705 



PEARSON, EDWARD, D.D. 



PECK, FRANCIS. 



706 



wards resigned. He wished also to resign his bishopric, that he might 

 complete certain literary labours in which he was engaged, and hare, 

 as he expressed it, some interval of repose between the business of 

 life and eternity. Such a resignation was a novelty however, and 

 difficulties having been suggested, the king, Geor.e III., intimated 

 per.-onally to the bishop that it must not be thought of. He died at 

 Little Ealinj, January 29, 1774. 



Passing over single sermons, or small tracts, of which Bishop Pearce 

 was the author, he published, after his edition of Cicero's ' Orator,' an 

 edition of Longinus, with a new Latin version ; a Review of the Text 

 of 'Paradise Lost;' and the 'Miracles of Jesus Vindicated;' but the 

 theological work by which he is best known, and which is a valuable 

 addition to biblical literature, was not published till after his death, 

 when it appeared with the title of 'A Commentary, with Notes, on the 

 Four Evangelists and the Acts of the Apostles, together with a new 

 translation of St. Paul s First Epistle to the Corinthians,' 2 vols. 4to, 

 1777. There are also four volumes of Sermons on various subjects by 

 him, another posthumous work, published in 1778. An account of his 

 life is prefixed to the ' Commentary.' 



PEARSON, EDWARD, D.D., was born about 1760, at Ipswich, 

 and educated at Cambridge, where he was for awhile fellow and tutor 

 of Sidney College, and afterwards master, and elected the Christian 

 advocate in 1809. He was also appointed rector of Reinpston in 

 Nottinghamshire. Beside numerous single sermons preached by him 

 on public occasions, Dr. Pearson was the author of a volume of 

 thirteen Sermons addressed to Academic Youth, delivered in St. Mary's 

 Church, Cambridge. He published also ft ' Collection of Prayers for 

 the use of Families,' and various tracts in divii.ity not professedly 

 controversial. But his fame chiefly rests on his controversial writings 

 against antagonists of two very opposite descriptions. There are two 

 treatises of his against those who adopt Ur. Paley's views on the 

 general theory of moral obligation, and those who follow him in some 

 of the practical conclusions to which that c- lebrated divine and moralist 

 conducts his readers. These treatises excited, when first published, 

 great attention, and well deserve to be read by all in connection with 

 the treati-e on ' Moral and Political Philosophy ' to which they relate. 

 On the other side, Dr. Pearton was among the firt to sound an alarm 

 respecting the danger to which the church was exposed by the spread 

 in it of Calvinistic views of the Christian doctrine. On this subject 

 he published various tracts at the beginning of the present century, 

 several of which were expressly directed against Mr. Simeon, who was 

 the great maintainer of Calvinism in the university to which Dr. 

 Pearson belonged. In fact, he stood forth the champion of the 

 Arminian clergy in the church, and the champion at the same time of 

 the church itself against whatever seemed to threaten its integrity and 

 its perpetuity. 



It seems unnecessary to give the titles of a long list of writings in 

 divinity ; but it may be useful to say that a complete list, arranged 

 chronologically, may be seeii in the ' Gentleman's Magazine' for 1811, 

 where it is alto said of him that be was a good man, of gentle and 

 benevolent manners, kind and charitable, easy and pleasant in conver- 

 sation, modest, unassuming, much respected, and beloved. He died on 

 August 17, 1811. 



PEARSON, JOHN, a prelate of the Church of England, and the 

 author of 'An Exposition of the Creed,' a work which, having been 

 greatly used up to the present time as a kind of text-book in the 

 examination of candidates in divinity, lias maintained a high celebrity, 

 and been several times reprinted. He was born in 1613 iu the village 

 of Snoring. Norfolk, of which his father was rector, and was educated 

 at Eton, from whence he went to Cambridge, and took holy order* in 

 1639, on the eve of the civil wars. Lord-Keeper Finch appointed him 

 his chaplain, and presented him to the living of Torrington, in Suffolk. 

 But the chief scene of his labours as a parochial minister was in 

 London, where be had the living of Saint Clement, Eastcheap, and it 

 was to the inhabitants of that parish that the lectures were delivered 

 which afterwards formed his celebrated ' Exposition,' and to them that 

 work when so published was dedicated. The first edition was in 1658, 

 and in the same year he published the works of Hales of Eton, giving 

 to them the title of ' Golden Remains of the ever-memorable John 

 Hales.' 



On the Restoration a proper regard was had for Pearson's eminent 

 merits as a rational divine and diligent preacher. He was created 

 doctor of divinity by the king's mandamus, made a prebendary of Ely, 

 archdeacon of Surrey, and finally master of Jesus College, Cambridge. 

 All this was accomplished before the end of the year 1660, in which 

 the king was restored. In 1661 he was appointed Lady Margaret's 

 professor of divinity, and in 1662 master of Trinity College, Cambridge. 

 In 1672 he succeeded Wilkins in the bishopric of Chester. He died 

 at Chester July 16, 16S6. 



The ' Expo-ition of the Creed" is the work by which Bishop Pearson 

 is chiefly remembered, which has not only been reprinted, but abridged 

 by various persons. Besides this work he is the author of a ' Vindi- 

 cation of the Epirtles of St. Ignatius,' and of ' Dissertations on the 

 liise and Succession of the early Bishops of Rome.' Tlie last was a 

 poftthurnoiM publication, which also contains the ' Annales Pauliui,' a 

 critical dissertation on the seiies of events in the life of St. Paul. 



