A treaty between Great Britain and the United States which closed the American War of Independence. By its provisions Great Britain recognized the independence of the United States, and their right to the whole of the Northern Continent of America except Canada and Newfoundland. This treaty was confirmed by the Treaty of Versailles of 1783, to which Spain and France were also parties. Peace Preservation Act. An Act passed in the Queensland Parliament in 1894, to deal with the terrorism rife in the pastoral districts owing to the action of the Shearers’ Union. Peace Society. A society founded in London in 1816 to advocate the principle that war is inconsistent with Christianity and humanity. It is entirely unsectarian, though most of its earlier members were Quakers. Peasant War. A rising of the peasants of Suabia, Franconia, Alsace and Lorraine, in 1525, under the leadership of Görtz von Berlichingen. They issued a manifesto demanding, among other concessions, the right to choose their own pastors, the payment of tithes in kind only, the proceeds thereof to be devoted to ecclesiastical purposes, the abolition of serfdom, and free hunting and fishing. In the later stages of the war they were led by the fanatic Münzer, who proclaimed community of goods. After much bloodshed the rising was suppressed in the course of the year, Münzer being killed in battle. Pecquigny, Treaty of. A treaty between Edward IV and Louis XI, by which the English King agreed to withdraw his troops from France, on the payment by Louis of the expenses of the war, a yearly pension, and 50,000 crowns as ransom for Margaret of Anjou. This treaty, signed in 1475, was secured by Louis mainly by large bribes administered to Edward’s advisers. Pecsovics. The name given by the Magyars, after the war of 1848, to those Hungarians who were suspected of Austrian sympathies. Peelites. The followers of Sir Robert Peel in his departure from extreme Toryism, on the lines of the Tamworth Manifesto of 1835. Peep-o’-Day Boys. Bands of Protestant peasantry, formed in Ulster in 1782, who made it their business to eject Catholic tenants from their farms. Peers, Trial of. The establishment of the right of a peer to be tried by his peers in Parliament dates from the reign of Edward III, when Stratford, Archbishop of Canterbury, refused to answer the charges brought against him before any other tribunal. He was supported by the Lords, and the King was at last compelled to yield. The privilege thus secured was embodied in a statute. Pelagic Sealing. The capture of seals in the open sea, and not on their breeding grounds. _See_ Behring Sea. Pelican State. A name given to the State of Louisiana, from the pelican in its coat of arms. Pelucones. The reactionary party in Chile in 1828 were known as the Pelucones or Wigs. Peking, Treaty of.