PEDAGOGUE PEER. 



449 



ait or trade, that, if they gained a certain sum, they 

 should be allowed to purchase their freedom with 

 it ; and such contracts were supported by law. 

 The property of children who were still under the 

 power of their father, was also called peculium ; and 

 in this, too, the earlier severity of the Roman law 

 gradually gave place to milder provisions. What- 

 ever the children received from their father (peculium 

 profectitium) was the father's property, and might be 

 at any time resumed by him ; but the children had 

 the use and management of it. What the children 

 received from others, as presents, &c. (peculium ad- 

 ventitium), was, in a peculiar sense, their own ; but 

 the father had the disposition and use of it, unless an 

 express condition had been made to the contrary, 

 (peculium, adventitium irregulare). Every thing was 

 free from this jurisdiction of the father which the son 

 obtained in war, or for warlike uses (peculium cas- 

 trense), or in the service of the state (peculium quasi 

 castrense). 



PEDAGOGUE, with the Romans and Greeks; a 

 slave, who carried the children of his master to 

 school. Since slaves and freedmen often made at- 

 tainments in science, they were frequently used as 

 tutors ; and the Greek word pedagogue thus came, 

 at a later period, to signify a teacher of children. In 

 English, the idea of pedantry is generally connected 

 with it ; but the Germans use the word for any man 

 who studies and practises scientifically the education 

 of the young. There is no corresponding 1 word in 

 English, the words instructer, or teacher, which are 

 commonly used, not implying necessarily that he who 

 teaches is scientifically trained. By pedagogics the 

 Germans designate the science of education so much 

 cultivated by them. This was first treated as a 

 separate branch by the Greeks and Romans, among 

 whom Plato, Aristotle, Xenophon, Plutarch, and 

 Quintilian, became the teachers of future instructers. 

 In the middle ages, school instruction was confined 

 to the convents, to which all remnants of civilization 

 had fled. The science of education after that made 

 but slow advances, until the reformation broke down 

 so many of the obstacles to human progress. The 

 Germans, British, and French, have, of late, contri- 

 buted most to the advancement of this science. 



PEDAL HARP. See Harp. 



PEDALS ; the keys played by the feet (hence the 

 name), by which the deepest bass pipes of an organ 

 are put in motion. They generally do not much 

 exceed an octave. (See Organ). Long since the 

 pedal was used under a harpsichord, and lately it 

 has been employed to strengthen the tones of the 

 piano. In the case of the harp, the pedal serves to 

 elevate the notes half a tone. 



PEDEE ; two rivers of South Carolina, the larger 

 called the Great Pedee, and the smaller the Little 

 Pedce. The Great Pedee rises in South Carolina, 

 where it is called the Yadkin, and runs south-south- 

 east into Winyaw bay, near Georgetown, and com- 

 municates with the Atlantic, twelve miles below 

 Georgetown. It is navigable for boats of sixty or 

 seventy tons about 200 miles. The Little Pedee 

 rises in North Carolina, and unites with the Great 

 Pedee, thirty-two miles above its mouth. 



PEDELL (Low Latin bedellus, from the Saxon 

 bidele); the German name for certain inferior execu- 

 tive officers, now only used for such as are attached 

 to German universities. The origin of the English 

 word beadle is the same. The pedell is constantly 

 at war with the students, and is therefore quite a 

 classical person in the reminiscences of Gfrman col- 

 lege life. 



PEDESTAL. See Architecture. 



PEDIMENT. See Architecture. 



PEDOBAPTISTS. See Baptists. 



PEDRO I., ANTors'io JOSE D' ALCANTARA, dom, ex- 

 emperor of Brazil, son of John VI., king of Portu- 

 gal, and elder brother of dom Miguel, was born at 

 Lisbon, October 12th, 1798, and, in 1808, was taken, 

 with the rest of the royal family, to Brazil. At an 

 early age, he conceived a strong predilection for 

 music, for which he showed a decided talent. He 

 not only learned to play on a variety of instruments, 

 but composed much of the music for his father's 

 chapel, and also wrote and set to music one of the 

 most popular Brazilian songs. On the return of his 

 father to Portugal in 1821, dom Pedro remained in 

 Brazil, as prince-regent ; but, in the next year, Bra- 

 zil declared itself independent, and the prince as- 

 sumed the title of emperor. The history of this 

 revolution, and of the reign of Pedro, will be found 

 in the articles Brazil, and Banda Oriental. His 

 imperial title was acknowledged, in 1825, by John 

 VI., who, dying in 1826, also left him the crown of 

 Portugal. The emperor, however, after granting a 

 constitution to Portugal, resigned the crown to his 

 daughter, donna Maria (born in 1819), and appointed 

 his sister regent of Portugal. (See Portugal.) Pe- 

 dro married, in 1817, Leopoldine, arch-duchess of 

 Austria, daughter of the emperor Francis I., by 

 whom he had five children, among whom were the 

 princess donna Maria and dom Pedro II., late 

 emperor of Brazil (born 1825). She died in 1820, a 

 reputed victim of his attachment for the marchioness 

 of Santos, to whom, also, it is said, was owing a 

 change of ministry which took place at about that 

 time. His second wife (whom he married in 1829) 

 was Amelia, princess of Leuchtenberg (born 1812). 

 An account of the events which led to Pedro's abdi- 

 cation of the crown of Brazil, in favour of his son 

 dom Pedro II., will be found under the article Bra- 

 zil. He embarked on board an English ship of war 

 for Europe, in the spring of 1831, and arrived in 

 France in June. Operations immediately com- 

 menced for displacing his brother, dom Miguel, 

 from the throne of Portugal, and establishing donna 

 Maria as queen, under a regency. The history of 

 the unhappy contest for supremacy, which followed be- 

 tween the two brothers, will be found under the article 

 Portugal. Dom Pedro's death took place in 1834. 



PEER (from pares, in French pairs'), in general, 

 signifies an equal ; one of the same rank and sta- 

 tion. In this sense it is used by the common law of 

 England, which declares that every person is to be 

 tried by his peers. (See Jury.) Peer also signifies 

 a nobleman in Britain ; in France, it signifies those 

 nobles who have a seat in the upper house. In the 

 article Britain, division Constitution, we have spoken 

 of the power of the house of peers of Britain. In 

 the article Parliament, we have touched upon the 

 forms of transacting business in the house of lords 

 In the article Legislature, Houses of, additional re- 

 marks on this house may be found. We shall here 

 say a few words on the history and privileges of the 

 peerage. 



The dignity and privileges of peers (pares curias, 

 pares regni) originated with the growth of the feu- 

 dal system. The members of communities in an- 

 cient times, the companions of the Herzoge (dukes), 

 the assemblies of the chief men among the people 

 (the fPittenagemote of the Anglo-Saxons, and the 

 campus Martins of the Franks), are not the same as 

 the peers of later times. But in the feudal system, 

 the principle was developed, that every association 

 should take care of its own affairs, including the ju- 

 dicial decision of disputes among themselves and 

 with their superiors ; and it became an obligation as 

 well as a privilege of the vassal to appear at the 

 court of the immediate lord, on days of state and of 

 the administration of justice. These were the pare* 



