of a shoemaker, bred for the Church; was a disciple of Locke and Jeremy
Bentham; wrote a "History of British India," "Elements of Political
Economy," and an "Analysis of the Human Mind"; held an important
lucrative post in the East India Company's service (1773-1836).
MILL, JOHN STUART, logician and economist, born in London, son of
the preceding; was educated pedantically by his father; began to learn
Greek at 3, could read it and Latin at 14, "never was a boy," he says,
and was debarred from all imaginative literature, so that in after years
the poetry of Wordsworth came to him as a revelation; entered the service
of the East India Company in 1823, but devoted himself to philosophic
discussion; contributed to the _Westminster Review_, of which he was for
some time editor; published his "System of Logic" in 1843, and in 1848
his "Political Economy"; entered Parliament in 1865, but lost his seat in
1868, on which he retired to Avignon, where he died; he wrote a book on
"Liberty" in 1859, on "Utilitarianism" in 1863, on "Comte" in 1865, and
on "Sir William Hamilton's Philosophy" the same year, and left an
"Autobiography"; he was a calm thinker and an impartial critic; he
befriended Carlyle when he went to London, and Carlyle rather took to
him, but divergences soon appeared, which, as it could not fail, ended in
total estrangement; he had an Egeria in a Mrs. Taylor, whom he married
when she became a widow; it was she, it would almost seem, who was
responsible for the fate of Carlyle's MS. (1806-1873).
MILLAIS, SIR JOHN EVERETT, painter, born of Jersey parentage, at
Southampton; studied at the Royal Academy, and at 17 exhibited a notable
historical work; early associated with Rossetti and Holman Hunt, he
remained for over 20 years under their influence; to this period belong
"The Carpenter's Shop," 1851, "Autumn Leaves," 1856, and "The Minuet,"
1866; "The Gambler's Wife" marks the transition from Pre-Raphaelitism;
his chief subsequent work, in which technical interest predominates, was
portraiture, including Gladstone and Beaconsfield; he was a profuse
illustrator, and wrought some etchings; he was made R.A. 1864, a baronet
in 1885, and P.R.A. February 1896 (1829-1896).
MILLBANK PRISON, Westminster, constructed 1812-21 on the plans of
Howard and Bentham, so that each of its 1100 cells were visible from the
governor's room, was used for solitary confinement preparatory to penal
servitude, and as a convict prison until 1886, and demolished 1890.
MILLER, HUGH, journalist and geologist, self-taught, born in
Cromarty, of sailor ancestry; began life as a stone-mason; editor of the
_Witness_ newspaper from 1839 till his death; wrote the "Old Red
Sandstone," "Footprints of the Creator," and the "Testimony of the
Rocks," books which awakened an interest in geological subjects, besides
being the author of an account of his life, "My Schools and
Schoolmasters"; died by his own hand at Portobello; he was a writer of
considerable literary ability, and "nothing," says Prof. Saintsbury, "can
be more hopelessly unliterary than to undervalue Hugh Miller"
(1802-1856).
MILLER, WILLIAM, line-engraver, lived at Millerfield, Edinburgh;
famed for his engravings of Turner; was a member of the Society of
Friends, and stood high in his art as an engraver (1797-1882).
MILLET, JEAN FRANÇOIS, French painter of French peasant life, born
near Greville, of a peasant family; sent to Paris, studied under Paul
Delaroche, withdrew into rustic life, and took up his abode at the
village of Barbizon, near the Forest of Fontainebleau, where he spent as
a peasant the rest of his life, honoured though poor by all his
neighbours, and produced inimitable pictures of French country life,
completing his famous "Sower," and treating such subjects as the
"Gleaners," the "Sheep-Shearers," "Shepherdess and Flock," &c., with an
evident appreciation on his part of the life they depicted so faithfully
(1814-1875).
MILMAN, HENRY HART, dean of St. Paul's, ecclesiastical historian,
born in London; edited Gibbon's "Decline and Fall," wrote "History of the
Jews," "History of Christianity to the Abolition of Paganism under the
Empire," and "History of Latin Christianity," all learned works,
particularly the last in 9 vols., described by Dean Stanley as "a
complete epic and philosophy of mediæval Christianity"; was professor of
Poetry at Oxford (1791-1865).
MILNE-EDWARDS, HENRI, eminent naturalist, born at Bruges, of English
parentage; wrote extensively and learnedly on natural history subjects,
dissented from Darwin, and held to the theory of different centres of
creation, and to this he stoutly adhered to the last (1800-1885).
MILNER, VISCOUNT, High Commissioner of South Africa since 1897, and
Governor of the Transvaal and Orange River Colonies since 1901; a student
of Balliol (graduating with a first class in classics), and a Fellow of
New College, Oxford; called to the bar in 1881; Private Secretary to Mr.
Goschen (1887-1889); Under-Secretary for Finance in Egypt (1889-1892);
Chairman of the Inland Revenue Board, from 1892 to 1897, when he
succeeded Lord Rosmead at the Cape; represented the Mother Country with
great ability before and during the Boer War; visited England and raised
to the peerage in 1901; declined the Colonial Secretaryship in 1903;
resigned in 1905; _b_. 1854.
MILNER, JOSEPH, Church historian; master of the Grammar School,
Hull; his "History of the Church" reaches down to the 16th century
(1744-1797).
MILO, a celebrated athlete, born at Crotona, of extraordinary
strength, said to have one day carried a live bullock 120 paces along the
Olympic course, killed it with his fist, and eaten it up entire at one
repast; in old age he attempted to split a tree, but it closed upon his
arm, and the wolves devoured him.
MILTIADES, an Athenian general, famous for his decisive defeat of
the Persians at Marathon, 490 B.C.; failing in a naval attack on Paros,
and fined to indemnify the cost of the expedition, but unable to pay, was
cast into prison, where he died of his wounds inflicted in the attempt.
MILTON, JOHN, poet, born in London, son of a scrivener; graduated at
Cambridge, and settled to study and write poetry in his father's house at
Horton, 1632; in 1638 he visited Italy, being already known at home as
the author of the "Hymn on the Nativity," "Allegro," "Penseroso,"
"Comus," a mask, and "Lycidas," an elegy on his friend King, who was
drowned in the Irish Sea in 1637, besides much excellent Latin verse; the
outbreak of the Civil War recalled him, and silenced his muse for many
years; settling in London he took pupils, married in 1643 Mary Powell,
and became active as a writer of pamphlets on public questions; his first
topic was Church Government, then his wife's desertion of him for two
years called forth his tracts on Divorce, a threatened prosecution for
which elicited in turn the "Areopagitica, a Speech for the Liberty of
Unlicensed Printing"; his father died in 1647, his wife in 1652; under
the Common wealth he was "Secretary of Foreign Tongues," and successfully
defended the execution of Charles I. in his Latin "Defence of the English
People," and other bitter controversial works; he married in 1656 his
second wife, who died two years later; the Restoration gave him back to
leisure and poetry; his greatest work, "Paradise Lost," was composed
rapidly, dictated to his daughters, and completed in 1663, but not
published till 1667; 1671 saw "Paradise Regained" and "Samson
Agonistes"; he had been blind since 1652; he married Elizabeth Minshull
in 1663, who comforted him in his closing years; a man of fervent,
impulsive temperament, and a lover of music, he was sincere in
controversy, magnanimous in character, and of deep religious faith; the
richness, melody, and simplicity of his poetry, the sublimity of his
great theme, and the adequacy of its treatment, place him among the
greatest poets of the world; in later years he leaned to Arianism, and
broke away from the restraints of outward religious practice; his last
prose work, a Latin treatise on "Christian Doctrines," was lost at the
time of his death, and only recovered 150 years later (1608-1674).
MILWAÜKEE (285), chief city of Wisconsin, U.S., on W. shore of Lake
Michigan, 80 miles N. by W. of Chicago. Exports grain, iron ore, &c.;
manufactures flour, machinery, and pig-iron.
MIMES, dramatic performances among the Greeks and Romans, in comic
representation of scenes in ordinary life, often in extempore dialogue.
MIMIR, in the Norse mythology the god of wisdom, guardian of the
sacred well which nourished the roots of the TREE IGGDRASIL (q. v.),
and a draught of whose waters imparted divine wisdom.
MINARETS, a salient feature of Mohammedan architecture, are tall
slim towers, in several storeys with balconies, from which the muezzin
calls the people to prayer, and terminated by a spire or finial.
MINERVA, the Roman virgin goddess of wisdom and the arts, identified
with the GREEK ATHENA (q. v.); born full-armed from the brain of
Jupiter, and representing his thinking, calculating, inventive power, and
third in rank to him.
MINERVA PRESS, a printing establishment in Leadenhall Street,
London, which about a century ago issued a set of trashy, extremely
sentimental novels with complicated plots, in which hero and heroine were
involved before they could get married.
MINGHETTI, MARCO, Italian patriot and statesman, born at Bologna; a
man of liberal views; a friend and associate of Cavour; held office under
him as Minister of the Interior in 1862; was ambassador to the Court of
St. James's in 1868, and Prime Minister at Rome from 1873 to 1876
(1818-1886)
MINIMS, an order of monks founded by St. Francis of Paula in 1453, a
name which signifies "the least" to express super-humility.
