600 
PER 
propriety of his conduct, preferved him from all angry 
contention. Steadily adhering to the religious fentiments 
which he had from convi&ion adopted, he however felt 
no alienation from thofe who followed different fyftems; 
and he manifefted a great refpeft for the eftablifhment, 
with many diftinguifhed members of which he was upon 
terms of intimacy. Of his remaining literary productions 
the principal were a volume of “ Moral and Literary 
DifTertations,” 8vo. 1788, and “Medical Jurifprwdence,” 
firft privately circulated in 1794., and afterwards publifhed 
in an improved form, under the title of “ Medical Ethics,” 
1803. This was the lateft of his publications; and wor¬ 
thily terminated, by a tribute of valuable counfel to the 
members of a profeffion which he adorned, a courfe of au- 
thorfhip uniformly devoted to the beft interefts of his 
fellow-creatures. It fhould be added, that, although it 
is in the charaCler of a writer he is chiefly entitled to bio¬ 
graphical commemoration, that which he fuftained as a 
phyfician of large experience, great fagacity, and man¬ 
ners Angularly adapted to infpire confidence, was at 
leafi as conducive to the high reputation he enjoyed. 
This truly eflitnable perfon was carried off by an acute 
difeafe in Auguft 1804, in the 64th year of his age, uni- 
verfally refpeiled and regretted, and deeply lamented by 
a family with which he always lived in the molt affection¬ 
ate and confidential intercourfe. His works were edited 
colleftively by one of his fons in 1807, with a Memoir of 
his Life prefixed, from which, and from the Monthly Ma¬ 
gazine of Sept. 1804, the preceding narrative is extracted. 
PER'CKAM, a town of Auftria : eighteen miles fouth- 
weft of Freyfladt. 
PERCLO'SE, f. Conclufion ; laft part. Ohfolete .—By 
the perclofe of the fame verfe, vagabond is underflood for 
fuch an one as travelleth in fear of revengement. i?«- 
leig.fi. 
To PER'COLATE, v. a. [;percolo , Lat.] To ftrain 
through.—The evidences of faCt are percolated through 
a vaft period of ages. Hale's Oris,-, of Mankind. 
PERCOLA'TION,/. The aft of flraining; purifica¬ 
tion or feparation by draining.—Experiments touching 
the flraining and pafling of bodies one through another, 
they call percolation. Bacon. —Many have attempted the 
condensing of wines by percolation, or feparating from 
them that fuperfluous moifture or water, which dilutes 
them below the true flandard of vinous liquors, in or¬ 
der to make them richer, and fitter for keeping; but it 
does not appear that fucli attempts have as yet fucceeded. 
Chambers. 
PERCONTA'TION,/. A diligent enquiry. Cole. 
PERCO'TE, in ancient geography, a town which be¬ 
longed to Dardania, at a fmall diflance fouth-wdl of 
Lampfacus. 
To PERCRU'CIATE, v. n. [from the Lat. per, 
through, and crucio, to torment.] To torment greatly. 
Cole. 
PERCUNCTA'TION, f. A diligent enquiry. Cole. 
To PERCUSS', v. a. [percuj'us, Lat.] To flrike.— 
Flame percvffed by air giveth a noife; as in blowing of the 
fire by bellows ; and fo likewife flame percujjing the air 
flrongly. Bacons Nat. Ilif. 
We do love to cherifh lofty fpirits, 
Such as percufs the earth, and bound 
With an ereCted countenance to the clouds. 
Beaum. and FI. Laws of Candy. 
PERCUSS'ION, f. The aCt of linking; flroke.—The 
percnjfwn of the greater quantity of air is produced by 
the greatnefsof the body percufling. Bacon. —The vibra¬ 
tions or tremors excited in the air by percuffion, continue 
a little time to move from the place of percuffion in con¬ 
centric fpheres to great diftances. Newton's Opt .—Mar¬ 
bles taught him percuffion and the laws of motion, and 
tops the centrifugal motion. Arbuthnot and Pope. 
With thy grim looks, and 
The thunder-like percuffion of thy founds, 
Thou mad’ft thine enemies fhake. Shakefpeare. 
PER 
EfFeCt of found in the ear.—In double rhymes the percuf- 
fion is flronger. Rymer. 
PERCUSS'IVE, adj. Striking ; flriking again(l. 
