PER 
In 1771, lie publidied a work in three volumes 4to. 
under the title of Zend-Avejta , containing colleflions from 
the facred writings of the Perfians, among which are frag¬ 
ments of works afcribed toZoroaller; and he accompa¬ 
nied this work with an account of the life of that fage. 
This publication nuift be confidered as conftituting a 
very important acceffion to our (lores of oriental litera¬ 
ture. A recent hiftorian, and very competent judge, re¬ 
fers to the Zend-Avefta, as certainly the mod authentic 
fource from which we can derive information regarding 
the religion and inftitutions of the great Perfian legiflator. 
(Sir John Malcolm’s Hid. of Periia, vol. i. p. 193.) To 
the Zend-Aveda M. du Perron prefixed a Difcourfe, in 
which he treated the univerfity of Oxford, and fome of 
its learned members, with ridicule and difrefpedl. Mr. 
(afterwards Sir William) Jones replied to thefe inveflives 
in an anonymous letter, addreded to the author, written 
in French, with uncommon force and correiSlnefs of dyle, 
but, at the fame time, with a degree of afperity which 
could only be judified by the petulance of M. du Perron. 
In 1778, he publidied his Legiflation Orientals, in 4to. a 
work in which he controverts the fydem of Montefquieu, 
and endeavours to prove, that the nature of oriental def- 
potifm has been mifreprefented by mod authors ; that in 
the empires of Turkey, Perfia, and Hindoodan, there are 
codes of written law, which equally bind the prince and 
fubjefr; and that, in thefe three empires, the inhabitants 
pofiefs both moveable and immoveable property, which 
they enjoy with perfect fecurity. His Recherches Hi/lori- 
ques et Geogrupliiques fur I'Inde, appeared in 1786, and 
formed part of Thieffenthaler’s Geography of India. 
They were followed, in 1789, by his treatife De la Dig- 
nite du Commerce et de VEtat du Commergant. 
The Revolution feems to have greatly aftedted him. 
During that period, he abandoned fociety, (hut himfelf 
up in his dudy, and devoted himfelf entirely to literary 
feclufion. In 1798, he publidied L'Inde en Rapport avec 
l'Europe, fyc. in 2 vols. 8vo. a work which is more re¬ 
markable for its virulent invedlives againd the Eng- 
li(h, and for its numerous mifreprefentations, than for 
the information which it contains, or the foundnefs of 
the refledtions which it conveys. The fpirit of the work, 
indeed, may be afertained from the fummary of its con¬ 
tents, dated in the title-page, in which the author pro- 
fefles to give a detailed, accurate, and terrific, pidture of 
Englidi Machiavelifm in India; and he addrefles his 
work, in a ranting bombadic dedication, “ to the Manes 
of Dupleix and Labourdonnais.” In 1804, he publidied 
a Latin trandation from the Perfian of the Oupnek'hat, 
or Upanifckada ; i. e. “ Secrets which mud not be revealed,” 
in 2 vols. 4to. On the re-organization of the Inditute, 
M. Anquetil was eledted a member, but foon afterwards 
gave in his refignation. He died at Paris on the 17th of 
January, 1805. 
Befides the works which we have already enumerated, 
M. Anquetil read to the Academy feveral memoirs on fub- 
jedls connedled with the hidory and antiquities of the 
Ead. At the time of his death, he was engaged in revi¬ 
ling a trandation of the Travels of Father Paulin de St. 
Barthelemy in India; which work was continued by M. 
Silvedre de Sacy, and publidied in 1808, in 3 vols. 8vo. 
He alfo left behind him a great number of manufcripts, 
among which, his biographers particularly notice the 
trandation of a Latin treatife On the Church, by Dodlor 
Legros, in 4 vols. 410. 
From the preceding narrative, our readers will be 
enabled to form fome notion of the character of An¬ 
quetil du Perron. Among his countrymen, he is re¬ 
garded as one of the moll learned men of the eighteenth 
century. He certainly didinguidied himfelf by a very ar¬ 
dent and difintereded zeal in the profecution of thofe du- 
dies to which he dedicated the labours of a long life; but 
the ludre of his literary charafter was obfcured by a very 
abfurd vanity, and the mod inveterate prejudices. In a 
Difcourfe addreded to the Afiatic Society at Calcutta, in 
Vol. XIX. No. 1332. 