MINNEAPOLIS (203), city of U.S., Minnesota, on both sides of the
Mississippi, the greatest centre of the wheat and flour trade in U.S.
MINNESINGERS (i. e. love-singers), a name given to the lyric poets
of Germany during the latter part of the 12th and the first half of the
13th centuries.
MINNESOTA (1,302), one of the United States of America; lies between
the Dakotas on the W. and Wisconsin on the E., Canada on the N., and Iowa
on the S., round the upper waters of the Mississippi, the St. Lawrence,
and the Red River of the North; the State is largely prairie, with
hundreds of lakes, the largest Red Lake, and is chiefly a wheat-producing
area; there are pine forests in the N., iron mines, slate and granite
quarries; the climate is dry, equable, and bracing; education is good;
the State university is at Minneapolis; the capital is ST. PAUL
(133), where the Mississippi is still navigable, a fine city, founded in
1840, the centre of the grocery and dry-goods trade; the largest city is
Minneapolis (203), which has great lumber and flour mills; Duluth (33)
has a magnificent harbour and good shipping trade.
MINORCA (34), the second of the Balearic Isles, hilly, with
stalactite caves and rocky coast; is less fertile than Majorca, from
which it is 25 m. distant NE.; it produces oil, wine, and fruits, and
makes boots and shoes, but under Spanish misrule is not prosperous; the
capital Mahon (17), in the SE., is strongly fortified, and has a good
harbour.
MINOS, an ancient king of Crete, celebrated for his administration
of justice; was fabled to have been appointed, along with Æacus and
Rhadamanthus, one of the judges of the dead on their descent into the
nether world.
MINOTAUR, in the Greek mythology a monster, half-man half-bull with
a bull's head, confined in the Labyrinth of Crete, fed by the annual
tribute of seven youths and seven maidens of Athenian birth, till he was
slain by Theseus with the help of ARIADNE (q. v.).
MINSTRELS, a body of men who during the Middle Ages wandered from
place to place, especially from court to court, singing their own
compositions to the harp for accompaniment.
MINTO, EARL OF, Governor-General of India; was bred to the bar,
served in Parliament and as ambassador, went out to India in 1806,
consolidated the British power, captured Java, and opened diplomatic
relations with powers around (17501814).
MIRABEAU, GABRIEL HONORÉ RIQUETTI, COMTE DE, son of the succeeding,
born at the mansion-house of Bignon; was a man of massive intellect and
strong physical frame, who came to the front in the French Revolution;
being expelled from his order by the noblesse of Provence, he ingratiated
himself with the Third Estate, and was elected commons-deputy of Aix to
the States-General in 1789, where he became, as the incarnation of the
whole movement, the ruling spirit of the hour, and gave proof, if he had
lived, of being able to change the whole course of the Revolution, for he
was already in communication with the court and in hopes of gaining it
over to accept the inevitable, when he sickened and died, to the
consternation of the entire people, whose affection and confidence he had
won (1749-1791). See CARLYLE'S "FRENCH REVOLUTION" and his Essay
in his "MISCELLANIES."
MIRABEAU, VICTOR RIQUETTI, MARQUIS DE, "crabbed old friend of men,"
born at Pertuis, in Provence, claimed to be of Florentine descent; "could
never make the world go to his mind," and set about reforming it by
coercing a family as self-willed as himself, to the driving of his
celebrated son to desperate courses and reckless excesses; advocated the
doctrines of the French economists in a series of writings instinct with
a certain theoretical philanthropy (1716-1783).
MIRACLE PLAYS were strictly speaking dramas founded on legends of
the saints, as distinct from mysteries founded on scriptural subjects,
but the name came to cover all those religious representations for the
instruction of the people fostered by the Church of the Middle Ages,
performed first in churches, afterwards in public places; they were
common in England from the 12th century, but latterly became corrupt
through the introduction of grotesque indecorous comicalities; the rise
of the drama led to their abandonment; on the Continent ecclesiastical
action was taken against them, not by the Reformers, but by the Church
itself in the 18th century, and everywhere they have all but disappeared;
the Passion Play acted every 10 years at Oberammergau, Bavaria, is the
only important survival.
MIRANDA, the beautiful daughter of the magician Prospero in
Shakespeare's "Tempest."
MIRANDA, FRANCESCO DE, a Portuguese poet; wrote sonnets and epistles
in verse; was predecessor of Camoëns (1495-1558).
MISERERE, a carved bracket on the under side of the stall seats in
mediæval churches, which, when the seat was turned up during the standing
portion of the service, afforded support to the older clergy. Miserere,
the Catholic name for the 51st Psalm.
MISHNA, the oral law of the Jews, which is divided into six parts,
and constitutes the text of the Talmud, of which the Gemara is the
commentary.
MISPRISION, a high offence under, but close upon, the degree of a
capital one; misprision of treason being a concealment of a felony
without consenting to it.
MISSAL, a book containing the service of the mass for the entire
year, such as is now in almost universal use throughout the Catholic
world.
MISSISSIPPI (1,290), an American State on the E. bank of the Lower
Mississippi, abutting on the Gulf of Mexico, between Louisiana and
Alabama; has a hilly surface, traversed by numerous rivers, the Yazoo, a
tributary of the Mississippi, forming a great fertile delta; the climate
is free from extremes; the chief industry is agriculture; the best crops
are grown in the N., and on the alluvial bottom lands; in the centre and
NE. are good grazing farms; cotton, corn, oats, and fruits are the chief
crops; virgin forests of hardwood cover much of the delta; valuable
deposits of pipe and ochre clays and of lignite are found; cotton is
manufactured, and there is trade in lumber; more than half the population
is coloured, and the races are kept distinct in the State schools; the
State university is at Oxford, and there are many other colleges; Jackson
(6), the capital, is the chief railway centre, Meridian (10) has iron
manufactures, Vicksburg (13) and Natchez (10) are the chief riverports;
Mississippi was colonised by the French in 1699, ceded to Britain 1763,
admitted to the Union 1817, joined the South in 1861, but was readmitted
to the Union in 1869.
MISSISSIPPI RIVER rises in Lake Itaska, Minnesota, and flowing S.
for 2800 m., enters the Gulf of Mexico by a large delta; its earlier
course is through picturesque country, often in gorges, with rapids such
as the St. Anthony Falls, the Des Moines and Rock Island Rapids. After
receiving the Missouri, 3000 m. long, from the Rocky Mountains, it flows
2½ m. per hour through great alluvial plains, which are protected from
its overflows by hundreds of miles of earth embankments, and is joined by
the Ohio from the E., the Red and Arkansas Rivers from the W., and many
other navigable streams. The Mississippi is navigable by large steamers
for 2000 m.; St. Louis, Memphis, Vicksburg, Natchez, and New Orleans are
among the chief ports on its banks.
MISSISSIPPI SCHEME was started in France 1717 by John Law and the
Government, ostensibly to develop the Mississippi basin, but really to
ease the pressure on the exchequer; a company was formed and empowered to
monopolise almost all the foreign trade; 624,000 shares were issued;
depreciated paper currency was accepted in payment, and the national bank
issued notes without stint; in 1719 the demand for shares was enormous;
the nation was completely carried away; next year the crash came; the
Government made every effort to save the position, but in vain; the
distress was extreme, and Law had to leave the country.
MISSOLONGHI (6), Greek seaport and fishing town, on the Gulf of
Patras, chiefly noted for heroic defences in the War of Independence
1821-1826, and as the place of Byron's death 1824.
MISSOURI (2,679), an American State on the right bank of the
Mississippi, between Iowa and Arkansas, is half the size of the British
Isles, and is traversed by the Missouri River; N. of that river the
country is level, S. of it there rise the Ozark tablelands; the soil is
very fertile, and the State principally agricultural; immense crops of
maize, oats, potatoes, cotton, and tobacco are raised; there are large
cattle ranches, and dressed beef and pork are largely exported; the
climate is subject to extremes; coal, iron, lead, zinc, and other
minerals abound, while marble, granite, and limestone are quarried; the
rivers afford excellent transport facilities; the educational system is
very complete; admitted to the Union in 1821, Missouri was divided in the
Civil War, and suffered terribly, but since then has been very
prosperous; the capital, St. Louis (452), is one of the greatest
commercial and manufacturing towns in the Union, does a vast trade in
grain and cotton, and has hardware, leather goods, and tobacco factories;
Kansas City (133), has great pork-packing establishments and railroad
iron-works.
MISTRAL, FREDERICK, poet of Southern France, born near Maillaune,
was a peasant's son, and himself a peasant; his fame rose on the
publication of the epic, "Mirèio," in Provençal dialect, 1859; in 1867 he
published "Calendou," and in 1876 a volume of songs, and in 1884 "Nerto,"
a novel; _b_. 1830.
