PERRY 



4589 



PERRY 



Diamonds and Toads, Cinderella, Puss in Boots 

 and many more of our best-loved fairy tales, 

 and so brought them to the knowledge of the 

 literary world. Perrault was bora in Paris, and 

 educated at the College de Beauvais. He 

 studied for the law, but abandoned that pro- 

 fession after a year's practice, to devote him- 

 self to literature. His "Mother Goose" stories 

 were published anonymously in book form in 

 1697, with a dedication signed by his son. Like 

 the Brothers Grimm, of Germany, Perrault 

 made use of the folklore tales that had been 

 passed from generation to generation by word 

 of mouth. An excellent adaptation of the sto- 

 ries, by Andrew Lang, is published under the 

 title Popular Tales. 



PER'RY, Buss (1860- ), an American 

 author, editor and university professor. Since 

 1907 he has occupied the chair of English lit- 

 erature (belles-lettres) at Harvard University, 

 and thus is a successor of Longfellow and of 

 Lowell. He was born at Williamstown, Mass., 

 tin* son of Arthur Latham Perry, an eminent 

 political economist. Bliss Perry was graduated 

 at Williams College in 1881, taking his master's 

 degree there two years later. He studied later 

 .it the universities of Berlin and Strassburg, 

 and has received honorary degrees from Prince- 

 ton and other American institutions. Before 

 he accepted the post at Harvard he was pro- 

 fessor of English at Williams College (1886- 

 1893) and at Princeton University (1893-1900), 

 and for ten years following 1899 he edited the 

 Atlantic Monthly. In 1909-1910 he represented 

 ard at the University of Paris as special 

 lecturer. 



Professor Perry is widely known as general 



dit or <>f tin- Cambridge editions of the poets, 



and as editor of the "Little Masterpieces." His 



writings include Salem Kittrcdge, and Other 



Stones; The Powers at Play (a novel); A 



Study of Prose Fie' 't Whitman; Whit- 



The American Mind; and Thomas Car- 



to Know Him (1915). 



PERRY, M \TTHKW CALBRAITH (1794-1858), 

 an American naval officer who opened the civ- 

 ilization of the world to medieval Japan, was 

 born at Kingston, R. I. His fa' isto- 



i. a "fifrhtinK QIM 

 mother an Irishwoman of brilliant n 



great pains with the education of her i-lnl- 

 iren. Matthew attended private schools, 

 in 1809 enlisted as t n gc, 



ami fhr next year was transferred >cw- 



'/'/. H- !.- :. -. years on I 



viderc, the ship which fired the first hostile shot 



; 



in the War of 1812. In 1813 he was made lieu- 

 tenant and accompanied his brother, Oliver 

 Hazard Perry, when the latter left the Law- 

 rence for the Niagara, in the memorable Battle 

 of Lake Erie. 



Perry made a 

 study of ship hy- 

 giene, the rules 

 he formulated for 

 discipline in his 

 African station 

 being in force for 

 many years. He 

 also wrote a 

 treatise on the 

 prevention of 

 scurvy among 

 sailors, and after 

 studying the 



niiPQtinn nf TP ' ine man wno awoKe a 



que ' sleeping medieval giant which 



MATTHEW C. PERRY 

 The man who awoke 



cnnting, founded developed within fifty years 

 . to be the fifth naval power in 

 the first naval the world. 



apprentice s y s - 



tern. In 1827 he was advanced to the rank 

 of captain. As commander of the Concord in 

 1829, he took John Randolph, envoy to the 

 Czar, to Russia, the Concord being the first 

 United States man-of-war to enter Russian 

 waters. While there, Perry was offered a posi- 

 tion of high rank in the Russian navy, which. 

 however, he declined. He was in command of 

 the Brandywine at Naples, and later served on 

 shore duty in the Brooklyn navy yards. There 

 under his superintendence was built the first 

 steam war vessel of the United States navy, the 

 Fulton II, of which he had command from 1838 

 to 1840; in 1841 he received the rank of com- 

 modore. During the Mexican War he had 

 charge of the American fleet for a time, and in 

 the siege of Vera Cruz his ship's guns made a 

 fifty-foot breach in the walls of the city. 



Perry spent much time in research on naval 

 matters, and was one of the chief educators of 

 the United States navy. It was he who urged 

 the adoption of rams on war vessels. 



In 1853, Perry organized and commanded the 

 expedition to Japan, in its results one of the 

 most notable enterprises in American history. 

 Japan h:<l lived for centuries in isolation, and 

 preferred to continue in medievalism, but by 

 rare diplomacy Perry effected a treaty by whu-li 

 Japan granted trade relations with the United 

 States. Then followed in Japan the most rapid 

 lopmcnt any nation has ever known. 



Consult GrlmV Matthew Catbratth Perry, a 

 Typical American Naval Officer. 



