485 
P E K 
magnificence this famous place ; and one of the raoft ce¬ 
lebrated mathematicians of the Royal Academy of Paris 
hath made no fcruple to reprefent it as one of the greateft 
prodigies of art and ingenuity, of beauty and magnifi¬ 
cence ; and yet, when this celebrated ftrufture came to 
be viewed by more proper and unbiafled judges, it appears 
to have been of little worth as to its ancient machines, 
and lefs as to its fituation ; and that all that is now valu¬ 
able in it is owing to the improvements made by father 
Verbieft, a Flemiffi Jefuit, whocaufed a new fet ofinftru- 
ments to be made, with extraordinary care, neatnefs, and 
precifion. This fabric Hands in a court of moderate ex¬ 
tent, and is built in the form of a fquare tower, conti¬ 
guous to the city-wall on the infide, and raifed but ten 
or twelve feet above its bulwark. The afcent up to the 
top is by a very narrow ftaircafe ; and on the platform 
above were placed all the old inftruments, which, though 
but few, took up the whole room, till Verbieft introduced 
his new apparatus, which he difpofed in a more conve¬ 
nient order. Thefe are large, well call and embelliffied; 
and, were the neatnefs of the divifions anfwerable to the 
work, and the telefcopes faftened to them according to 
the new method, they would be equal to thofe of Europe; 
but the Chinefe artificers were, it feems, either too negli¬ 
gent, or incapable of following his directions. As to the 
old inftruments, they were, by order of the emperor 
Kang-hi, fet afide as ufelefs, and laid in the hall near the 
tower, where they may be feen through a crofs-barred 
window, all covered with ruft, and buried in oblivion. 
In this famed obfervatory there are five mathematicians 
employed night and day, each in a proper apartment on 
the top of the tower, to obferve all that pafl'es over their 
heads: one of them is gazing towards the zenith, and 
the others towards the four points of the compafs, that 
nothing may efcape their notice. Their observations 
extend not only to the motions of the heavenly bodies, 
but to fires, meteors, winds, rain, thunder, hail-ftorms, 
and other phenomena of the atmofphere; and thefe are 
carefully entered in their journals, and an account of 
them is brought every morning to the furveyor of the 
mathematics, and regiftered in his office.” Lat. 39. 55. N. 
Ion. 116. 28. E. Earl of Macartney's Embaffy, by Sir 
G. Staunton, vol. ii. Anderfon's Narrative. Barrow's 
China. Grojier's China, vol. i. 
PE'LA, J'. in botany. See Psidium. 
PELA'GIA (St.), a town of Naples, in the province 
of Otranto : three miles north of Tarento. 
PELA'GIAN, f. One of the followers of Pelagius. 
See that article.—Original fin ftandeth notin the follow- 
ingof Adam, as the Pelagians do vainly talk; but is the 
fault and corruption of every man that naturally is in- 
gendered of the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very 
tar gone from original righteoufnefs, and is of his own 
nature inclined to evil, lo that the flelh lufteth always 
contrary to the fpirit. Art. 9 th of Religion. 
PELA'GIAN, adj. Belonging to the notions of the 
Pelagians.—Throughout all this Pelagian fcheme, we 
have not fo much as one word of man’s natural impo- 
tency to fpiritual things. South. 
PELA'GIANISM, J'. The doCtrine of Pelagius and 
his followers.—This perfuafion of man’s being.'able to 
merit of God, is the fource and foundation of two of the 
greateft corruptions of religion that have infefted the 
Chriftian church ; and thofe are pelagianifm and popery. 
South. 
PELAG'IC, adj. [from the Lat. pelagus, the fea.] 
Belonging to the fea. Cole. 
PELAGI'E, a river of Louifiana, which runs into the 
Mifiouri in lat. 38. 30. N. Ion. 91. 30. W. 