MITFORD, MARY RUSSELL, authoress, born at Alresford, Hants, lived
with her father, an extravagant physician, at Lyme Regis and London; she
published poems in 1810-11-12, but, forced to earn a living, took to
dramatic work; "Julian," "The Foscari," and "Rienzi" were successful if
ephemeral tragedies; her best work was "Our Village," sketches of homely
English life written with much care, and after appearing in the _London
Magazine_, published in 5 vols., 1824-32 (1786-1855).
MITFORD, WILLIAM, English author; wrote a "History of Greece" and on
the "English Metre, or the Harmony of Language" (1744-1827).
MITHRAS (i. e. the Friend), the highest of the second order of
deities in the ancient Persian religion, the friend of man in this life
and his protector against evil in the world to come, sided with Ormuzd
against Ahriman, incarnated in the sun, and represented as a youth
kneeling on a bull and plunging a dagger into his neck, while he is at
the same time attacked by a dog, a serpent, and a scorpion.
MITHRIDATES THE GREAT, surnamed Eupator, king of Pontus from 123 to
63 B.C.; an implacable enemy of the Romans, between whom and him there
raged from 90 to 63 a succession of wars, till he was defeated by Pompey
near the Euphrates, when, being superseded by his son, he put an end to
his life; he was a great man and conqueror, subdued many surrounding
nations, and was a collector of works of art; he made a special study of
poisons, and familiarised himself with all their antidotes, in view of
possible attempts by means of them to take away his life.
MITRAILLEUSE, a gun consisting of several, as many as 25, barrels,
from which a number of shots may be fired simultaneously or in rapid
succession, used by the French in the Franco-German War.
MIVART, ST. GEORGE, naturalist, a Roman Catholic professor at
Louvain, distinguished for his opposition to Darwinianism; _b_. 1827.
MNEMOSYNË in the Greek mythology the daughter of Uranos, the goddess
of memory, and the mother of the Muses by Zeus.
MOA, the name of several species of New Zealand and Australian
birds, from 2 to 14 ft. high, and quite wingless; almost extinct since
the 17th century; two living specimens were captured in 1876.
MOAB, a pastoral region extending along the E. of lower parts of the
Jordan and the Dead Sea, and inhabited by the descendants of Lot, now
extinct, or merged among the Arabs.
MOABITE STONE, a stone 4 ft. high and 2 ft. broad found by Dr. Klein
in 1868 among the ruins of Dhiban, a town in Moab, now in the Louvre at
Paris, describing a victory of the Moabites over the Israelites; it was
broken by the Arabs, but the fragments have been collected and put into
their proper places.
MOBILE (31), a city and port of Alabama, U.S., 30 m. N. of the Gulf
of Mexico; a thriving place; exports cotton, lumber, &c.
MOBILIER CRÉDIT, a banking and financial company founded in Paris in
1852; lends money on security of property other than real, and takes
shares in public schemes, such as railways.
MODENA (31), Italian town, 62 m. N. of Florence; has a cathedral,
with noted campanile, university, library, and art collections, and
manufactures silk and leather; capital of a duchy (303); incorporated in
the kingdom of Italy 1860.
MODERN ATHENS, Edinburgh, from its resemblance to Athens and its
repute for literary culture; applied also to Boston, in America.
MODERN BABYLON, London, from its huge extent and the miscellaneous
character of its inhabitants.
MODJESKA, HELENA, actress, born in Cracow; went on the stage after
her first marriage in 1861, and from 1868 to 1876 was the favourite of
Warsaw; retired to California on her second marriage, but returned to the
stage, having learned English in seven months in California 1877, and
till her final retirement in 1895, was eminently successful in America
and Britain in such parts as Rosalind, Beatrice, &c.
MODRED, SIR, a treacherous knight, the rebellious nephew of King
Arthur, whose wife he seduced; was slain in battle, and buried in Avalon.
MOFFAT, ROBERT, African missionary, born at Ormiston,
Haddingtonshire; the scene of his nearly lifelong labours was among the
Bechuanas in South Africa, whom he raised from a savage to a civilised
state; he was sent out in 1816 by the London Missionary Society. He
married (1819) Mary Smith, a daughter of his former employer at
Dunkinfield.
MOHAMMED, great prophet of the Arabs, and founder of Islamism, born
at Mecca, the son of Abdallah, of the tribe of the Koreish; left an
orphan, brought up by his uncle Abu Taleb; became steward to a rich
WIDOW KADIJAH (q. v.) whom he married; was given to serious
meditation, would retire into solitude and pray, and one day, by the
favour of Heaven, got answer which left him "in doubt and darkness no
longer, but saw it all," saw into the vanity of all that was not God,
that He alone was great, inconceivably great; that it was with Him alone
we had to do, we must all submit to Him; this revelation made to him he
imparted to Kadijah, and after a time she assented, and his heart leaped
for joy; he spoke or his doctrine to this man and that, but made slow
progress in persuading others to believe it; made only 13 converts in 3
years; his preaching gave offence to the chief people, and his relatives
tried hard to persuade him to hold his peace, but he would not; after 13
years a conspiracy was formed to take his life, and he fled, through
peril after peril, to Medina, in his fifty-third year, and in 622 of our
era; his enemies had taken up the sword against him, and he now replied
with the same weapon, and in 10 years he prevailed; it was a war against
idolatry in all its forms, and idolatry was driven to the wall, the motto
on his banner "God is Great," a motto with a depth of meaning greater
than the Mohammedan world, and perhaps the Christian, has yet realised;
it is for one thing a protest on the part of Mohammed, in which the
Hebrew prophets forestalled him, against all attempts to understand the
Deity and fathom "His ways, which are ever in the deep, and whose
footsteps are not known" (571-631).
MOHAMMEDANISM, the religion of MOHAMMED, or ISLAM, (q. v.),
is essentially much the same as the religion of the Jews with some
elements borrowed from the Christian religion, and is defined by Carlyle
as a bastard Christianity; originating in Arabia it spread rapidly over
the W. of Asia, the N. of Africa, and threatened at one time to overrun
Europe itself; it is the religion to-day of two hundred millions of the
human race, and the profession of it extends over a wide area in western
and southern Asia as also in northern Africa, though its limits in Europe
do not extend beyond the bounds of Turkey.
MOHAWK, a tribe of American Indians, gave name to a band or club of
ruffians who infested the streets of London in 1711-12.
MOHIC`ANS, an American Indian tribe, took sides with the English
settlers against the French and with the former against England.
MOHL, JULIUS, Orientalist, born in Stuttgart; edited the "Shah
Nameh" of Firdushi, a monumental work (1800-1876).
MÖHLER, JOHANN ADAM, a Roman Catholic theologian, born at
Würtemberg, author of "Symbolik," a work which discusses the differences
between the doctrines of Catholics and Protestants, as evidenced in their
respective symbolical books, a work which created no small stir in the
theological world (1796-1838).
MOIR, DAVID MACBETH, the "Delta" of _Blackwood_, born in
Musselburgh, where he practised as a physician; was author of "Mansie
Waugh" (1798-1851).
MOIRA, FRANCIS RAWDON-HASTINGS, EARL OF, son of the Earl of Moira;
entered the army 1771, and served against the Americans in the War of
Independence; created Baron Rawdon in 1783; succeeded to his father's
title 1793; entered political life under Fox, and was Governor-General of
India 1813-23, in which period fell the Goorkha War, for the successful
negotiations subsequent on which he was created Marquis of Hastings; his
administration encouraged native education and freedom of the press; from
1824 he was Governor of Malta till his death at Naples (1754-1826).
MOKANNA, AL, "the veiled one," a name given to Hakim ben Allah, who
wore a veil to hide the loss of an eye; he professed to be an incarnation
of the Deity and to work miracles; found followers; founded a sect at
Khorassan; seized some fortresses, but was overthrown at Kash A.D. 780,
whereupon he took poison.
MOLDAU, largest river in Bohemia, rises on the N. of the Böhmerwald
Mountains, flows SE. along their base, then turns northward through
Bohemia, passes Budweis, becomes navigable, is 100 yards broad at Prague,
and joins the Elbe at Melnik after flowing 278 m.
MOLDAVIA, once independent, now the northern division of Roumania,
lies between the Carpathians and the Pruth River, and is well watered by
the Sereth; its chief town is Jassy, in the NE.
MOLÉ, LOUIS MATTHIEU, COMTE, French statesman, born in Paris;
published in 1805 an essay on politics which, defending Napoleon, won for
its author a series of minor offices, and in 1813 a peerage and a seat in
the Cabinet; retaining power under Louis XVIII. and Louis Philippe, he
was Minister of Marine 1817, Foreign Minister 1830, and Premier 1837, but
retired from politics two years later (1781-1855).
MOLECULE, the smallest particle of which an element or a compound
body is composed, and that retains all the properties in a free state.
MOLESWORTH, SIR WILLIAM, British statesman, born in London; was an
advanced Liberal; editor and proprietor of the _Westminster Review_;
edited the works of Hobbes (1810-1855).
