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 PERSIGNY PERSONAL EQUATION 339 ment lias been authoritatively denied, as has also the assertion that he went to the Vende"e at the time of the duchess de Berry's presence there in 1832. About 1833 he ceased to use his patronymic, Fialin, and assumed the title of viscount de Persigny, which was hereditary in his family, but had been suffered to lie dor- mant for several generations. In 1834 he abandoned all hope of a Bourbon restoration, and established a journal, L J Occident fran fa**, for the propagation of Bonapartist principles. A close intimacy sprung up between him and Louis Napoleon, and Persigny at once set to work to organize the Bonapartist party. One result of his exertions was the attempt upon Strasburg in 1836. More fortunate than his companions, he escaped and went to England, where he published delation de V entreprise du prince Napoleon- Louis (London, 1837). In July, 1840, he participated in the landing at Bou- logne, for which he was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment. From Doullens, where he was first incarcerated, he was allowed to remove on account of ill health to Versailles, where he enjoyed comparative liberty. Here he wrote an ^ essay entitled L^Utilite des pyramided d'Egypte (1844), which he presented to the academy of sciences, and in which he asserts that those gigantic constructions were merely built to protect the valley of the Nile against the encroachments of the sand of the desert. On the revolution of 1848 he returned to active life, and was chosen as Louis Napoleon's aide-de- c.-imp, and appointed to a high rank in the staff of the national guard. In 1849 he was elect- ed to the legislative assembly, and proved an uncompromising supporter of the presidential policy. During his occupancy of this position he was sent on a temporary mission to Ber- lin. On the coup d'etat of Dec. 2, 1851, in the preparation of which he was concerned, he ap- peared at the head of the 42d regiment of the line and took possession of the hall of the as- sembly. He was appointed a member of the consultative committee. On May 27, 1852, he married Egle" Napoleone Albine, granddaughter of Marshal Ney, and at the same time received the title of count and a gratuity of 500,000 francs. In January, 1852, he was appointed minister of the interior in place of M. de Mor- ny, who had refused to sign the decree confis- cating the Orleans property ; he continued to hold this office till April, 1854, when he re- signed on account of ill health. The following year he was appointed ambassador to England ; he resigned in April, 1858, was reappointed in May, 1859, and was recalled to France in No- vember, 1860, to resume the place of minister of the interior and to reorganize that depart- ment, which he did in accordance with the lib- eral ideas then affected by the emperor. In 1^63, however, the parliamentary elections re- sulting in the overwhelming defeat of the min- istry, he resigned on June 23. On Sept. 13 he was made a duke. In his place in the senate, and through the public press, he continued to be a persistent worker in the Bonapartist in- terest ; and his occasional letters on public affairs were often supposed to be directly in- spired by Napoleon. He defended the policy of the emperor in the matter of the Franco- German war, and was faithful to him until the revolution of Sept. 4, 1870, when he retired from political life. PERSIMMON. See DATE PLUM. PERSIS, the name given by the ancient Greeks and Romans to Persia proper, corre- sponding nearly to the modern Persian prov- ince of Fars or Farsistan. According to the earliest accounts, the territory included also the region of Oarmania, the modern Kerman, but later geographers distinguish between the two. It was bounded N. by Media Magna, E. by Carmania, S. W. by the Persian gulf, and N. W. by the river Oroatis and Susiana or Elam. The earliest known capital of this re- gion was Pasargadse, the second Persepolis, be- sides which there were but few cities of note, such as Gogana, on the gulf; and GabsB, in the interior. The rivers, all insignificant, included the Araxes, Granis, and Sitacus. (See FARS, and PERSIA.) PERSIUS FLACCUS, lulus, a Roman satirical poet, born in Volaterrao, Etruria, in A. D. 34, died in 62. He belonged to the equestrian order, and went to Rome and studied with Lucan under the stoic philosopher Annseus Cornutus. He was distinguished for his blame- less morals and amiable character. His extant works consist of six satires, which comprise in all no more than 650 hexameters, and there is no proof that he ever wrote more. His style is obscure, and abounds in colloquial- isms, far-fetched metaphors, and abrupt transi- tions. The best editions are those of Jahn (Leipsic, 1868) and of B. L. Gildersleeve (New York, 1875). English translations have been made by Holyday, Dryden, Brewster, Sir Wil- liam Drummond, and Gifford (the last pub- lished, together with a literal prose version by the Rev. L. Evans, in Bonn's " Classical Libra- ry "), and Conington (posthumous, 1872). PERSON, a N. county of North Carolina, bordering on Virginia, and drained by branches of the Dan and the head waters of the Neuse river ; area, about 400 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 11,170, of whom 5,104 were colored. It has a diversified surface and a generally fertile soil. The productions in 1870 were 53,824 bushels of wheat, 138,085 of Indian corn, 78,181 of oats, 9,150 of Irish and 10,023 of sweet potatoes, 69,155 Ibs. of butter, and 1,227,150 of tobacco. There were 1,383 horses, 2,292 milch cows, 2,146 other cattle, 4,889 sheep, and 8,935 swine. Capital Roxborough. PERSONAL EQUATION, a term used to desig- nate the amount of correction which it is necessary to make in the recorded results of scientific observations, in order to compensate for errors arising from personal characteristics of the observer. The term is commonly used in reference to astronomical observations, but