PER 643 
1789, Sir William Jones fpeaks of him, as “ having had 
the merit of undertaking a voyage to India, in his earlied 
youth, with no other view than to recover the writings 
of Zeratud (Zoroader) ; and who would have acquired a 
brilliant reputation in France, if he had not fullied it by 
his immoderate vanity and virulence of temper, which 
alienated the good-will of his own countrymen.” In the 
dime Difcourfe, he affirms, that M. Anquetil mod cer¬ 
tainly had no knowledge of the Sanfcrit. See Lord Teign- 
mouth’s Life of Sir William Jones, p. 101-110. Gent. 
Mag. 1762 and 1805. Ency. Brit. Suppl. 
PERRO'NE, a town of Hindoodan, in Oude : feventeen 
miles fouth ofFyzabad. 
PERRONE'T (John Rodolphus), diredlor of the 
bridges and roads of France, was born in 1708. He was 
brought up to the profeffion of architecture in the city of 
Paris, and made great progrefs in the art. In 1745 he 
became infpeCtor of the fchool of engineers, of which he 
was afterwards a diredlor. France is indebted to him 
for feveral of its fined bridges and its bed roads, the ca¬ 
nal of Burgundy, and other great works. He was, for 
his public Cervices, honoured with the order of St. Mi¬ 
chael, and admitted a member of the Academy of Sci¬ 
ences at Paris, of the Royal Society of London, and of 
the Academy of Stockholm. He died at Paris in 1794. 
He wrote a defcription of the bridges which he hadcon- 
llrudled, in 2 vols. i2mo. and Memoirs on the Method 
of condrufting Grand Arches of Stone from 200 to 500 
Feet fpan. 
PER'ROQUET, or Parraouet. See Psittacus. 
PER'ROT (Sir John), an eminent datefman, was born 
of an ancient family in Pembrokefhire, about the year 
1527. He was bred up in the houfe of the marquis of 
Wincheder, that he might profit by the difcourfes and 
example of that great man. He was one of the knights 
of the Bath at the coronation of Edward VI. who had a 
great partiality for him. At the beginning of the reign of 
Mary he was Cent to prifon for harbouring Protedants. 
He abided at the coronation of Elizabeth, who Cent him, 
in 1572, to Ireland, as lord prefident of Munder, which 
was in a date of rebellion, but by his promptitude was 
quickly reduced to obedience. He was next appointed 
admiral of a fleet on the coad of Ireland, which was 
threatened to be invaded by the Spaniards. In 1583 he 
was made lord deputy of Ireland, where he carried things 
with fo high a hand as to give very great offence ; and he 
was recalled in 1588, and Cent to the Tower. In 1592 he 
was tried by a fpecial commiffion, brought in guilty of 
high treafon, and fentenced to die. He was, however, 
relpited by favour of the queen, but died in confinement 
the fame year. Biog. Brit. 
PERROT d’ABLANCOU'RT (Nicholas), a diflin- 
guiffied French writer, defcended from a confiderable fa¬ 
mily in the law, was born in 1606, at Chalons fur Marne. 
His father, who was a convert to Protedantifm, Cent him 
for education to the college of that religion at Sedan. 
He afterwards lludied philofophy at home under a private 
tutor; and then went to Paris, where, at the age of eigh¬ 
teen, he was admitted an advocate. Through the per- 
fuafion of an uncle, who was a counfellor in parliament, 
he folemnly abjured Calvinifm at the age of twenty, but 
he refilled to enter into the ecclefialtical (late. He had 
parted five or fix years in the diflipation common to youth, 
when ferious thoughts refpedling the religion in which he 
had been bred occupied his mind, and he (ludied contro- 
verfial points with a Lutheran divine for three years : the 
conclufion was, that he renounced his new faith, and, re¬ 
tiring to Holland and England, again declared himfelf a 
Protellant. After a time, he returned to Paris, where he 
frequented the polite and literary world, and was generally 
well received. Hisacquifitions were,indeed,extraordinary. 
He was well verfed both in the fciences and belles lettres, 
underftood the ancient and feveral modern languages, 
and difplayed quick parts and a penetrating judgment. 
He was keen in debate, but mild and eafy in the com* 
8 B merce 
