, 1793; his attack on Robespierre
proving unsuccessful he committed suicide; his body was afterwards found
on the Landes of Bordeaux half devoured by wolves; was surnamed the
"Virtuous," as Robespierre the "Incorruptible"; was of the Girondist
party; had "unalterable beliefs, not hindmost of them," says Carlyle,
"belief in himself" (1783-1793).

PETITE NATURE, a French term applied to pictures containing figures
less than life-size, but with the effect of life-size.

PETITION OF RIGHT, a petition presented to Charles I. by the Commons
in 1628, and that became law by the king's acceptance of it. It sought
for and obtained the abolition of certain grievances which the country
unconstitutionally suffered from, such as taxation or levying of money
without consent of Parliament, imprisonment without cause shown,
billeting of troops, and recourse to martial law in a time of peace. This
petition Charles I. would at first fain have evaded, but the Commons
would be satisfied with nothing less than its acceptance entire.

PETOeFI, SANDOR, celebrated Magyar poet and patriot, born in the
county of Pesth, of poor parents; first announced himself as a poet in
1844; wrote a number of war-songs; fought in the cause of the revolution
of 1848, and fell in the battle of Schaessburg; his poetry inaugurated a
new era in the literature of his country (1823-1849).

PETRA, a ruined city, and once the rock capital of Edom, and
afterwards of Arabia Petraea; was a place of some importance at one time
as a commercial centre; the name Petra signifies rock.

PETRARCH, FRANCESCO, the famous Italian lyric poet, born at Arezzo,
in Tuscany, whither his father had gone when exiled with Dante from
Florence; spent his youth in Avignon; intended for the profession of law,
devoted his time to the study of Cicero and Virgil; met Laura in the
church of St. Clare there in 1327, a lady of surpassing beauty; conceived
a passion for her which she could not return, and wrote sonnets in praise
of her, which immortalised both himself and her; after travel in France
and Germany he retired in 1337 to the valley of Vaucluse, where he
composed the most of his poems, and his reputation reached its height in
1341, when he was crowned laureate in the Capitol of Rome; he was in
Italy when tidings reached him of the death of Laura in 1348, on the
anniversary of the day when he first met her, upon which he gave
expression to his feelings over the event in a touch