MOLIÈRE, JEAN BAPTISTE POQUELIN, great French comic dramatist, born
in Paris; studied law and passed for the bar, but evinced from the first
a proclivity for the theatre, and soon associated with actors, and found
his vocation as a writer of plays, which procured him the friendship of
Lafontaine, Boileau, and other distinguished men, though he incurred the
animosity of many classes of society by the ridicule which he heaped on
their weaknesses and their pretensions, the more that in his satires his
characters are rather abstract types of men than concrete
individualities; his principal pieces are, "Les Précieuses Ridicules,"
"L'École des Femmes," "Le Tartuffe," "Le Misanthrope," "George Dandin,"
"L'Avare," "Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme," "Les Fourberies de Scapin," "Le
Malade malgré Lui," "Les Femmes Savantes," and "Le Malade Imaginaire";
though seriously ill, he took part in the performance of this last, but
the effort was too much for him, and he died that night; from the grudge
which the priests bore him for his satires on them he was buried without
a religious service (1622-1673).
MOLINA, LUIS, a Spanish Jesuit and theologian, author of a theory
called Molinism, which resolves the doctrine of predestination into a
mere foreknowledge of those who would accept and those who would reject
the grace of God in salvation.
MOLINOS, MIGUEL DE, a Spanish theologian, born at Saragossa;
published a book called the "Spiritual Guide," which, as containing the
germ of Quietism, was condemned by the Inquisition, and its author
sentenced to imprisonment for life (1627-1696).
MOLLAH, a judge of the highest rank among the Turks on matters of
law, both civil and sacred.
MOLLWITZ, a village in Silesia, 20 m. SE. of Breslau, where
Frederick the Great defeated the Austrians 1741.
MOLOCH or MOLECH, the chief god of the Ammonites, the worship
of whom, which prevailed among all the Canaanites, was accompanied with
cruelties, human sacrifices among others, revolting to the humane spirit
of the Jewish religion; originally it appears to have been the worship of
fire, through which the innocent as well as the guilty have often to pass
for the achievement of the noblest enterprises, which degenerated at
length into selfish sacrifices of others for interests of one's own, into
the substitution of the innocent for the guilty by way of atonement to
the Deity!
MOLTKE, COUNT VON, surnamed the Silent, great German field marshal,
born in Mecklenburg-Schwerin, of an old family; was pre-eminent as a
military strategist, planned and conducted the Prussian campaign against
Austria in 1866, and the German campaign against France in 1870-72; was
in the service of Denmark before he entered the Prussian (1800-1891).
MOLUCCAS or SPICE ISLANDS (400), an archipelago of mountainous
islands, mostly volcanic, between Celebes and New Guinea, is in two main
groups; in the N. the largest island is Jilolo, but the most important
Tidor and Ternate, which export spices, tortoise-shell, and bees-wax; in
the S. Buru and Ceram are largest, most important, Amboyna, from which
come cloves; the people are civilised Malays; the islands are equatorial,
but tempered by sea-breezes, and healthy; discovered by the Portuguese in
1521, they have been in Dutch possession since 1607, except when held by
Britain 1810-1814.
MOMBASA (Africans and Arabs 20), capital of British East Africa, on
a rocky islet, close inshore, 50 m. N. of Pemba; was ceded with a tract
of country six times the size of the British Isles, and rich in gold,
copper, plumbago, and india-rubber, to the British East African Company
by the Sultan of Zanzibar in 1888, since when it has been rebuilt, and
the harbour, one of the best and healthiest on the coast, made a naval
coaling-station and head-quarters.
MOMMSEN, THEODOR, historian, born in Schleswig, a man of immense
historical knowledge; his greatest work the "History of Rome"; was
professor of Ancient History at Berlin; his _forte_ was his learning more
than his critical capacity; _b_. 1817.
MOMUS, the god of raillery, the son of Night, a kind of ancient
MEPHISTOPHELES (q. v.).
MONACHISM, or MONASTICISM, is an institution in which
individuals devote themselves, apart from others, to the cultivation of
spiritual contemplation and religious duties, and which has constituted a
marked feature in Pre-Christian Jewish asceticism, and in Buddhism as
well as in Christianity; in the Church it developed from the practice of
living in solitude in the 2nd century, and received its distinctive note
when the vow of obedience to a superior was added to the hermit's
personal vows of poverty and chastity; the movement of St. Benedict in
the 6th century stamped its permanent form on Western Monasticism, and
that of St. Francis in the 12th gave it a more comprehensive range,
entrusting the care of the poor, the sick, the ignorant, &c., to the
hitherto self-centred monks and nuns; during the Middle Ages the
monasteries were centres of learning, and their work in copying and
preserving both sacred and secular literature has been invaluable;
English Monachism was swept away at the Reformation; in France at the
Revolution; and later in Spain, Portugal, and Italy it has been
suppressed; brotherhoods and sisterhoods have sprung up in the Protestant
churches of Germany and England, but in all of them the vows taken are
revocable.
MONACO (13), a small principality 9 m. E. of Nice, on the
Mediterranean shore, surrounded by French territory and under French
protection; has a mild salubrious climate, and is a favourite winter
resort. The capital, MONACO, is built on a picturesque promontory,
and 1 m. NE. stands Monte Carlo.
MONAD, the name given by Leibnitz to one of the active simple
elementary substances, the plurality of which in their combinations or
combined activities constitutes in his regard the universe both spiritual
and physical; it denotes in biology an elementary organism.
MONAGHAN (82), an inland Ulster county, Ireland, surrounded by
Louth, Armagh, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Cavan, and Meath; is undulating, with
many small lakes and streams; grows flax and manufactures linen, and has
limestone and slate quarries. The chief towns are CLONES (2), and
the county-town MONAGHAN (3), which has a produce market.
MONBODDO, JAMES BURNETT, LORD, a Scottish judge, born in
Kincardineshire, an eccentric writer, author of a "Dissertation on the
Origin of Language" and of "Ancient Metaphysics"; had original fancies on
the origin, particularly of the human race from the monkey, conceived not
so foolish to-day as they were then (1714-1799).
MONCREIFF, SIR HENRY WELLWOOD, Scottish clergyman, born at
Blackford; from 1775 to 1827 minister of St. Cuthbert's, Edinburgh, and
leader of the evangelical party of the Scottish Church.
MONCREIFF, JAMES W., LORD, second son of preceding, eminent Scottish
judge; was the author of the Veto Act which led to the Disruption of 1843
(1776-1851).
MONCREIFF, SIR HENRY W., son of preceding, became a Free Church
minister, and was Principal Clerk of the General Assembly of the Free
Church; an authority on Church law (1809-1885).
MONCREIFF, JAMES, brother of preceding, bred for the Scottish bar;
was Lord Advocate of Scotland under four administrations; was appointed
Lord Justice-Clerk in 1860; was raised to the peerage in 1874
(1811-1895).
MOND, LUDWIG, distinguished technical chemist and inventor, born at
Cassel, in Germany; was a pupil of Kolbe and Bunsen, and has made
important additions to chemical-industrial processes and products; _b_.
1839.
MONEY, defined by Ruskin to be "a documentary claim to wealth, and
correspondent in its nature to the title-deed of an estate."
MONGE, GASPARD, celebrated French mathematician, born at Beaune; one
of the founders of the Polytechnic School in Paris (1746-1818).
MONGOLS, a great Asiatic people having their original home on the
plains E. of Lake Baikal, Siberia, who first rose into prominence under
their ruler Genghis Khan in the 12th century; he, uniting the three
branches of Mongols, commenced a career of conquest which made him master
of all Central Asia; his sons divided his empire, and pursued his
conquests; a Mongol emperor seized the throne of China in 1234, and from
this branch sprang the great Kublai Khan, whose house ruled an immense
territory 1294-1368. Another section pushed westwards as far as Moravia
and Hungary, taking Pesth in 1241, and founded the immense empire over
which Tamerlane held sway. A third but later movement, springing from the
ruins of these earlier empires, was that of Baber, who conquered India,
and founded the Great Mogul line, 1519. Now Mongols are constituent
elements in the populations of China, Russian, and Turkish Asia.
MONICA, ST., the mother of St. Augustine, who became to him the
symbol of "the highest he knew on earth, bowing before a Higher in
heaven."
MONISM, the name given to the principle of any system of philosophy
which resolves the manifold of the universe into the evolution of some
unity in opposition to DUALISM (q. v.).
MONK, GEORGE, DUKE OF ALBEMARLE, general and admiral, was a
Devonshire man, who spent his youth in the Dutch wars, and returned to
England just in time to side with Charles I. against the Parliament;
after leading a regiment in Ireland, he was captured at Nantwich in 1644,
and spent two years in the Tower; obtaining his release by changing
sides, he won commendation from Cromwell at Dunbar in 1650, and was
entrusted with the command of operations in Scotland afterwards; in 1653
he beat Van Tromp at sea, twice; from 1654 till 1660 he was Governor of
Scotland; on the death of Cromwell he saw the confusion, marched with
6000 troops to London, and after cautious negotiations, brought Charles
II. to England and set him on the throne, receiving a peerage and many
honours for reward; he behaved well as Governor of London in the plague
year, and was again admiral in the Dutch wars of 1666 (1608-1670).