1'E'CCHIO, GIUSEPPE, was born at Milan in 1785, studied* in the 

 college of Somaschi under the well-known Father Soavc, and after 

 0. DIV. VOL. IV. 



wards proceeded to Pavia to study the law. After taking his degree 

 in that university he returned to Milan, and in 1810 was appointed 

 assistant counsellor of state for the departments of finances and the 

 interior of the kingdom ot Italy. In 1814 he lost his situation, in 

 consequence of the Austrian occupation of Lombardy, a circumstance 

 which gave occasion to his work entitled 'Saggio Storico sulla Ammi- 

 nistrazione Finanziera dell' ex-Regno d'ltalia dal 1802 al 1814,' which 

 is a useful book of reference for the history and statistics of that 

 kingdom. In 1819 he was appointed deputy to the Congregazione, or 

 provincial assembly of Milan. In 1821, being seriously implicated in 

 the attempt at an insurrection against the Austrian government, he 

 was obliged to emigrate. He first went to Switzerland, and from that 

 country to Spain, which was then making a second experiment of a 

 constitutional government. Pecchio had thus an opportunity of 

 observing the national character an-i the spirit of the various political 

 parties. His observations on Spain are in the shape of letters, and 

 were published under the following title : 'SeiMesiiu Ispagna nel 

 1821.' In 1822 he proceeded to Portugal, where the same passions 

 and parties were at work, and he likewise recorded the impressions 

 which he received in that country in another series of letters 

 ' Lettere a Lady G. 0. dal Portogallo.' Returning to Spain, he visited 

 the southern provinces of that kingdom, and was at Cadiz at the fall 

 of the constitutional government in the summer of 1823. He then 

 embarked at Cadiz for England, where he met several Italian friends 

 and brother emigrants. In 1825 he was appointed, together with 

 Count Gamba, by the Philhellenic committee to convey to Greece the 

 sum of 60.000A, the fruits of a loan made for the Greeks. Having 

 executed his commission at Nauplia, Pecchio visited Smyrna, whence 

 he embarked for England. In his short stay in the Levant, Pecchio 

 found time to make and record his observations, as he had done in 

 Spain and Portugal. That was a critical period for the Greek cause, 

 as the Egyptians under Ibrahim were carrying everything before 

 them in the Morea. Pecchio's account of the affairs of Greece was 

 published in English, with that of other contemporary travellers : 

 'A Picture of Greece in 1825, as exhibited iu the Narratives of James 

 Enimerson, Joseph Pecchio, and W. H. Humphreys,' 2 vols. Svo. The 

 book was translated into French and German. Pecchio's account was 

 afterwards published feparately in the original Italian : ' Relazione 

 degli Avvenimenti della Grecia.' 



On his return to England, towards the end of 1825, Pecchio 

 repaired to Nottingham, where he gave lessons in the modern lan- 

 guages, and he afterwards removed to an academy at York in the 

 same capacity. Towards the end of 1828 he married an English lady 

 of property, and went to reside with her at Brighton. He rcmaiucd 

 for seven or eight years in Brighton, where he wrote several works, in 

 which he embodied hi- remarks upon England and the English. Those 

 remarks are expressed in a spirit of fairness and discrimination rarely 

 found iu the accounts of England by foreign writers. He died at 

 Brighton, in June 1835. 



Besides the works already mentioned, Pecchio wrote 1. 'Osserva- 

 zioni semi-serie di un E-ule sull' Inghilterra,' being a series of sketches 

 of English habits and manners, each sketch forming a separate chap- 

 ter, and showing the shadows as well as the lights of English life. 

 The sketches are true, humorous, and interesting. Many things 

 strike a foreigner which appear commonplace to a native ; but even a 

 native may learn from Pecchio's book to form a more just estimate of 

 bis own country. In a chapter entitled ' England the Refuge of the 

 Oppressed,' he describes with much humour the curious mixture of 

 emigrants of all countries whom he saw in London in 1823. 2. 'Stori.i 

 della Economia pubblica in Italia,' Svo, Lugano, 1829. This is perhaps 

 the most important of Pecchio's works. A collection of the Italian 

 economists was made by Custodi, which fills about fifty volumes. 

 Pecchio has taken the principal of those writers in order of time, and 

 has given a short but clear abstract of the works of each. He has 

 added, first, an introduction on the progress of political knowledge in 

 Italy ; second, at the end of the work a comparison between the 

 English and the Italian writers on political economy ; and third, a 

 statement of the improvements effected in the various Italian states 

 during the 18th century in consequence of the writings of the econo- 

 mists. 3. ' Una Elezione di Membri del I'arlameuto in Inghilterra,' 

 in which he describes a contested election at Nottingham in 1826. 

 Like all Pecchio's sketches it is true, vivid, and entertaining. 4. ' Vita 

 di Ugo Foscolo.' 5. 'Storia Critica della Poesia luglese,' 4 vols. 12mo, 

 1834, which he left unfinished ; besides other minor works, which ars 

 noticed in his biography by Ugoni. 



PECK, FRANCIS, a learned and industrious antiquary, was born at 

 Stamford in Lincolnshire, May 4, 1692 ; and was educated iu bis 

 native town. He afterwards went to Trinity College, Cambridge, 

 where he took the degree of B.A. in 1715, and M.A. in 1727. In 

 1723 he was presented to the rectory of Godeby Maureward in 

 Leicestershire ; and in 1736 he received a prebendal stall in tho 

 cathedral of Lincoln. His principal works were: 1,'The Anti- 

 quarian Annals of Stamford, in Lincoln, Rutland, and Northampton 

 Shires,' foL, Londou, 1727. 2, 'Desiderata Curiosa," the first volume 

 of which was printed iu folio, London, 1732, followed by the second 

 in 1735, both reprinted in 4to in 1779. 3, ' A ( atalogue of all the 

 Discourses written both for and against Popery in the time of King 

 James II.,' 4to, London, 1735. 4, 'New Memoirs of the Life and 



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