fell into their hands at Lexington." He pleaded illness before the battle of Bunker Hill, and did not ac- company his regiment to the field. Percy was ordered to make an attack with 2,400 men on Dor- chester in November, 1775, but, perceiving the im- practicability of the plan, halted his command just before the expected action. In November, 1776, he contributed to the reduction of Fort Washington, and led the column that was the first to enter the American lines. He succeeded to the barony of Percy in 1776, returned to England, and became Duke of Northumberland in 1786.


PERCY, William, clergyman, b. in Bedworth, Warwickshire, England, 15 Sept., 1744; d. in Lon- don, 13 July, 1819. He was educated at Oxford, and admitted to holy orders in 1767. He was for a time assistant chaplain at the Lock hospital, and in 1773 was appointed by the somewhat celebrated Lady Huntington one of her chaplains, officiating in Northampton and Tottenham court chapel. The same year Lady Huntington sent him to this country to take charge of Bethesda college, near Savannah, Ga. In 1773 he went to Charleston, S. C, and preached frequently in Baptist and Independ- ent places of worship. At the beginning of the Revolution he took the popular side, delivered a Fourth-of-July address, and officiated in St. Mi- chael's church from 1777 till 1780. The next year he returned to Eilgland and resumed work in the Lady Huntington connection. In 1793 he was ap- pointed minister of Westminster chapel, and in 1798 minister of Queen's square chapel. In 1804 he went back to Charleston, and was assistant in St. Philip's and St. Michael's churches in 1805-'10. He received the degree of D. D. from the College of South Carolina in 1807. He was rector of a new church in Charleston in 1810-'16, and of St. Paul's church. Radcliffeborough in 1816-'19. He returned again to England in 1819, and died after a few days' illness. Dr. Percy's publications were " An Apology for the Episcopal Church, in a Series of Letters on the Nature, Ground, and Foundation of Episcopacy " ; " The Clergyman's and People's Remembrancer," in two parts ; " An Essay on the Ministerial Character " ; and " A Delineation of the True Christian Character " (Charleston. S. C). PEREIRA, Antonio (pay-ri'-e-rah), Brazilian missionary, b. in Maranhao in 1641 ; d. in Parana, 28 Sept., 1702. He entered the Jesuit order in his youth, and became well known as a preacher and theologian. Desiring to undertake missionary works, he studied the language of the Indians, and wrote a grammar and a " Vocabulary of the Brazil- ian Language," which are yet of great value. He then endeavored to convert the tribesof the province of Parana, where he labored for many years with success, but died bv the poisoned arrow of a savage.


PEREIRA, Francisco de Lemos de Faria, Brazilian scientist, b. on the Marapicu plantation, 5 April, 1735; d. in Lisbon, 16 April, 1822, He completed his studies in the University of Coimbra, where in 1754 he was graduated as doctor of divin- ity, and later he was a]jpointed professor and rector of the college of the military corporations. On his return he solicited the place"of dean of Rio Janeiro, but failed, and was appointed by the Marquis of Pombal judge of the military corporations in 1761, and associate judge of the court of appeals in 1762. He became afterward judge in the tribunal of the Inquisition at Lisbon, vicar of Coimbra, and coad- jutor of the bishop. On 14 May. 1770, he was ap- pointed rector of the university there, and member of the board that was charged "with reorganizing it. During his administration fine buildings were erected, including a museum of natural history, laboratories of experimental physics and anatomy, a dispensary, a printing-office, and an astronomical observatory. He also began a botanical garden, and was appointed privy councillor of the king, rector of the reorganized university, and bishop of Zenopolis. Shortly aftei-ward he was made bishop of Coimbra, and received the title of Count of Arganil. When the country was invaded by the French, Marshal Tunot sent a deputation of Portu- guese scientific men to the emperor, of which Pere- ira was obliged to form a part, and he was flatter- ingly received by Napoleon in Bayonne.


PEREIRA, Jose Clemente, Brazilian states- man, b. in Castello ]Iendo. Portugal, 17 Feb., 1787; d. in Rio Janeiro, 10 March, 1854. He was graduated in law at the University of Coimbra, and during the French invasion served in the Anglo- Lusitanian army under Wellington. In 1815 he went to Brazil and was appointed " Tuiz de fora " of the town of Nictheroy. He was elected to the senate, and presided over that body when the Portuguese garrison of Rio Janeiro rebelled, 5 June, 1821. He prevailed on the prince-regent to swear to the constitution that had been adopted by the Portuguese cortes, and to dismiss the ministry of Count dos Arcos, but when they demanded that a junta of nine deputies should be named to super- vise the acts of the regent, Pereira firmly resisted and obtained the abandonment of this measure. In December, 1821, he proposed in the chamber that the prince should be requested to remain in Brazil, and on 9 Jan., 1822, at the head of an immense crowd, he presented the famous petition to the prince to disobey the decree of the cortes that he should leave for Portugal. After the declaration of Ypiranga, Pereira convoked the people of the capital, and on 12 Oct., 1822, the independence of Brazil was declared, and Pedro I. proclaimed em- peror. Immediately afterward Pereira was accused of being a demagogue and anarchist, and after a rapid trial was exiled. He returned to hisado|)ted country on 17 Feb., 1824, and was elected intend- ant-general, and afterward deputy for Rio Janeiro. He entered the cabinet, supplied Rio Janeiro with drinking-water by erecting fountains in different points, improved the orphan asylum, and liuilt at the Praia Vermella a lunatic asylum known as the Hospicio de D. Pedro II.


PEREIRA, Jose Satununo da Costa, Brazilian engineer, b. in Sacramento, 22 Nov., 1773; d. in Rio Janeiro, 9 Jan.. 1852. He was graduated at Coimbra. returned to Rio Janeiro, and when the Academy of mathematical, physical, and natural sciences was founded, 4 Dec, 1814. was appointed a professor, and also wrote several text-books. His brother, Hypolito Jose da Costa Pereira Furtada de Mendon^a, published in England the " Correio Braziliense " after 1807, and kept Pereira secretly informed of the political designs of the Brazilian government, probably with the connivance of the