PEA PEACH. 



445 



PEA (pisum sativum). The native country of the 

 pea is unknown, but it is commonly referred to the 

 south of Europe. It has been cultivated from remote 

 antiquity, and is now universally diffused, and forms 

 one of the most valuable of culinary plants. It 

 belongs to the natural family leguminosae. The root 

 is annual ; the stem herbaceous, divided often from 

 the base into several cylindrical weak branches, 

 trailing upon the ground, unless support is afforded ; 

 the leaves are pinnate, provided at base with large 

 stipules, and terminated with tendrils; the flowers 

 are axillary, usually disposed in clusters upon a 

 common peduncle, and of a whitish, or, sometimes, 

 reddish or purple colour; they are succeeded by 

 oblong and almost cylindrical pods. The varieties 

 which have been produced by cultivation are very 

 numerous, and differ in the colour of their flowers, 

 their number, and that of the seeds, the time of 

 ripening, and in stature, some being low plants of a 

 few inches, and others attaining the height of ten 

 or twelve feet. Some varieties have pods destitute 

 of the coriaceous inner film, which admits of their 

 being boiled entire, and served up in the same 

 manner as kidney-beans. Peas are nutritious, and, 

 especially when green, form an agreeable article of 

 food to most persons. When ripe they are used for 

 soup, and are prepared by freeing them from the 

 husks, and splitting them in mills constructed for 

 the purpose. They are sometimes ground into flour, 

 which is mixed with that from wheat by bakers, but 

 the bread is rendered heavy and unwholesome. 

 With rye-flour, however, in the proportion of one 

 fourth, they are said to afford a palatable and nour- 

 ishing bread. Green peas are among the earliest 

 products of the garden, and a succession may be 

 kept up throughout the season by sowing at dif- 

 ferent periods of time. A second species, the pisum 

 maritimum, grows wild on the sea-shore. It resem- 

 bles in form the preceding, and has large reddish 

 or purple flowers, disposed in racemes. The seeds 

 are bitter and disagreeable, though it is said they 

 have been collected for food in times of scarcity. 



PEACE, JUSTICE OF THE. See Justice of the 

 Peace. 



PEACE, PERPETUAL. St Pierre was the first who 

 proposed a formal plan for perpetual peace, which 

 Rousseau afterwards made known. The almost ver- 

 bal coincidence of St Pierre's articles for his inter- 

 national league with the articles of the act of the G er- 

 manic confederation is very remarkable. (See Henry 

 IV.) This subject has subsequently been brought 

 forward by Kant, among others, in his treatise Zum 

 ewigen Frieden (For Perpetual Peace). The general 

 means proposed for producing perpetual peace were 

 sometimes the balance of power, sometimes a uni- 

 versal monarchy, and sometimes a general inter- 

 national union, or league of states, adjusting all 

 their disputes by amicable arbitration by means of a 

 permanent congress, as the highest tribunal of the 

 nations. But all these means are necessarily imper- 

 fect. The idea of promoting the cause of perma- 

 nent peace by societies expressly organized for that 

 purpose, was agitated in this country before the late 

 war with England ; but it was not till after the close 

 of the war that the first peace society in the world 

 was formed in New York, in August, 1815. In the 

 subsequent year, a peace society was formed in 

 London. In France, a society with similar views 

 was formed in 1821, under the sanction of govern- 

 ment, enumerating among its members men of high 

 rank and character. The object of these societies 

 is to effect the abolition of war by the diffusion of 

 intelligence and knowledge; but their efforts, as 

 yet, have been confined to the distribution of a few 

 tracts. 



PEACE, RELIGIOUS (German, Religions friede). 

 There are two treaties of peace in German history 

 bearing this name, both in the time of the reforma- 

 tion ; one concluded July 22, 1532, and called the 

 religious peace of Nuremberg ; the other concluded 

 September 26, 1555, and called the religious peace 

 of Augsburg. By the first, the emperor Charles V. 

 promised to convoke a great council to settle all 

 religious differences, until which all hostilities should 

 be suspended ; and, if a council should not be con- 

 voked, a new compromise was to be made between 

 the Protestants and Catholics. But, respecting the 

 claims of the Protestants, particularly as to the free 

 and public exercise of their religion, the imperial 

 commissioners were unwilling to promise any thing 

 definite. The Protestants placed themselves, by 

 this peace, in a disadvantageous position. The 

 second peace produced something like a settlement 

 between the two religious parties, after a long 

 period of war and suffering. Ferdinand declared, 

 in the name of his brother the emperor, at Augs- 

 burg, that little good could be expected from a 

 national council, and that it was much better to 

 think of establishing peace in the empire without 

 attempting to reconcile jarring religious opinions. 

 Peace was finally concluded on the terms that no 

 member of the empire should be attacked on account 

 of his religion, but should be left in quiet possession 

 of his land, subjects, property, mode of worship, &c.; 

 religious disputes should be settled only by amicable 

 means; people should be allowed to change their 

 residence on account of religion, &c. Two points 

 only furnished subjects of an obstinate dispute for 

 six months. The Protestants demanded that the 

 ecclesiastical members of the empire, the bishops, 

 abbots, &c., should be at liberty to become Protes- 

 tants, which the Catholics would agree to only on 

 condition that every clergyman becoming a Protes- 

 tant should, ipso jure et facto, lose his office and 

 authority ; but the Protestants demanded that the 

 converted bishops should continue in authority over 

 wealthy countries. The two parties could not 

 agree, and the emperor at last decided, as was 

 customary. This point is called the reservatum ec- 

 clesiasticum. The emperor decided that every 

 bishop, prelate, &c., becoming Protestant, should 

 lose his office and income, but without injury to his 

 honour and dignity. The second point was, whether 

 Protestants under Catholic governments should be 

 allowed to enjoy the free exercise of their religion. 

 Ferdinand decided that they should until a final 

 religious compromise ; and thus peace was con- 

 cluded without the necessary basis, free exercise of 

 religion. An opening was thus left for many bloody 

 wars. 



PEACE RIVER. See Mackenzie's River. 



PEACH. This is, perhaps, the most exquisite of 

 the fruits of temperate climates, and, if not eaten to 

 excess, one of the most wholesome. The tree is of 

 middling- stature, but varies, in this respect, accord- 

 ing to soil and climate. It belongs to the natural 

 family rosacea:. The leaves are alternate, simple, 

 lanceolate, acute, and finely serrated. The flowers 

 appear before the leaves, are very beautiful, and 

 diffuse an agreeable odour. The fruit is a large 

 downy drupe, containing a stone which is deeply 

 furrowed and rough externally, which character dis- 

 tinguishes it from both the almond and apricot. 

 The peach tree is known to botanists under the 

 name of amygdalus Persica, or, more recently, 

 Persica vulgaris, and is supposed to have been 

 introduced into Europe from Persia. It was first 

 introduced into England about the year 1562. The 

 varieties are very numerous, differing in size, flavour, 

 and time of ripe'ning ; but they are principally of 



