observatory at Arequipa, in Peru lie devoted particular attention to the study ot light and the MHctra of the stars and published the results of his observations in the Aiiiuih of the Bunaid Obsrnalory. He also vrote Elements of Physical il (I II iiiu la lion (1874).
PICKERLNG, JoUN (1777-1840). An Ameri-
can linguist and lexicographer, son of Tiniothy
I'ickoring, born in Salem, Mass. He graduated
at Harvard in 1791), studied law with Edward
Tilgham in Philadelphia, was Secretary of Lega-
tion in Lisbon until 17nn, and then became private
secretary to Rufus King, Minister to England.
He practiced law in Salem, Mass., from 1801 to
1827, was City Solicitor of Boston ( 1827-4G) , and
during his service in the State Legislature took
a prominent part in revising the Slassachusetts
general statutes. He was president of the Ameri-
can Academy of Sciences, first president of the
American Oriental Society, an able linguist, and,
like bis father, particularly interested in the
languages of the North American Indians. He
wrote A Uniform Orthography for the Indian
Languages (1820), Remarks on the Indian Lan-
guages of North America (1830), Vocabulary of
^yor<ls and Phrases f<upimscd to lie Peculiar lo
the United Htates (1810), and a Greek and Eng-
lish Lexicon (1820, .3d ed. 1840), as well as
many monographs on ancient and international
law. Consult the biography by his daughter,
Mary Orne Pickering (Boston, 1887).
PICKERING, TiMOTHV (174.5-1829). An
American statesman. He was born at Salem,
Mass., July 17, 1745. graduated at Harvard in
1703, and was admitted to the bar in 1708. In
1773 he drafted for the town of Salem a paper
entitled Slate of the l/ights of the Colonists, and
in the following year the meninrial of the citizens
of Salem to (Jeiieral Gage in regard to the Boston
Port Bill. In 1770 he joined the Revolutionary
Army and led an Essex County regiment to Tar-
rytown, N. Y. In the following year he took part
in the battles of Brandywine and Geiniantown.
and was appointed a member of the Congressional
Board of War. In 1780 he was appointed Quar-
termaster-General of the army and retained the
ofliee until its abolition in 1785. Upon his retire-
ment from the army, he engaged in business in
Philadeli)liia, but two years later removed to the
Wyoming Valley and became involved in the dis-
turbances of that region, where he was instru-
mental in maintaining order and quiet. He set-
tled the territorial disputes between Pennsylva-
nia and the inhabitants of the Wyoming Valley,
and organized Luzerne County, which he reiu'e-
sented in the Pennsylvania Constitutional Con-
vention of 1780. In 1790 he was commissioned
by President Washington to negotiate a treatv
with the Six Nations, which he did successfully,
and later performed a similar service with the
Indians of the Northwest. In 1791 Colonel Pick-
ering was appointed Postmaster-General of the
United States, which ofliee he held until 1795,
when he was appointed Secretary of War. Pick-
ering signalized his administration by establish-
ing a military school at West Point and by super-
vising the construction of the frigates Constitu-
tion, United States, and Constellation. Upon the
resignation of Edmund Randolph near the end of
1795. Colonel Pickering was appointed Secretary
of State, which ofliee he liidd cluring the remain-
der of Washington's term and through the greater
part of Adams's administration. In ISOO he was
abruptly removed on account of a serious dis-
agreement with the President growing out of the
difliculties with France over the X. Y. Z. corre-
spondence (q.v.) . He then retired to his uncleared
lands in what is now Susquehanna County, Pa.,
but was in poor circumstances, and some of his
Massachusetts friends prevailed upon him to re-
turn to his native State, where in 1802 he became
Chief .lustice of the Court of Common Pleas. In
the following year he was elected to the United
States Senate, where he served until 1811. As a
member of the House of Representatives he served
until 1817, when he refu.sed a renomination and
again retired to private life. He died at Salem,
January 29, 1829. Pickering wrote numerous po-
litical papers, including a Revieic of the Corre-
spondence Between John Adams and William Cun-
ningham. A biography of Colonel Pickering in
4 vols, was published by Oetavius Pickering and
C. W. Upham (Boston, 1807-73).
PICKERING, William (1796-1854). An
English publisher. After serving for ten years in
a Quaker publishing house in Cornhill, London,
he opened a bookshop of his own in Lincoln's
Inn Fields (1820). Adding publishing to the
business, he subsequently moved to Chancery Lane
(1824) and to Piccadilly (1842). For printing
he employed the Chiswick Press. About 1830 he
adopted the trade-mark of --^Idus. the famous
Italian printer — an anchor entwined with a dol-
phin, to which was added the motto, Aldi Discip.
Ang. Among his notable undertakings were
the "Diamoncl Classics" (a series of delicate vol-
umes in 48ino and 32mo. issued between 1821 and
1831) : and reprints of dirt'erent versions of the
Book of Common Prayer between 1549 and 1002
((i vols.. 1844), the tj'pography of which has
probably never been surpassed. Among his
sumptuous publications may be cited Walton's
Compleat Angler, illustrated by Stothard and
Inskipp (2 vols., 1836). He also projected the
.ldine edition of English poets, j^fter his death
the business was carried on by his son, Basil
MoNTAGtTE Pickering (1836-78), who, among
several reprints, issued a facsimile of the first
edition of Paradise Lost. In 1878 the firm came
to an end.