PELA'GIUS, after whom a Chriftian fed has been 
diftinguiffied by the name of Pelagians, was a native of 
Wales, where he was born on the 13th of November, 
354 ,. 011 the fame day with his great antagonift St. Au- 
guftine. His vernacular name was Morgan, or Marigena, 
Signifying “ Sea-born,” which he changed into Pelagius, 
P E K 
a Greek word of the fame meaning. He embraced the 
religious life, and probably in the celebrated monaftery 
of Bangor in Wales ; but that he was ever abbot of that 
houfe, and expelled by the fraternity on account of his 
obnoxious opinions, though aflerted by various writers, is 
a tale which is not fupported by any evidence. From the 
accounts of him which have been tranfmitted to us by his 
enemies as well as friends, it appears that he was diftin¬ 
guiffied by great ftrength and acutenefsof mind,extenfive 
learning, ardent piety, irreproachable and exemplary mo¬ 
rals. About the year 400, accompanied by his intimate 
friend Cseleftius, who was an Iriffi (or Scotch) monk, he 
went to Rome ; and in that city thefe aflociates lived for 
fomeyears in thegreateft reputation,and were univerfally 
efteemed on account of their extraordinary piety and vir¬ 
tue. At this time a fuperftitious notion refpefting the 
efficacy of baptifm was fpreading in the Chriftian world, 
the advocates for it maintaining, that the mere aft of bap¬ 
tizing waffied away fin. This notion Pelagius firmly op- 
pofed ; maintaining, that the waffling away of fin was to 
be effefted by good works, and not by water. As one 
principal argument in favour of his doftrine, he alleged 
that the defign of baptifm could not be to waffi away tin, 
fince it was applied to infants who had not finned. 
This doftrine, according to the reprefentations of fome 
ecclefiaftical hiftorians, gave no offence, and was even ge¬ 
nerally admitted at Rome ; but, according to others, Pe¬ 
lagius and his friend were too cautious to preach it in 
public, contenting themfelves with propagating it in a 
private manner, by which means they gained nume¬ 
rous difciples. About the year409 or 410, upon the ap¬ 
proach of the Goths towards that city, Pelagius and Crs- 
leftius removed into Sicily, where they continued till the 
year 411, when they paffed over into Africa, defirous of 
being prefent at a conference which was to be held be¬ 
tween the Catholics and Donatifts. 
In Africa, the fuperftitious notion refpefting the effi¬ 
cacy of baptifm was very generally prevalent, and was op- 
pofed with great freedom by our two monks. On the 
other hand, it was zealoufly maintained by feveral of the 
African clergy, and particularly by the famous Auguftine 
bifliop of Hippo. While arguing in defence of it, he in¬ 
filled on the doftrine of original fin, or, a natural prone- 
nefs to fin, which was derived from Adam to all his pof- 
terity; not the modification of it adopted by his follow¬ 
ers in after-ages, that the guilt of Adam’s particular 
tranfgreffion was transferred and imputed to his whole 
race. Auguftine alfo maintained, that until this prone- 
nefs to fin, which might be called defilement, was done 
away by the fpecial grace of God imparted at baptifm, 
men had no power to do the will of God ; and that, con- 
fequently, every good thought, word, and work, mull be 
afcribed to fupernatural grace, or the influence and af- 
fiftance of the Spirit of God. Againft thefe doftrines, 
Pelagius and Cseleftius ftrenuoully contended, maintain¬ 
ing that they were as falfe as they were pernicious; that 
we derive no corruption from the fall of ourfirft parents, 
but are born as pure and unfpotted as Adam came out of 
the forming hand of his Creator; that mankind, there¬ 
fore, are capable of repentance and amendment, and of 
arriving at the higheft degrees of piety and virtue by the 
ufe of their natural faculties and powers: that, indeed, 
external grace, meaning by the term divine revelation, or 
the gofpel, was neceflary to excite and direft their en¬ 
deavours, but that they have no need of internal preter¬ 
natural fuccours from the Divine Spirit. 
Pelagius made no confiderable Hay in Africa, but, af¬ 
ter leaving Cseleftius in that country, proceeded by way 
of Egypt to Palelline, where he was favourably received 
by John biffiop of Jerufalem. In the mean time, Caelef- 
tius continued to maintain the opinions of Pelagius in 
Africa, till the biffiops of that country, who adopted the 
doftrines of Auguftine, preferred the charge of herefy 
againft them, and procured their condemnation in a coun¬ 
cil held at Carthage in the year 412 j upon which Cselei- 
tius 