MONMOUTH, GEOFFREY, a Welsh priest of the 12th century, compiler of
what he called a "History of the Early Kings of Britain," from that of
Brut, through the story of King Arthur and others, such as King Lear,
down to that of Cadwallo, a Welsh king, who died in 689.
MONMOUTH, JAMES, DUKE OF, illegitimate son of Charles II., born at
Rotterdam; was admitted to Court after the Restoration, and received his
title in 1663; his manners and his Protestantism brought him popular
favour in spite of his morals, and by-and-by plots were formed to secure
the succession for him; forced to fly to Holland in 1683, he waited till
his father's death, then planned a rebellion with Argyll; Argyll failed
in Scotland; Monmouth, landing in Dorsetshire 1685, was soon overthrown
at Sedgemoor, taken prisoner, and executed (1649-1685).
MONMOUTHSHIRE (252), a west of England county lying N. of the Severn
estuary, between Glamorgan and Gloucestershire; is low and flat in the
S., but otherwise hilly, and is traversed by the Usk River; more than
half the surface is under permanent pasture; the wealth of Monmouthshire
consists of coal and iron-stone; Monmouth (5), the county town, is the
centre of beautiful scenery, and has some fine buildings.
MONOPHYSITES, a body of heretics who arose in the 5th century and
maintained that the divine and human natures in Christ were united in one
divine-human nature, so that He was neither wholly divine nor wholly
human, but in part both.
MONOTHEISM, belief in the existence of one God, or the divine unity,
or that the Divine Being, whether twofold, as in dualism, threefold, as
in Trinitarianism, is in essence and in manifestation one.
MONOTHELISM, a heresy which arose in the 7th century, in which it
was maintained that, though in Christ there were two natures, there was
but One Will, viz., the Divine.
MONRO, ALEXANDER, founder of Edinburgh Medical School, born of
Scotch parentage in London; studied there, and at Paris and Leyden, and
was appointed lecturer on Anatomy by the Surgeons' Company at Edinburgh
in 1719; two years later he became professor, and in 1725 was admitted to
the University; he was a principal promoter and early clinical lecturer
in the Royal Infirmary, and continued his clinical work after resigning
his chair to his son Alexander; he wrote several medical works, and was a
Fellow of the Royal Society; he was called _primus_, to distinguish him
from his son and grandson, who were called respectively _secundus_ and
_tertius_, and were professors of Anatomy in Edinburgh like himself
(1697-1767).
MONROE, JAMES, American President, born in Virginia, of Scottish
descent; left college to join Washington's army; was wounded in the war,
and studying law, entered Congress in 1783; he assisted in framing the
Constitution, and sat in the Senate 1790-1794; his diplomatic career in
France was marked by the purchase of Louisiana from that country in
1803; he was governor of Virginia thrice over, and Secretary of State
till 1817; then followed two terms of the Presidency, during which
Florida was acquired from Spain 1819, the delimitation of the slave limit
by the Missouri compromise, the recognition of the South American
Republics, and the statement of the "MONROE DOCTRINE" (q. v.);
in his later years his generosity led him into debt, and he spent his
closing days with relations in New York (1758-1831).
MONROE DOCTRINE, the doctrine of James Monroe, twice over President
of the United States, that the United States should hold aloof from all
interference with the affairs of the Old World, and should not suffer the
Powers of the Old World to interfere with theirs.
MONSON, SIR EDWARD, English diplomatist; entered the diplomatic
service in 1856, and after service at various courts, became ambassador
at Paris in 1896; _b_. 1834.
MONSOON originally denoted a periodical wind in the Indian Ocean,
which blows from SW. from April to October, and from NE. from October to
April; now denotes any wind connected with a continent regularly
recurring with the seasons.
MONSTRANCE, a transparent pyx on which the Host is exhibited on the
altar to the people, or conveyed in public procession.
MONT BLANC, in the Graian Alps, on the French-Italian frontier, the
highest mountain in Europe, 15,782 ft., the upper half under perpetual
snow; has 56 magnificent glaciers, including the Mer-de-Glace; it was
first climbed by Balmat and Paccard in 1786, and since then has been many
times ascended, now by 50 parties every year.
MONT CENIS, an Alpine peak (12,000 ft.) on the Savoy-Piedmont
frontier and the adjacent pass, over which a road was constructed
1802-1810, and near which a railway tunnel was pierced (1857-70) at a
cost of £3,000,000.
MONT DE PIÉTÉ, an institution to lend money to the poor at little or
no interest, first established in the 15th century, a time when lending
to the poor was as much a work of mercy as giving to them; a public
pawnbroking establishment, so called in France.
MONTAGNARDS. See MOUNTAIN, THE.
MONTAGU, LADY MARY WORTLEY, an English lady, born in
Nottinghamshire, celebrated for her wit and beauty, and for her "Letters
on the Manners of the East" (1690-1762).
MONTAIGNE, MICHEL DE, a sceptico-speculative thinker and moralist,
born in the Château of Montaigne, Périgord; an easy-going mortal, but a
keen observer of the ways and manners of other people, which some
experience in travel gave him opportunities to do, as well as the study
of the old classic Latin authors; his fame rests on his "Essays," in
which he records his observations of mankind, but in which, from a
decided descendental twist he had, he betrays a rather low idea of the
morale of the race; the book, however, is a favourite with all observant
people of education, and a translation of it by Florio is the one book we
know for certain to have been in the library of Shakespeare; bred as he
was by his father's arrangement among the common people, he always
retained a friendly feeling towards his neighbours, and they cherished
towards him feelings of very high regard; he was a quiet, tolerant man,
and his writings reveal a character which commands the respect of men who
affect a much higher level of thinking than that occupied by himself
(1533-1592).
MONTALEMBERT, COMTE DE, a French politician, born in London, son of
a French emigrant; was associated with Lamennais and Lacordaire in the
conduct of the _Avenir_, an Ultramontane Liberal organ, and spent his
life in advocating the cause of a free unfettered system of national
education; wrote the "Monks of the West," his chief work (1810-1870).
MONTANA (132), a State of the American Union, in the NW., lies along
the Canadian border between Idaho and the Dakotas, with Wyoming on the
S.; has a mild climate, and a soil which, with irrigation, produces fine
crops of grain and vegetables. Cattle-raising is profitable, but the
chief industry is mining, in the Rocky Mountains, which occupy a fifth of
the State. There gold, silver, copper, and lead abound. The Missouri and
the Columbia Rivers rise in Montana, and the Yellowstone traverses the
whole State. The State was admitted to the Union in 1889, with Helena (9)
as capital.
MONTANISM, a heresy which arose in the 2nd century; derived its name
from an enthusiast in Phrygia named Montanus, who insisted on the
permanency of the spiritual gifts vouchsafed to the primitive Church, and
a return to the severe discipline of life and character prevailing in it.
MONTCALM DE SAINT VÉRAN, LOUIS JOSEPH, MARQUIS DE, born near Nîmes;
entered the army early, and at forty-four was field-marshal and commander
of the forces in Quebec against the English; the capture of Forts Oswego
and William Henry and the defence of Ticonderoga were followed by the
loss of Louisburg and Fort Duquesne and the retreat on Quebec, where,
surprised by Wolfe in 1759, he was totally defeated, and Canada lost to
France; both generals fell (1712-1759).
MONTE CARLO (4), a great gambling centre in Monaco, 1 m. NE. of the
capital; visited by 400,000 persons annually. The Casino is held by a
company, and stands on ground leased from the prince.
MONTEFIORE, SIR MOSES, a philanthropic Jewish banker, born in
Leghorn; a friend to the emancipation not only of the oppressed among his
own race, but of the slave in all lands; lived to a great age
(1784-1885).
MONTÉGUT, ÉMILE, French critic, born at Limoges; is noted for books
of travel, studies in French and English literature, and for translations
of Shakespeare, Macaulay's "History," and Emerson's "Essays."
MONTENEGRO (236), a Balkan State, less than half the size of Wales,
lying in a wild mountainous region between Herzegovina and Albania, and
touching the Adriatic Sea with its SW. corner only. The climate is severe
in winter, mild in summer. The soil is sterile, but is industriously
tilled, and patches of arable land on the mountain sides and in the
valleys yield maize, oats, potatoes, and tobacco. Cattle and sheep are
reared in large numbers; vines and mulberries are cultivated round the
lake, whose waters abound in fish. Cattle, hides, and cheese are the
exports. The Montenegrins are a primitive people; the men hunt and fight,
the women work. They are mostly of the Greek Church, and noted for their
morality. The government is patriarchal, with a prince at the head.
Education and road-making have recently advanced. The towns are mere
villages. Cetinje (1) is the capital; Antivari and Dulcigno, the Adriatic
ports.
MONTESPAN, MARQUISE DE, mistress of Louis XIV.; a woman noted for
her wit and beauty; bore the king eight children; was supplanted by
MADAME DE MAINTENON (q. v.); passed her last days in religious
retirement (1641-1707).
