312 PERKY PERSEPOLIS became in 1854 professor of history and politi- cal economy there. He is an advocate of free trade, and has published "Elements of Polit- ical Economy " (New York, 1865). PERRY. I. Christopher Raymond, an American naval officer, born at South Kingston, R. I., in 1761, died in Newport, June 8, 1818. He was a sailor from his early boyhood, served in pri- vateers during the revolutionary war, and was for several months imprisoned in the Jersey prison ship. On the declaration of peace he entered the merchant service; but when trou- bles with France appeared imminent he was appointed post captain in the regular navy (June, 1798), and served until the reduction of the naval forces in the early part of 1801, when he was appointed collector of Newport. He married in 1784 Sarah Alexander ; and of the large family descended from these parents almost every male member has served with distinction in the navy. II. Oliver Hazard, an American naval officer, son of the preceding, born in Newport in August, 1785, died at Port Spain, island of Trinidad, August 23, 1819. He entered the navy as a midshipman in 1799, and was first in active service under the command of his father in the frigate Gen- eral Greene, 28, which performed an active and important cruise on the West India station during 1799 and 1800. In 1807 he was pro- moted to the rank of lieutenant, and in 1809 was in command of the schooner Revenge, 14, and cruised actively on the coast of the United States until January, 1811, when the Revenge was wrecked upon Watch Hill reef near Sto- nington, Conn. A court of inquiry acquitted Lieut. Perry of all blame. At the opening of the war of 1812 he was in command of a divi- sion of gunboats at Newport, and in February, 1813, he was transferred at his own request, with a portion of his officers and men, to the command of Commodore Isaac Chauncey on the lakes. In March he was ordered by Com- modore Chauncey to superintend the equip- ment of a naval force on Lake Erie, and while thus employed at the port of Presque Isle (now Erie), he was called away to aid in an attack on Fort George. He cooperated ably with the army in that affair, at the head of a body of seamen. In August Perry, taking advantage of the momentary absence of the British squad- ron which had been watching him, succeeded in getting the force which he had equipped out of the port by lifting the larger vessels on " camels," and, though very deficient in officers and men, and imperfectly prepared, brought the British squadron to an engagement on Sept. 10, which resulted in the complete success of the American arms. (See ERIE, BATTLE OF LAKE.) After this he cooperated with the ariny of Gen. Harrison by assisting in regaining pos- session of Detroit, in transporting troops, and serving at the battle of the Moravian Towns. At the close of the operations of 1813 he gave up his command. Congress voted him a gold medal, and he was promoted to the rank of captain, his commission being dated Sept. 10, 1813. In August, 1814, he was appointed to the Java, 44, a new frigate under equipment at Baltimore ; but as the Chesapeake was closely blockaded, it was impossible to get her to sea, and Perry, with his officers and men, was ac- tively employed in annoying the British squad- ron in their descent of the Potomac from Alex- andria, and in the defence of Baltimore. In March, 1819, he was appointed to the com- mand of a squadron for the coast of Colombia, sailed on June 7, and in July ascended the Orinoco to Angostura. On leaving the river he was seized with yellow fever, which termi- nated fatally the day his vessel arrived at Port Spain. A few years later his remains were transferred to his native place. In September, 1860, a marble statue by Walcutt was erected, with imposing ceremonies, at Cleveland, Ohio, to the memory of Commodore Perry. III. Matthew Calbraith, an officer of the United States navy, brother of the preceding, born at South Kingston, R. I., in 1795, died in New York, March 4, 1858. He entered the navy as a mid- shipman in 1809, served under Commodores Rodgers and Decatur, attained the rank of cap- tain in 1837, and afterward commanded the navy yard at Brooklyn, the squadron on the coast of Africa, and during the Mexican war the squadron in the gulf of Mexico. In March, 1852, he was appointed to the command of the Japan expedition, which resulted in the impor- tant treaty of 1854 with that country. See "Report of Perry's Expedition to Japan," pub- lished by the government (3 vols. 4to, Wash- ington, 1856). PERSANO, Carlo Pelion, count, an Italian ad- miral, born in Vercelli, March 11, 1806. He entered the navy in 1824, commanded a squad- ron in the war of 1859, and in 1860 became vice admiral and a member of parliament. In 1862, while minister of marine under Rattazzi, he received the full rank of admiral. In 1865 he was made a senator, and in May, 1866, shortly before the outbreak of the war with Austria, commander -in-chief of the Italian navy. He had 34 vessels, while the Austrians had less than half as many ; but he remained inactive at Ancona until urged to open hostili- ties, and then he moved only against the Aus- trian island of Lissa, on the Dalmatian coast, which was strongly fortified and almost im- pregnable. Despite his numerical superiority, he was defeated by Tegetthoff in his attempt to take the island (July 20), and was arrest- ed and impeached for treason, cowardice, dis- obedience, and incompetency. The last two charges being sustained by large majorities (April, 1867), he was sentenced to pay the cost of the trial and to lose his rank as admiral. PERSEPHONE. See PEOSEEPINE. PERSEPOLIS (Gr., "city of the Persians;" Pers. Istakhr), one of the ancient capitals of Persia. It stood 35 m. N. E. of Shiraz, on a spacious plain now called Merdasht, near the confluence of the Medus and the Araxes (now
