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retreat through the Jerseys, and in the attack on Trenton. In the last, he was in the vanguard, and received a ball through his left shoulder. For his conduct in this action, he was promoted to a captaincy. General Wilkinson, in his Memoirs, bears strong testimony to the gallantry and zeal of Mr. Monroe, in the New Jersey campaign. He was soon after appointed aid to lord Sterling, and served in that capacity during the campaigns of 1777 and 1778, and was engaged in the actions of Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth. He distinguished himself in these actions. By entering the family of lord Sterling, he lost his rank in the line, which he was anxious to regain; but, as this could not be regularly done, Washington recommended him to the legislature of Virginia, who authorized the raising of a regiment, and gave him the command. In the exhausted state of Virginia, colonel Monroe failed to raise his regiment, and therefore resumed the study of the law, under the direction of Thomas Jefferson, then governor of Virginia. He was active as a volunteer in the militia, in the subsequent invasions of Virginia, and, in 1780, visited the southern army, under De Kalb, as a military commissioner, at the request of governor Jefferson. In 1782, he was elected a member of the Virginia assembly, and, the same year, by that body, a member of the executive council, and, in 1783, at the age of twenty-four, a member of the old congress, in which he served three years. He was always at his post, engaged in the most arduous duties. He introduced a resolution to vest in congress the power to regulate the trade with all the states, and other important resolutions. He was appointed a commissioner to settle the controversy between New York and Massachusetts. In 1787, he was again returned to the assembly of Virginia, and, in 1788, was a member of the convention of that state, to decide on the present constitution of the U. States. In 1790, he was elected a member of the senate of the U. States, in which body he served until 1794. In May, 1794, he was appointed minister plenipotentiary to France. Mr. Monroe was recalled from this mission in 1796, by president_Washington, with an implied censure. In 1799, on the nomiuation of Mr. Madison, he was appointed governor of Virginia, in which situation, he served the constitutional term of three years. In 1803, he was appointed minister extraordinary to France, to act in conjunction with Mr. Livingston, the minister resident there. This mission was of the

greatest consequence to this country, as it terminated in the acquisition of Louisiana. In the same year, he was appointed ininister to London, and the next year to Spain. In 1806, in conjunction with the late William Pinkney, he was appointed minister to London, where he pursued the negotiations with the Fox ministry. Mr. Monroe, having been prominently brought forward as a candidate for the presidency, as successor to Mr. Jefferson, had an option given him to remain at the court of London, or return. He returned, but soon after withdrew from the canvass. In 1810, he was again elected a member of the assembly of Virginia, and, in a few weeks after the meeting of that body, governor of that state. Nov. 26, 1811, he was appointed secretary of state. The war department being in a very embarrassed state, on the departure of its head, general Armstrong, Mr. Monroe undertook it, and made extraordinary and very useful exertions to help the war on the lakes, and the defence of New Orleans. After he had reduced to order the war department, he resumed the duties of the department of state, which he continued to exercise until, in 1817, he was chosen by the people of the U. States the successor of James Madison. In 1821, he was reelected by a vote unanimous with a single exception, one vote in New Hampshire having been given to John 'Q. Adams. He was wise and fortunate in the selection of his ministers and measures. He went further than either of his two immediate prede cessors, in maintaining the necessity of an efficient general government, and in strengthening every arm of the national defence. He encouraged the army, increased the navy, and caused those foreign naval expeditions to be sent out to the West Indies, the Mediterranean, the coast of Africa, and the shores of South America, which have given instruction to our officers, augmented the number of our seamen, protected the national commerce, and caused the country to be universally respected by distant nations. He ordered the principal head lands and exposed points along our borders and the seacoast to be accurately surveyed, plans of fortifications drawn, and the reports made up, with a view to the ultimate complete defence of the frontiers of the U. States, both on the land and sea side. He directed inquiries, surveys and plans, as to the most suitable sites for the northern and southern naval depots for the repair and accommodation of our fleets during times of war and peace. The cession of Flori.

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MONROE-MONSIGNY.

da by Spain to the U. States was effected during his administration. It was during his administration that the emancipated Spanish and Portuguese colonies were formally recognised by the American government. He assumed high constitutional grounds in favor of internal improvement and the bank of the U. States. He was mainly instrumental in promoting the pension law for the relief of indigent revolutionary soldiers. During his administration, the illustrious Lafayette was invited to visit these shores as the guest of the nation. He took the most energetic measures in favor of the abolition of the slave-trade, and continued to encourage the establishment of the principles of commerce with all nations, upon the basis of free and equal reciprocity. It is a high compliment to the firmness, judgment and sagacity of Mr. Monroe, that he proclaimed to the world the determination of the U. States not to suffer any European power to interfere with the internal concerns of the independent South American governments. The well-timed expression of this sentiment put an end to all rumors of any armed intervention in the affairs of Spanish America. Colonel Monroe retired from the office of president at the end of his second term. In the late stages of his life, he was associated with the expresidents Jefferson and Madison, in founding and regulating the university of Virginia. Subsequently, he was chosen a member of the convention for amending the constitution of his native state, and presided over the deliberations of that assembly. He did not disdain to act as justice of the peace in the county of London, in which he resided. Mr. Monroe died at New York, on the 4th day of July, 1831, the anniversary of Américan independence, like the ex-presidents Adams and Jefferson. Colonel Monroe's biography is intimately and honorably connected with the civil and military history of the U. States. We have merely indicated the principal stations which he held, and the nature of the services which he performed. He was one of the leaders of the democratic or Jefferson party, and involved in most of the party questions and, occurrences by which the country was divided and agitated. He possessed a very energetic, persevering spirit, a vigorous mind, and extraordinary powers of application. In his unlimited devotion to the public business, he neglected his private affairs. He retired from office extremely deep in debt-a situation from which he was relieved, though when al