MONTESQUIEU, BARON DE, illustrious French publicist, born in the
Château La Brède, near Bordeaux; his greatest work, and an able, "Esprit
des Lois," though rated in "Sartor" as at best the work of "a clever
infant spelling letters from a hieroglyphic prophetic book, the lexicon
of which lies in eternity, in heaven"; was author of an able work "On the
Causes of the Grandeur of the Romans and their Declension" (1689-1755).
MONTEVIDEO (215), on the N. shore of the Rio de la Plata, 130 m. E.
of Buenos Ayres; is the capital of Uruguay; a well-built town, with a
cathedral, university, school of arts, and museum. The chief industries
are beef-salting and shipping, though there is practically no harbour.
Nearly half the population are foreigners.
MONTEZ, LOLA, an adventuress of Spanish descent, born at Limerick;
contracted no end of marriages, which were broken off one after another;
took to the stage; took to lecturing, and ended in trying to reclaim
fallen women (1818-1861).
MONTEZUMA II., the last of the Mexican emperors; submitted to Cortez
when he landed; died in 1520 of a wound he received as he pled with his
subjects to submit to the conqueror, aggravated by grief over the failure
of his efforts in bringing about a reconciliation.
MONTFORT, SIMON DE, son of a French count; came to England in 1230,
where he inherited from his grandmother the earldom of Leicester;
attached to Henry III., and married to the king's sister, he was sent to
govern Gascony in 1248; returned in 1253, and passed over to the side of
the barons, whom he ultimately led in the struggle against the king;
after repeated unsuccessful attempts to make Henry observe the Provisions
of Oxford, Simon took arms against him in 1263; the war was indecisive,
and appeal being made to the arbitration of Louis the Good, Simon,
dissatisfied with his award, renewed hostilities, defeated the king at
Lewes, and taking him and his son prisoner, governed England for a year
(1264-65); he sketched a constitution for the country, and summoned the
most representative parliament that had yet met, but as he aimed at the
welfare of not the barons only, but the common people as well, the barons
began to distrust him, when Prince Edward, having escaped from captivity,
joined them, and overthrew Simon at Evesham, where he was slain
(1206?-1265).
MONTGOLFIER BROTHERS, inventors of the balloon, who made their first
ascent in Paris in 1783 in "their paper dome, filled with smoke of burnt
wood, amid the shouts of congregated men"; JOSEPH (1740-1810), and
ÉTIENNE (1745-1799).
MONTGOMERIE, ALEXANDER, Scottish poet, born, it is alleged, in
Ayrshire, from a branch of the Eglinton family; wrote sonnets and some
short poems, but his best-known piece is an allegorical poem, "The Cherry
and the Slae" (1556-1610).
MONTGOMERY, COMTE DE, a French knight of Scottish descent, captain
of the Scottish Guard under Henry II. of France; having in 1559 mortally
wounded the king in a tourney, he fled to England, but returned to fight
in the ranks of the Huguenots, and having had to surrender, he was taken
to Paris and beheaded, in violation of the terms of surrender, which
assured him of his life (1530-1574).
MONTGOMERY, JAMES, poet and hymn-writer, born at Irvine, son of a
Moravian minister; studied for the same profession, but was not licensed;
after some years of various occupation he started journalism, and
eventually produced a journal of his own, _Sheffield Iris_, 1794-1825; he
was twice fined and imprisoned for seditious publications, but became a
Conservative in 1832, a pensioner 1835, and died at Sheffield; of his
poetry most is forgotten, but "For ever with the Lord," and some dozen
other hymns are still remembered (1771-1854).
MONTGOMERY, ROBERT, author of "The Omnipresence of Deity" and
"Satan," born at Bath, son of a clown; passed undistinguished through
Oxford, and was minister of Percy Street Chapel, London; all his many
works are forgotten save the above, which lives in Macaulay's famous
review (1807-1855).
MONTGOMERYSHIRE (58), a North Wales inland county, surrounded by
Merioneth, Cardigan, Radnor, Salop, and Denbigh; is chiefly a stretch of
mountain pasture land, which rises to 2500 ft. at Plinlimmon, and in
which the Severn rises; but in the E. are well wooded and fertile
valleys. There are lead and zinc mines, and slate and limestone quarries.
There is some flannel manufacture at Newtown. The county town is
Montgomery (1).
MONTHOLON, COMTE DE, French general, born in Paris, served under
Napoleon, accompanied him to St. Helena, and left "Memoirs" (1782-1853).
MONTMORENCY, ANNE, DUC DE, marshal and constable of France, born of
an old illustrious family; served in arms under Francis I.; was
associated with Condé against the Huguenots, and was mortally wounded at
St. Denis fighting against them (1492-1567).
MONTMORENCY, HENRI, SECOND DUC OF, born at Chantilly; distinguished
himself in arms under Louis XIII., but provoked along with Gaston, Duke
of Orleans, into rebellion, he was taken prisoner and beheaded,
notwithstanding intercessions from high quarters on his behalf for the
zeal he had shown in defence of the Catholic faith (1596-1632).
MONTPELIER (4), capital of Vermont, 250 m. N. of New York and 120 m.
NW. of Portland, Maine, is on the Onion River, and has some mills and
tanneries.
MONTPELLIER (66), capital of Hérault, France, on the Lez, 6 m. from
the Gulf of Lyons, 30 m. SW. of Nîmes, is a picturesque town, containing
a cathedral, a university, picture-gallery, libraries, and other
institutions, and has been a centre of culture and learning since the
16th century; it also manufactures chemicals, corks, and textiles, and
does a large trade in brandy and wine.
MONTREAL (217), the greatest commercial city of Canada, on an island
in the St. Lawrence, at the confluence of the Ottawa River, 150 m. above
Quebec, is the centre of railway communication with the whole Dominion
and the States, connected by water with all the shipping ports on the
great lakes, and does an enormous import and export trade; its principal
shipment is grain; it is the chief banking centre, has the greatest
universities (M'Gill and a branch of Laval), hospitals, and religious
institutions, and pursues boot and shoe, clothing, and tobacco
manufactures; more than half the population is French and Roman Catholic,
and the education of Protestant and Roman Catholic children is kept
distinct; founded in 1642 by the French, Montreal passed to Britain in
1760; in 1776 it was occupied by the revolting colonies, but recovered
next year, and since then has had a steady career of prosperity and
advancement.
MONTROSE (13), an ancient burgh and seaport of Forfarshire, 35 m. S.
of Aberdeen, stands on a tongue of land between the sea and a basin which
is almost dry at low water; carries on timber-trade with Baltic and
Canadian ports, and spins flax, makes ropes and canvas.
MONTROSE, JAMES GRAHAM, MARQUIS OF, born at Old Montrose, and
educated at St. Andrews; travelled in Italy, France, and the Netherlands;
returning in 1637 he joined the Covenanters, and we find him at Aberdeen,
Stonehaven, and across the English border supporting the Covenant by
force of arms; suspected of treachery to the cause he was imprisoned for
a year, 1641-42, in Edinburgh Castle, whereupon he joined the side of the
king; in 1644-45 he did splendid service for Charles in Scotland,
defeating the Covenanters near Aberdeen, at Inverlochy and Kilsyth; but
routed by Leslie at Philiphaugh he lost the royal confidence, and next
year withdrew to Norway; an unsuccessful invasion in the Stuart cause in
1650 ended in his defeat at Invercarron, capture, and execution; "The
Great Marquis," as he is called, was a soldier of genius, and a man of
taste, learning, clemency, and courage (1612-1650).
MONTYON PRIZES, four prizes in the gift of the French Academy, so
named from their founder, Baron de Montyon (1733-1820), and awarded
annually for (1) improvements in medicine and surgery; (2) improvements
tending to health in some mechanical process; (3) acts of disinterested
goodness; (4) literary works conducive to morality; the last two are
usually divided among several recipients.
MOODY, DWIGHT LYMAN, evangelist, born in Massachusetts; settled in
Chicago, where he began his career as an evangelist, associated with Mr.
Sankey; visited great Britain in 1873 and 1883, and produced a
wide-spread impression, especially on the first visit; _b_. 1837.
MOON, the satellite of the earth, from which it is distant 238,800
m., and which revolves round it in 27-1/3 days, taking the same time to
rotate on its own axis, so that it presents always the same side to us;
is a dark body, and shines by reflection of the sun's light, its diameter
2165 m.; it has a rugged surface of mountains and valleys without
verdure; has no water, no atmosphere, and consequently no life.
MOON, MOUNTAINS OF THE, a range of mountains supposed by Ptolemy and
early geographers to stretch across Africa from Abyssinia to Guinea, now
variously identified as the Kenia, Kilimanjaro, Ruwenzori, &c.
MOONSHEE, in India a teacher of languages, especially Hindustani and
Persian.
MOORE, FRANK FRANKFORT, novelist and dramatist, born at Limerick,
both his novels and his dramas are numerous; commenced his literary
career as a journalist in connection with the _Belfast News Letter_ as
literary and art editor, a post he relinquished in 1893 to settle in
London; _b_. 1855.
