440 
PEA 
Lincolnlliire ; fo called from' Pcga, a devout woman, 
who founded a cell in 714., which was converted into a 
inonaftery by Edmund Atheling, and afterwards deftroyed 
by the Danes : fix miles north of Peterborough. 
PEAKS OF OTTER, the higlieft part of the moun¬ 
tain, called Blue Ridge, in the weft part of Virginia, 
about 4.000 feet above the level of the fea. 
PEAL, f. [perhaps from pcllo, pellere tympana, Lat.] 
A lucceftion of loud founds : as, of bells, thunder, cannon, 
or loud inftruments.—They were faluted by the way with 
a fair peal of artillery from the tower. Hayward. —The 
breach of faith cannot be fo highly exprefted, as in that 
it fhall be the laftpecr/ to call the judgments of God upon 
men. Bacon. 
A peal fhall roufe their deep ; 
Then, all thy faints aflembled, thou flialt judge 
Bad men and angels. Milton's P. R. 
Oh ! for 3 . peal of thunder that would make 
Earth, fea, and air, and heaven, and Cato, tremble ! 
Addifon. 
It is once ufed by Shakefpeare for a low dull noife, but 
improperly : 
Ere to black Hecat’s fummons 
The fhard-born beetle, with his drowfy hums, 
Hath rung night’s yawning peal, there fhall be done 
A deed of dreadful note. S/iakeJ'peare's Macbeth. 
To PEAL, v. n. To play folemnly and loud: 
The pealing organ, and the paufing choir; 
And the laft words, that dull to duft convey’d. Tickell. 
To PEAL, v. a. To aflail with noife : 
Nor was his ear lefs peal'd 
With noifes loud and ruinous, than when Bellonaftorms, 
With all her battering engines bent to rafe 
Some capital city. Milton's P. L. 
To ftirwith fome agitation : as, to peal the pot, is when 
it boils to ftir the liquor therein with a ladle. Ainjworth. 
—Mr. Malone confiders this as a corruption of heel. So 
Grofe fays, that/ie«Zmeans to cool; and cites, as a northern 
expreftion, peal the pot. 
PEANJE'E, a town of Pegu, on the Irawaddy : fifteen 
miles fouth of Prone. 1 
PEAR, a town of South-Carolina, on the Santee : 
eighteen miles north-weft of St. James. 
PEAR , f. [pejia, Saxon ; poire, French; pynan, Lat.] 
A well-known fruit.—Auguft fhall bear the form of a 
young man, of a choleric afpeCt, upon his arm a bafket of 
pears, plums, and apples. Peacliam. 
The juicy pear 
Lies in a foft profufion fcatter’d round. T/iomfon. 
PEAR-TREE, J. The tree that bears pears. See 
Pyrus. — The pear-tree criticks will have to borrow his 
name of mvg, fire. Bacon. 
PEARCE (Zachary), a learned and worthy prelate of 
the church of England, was born in London in the year 
1690. He was the fon of a diftiller in High-Holborn, 
who, having acquired a competent fortune, retired to an 
eftate which he had purchased at Little Ealing, in Mid- 
dlefex. Zachary received the firft part of his education 
in a private fchool at Great Ealing; whence, in the year 
1704, he was removed to Weftminfter-fchool, then under 
Dr. Bufby. In this feminary he fpent fix years, during 
which he fo diftinguifhed himfelf by his merit, that he 
was elected one of the king’s fcholars. In 1710, when 
he was in his twentieth year, he was eleCted to Trinity- 
college, Cambridge. Mr. Pearce profecuted his academic 
ftudies with great diligence and fuccefs, and was ad¬ 
mitted to his degrees in arts at the ftatuteable periods. 
