Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/157

Rh was made from any of his rulings in the chair. In 1801 he was appointed by President Lincoln U. S. minister to Japan as successor to Townsend Harris. As there were then no telegraphic facilities, months often elapsed before the minister could receive his instructions, and when they did arrive they were fre- quently inapplicable, circumstanceshavingchanged. Our vessels of war then in Japanese waters were placed at the disposal of the minister with instruc- tions prescribed by the U. S. government. In 1863 Mr. Pruyn took the ground that he should regard the tycoon to be the real ruler of Japan, as otherwise foreign intercourse could never be guaranteed un- less treaties were ratified by the mikado. Two naval expeditions were undertaken against the transgressing daimio of Chosu, whose vessels had fired on the American merchant steamer " Pem- broke." In the first the U. S. man-of-war " Wyo- ming," Com. McDougall, sank the brig " Laurick " and blew up the steamer " Lancefield," at the same time running the gauntlet of shore batteries of eighty guns in the Straits of Simonisaki. In the second expedition the forces of Great Britain, France, and Holland (the daimio having previ- ously fired upon the French and English vessels) took" part, the United States being represented by the chartered steamer " Takiang," having on board a part of the crew and guns of the " Jamestown," which had been left at Yokohama for the defence of that place. The allies demolished the fortifica- tions of Chosu and captured the guns. Although it was questioned, this proceeding postponed the dethronement of the tycoon for several years, and enabled him to observe his treaty stipulations which he had not been able to do, owing to the hostility of the daimio of Chosu. An indemnity was paid by Japan and intercourse was guaranteed. Mr. Pruyn played an important part in securing Amer- ican rights in the East. Mr. Pruyn's last public post was that of presiding officer of the State con- stitutional convention of 1872. For the last years of his life he was not greatly identified with public affairs, but was deeply interested in various enter- prises, and at the time of his death was president of the National commercial bank of Albany. He was a trustee of Rutgers college, to which he gave $10.000. and was president of the board of directors of the Dudley observatory. He received the degree of M. A. from Rutgers in 1836, and in 1865 that of LL. D. from Williams.

PRYOR, Roger Atkinson, lawyer, b. near Petersburg, Va.. 19 July, 1828. He was graduated at Hampden Sidney college in 1845, and at the University of Virginia, three years later, studied law, and was admitted to the bar, but entered journalism. He joined the staff of the Washing- ton " Union," and was afterward editor of the Richmond " Enquirer." He was sent at twenty- seven on a special mission to Greece by President Pierce. In 1856 he opposed William L. Yancey's proposition to reopen the slave-trade. He was an ardent advocate of state-rights, and established a daily paper, the " South," at Richmond, in which he represented the extreme views of the Virginia Democracy. His aggressive course and the intense utterance of his convictions led to several duels. He was elected to congress in 1859 to fill a vacancy, and was re-elected in 1860, but did not take his seat. While in that body he made various fiery speeches, and in the excited condition of the public mind preceding the civil war was often involved in pas- sionate discussions with his northern opponents. One of these, John F. Potter (q. v.), replied to him with similar acrimony, and was challenged. Mr. Potter named bowie-knives as the weapons, and the Virginian's seconds refused to allow their prin- cipal to fight with arms which they pronounced liarliarous. This challenge created an uproar throughout the country, and was accompanied with severe and characteristic comments on the princi- pals from the northern and southern press. Mr. Pryor was eager for war, and visited Charleston to witness the firing on Sumter, and its surrender. He was sent to the provisional Confederate con- gress at Richmond, and elected to the first regular congress. Soon afterward he entered the Confed- erate army as a colonel, and was made a brigadier- general after the battle of Williamsburg. He re- signed, 26 Aug., 18C3, was taken prisoner in 1804, and confined for some time in Fort Lafayette. After the surrender of the Confederate armies, he urged on the south the adoption of a policy of ac- quiescence and loyalty to the government. He went to New York in 1865, settled there as a lawyer, and is now a city judge. He has taken no part in poli- tics since the war, confining himself exclusively to his profession. He is the author of many speeches and literary addresses, and has been given the de- gree of LL. D. by Hampden Sidney college.

PUENTE, Juan Eligio (poo-ain'-tay), Spanish author, b. in Asturias about 1720 ; d. in Mexico about 1780. Very little is known of his life, ex- cept that he was employed as chief clerk in the office of the secretary of the viceroyalty of Mexico, Melchor de Peramas, and probably was sent by him on several missions to Florida. His manuscripts were found in the library of the secretary, after the evacuation of Mexico by the Spaniards, and include " Noticias de la Provincia de la Florida y el Cayo de los Martires, con su Piano y Mapa " (dated 1769), the accompanying map of which is remarkably cor- rect for that time ; " Informe de los Pescados que se crian en las C'ostas de la Florida y Campeche. y de los beneficios que pueden restiltar de tales Pesquerias " (1770) ; and " Noticia exacta de las Familias, que por la entrega de la Florida a la Corona Britanica, se retiraron a la Habana, y modo con que fueron recibidas " (1770).

PUERTA, Cristobal Martinez (poo-air -tah), Spanish missionary, b. in Andalusia in 1580 ; d. in Honduras, Central America, in September. 1623. He was a soldier in his youth, came in 1000 to America with Juan Monasteries, and landed in Trujillo, Honduras. He served in the expedition to Costa Rica, and while there resolved to abandon the army and undertake the conversion of the Indians of the province of Teguzgalpa. In 1602 he retired to Guatemala, entered the Franciscan order. 17 Oct., and in the newly founded seminary studied theology and the principal Indian dialects. Afterward he was professor of Latin grammar in Chiapa, and master of novices in the convent of Guatemala, but he continued in his desire to convert the natives, and after many difficulties obtained from his superiors permission to undertake the task. With another friar and four Guanajuan Indians as interpreters he landed at Cape Gracias a Dios, penetrated into the interior, and was fairly successful with the Paye and Guazacalpa tribes, where he founded the mission of Concepcion near Jurua river. He afterward received a vessel with auxiliaries and another priest, and undertook the conversion of the Guava and Jicaque tribes, where he founded seven other missions. While camping on Guampo river, he was invited by the ferocious Albatuino tribe to preach to them, and, notwithstanding the opposition of his Jicaque converts, he entered their country and was murdered by them toward the end of September, 1623. His body was recovered later by Juan de Miranda, the governor of