MOORE, JOHN, M.D., author and novelist, born at Stirling, studied
medicine in Glasgow, and practised there, in Holland, Paris, and London;
he published books on the countries of Europe which he visited, an essay
on the French Revolution, and among several novels, one of some note,
"Zeluco" (1789); he died at Richmond (1730-1802).
MOORE, SIR JOHN, general, eldest son of above, born at Glasgow;
served in Corsica, the West Indies, Ireland, Holland, Egypt, Sicily, and
Sweden; his famous and last expedition was to Spain in 1808, when with
10,000 men he was sent to co-operate in expelling the French; Spanish
apathy and other causes weakened his hands, and in December he found
himself with 25,000 men at Astorga, a French force of 70,000 advancing
against him; retreat was necessary, but disastrous; he was overtaken by
Soult at Coruña in the act of embarking; the victory lay with the
English, but Moore was killed (1761-1808).
MOORE, THOMAS, the Bard of Erin, born in Dublin, the son of a
grocer, studied at Trinity College; went to London with a translation of
"Anacreon," which gained him favour and a valuable appointment in the
Bermudas in 1803; fought a duel with Jeffrey in 1806, began his "Irish
Melodies" in 1807, and published "The Twopenny Postbag" in 1812; in 1817
appeared "Lalla Rookh," a collection of Oriental tales, and in 1818 a
satiric piece "The Fudge Family," and published a Life of Byron in 1830;
Moore's songs were written to Irish airs, and they contributed much to
ensure Catholic emancipation (1779-1852).
MOORS, a general term for tribes in North Africa descended from Arab
and Berber stock; they were Christians for several centuries, but on
their conquest by Arabs in 647 embraced Mohammedanism; the town Moors do
not hold before European settlers, but the nomad tribes show more
vitality; Moorish peoples seized and settled in Spain early in the 8th
century, and, introducing a civilisation further advanced than that in
Europe generally with respect to science, art, and industry alike,
maintained a strong rule till the 11th century; then the Spaniards
gradually recovered the peninsula; Toledo was taken in 1085, Saragossa in
1118, Valencia in 1238, Seville in 1248, Murcia in 1260, and Granada in
1492; Turkish successes in the East came too late to save the Moors, and
the last were banished from the country in 1609.
MORAINES, masses of rock which become detached from the hill-side
and find lodgment on a glacier are so called, and are further described
as lateral, medial, terminal, or ground moraines, according as they lie
along its edges, its middle, are piled up in mounds at its end, or
falling down crevasses, are ground against the rock underneath.
MORALITIES, didactic dramas, following in order of time the miracle
plays and mysteries, in which the places of saints and biblical
personages in them were taken by characters representing different
virtues and vices, and the story was of an allegorical nature; were the
immediate precursors of the secular drama.
MORAVIA (2,277), a crownland in the N. of Austria, lying between the
Moravian and the Carpathian Mountains, with Silesia on the N., Hungary on
the E., Lower Austria on the S., and Bohemia on the W.; is mountainous,
with lofty plains in the S., and is watered by the March, a tributary of
the Danube; the valleys and plains are fertile; grain, beetroot, flax,
hemp, and vines are grown; cattle and poultry rearing and bee-keeping
occupy the peasantry; sugar, textiles, and tobacco are the chief
manufactures; there are coal and iron mines, graphite and meerschaum are
found; the capital is Brünn (94), which has woollen and leather
industries; associated with Bohemia in 1029, Moravia passed with that
country to Austria in 1526, its association with Bohemia terminating in
1849; the inhabitants are two-thirds Slavs and one-third German, and are
mostly Roman Catholic.
MORAVIANS, a sect of Protestant Christians who, followers of John
Huss, formed themselves into a separate community in Bohemia in 1467 on
the model of the primitive Church, in which the members regarded each
other as brethren, and were hence called the United Brethren; like other
heretics they suffered much persecution at the hands of the orthodox
Church; they are known also as Herrnhuters.
MORAY, JAMES STUART, EARL OF, illegitimate son of James V. of
Scotland, and so half-brother of Mary, Queen of Scots; was from 1556 the
leader of the Reformation party, and on Mary's arrival in her kingdom in
1561 became her chief adviser; on her marriage with Darnley he made an
unsuccessful attempt to raise a Protestant rebellion, and had to escape
to England 1565, and after a visit to Edinburgh, when he connived at
Rizzio's murder, to France in 1567; he was almost immediately recalled by
the nobles, who had imprisoned Mary in Lochleven, and appointed regent;
next year he defeated at Langside the forces which, on her escape, had
rallied round her, and in the subsequent management of the kingdom
secured both civil and ecclesiastical peace, and earned the title of "the
Good Regent"; he was shot by a partisan of the queen's, James Hamilton of
Bothwellhaugh, when riding through Linlithgow (1531-1570).
MORE, HANNAH, English authoress, born near Bristol; wrote dramas, a
novel entitled "Coelebs in Search of a Wife," and a tract "The Shepherd
of Salisbury Plain" (1745-1833).
MORE, HENRY, a Platonist, born at Grantham, a Fellow of Christ
College, Cambridge, and author of a poem "Song of the Soul"; he was a
mystic who exercised a great influence among the young men of Cambridge
(1614-1687).
MORE, SIR THOMAS, Chancellor of England, born in London; was the
lifelong friend of Erasmus, and the author of "Utopia," an imaginary
commonwealth; succeeded Wolsey as Chancellor, but resigned the seals of
office because he could not sanction the king's action in the matter of
the divorce, and was committed to the Tower for refusing to take the oath
of supremacy, whence after 12 months he was brought to trial and
sentenced to be beheaded; he ascended the scaffold, and laid his head on
the block in the spirit of a philosopher; was one of the wisest and best
of men (1478-1535).
MOREA is the modern name of the ancient Peloponnesus, that
remarkable peninsula, larger than Wales, which constitutes the southern
half of Greece, and is joined to the mainland by the Isthmus of Corinth,
less than 4 m. broad.
MOREAU, JEAN VICTOR, French general, born at Morlaix; served with
distinction under the Republic and the Empire; was suspected of plotting
against the latter with George Cadoudal, and banished on conviction; went
to America, but returning to Europe, joined the ranks of the Russians
against his country, and was mortally wounded by a cannon ball at Dresden
(1763-1813).
MORGANATIC MARRIAGE, is a union permitted to German princes who,
forbidden to marry except with one of equal rank, may ally themselves
with a woman of inferior status, their children being legitimate but not
eligible for the succession; the marriages of British princes contracted
before the age of 25 without consent of the sovereign, or after that age
without consent of Parliament, are of a morganatic nature.
MORGARTEN, a mountain slope in the canton of Zug, Switzerland, where
1400 Swiss, on Nov. 15, 1315, in assertion of their independence,
defeated an Austrian army of 15,000.
MORGHEN, RAPHAEL SANZIO CAVALIERE, engraver, born in Naples, of
German parentage; studied in Rome, and by genius and industry became one
of the foremost engravers; his works include engravings of Raphael's
"Transfiguration," the result of 16 years' labour, and Leonardo da
Vinci's "Last Supper," his masterpiece (1758-1833).
MORGUE, a house in which bodies found dead are placed for
identification.
MORISONIANISM, the principles of the Evangelical Union, a Scottish
denomination founded by the Rev. James Morison of Kilmarnock on his
expulsion from the United Secession Church in 1843, and united with the
Scottish Congregational Union in 1897; differed from the older
Presbyterianism in affirming the freedom of the human will to accept or
reject salvation, and the universal scope of the offer of salvation as
made by God to all men; in polity the Morisonians observed a modified
independency.
MORLEY, JOHN, politician and man of letters, born in Blackburn; is
an advanced Liberal in both capacities; besides essays and journalistic
work, has written biographies, particularly on men associated with
politics and social movements, such as Voltaire, Rousseau, and Diderot,
as well as Burke, and is editor of "English Men of Letters"; in politics
he was a staunch supporter of Mr. Gladstone, though he could have little
sympathy with him as a High Churchman; _b_. 1838.
MORMON, BOOK OF, a book which in 1827 fell into the hands of Joseph
Smith, the son of a farmer, alleged by him to have been written by a
Hebrew prophet who emigrated to America 600 years before Christ, and to
have been recorded by him as a direct revelation to himself from heaven,
by means of which the interrupted communication between heaven and earth
was to be restored.
MORMONISM, the creed of the Mormons, or Latter-day Saints as they
are called, who have settlements of their own in the valley of the Salt
Lake, generally called Utah, U.S.; they conceive, according to Hepworth
Dixon, of God as a flesh and blood man, of man as of the divine
substance, as existing from, and to exist to, all eternity, and without
inherited sin, of the earth as only one of many inhabited worlds, of the
spirit world as consisting of beings awaiting incarnation, of polygamy as
of divine ordination and the relationship eternal, and of their social
system as the kingdom of God on earth.
MORNY, DUC DE, French politician, born in Paris; played a
conspicuous part in the _coup d'état_ of December 1851, and was President
of the Corps Législatif; was believed to have been the son of Queen
Hortense, and consequently Louis Napoleon's half-brother (1811-1865).
