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 362 PETITION PETKA family, June, 1791, were sent to bring them back, treating them very roughly. Being elect- ed mayor of Paris in preference to Lafayette, he secretly assisted in the popular manifesta- tion of June 20, 1792, and was consequently suspended from his functions by the departmen- tal directory, but was restored by order of the assembly, which had become alarmed by the popular cry of " Petion or death ! " He par- ticipated in the insurrection of Aug. 10, when he caused himself to be kept under guard by his own friends in order to be excused from any active proceedings to quell the troubles; nei- ther did he interfere to stop the dreadful mas- sacres of September. In the same year he was elected to the convention by the department of Eure-et-Loir, and nominated the first presi- dent of that assembly. He now leaned toward a milder policy, sided with the Girondists, and lost his popularity. He had insisted upon Louis XVI. being tried, and voted for his death, but on condition that an appeal might be made to the people. He was proscribed in conjunction with the Girondists (June, 1793), escaped from Paris, wandered for some months near Bordeaux, and finally was found dead, with Buzot, half devoured by wolves, both hav- ing probably committed suicide. The works of Petion were published in Paris in 1793 (4 vols. 8vo) ; they consist merely of speeches and political tracts. PETITION, Right of, the right of the citizen to petition to those in authority for a redress of grievances. In free countries this is usually regarded as a valuable right, and one to which every person is entitled by the constitution. It extends to all legislative and all discretion- ary executive action. To secure the full value of the right, it is necessary that great freedom be allowed in commenting upon persons and measures, and a petition is therefore regard- ed as a privileged document, and errors in its statements do not subject the signers to responsibility if they are made without actual malice. But this exemption would not be recognized if the petition were addressed to a person or body having no authority over the subject matter thereof. The right of petition is expressly secured to the citizen by constitu- tional provisions in the United States, and in legislative bodies the presentation of petitions and their reference to appropriate committees are usually entered on the journal. An ex- ception was at one period made by congress of petitions on the subject of slavery, which were not accorded the courtesy of a reference. PET1TOT, Louis Messidor Lebon, a French sculp- tor, born in Paris, June 23, 1794, died there, June 1, 1862. He studied under his father Pierre Petitot (1751-1840) and in the school of fine arts, where in 1814 he obtained the prin- cipal prize, entitling him to go to Eome, whence he returned in 1820. Among his principal works are "Ulysses visiting Alcinous" (1821), "St. John the Baptist" (1822), "A young Sportsman bitten by a Serpent" (1824), and " A Calabrese Pilgrim and his Son overwhelmed by fatigue imploring the aid of the Virgin" (1847), which was placed in 1874 in the garden of the Luxembourg. PETIT-THOIARS. See Du PETIT-THOTJAES. PETO, Sir Samuel Morton, an English railway contractor, born at Woking, near London, Aug. 4, 1809. He became a master builder in 1830, and among the important edifices erect- ed by his firm were the houses of parliament, which were continued by his partner Mr. Gris- sell after his withdrawal in 1845. Mr. Peto engaged very largely in railway construction, having been the contractor for many of the most important lines in England, Canada, and other countries. In 1855 he was made a baronet for having at his own expense built a railway from Balaklava to Sebastapol du- ring the Crimean war. He represented Nor- wich in parliament from 1847 to 1855, Fins- bury from 1859 to 1865, and Bristol till April, 1868, when he retired on account of the fail- ure of his firm (Peto, Betts, and Crampton) with liabilities exceeding 7,000,000. He has published "Taxation, its Levy and Expendi- ture" (London, 1863), and "Kesources and Prospects of America" (1866). PETOFI, Sandor, a Hungarian poet, born in Little Cumania, Jan. 1, 1823, disappeared July 31, 1849. He was the son of a tavern keeper, and after irregular studies at various schools became a strolling player ; but he soon made himself known by his songs, and at the age of 24 was acknowledged the foremost lyric poet of his country. On March 15, 1848, he headed the movement in Pesth which formed the first scene in the Hungarian revolution of that year, and throughout the war his stirring songs greatly increased the patriotic enthusi- asm. During the campaign in Transylvania he was aide-de-camp of Gen. Bern, and was last seen at Schasburg among the scattered remnants of the army, pursued by Cossacks. There is little doubt that he perished ; but for many years the popular belief in Hungary was that he still lived. His "Poems" have ap- peared in various editions, and selections from them have been translated into German, French, and English. See Chassin, Le poete de la revo- lution hongroise, Alexandre Petwfi (1860). PETRA, an ancient city of Edom, 50 m. S. of the Dead sea, on the mountain ridge E. of the wady el-Arabah, and a few miles E. of Mt. Hor. The entrance to the ruins through tl sik or ravine of the wady Musa, a winding street a mile long, is lined on both sides wit tombs hewn out of the rocky cliifs. At th< opening of this avenue is the structure call( the Khazneh (the treasure), from a tradition that one of the Pharaohs enclosed money and jewels in an urn surmounting the facade. It consists of a square basement, adorned with portico of four very beautiful Corinthian pil- lars, surmounted by a pediment of low Grecian pitch, and with an ornament on the apex re- sembling somewhat a lyre. At the ends of the