During the firft years of his refidence at Cambridge, he 
occafionally amufed himfelfwith tlielighterfpeciesofcom- 
pofition, andfentfpecimensof his talent in this line, fome 
PEA 
of which difcover humour and gaiety, to the Guardian 
and Spectator. In the year 1716, he publifhed, from the 
Univerfity prefs, an edition of Cicero de Oratore, in 8vo. 
with notes and emendations; which, at the defire of a 
friend, he dedicated to lord chief juftice Parker, and by 
fo doing laid the foundation of his future fortune; for, 
foon after the book had been prefented, Dr. Bentley, the 
mafter of Trinity-college, being on a vifit to lord Parker, 
his lordfhip exprefted his approbation of Mr. Pearce’s 
performance, and his hope that, as the editor was then a 
candidate for a fellowlhip in his college, the doCtor would 
fecure his election. This Dr. Bentley engaged to do, 
upon receiving a promife that, if he made Mr. Pearce a 
fellow, his lordftiip would unmake him again, as foon as 
it ftiould be in his power to prefent him to a living; and 
Mr. Pearce was defied accordingly. Immediately after¬ 
wards he waited on lord Parker,who received him in a very 
obliging manner, putting into his hands a purfe of fifty 
guineas ; and from that time, whenever he renewed his 
vifits to his lordlhip, he always met with a kind reception. 
In the year 1717, Mr. Pearce entered into deacon’s 
orders ; and in the following year he was ordained prieft. 
In the year 1718, Parker having been appointed lord 
chancellor, Mr. Pearce was invited to live with his lord¬ 
ftiip, in the capacity of domeftic chaplain ; which invi¬ 
tation he gratefully accepted, and retained that poll three 
years. In 1719, he was prefented to the reCtory of Sta- 
pleford-Abbots, in Eflex ; to which preferment the lord 
chancellor added, in the following year, that of the rec¬ 
tory of St. Bartholomew, behind the Royal Exchange, 
London. Not long after this, Mr. Pearce had the honour 
of being appointed chaplain to his majefty. In the year 
1721-22, he married a lady poflefted of a confiderable for¬ 
tune, with whom he lived more than half a century in 
the higheft ftate of connubial felicity, and had feveral 
children, all of whom died young. About a year after 
his marriage, he was prefented by the chancellor to the 
valuable vicarage of St. Martin’s-in-the-fields, Weftmin- 
fter. Being now incumbent of the parifh which was ho¬ 
noured with the refidence of the royal family, his lordftiip 
fuggefted to him the propriety of his taking the degree of 
DoCtor ofDivinity ; and, as he was not of fufficient Hand¬ 
ing at the Univerfity, application was made to Dr. Wake, 
archbifliop of Canterbury, who granted him that title by 
his diploma. 
In 1724, Dr. Pearce dedicated to his patron, now Earl 
of Macclesfield, his edition of Longinus on the Sublime, 
with a new Latin verfion, and notes ; which, by the maf- 
terly manner of its execution, contributed greatly to the 
increafe of his reputation as a fcholar and critic. To the 
ruin of the earl of Macclesfield, which took place in 1725, 
it was in fome meafure owing that feveral years elapfed 
from this time before our author received any additional 
preferment; and for his next he was indebted to the re¬ 
commendation of queen Caroline, though Ihe was dead 
before it was bellowed upon him. Among his parilh- 
ioners at St. Martin’s w’as lord Sundon, w'hofe lady was 
a great favourite with the queen. As Dr. Pearce Hood 
high in this lady’s good graces, the frequent mention of 
her good opinion of him induced her majefty frequently 
to honour the doCtor with her converfation at her draw¬ 
ing-room, and to recommend him to fir Robert Walpole 
fora deanery, whenever fuch a dignity, worthy of his ac¬ 
ceptance, ftiould become vacant. This recommendation 
fir Robert recollected in the year 1739, and Dr. Pearce 
was appointed dean of Winchefter. 
In the year 1744, the dean was eleCted prolocutor of 
the lower houfe of convocation for the province of Can¬ 
terbury; and in 1748, he was promoted to the fee of 
Bangor. It appears that he did not accept of the epif- 
copal dignity without great reluCtance ; and it was Hill 
more in oppofition to his earneft willies that, in the 
year 1756, lie was promoted to the bilhopric of Rochefter, 
together with the deanery of Weftminller. For at this 
period he acquainted archbilhop Potter with his intention 