MOROCCO (4,000), an empire in the NW. corner of Africa, three times
the size of Great Britain, its coast-line stretching from Algeria to Cape
Nun, and its inland confines being vaguely determined by the French
hinterlands. Two-thirds of the country is desert; much of the remainder
is poor pasture land; the Atlas Mountains stretch from SW. to NE., but
there are some expanses of level fertile country; on the seaboard the
climate is delightful, with abundance of rain in the season; among the
mountains extremes prevail; south of the Atlas it is hot and almost
rainless; the mineral wealth is probably great; gold, silver, copper, and
iron are known to be plentiful, but bad government hinders development;
the exports are maize, pulse, oil, wool, fruit, and cattle; cloth, tea,
coffee, and hardware are imported; the chief industries are the making of
leather, "Fez" caps, carpets, and the breeding of horses; government is
extremely despotic and corrupt, and the Sultan's authority over many of
the tribes is merely nominal; there is no education; the religion is
Mohammedanism, and slavery prevails; there are no roads, and the country
is imperfectly known; telegraph, telephone, and postal service are in
European hands; the country was taken from the Romans by the Arabs in the
7th century, and has ever since been in their hands, but Berbers,
Spaniards, Moors, Jews, and negroes also go to make up the population.
The chief towns are Fez (25), in the N., a sacred Moslem city, squalid
and dirty, but with good European trade, and a depôt for the caravans
from the interior; and Morocco (60), in the S., near the Tensift River,
240 m. SW. of Fez, well situated for local and transit trade, but a
dilapidated city.
MOROCCO, a fine-grained leather of the skin of a goat or sheep,
first prepared in Morocco.
MORPHEUS (i. e. the Moulder), the god of dreams, the son of Night
and Sleep.
MORRIS-DANCE, a rustic merrymaking common in England after 1350, and
still extant; is of disputed origin; the chief characters, Maid Marian,
Robin Hood, the hobby-horse, and the fool, execute fantastic movements
and Jingle bells fastened to their feet and dress.
MORRIS, SIR LEWIS, a poet, born in Carmarthen, Wales; the author of
"Songs of Two Worlds," "The Epic of Hades," "A Vision of Saints," &c.;
often confounded with the succeeding, with whom he has next to nothing in
common; _b_. 1833.
MORRIS, WILLIAM, poet, art-worker, and Socialist, born in
Walthamstow, near London, son and heir of a wealthy merchant; studied at
Oxford, where he became the lifelong bosom friend of Burne-Jones; of an
artistic temperament, he devoted his working hours to decorative art, in
particular designing wall-papers; produced in 1858 "The Defence of
Guenevere and other Poems," in 1867 "The Life and Death of Jason," and
from 1868 to 1870 his masterpiece, "THE EARTHLY PARADISE" (q. v.);
among other works he translated the "Æneid" and the "Odyssey," and
gave a splendid rendering of some of the Norse legends (1834-1896).
MORRISON, ROBERT, first missionary to China, and Chinese scholar,
born of Scottish parentage at Morpeth; entered the Independent ministry,
and was sent to Macao and Canton by the London Missionary Society in
1807; in 1814 he published a Chinese version of the New Testament, and in
1819 of the Old Testament; in 1823 his great Chinese Dictionary was
published at the expense of the East India Company; returning to England
in 1824, he went out again 10 years later as interpreter to Lord Napier,
and died at Canton (1782-1834).
MORSE, SAMUEL FINLEY BREESE, inventor, born at Charlestown,
Massachusetts, graduated at Yale in 1810 and adopted art as a profession;
he gained some distinction as a sculptor, and in 1835 was appointed
professor of Design in New York; electrical studies were his hobby;
between 1832 and 1837 he worked out the idea of an electric
telegraph--simultaneously conceived by Wheatstone in England--and in 1843
Congress granted funds for an experimental line between Washington and
Baltimore; honour and fortune crowded on him, his invention was adopted
all over the world, and he received an international grant of £16,000; he
died in New York (1791-1872).
MORTGAGE, a deed conveying property to a creditor as security for
the payment of a debt, the person to whom it is given being called the
Mortgagee.
MORTON, JAMES DOUGLAS, EARL OF, regent of Scotland; joined the
Reforming party, was made Chancellor, took part in the murder of Rizzio,
and was privy to the plot against Darnley, joined the confederacy of the
nobles against Mary, fought against her at Langside, and became regent in
1572; became unpopular, was charged with being accessory to Darnley's
murder, and beheaded in 1581.
MOSAYLIMA, a rival of Mohammed, posed as equally a prophet, and
entitled to share with Mohammed the sovereignty of the world; two battles
followed, in the second of which Mosaylima was killed, to the dispersion
of his followers.
MOSCHUS, a Greek pastoral poet, author of lyrics which have been
translated by Andrew Lang; lived 150 B.C.
MOSCOW (799), on the Moskwa River, in the centre of European Russia,
370 m. SE. of St. Petersburg; was before 1713 the capital, and is still a
great industrial and commercial centre; its manufactures include
textiles, leather, chemicals, and machinery; it does a great trade in
grain, timber, metals from the Urals, and furs, hides, &c., from Asia;
besides the great cathedral there are many churches, palaces, and
museums, a university, library, picture-gallery, and observatory; the
enclosure called the Kremlin or citadel is the most sacred spot in
Russia; thrice in the 18th century the city was devastated by fire, and
again in 1812 to compel Napoleon to retire.
MOSELLE, river, rising W. of the Vosges Mountains, flows NW. through
French and German Lorraine, then NE. through Rhenish Prussia to join the
Rhine at Coblenz, 315 m. long, two-thirds of it navigable; it passes in
its tortuous course Metz, Thionville, and Trèves.
MOSES, the great Hebrew law-giver, under whose leadership the Jews
achieved their emancipation from the bondage of Egypt, and began to
assert themselves as an independent people among the nations of the
earth; in requiring of the people the fear of God and the observance of
His commandments, he laid the national life on a sure basis, and he was
succeeded by a race of prophets who from age to age reminded the people
that in regard or disregard for what he required of them depended their
prosperity or their ruin as a nation, of which from their extreme
obduracy they had again and again to be admonished.
MOSHEIM, a Protestant Church historian, born at Lübeck, was
professor at Göttingen; his principal work a History of the Church,
written in Latin, and translated into English and other languages
(1694-1755).
MOSS-TROOPERS, maurauders who formerly raided the moss-grown
borderland of England and Scotland.
MOTHERWELL, WILLIAM, Scottish poet, born in Glasgow, educated in
Edinburgh; entered a lawyer's office in Paisley in 1811 and became
Sheriff-Clerk Depute of Renfrewshire 1818; he was editor of the Paisley
Advertiser in 1828, and of the Glasgow Courier in 1830; he wrote
biographical notices of local poets, and edited "Minstrelsy, Ancient and
Modern," in 1827; but his own fame was established by "Poems, Narrative
and Lyrical," 1832, the gem of the collection being "Jeanie Morison"; he
died in Glasgow (1797-1835).
MOTLEY, JOHN LOTHROP, historian and diplomatist, born in
Massachusetts; commenced his literary career as a novelist, but soon
turned all his thoughts to the study of history; spent years in the study
of Dutch history; wrote the "History of the Dutch Republic," which was
published in 1856, the "History of the United Netherlands," publishing
the first part in 1860 and the second in 1868, and the "Life and Death of
John Barnevelde" in 1874; was appointed the United States minister at
Vienna in 1861, and at St. James's in 1869; he ranks high as a
historian, being both faithful and graphic (1814-1877).
MOTOR CAR, a vehicle propelled by petroleum, electricity, &c.
MOUNTAIN, THE, the name given to the Jacobins, or the extreme
democratic party, at the French Revolution, from their occupying the
highest benches in the hall of the National Convention, and included such
men as Marat, Danton, Robespierre, and the men of the Reign of Terror.
MOVABLE FEASTS, festivals of the Church, the date of which varies
with the date of Easter.
MOZAMBIQUE (1,000), the general name for Portuguese East Africa,
lies between Cape Delgado and Delagoa Bay on the mainland, opposite
Madagascar; the Rovuma River separates it from German territory in the
N.; in the S. it touches British Maputaland, while inland it borders on
British Central and South Africa and the Transvaal; the Zambesi divides
it into two; the coast is low and wet, inland are richly wooded plateaux;
the soil is fertile, and minerals abound, but the government is bad, and
industry does not develop; 52 miles of railway connect Lorenzo Marques
with the Transvaal; other chief towns are Quilimane (6), and the capital
MOZAMBIQUE (7), on an island.
MOZART, WOLFGANG AMADEUS CHRYSOSTOM, eminent musical composer, born
at Salzburg; was distinguished for his musical genius as a boy, and
produced over 600 musical compositions, but his principal works were his
operas, the "Marriage of Figaro," "Don Giovanni," and the "Magic Flute";
his fate was an unhappy one; he suffered much from poverty and neglect;
the last piece he wrote was a Requiem Mass, which he felt, he said, as if
he were writing for himself, and he died at Prague on the evening of its
rehearsal (1756-1791).