PERSEVERANCE 



Algol or Beta PerecL The constel- 

 lation also contains a number of 

 other variables and many double 

 stars. On Feb. 22. 1901, a new star 

 suddenly appeared in the constel- 

 lation, and after a short existence 

 faded to a telescopic object. Per- 

 seus is notable for two fine star 

 clusters, N.G.C. 1039 and h Persei. 



Perseverance. Term used in 

 Christian theology to denote the 

 persistency of the Christian life 

 in the believer. The doctrine of the 

 final perseverance of the saints is 

 one of the characteristic features of 

 the theological systems of 8. 

 Augustine and Calvin. It is im- 

 possible, according to this principle, 

 for the true Christian ever to relapse 

 from the faith. According to the 

 teaching of Calvin, as formulated 

 by the synod of Dort, " of this pre- 

 servation of the elect to salvation 

 and of their perseverance in the 

 faith, true befievere do and may 

 obtain assurance whereby they 

 arrive at the certain persuasion 

 that they ever will continue true 

 and living members of the Church." 



This belief is the natural corol- 

 lary of the doctrine of predestina- 

 tion, as set forth by Calvin. If the 

 Christian is a man who has been 

 predestined by God to eternal life, 

 then it is, of course, impossible for 

 him to lose his predestined reward. 

 The doctrine of final perseverance 

 was rejected by the Arminians. 

 John Wesley wrote a tract in 

 which he sought to prove that this 

 belief was not in accord with the 

 teaching of Scripture. He shows 

 that Hebrews vi, 4-6, definitely 

 points the possibility of relapse, 

 as also does 2 Peter ii, 20-21, and 

 that other N.T. passages only 

 promise conditional security, e.g. 

 John xv, 1-6, Romans xi, 20-22. 

 See Calvinism ; Grace. 



Pershing, JOHN JOSEPH (b. 

 1860). American soldier. Of Alsa- 

 tian descent, he was born in Mis- 

 souri, Sept. 13, 1860. Graduating 

 from West Point in 1886, he entered 

 the U.S. army as a lieutenant 

 of the 6th cavalry regiment, seeing 

 service against the Apache and 

 Sioux Indians during the next 

 three years. In 1897 he was ap- 

 pointed instructor in tactics at 

 West Point, and in 1898, having 

 resigned his post, took part in the 

 Spanish- American War, particu- 

 larly in the fighting around Santi- 

 ago. Next he organized the bureau 

 uf insular affairs, war department, 

 Washington. In 1899 he was sent to 

 the Philippines, and with the rank 

 of general had charge of the expe- 

 dition against the Moros of Min- 

 danao in 1902. Appointed military 

 attache at Tokyo, he was in Man- 

 churia with Kuroki's army during 

 the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. 



John Pershing, American soldier 



Russell 



After serving again in the Philip- 

 pines, he was placed in command of 

 the El Paso patrol on the Mexican 

 border, and in 1916 led the punitive 

 expedition sent into Mexico in 

 pursuit of Villa. On the entry of 

 the U.S.A. into the Great War he 

 was made commander-in-chief of 

 the American expeditionary force, 



May 18, 1917, with the rank of 

 lieut. -general, and was in France 

 in the following June at the head 

 of a division. He remained com- 

 mander-in-chief of the American 

 forces on the W. front throughout 

 the war. He was awarded the 

 G.C.B. in 1918, and received the 

 freedom of the city of London in 

 1919. He was promoted full 

 general in the latter year, and in 

 1921 succeeded Peyton March 

 (q.v.) as chief of the staff. On 

 Oct. 17 of that year he laid the 

 Congressional Medal of Honour on 

 the grave of the Unknown British 

 Warrior in Westminster Abbey. 



Per shore. Market town of 

 Worcestershire, England. It stands 

 on the Avon, 113 m. from London 

 and 8 m. from Worcester, with a 

 station on the G.W. Rly. The chief 

 building is the abbey church of the 

 Holy Cross, with a fine tower and 

 an Early English choir. Pershore 

 is in the plum country. Vegetables 

 are also grown. Other industries 

 are the manufacture of agricul- 

 tural machinery and jam. Cattle 

 and horse fairs are held. An abbey 

 was founded at Pershore about 690, 

 and around this the town grew. At 

 one time it sent two members to 

 Parliament. Pop. 4,100. 



PERSIA: IN ANCIENT & MODERN TIMES 



Sirdar Ikbal All Shah, F.R.G.S. 



Further information will be found in the articles on the cities, e.g. 

 Ispahan and Teheran, the mountain ranges, and other physical 

 features of Persia. See the biographies of Cyrus and other rulers ; 

 also Alexander the Great ; Shiites ; Sufism; Xerxes; Zend-Avesta; 

 Zoroastrianism 



In ancient times Persia included 

 the whole of that great tableland 

 enclosed on the S. by the Arabian 

 Sea, on the E. by 

 the Indus valley, 

 on the W. by the 

 Persian Gulf and 

 Mesopotamia, and 

 on the N. by the 

 depression be- 

 tween the Caspian 

 and the Aral Seas. 

 Persian arms The total area 

 of this region is nearly a million 

 sq. m., but modern Persia occupies 

 only some 630,000 sq. m., with a 

 population of about 11,000,000, 



PHYSICAL FEATURES. Almost 

 everywhere the land in this vast 

 upland region is traversed by 

 lofty mountain ranges, which 

 occupy more space than the plateau 

 formation proper, and the plains 

 themselves often stand at a con- 

 siderable elevation above the sea. 

 The Persian tableland as a whole 

 has a mean altitude of 3,000- 

 5,000 ft. Recent observations 

 have confirmed the character of 

 the general conformation of Persia 

 as a " mountainous plateau," and 

 have superseded the old idea 



that it was a great sandy plain 

 surrounded by mountains. But 

 this notwithstanding, we are still 

 rather ignorant of the disposition 

 of the mountain system, especially 

 in the interior of the country, al- 

 though we now know that certain 

 ranges extend for over a hundred 

 miles at mean altitudes of from 

 8,000 to 10,000 ft., in some places 

 rising to 16,000 or 17,000 ft., as in 

 the case of the 

 Kuh- Dinar 

 range, which 

 traverses the 

 W. province 

 of Fars. 



Between 

 the coastal 

 mountain 

 ranges and 



Persian flag ; 



green, white, 



red 



the sea there are few lowland plains 

 except that of Khuzistan at the 

 head of the Persian Gulf, but in 

 the interior extensive level tracts 

 occur between the parallel moun- 

 tain ranges, like those of Ispahan 

 and Shiraz in the W. To the E. and 

 N.E. the country slopes towards the 

 two great depressions of Seistan and 

 Khorassan, where grassy valleys 

 gradually stretch to sandy wastes 