PERCU'TIENT,/. [percutiens. Lat.] Striking; hav¬ 
ing the power to flrike.—Inequality of founds is acci¬ 
dental, either from the roughnefs or obliquity of the 
paffage, or from the doubling of the percutient. Bacon. 
PER'CY, an extenfive townfhip of America, in Grafton 
county, New Hampfliire, watered by the feveral branches 
of Upper Amnnoofuck-river, bounded well by Northum¬ 
berland, on Conneflicut-river; incorporated in 1774, 
and containing 148 inhabitants. 
PER'CY, or Persy, a town of France, in the depart¬ 
ment of the Channel: twelve miles fouth of St. Lo, and 
fifteen north of Avranches. 
PER'CY (Thomas, D. D.), a very learned prelate of 
Ireland, was a native of Bridgenorth in Shropfhire, and 
educated at Chrifl Church, Oxford. In July 1753 he 
took the degree of M. A. and in 1756 he was prefented by 
that college to the vicarage of Eafton Mauduit, in Nor- 
thamptonfhire, wdiich he held with the reCtory of Wifbye, 
in the fame county, given him by the earl of Suflex. In 
1769 he was nominated chaplain in ordinary to the king; 
and in 1770 he took his doctor's degree at Emanuel col¬ 
lege, Cambridge. In 1778 he was promoted to the dean¬ 
ery of Carlifle; and in 1782 to the bifhopric of Dromore 
in Ireland, where he conflantly refided till his death, 
promoting the inftruclion and comfort of the poor with 
unremitting attention, and fuperintending the facred and 
civil interefts of the diocefe, with vigilance and affiduity ; 
revered and beloved for his piety, liberality, benevolence, 
and bofpitality, by perfons of every rank and religious 
denomination. Under the lofs of fight, of which he was 
gradually deprived fome years before his death, hefteadily 
maintained his habitual cheerfulnefs; and in his laft 
painful illnef's hedifplayed fuch fortitude and ftrength of 
mind, fuch patience and refignation to the divine will, 
find exprefled fuch heart-felt thankfulnefs for the good- 
nefs and mercy fhown to him in the courfe of a long 
and happy life, as were truly impreflive, and worthy of 
that pure Chriftian fpirit in him fo eminently confpi- 
cuous. 
Dr. Percy was related to the family of the duke of 
Northumberland, and was many years domeftic chaplain 
to the late duke. By his virtues and talents, more than 
by his connexions, he was raifed to the prelacy, which 
he poflefled for a long period, and the duties of which he 
difcharged with exemplary Zealand true Chriftian charity. 
It is hardly neceflary to fay how much Englifh literature 
has been indebted to the refearches of this elegant fcho- 
lar, who recovered from obfcurity, and has preferved 
from oblivion, many beautiful remains of genius, which 
he gave to the world under the title of “Reliques of 
Ancient Poetry.” In fome that were mere fragments 
and detached ftanzas, Dr. Percy fupplied the deficiencies, 
and formed into a whole, by congenial tafte, feeling, and 
imagination. The beautiful old ballad of “ A Friar of 
Orders Grey,” upon which Goidfmith founded his inte- 
refting Poem of “ The Hermit,” was among the remains 
of antiquity, which Dr. Percy completed in this manner; 
and he is the avowed author of the afleCting fong of “ O 
Nannie, wilt thou gang with me.” He was the laft of the 
fcholars of a famous fchool, the contemporary of Johnfon, 
Gray, Shenftone, Goidfmith, Reynolds, &c. and the laft: 
of the illuftrious afl'ociation of men of letters who flou- 
rilhed at the commencement of the late long reign. In 
faCl, he began his literary career in 1761, when lie pub- 
lifhed Han Kiou Cliouan, a tranflation from the Chinele; 
which was followed, in 1762, by a collection of “ Chi- 
nefe Mifcellanies,” and in 1763 by “Five Pieces of Runic 
Poetry,” tranllated from the Icelandic language. In 
1764 he publifhed a new verfion of the “Song of Solo¬ 
mon,” with a commentary and annotations. The year 
following he publifhed the “Reliques of Ancient 
Englifh Poetry,” a work which conflitutes an era to the 
hiftory of Englifh literature in the eighteenth century. 
Perhaps 
