Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/234

 224 PEDRO PEEL PEDRO, Dom, duke of Coirnbra and regent of Portugal, born in Lisbon, Dec. 9, 1392, killed in battle, May 20, 1449. He was the second son of John I. of Portugal and Philippa of Lan- caster, daughter of John of Gaunt. While yet young he was intrusted with the command of the first expedition against Ceuta. He next devoted four years (1424-'8) to travel, visiting all the courts of Europe, and penetrating even to Bagdad. After the death of King Edward (Don Duarte) the people became discontent- ed with the regency of the queen, and Dom Pedro was nominated by the cortes defender and regent of the kingdom, Nov. 11, 1439. Ho brought about a marriage between his daugh- ter Isabella and the young king, Alfonso V. (1446). A quarrel between himself and his illegitimate brother the duke of Braganca, each claiming the dignity of constable of the king- dom, resulted in civil war. Braganca gained the king to his interest. Pedro having retired to Coimbra, but not daring to sustain a siege, advanced to meet the royal troops with a force of 1,000 horse and 5,000 infantry; and in the battle of Alfarrobeira, May 20, 1449, he was defeated, and killed by an arrow. PEDROTTI, Carlo, an Italian composer, born in Verona in 1816. He spent several years in Hol- land, returning to Italy in 1844. His best known opera, Tutti in maschera, was first per- formed in Verona in 1856, and in French under the title Les masques in Paris in 1869. PEEBLESSHIRE, or Tweeddale, an inland coun- ty in the south of Scotland, bordering on the counties of Edinburgh, Selkirk, Dumfries, and Lanark; area, 319 sq. in.; pop. in 1871, 12,- 330. It is watered by the Tweed. The great part of the surface consists of mountain, moor, and bog; the mountains vary in height from 2,400 to 2,740 ft. Coal and limestone abound. There are manufactories of woollens. Capital, Peebles, on the Tweed, 20 m. S. of Edinburgh; pop. in 1871, 3,160. PEEKSKILL, a viUage in the town of Cort- land, Westchester co., New York, on the E. bank of the Hudson river, 43 m. above New York city; pop. in 1870, 6,560. There are frequent trains on the Hudson River railroad to New York, and in summer steamers to and from that city touch here. The village is the market centre of an extensive farming coun- try, but the chief business is the manufac- ture and working of iron. There are six iron founderies, producing chiefly stoves, and a large blast furnace. At Verplanck's Point, just below, bricks are extensively manufactured. Peekskill has two large public schools; seve- ral private institutions of learning, of which the principal are the Peekskill academy, the New York scientific school, and St. Gabriel's school (Episcopal) and the seminary of Our Lady of Angels (Roman Catholic) for young ladies. There are a national bank, a savings institution, two weekly newspapers, and 11 churches, viz. : Baptist, Episcopal, Friends' (2), Methodist (2), Presbyterian (2), Reformed, Roman Catholic, and one for colored people. Peekskill was incorporated in 1816. PEEL, a S. county of Ontario, Canada, on the N. shore of Lake Ontario ; area, 468 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 26,011, of whom 13,147 were of Irish, 8,302 of English, and 3,590 of Scotch descent. It is traversed by the Grand Trunk, the Great Western, and the Toronto, Grey, and Bruce railways. Capital, Brampton. PEEL. I. Sir Robert, an English manufactu- rer, born at Peel's Cross, near Lancaster, April 25, 1750, died at Drayton Manor, Staffordshire, May 3, 1830. He inherited a moderate property from his father, a cotton spinner, and in 1773 entered into partnership with William Yates, a cotton manufacturer of Bury, Lancashire, whose daughter he married in 1783. By in- dustry, activity, enterprise, and sagacity, he amassed a fortune before reaching middle life ; but he continued to conduct business as a man- ufacturer for many years with uninterrupted prosperity. In 1803 he had more than 15,000 persons in his employ. In 1780 he published a pamphlet entitled " The National Debt produc- tive of National Prosperity;" and in 1790 he was returned to parliament as one of the mem- bers from Tamworth, a constituency which he continued to represent till 1820. He was a stanch supporter of Pitt and the tories. Du- ring the alarm caused by the threatened inva- sion of the French he was active in the forma- tion, of volunteer corps, and raised among his own workmen a regiment, of which he was ap- pointed lieutenant colonel. In 1800 he was created a baronet. He left property, real and personal, estimated at more than two millions sterling, the greater part of which, after liberal provisions for his numerous family, was settled on his eldest son. II. Sir Robert, an English statesman, eldest son of the preceding, born near Bury, Lancashire, Feb. 5, 1788, died in London, July 2, 1850. He was educated at Harrow, and at Christ Church, Oxford, and graduated in 1808, taking the honors of a double first class first in classics and first in mathematics. In 1809 he was returned to par- liament for the Irish borough of Cash el, and entered public life as a tory. In 1810 he seconded the address in reply to the king's speech, and in 1811 was appointed under secre- tary of state for the colonies. In September, 1812, he was appointed chief secretary for Ire- land. In the then disturbed political condition of that country his high tory principles and opposition to Catholic emancipation made him obnoxious to the ultra Roman Catholics, who seldom called him by any other appellation than " Orange Peel." O'Connell singled him out for attack, and for the virulence of his language was challenged by Peel, who went to the continent to afford his adversary a hostile meeting ; but the duel was prevented by the arrest of O'Connell in London. His most im- portant act in Ireland was the establishment of the regular Irish constabulary, nicknamed the "Peelers," which was the first step toward the