that had already begun to creep into the Church, and against which we
meet with the same warnings in the Epistle of Jude, the doctrinal error
being the denial of Christ as Lord, and the practical the denial of Him
as the way, the truth, and the life, to the peril of the forfeiture of
eternal life.

PETER, THE WILD BOY, a savage creature of 13 years of age, found in
1725 in a forest of Hanover, who was accustomed to walk on all fours, and
climb trees like a squirrel, living on wild plants, grass, and moss, and
who could not be weaned from these habits, or taught to speak more than a
syllable or two; he wore a brass collar with his name on it; at length
refused all food, and died in 1786.

PETER MARTYR, 1, a Dominican notorious for his severity as a member
of the Inquisition, murdered by a mob at Como in 1252, became the patron
saint of the Inquisition. 2, A Protestant reformer, born at Florence,
became a monk and abbot at Lucca, from which, on embracing the doctrines
of the Reformation, he was forced to flee, first to Switzerland and then
to England in the reign of Edward VI., but had to retreat from thence
also on the accession of Mary to Strasburg, and at length to Zurich,
where he died (1500-1562). 3, A historian, born at Arona, rose to become
bishop of Jamaica, wrote on the discovery of America, _d_. 1525.

PETER THE GREAT, emperor of Russia, son of the Czar Alexei, born at
Moscow; succeeded his half-brother Feodor in 1682, but was forced for a
time to share the throne with his half-sister Sophia, acting as regent
for her brother Ivan; conscious of his imperfect education, he chose a
Genoese named Lefort as his preceptor, and after some years' careful
training he deposed Sophia, and entered Moscow as sole ruler in 1689;
with the help of Lefort and Patrick Gordon, a Scotsman, he proceeded to
raise and discipline an army on the European model, and determined also
to construct a navy; to reach the sea he made war on the Turks, and
possessed himself of the port of Azov, at the mouth of the Don; hither he
invited skilled artificers from Austria, Venice, Prussia, and Holland,
and a navy was built; from 1697 to 1698 he visited the countries on the
Baltic and England, acquiring vast stores of information, working as a
shipwright in the Dutch yards, and finally taking back with him an army
of mechanics; on his return he vigorously reformed the Russian press,
schools, and church, introduced European manners and literat