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most too late, by liberal appropriations of congress to satisfy the large claims which he preferred on the government for moneys disbursed and debts incurred on its account.

MONS (Latin for mountain); found in a great number of geographical names, particularly in languages derived from the Latin, as Montigny (inflamed mountain), Piedmont (foot of the mountain), Montpellier (Mons Puellarum), Montmirail (admirable mountain), Montmartre (mountain of Mars or of the martyrs), Montreal (royal mount), Vermont (green mountain), &c.

MONS (Berghen); a city lately belonging to the kingdom of the Netherlands, at present in the kingdom of Belgium, capital of the province of Hainaut, situated on a steep hill, on the Trouille. Since 1818, its fortifications have been much extended and strengthened, and it now forms one of the strongest frontier fortresses of Belgium. The country around can be easily laid under water. Popula tion, 20,000. Its manufactures have been considerable, consisting of woollen, linen and cotton goods, oil, soap, pottery; and it has carried on an extensive trade in coals, obtained in the neighborhood, hops, grain, cattle, horses, mill-stones, marble. Mons is an old city, and has belonged by turns to Spain, Austria, and France. (See Netherlands.)

MONSEIGNEUR (French, my lord); a title of dignity in France; the dauphin was formerly styled monseigneur, without any addition. addition. Princes, archbishops, bishops, cardinals, marshals of France, presidents. of parliament, &c., were addressed by this title. The plural is messeigneurs. The Italian monsignore is used in a similar manner.

MONSIEUR (in French), used simply, without any addition, formerly designated the king's eldest brother. In common use, it answers both to the English sir and Mr., aud is also used before titles. In writing, it is expressed by the abbreviation M. The plural is messieurs. Monsieur is sometimes used by English writers as a term of contempt for a Frenchman.

MONSIGNY, Pierre Alexandre, born 1729, in Artois, a popular musical composer, who is considered as the creator of the French comic opera. While young, his talent for music was suddenly awakened by his witnessing the performance of Pergolesi's Serva Padrona, and he devoted himself entirely to the study. He learned composition under Giannotti, who dismissed him in five months, as a pupil who knew all that he could teach. But Gian

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notti was astonished to find that his pupil had already composed an opera, Les Aveux indiscrets., which he brought out, after having recast it, three years afterwards (1759). Encouraged by its success, he produced, in 1760, Le Čadi dupé and Le Maitre en Droit. The opera On ne s'Avise jamais de tout, brought forward in 1761, completed the musical revolution at the théâtre de la Foire, which then took the name of the Italian opera. Le Roi et le Fermier; Rose et Colas; Aline, Reine de Golconde; L'Isle sonnante; Le Deserteur, &c., were received with great applause. On the death of Grétry, Monsigny succeeded him in the institute, and on the death of Piccini, in 1800, he was appointed director of the conservatoire, at Paris. He died in 1817.

MONSOONS (from the Malay mussin, season); periodical trade-winds, which blow six months in one direction, and the rest of the year in an opposite one. They prevail in the Indian ocean, north of the 10th degree of south latitude. From April to October, a violent south-west wind blows, accompanied with rain, and from October to April a gentle, dry north-east breeze prevails. The change of the winds, or the breaking up of the monsoons, as it is called, is accompanied by storms and hurricanes. These periodical currents of winds do not reach very high, as their progress is arrested by mountains of a moderate height. (See Winds.)

MONSTERS; in physiology, creatures whose formation deviates in some remarkable way from the usual formation of their kind. The deviation consists sometimes in an unusual number of one or several organs; sometimes, on the contrary, in a deficiency of parts; sometimes in a malformation of the whole or some portion of the system, and sometimes in the presence of organs or parts not ordinarily belonging to the sex or species. In most cases, these unusual formations are not incompatible with the regular performance of the natural functions, although they sometimes impede them, and, in some cases, are entirely inconsistent with the continuance of the vital action. It is not surprising that we should be ignorant of the manner in which monsters, or irregular births, are generated or produced; though it is probable that the laws by which these are governed are as regular, both as to cause and effect, as in common or natural productions. Formerly, it was a general opinion, that monsters were not primordial or aboriginal, but that they were caused

subsequently by the power of the im agination of the mother, transferring the imperfection of some external object, or the mark of something for which she longed, and with which she was not indulged, to the child of which she was pregnant, or by some accident which happened to her during her pregnancy. But this has been disproved by common observation, and by philosophy, not, perhaps, by positive proofs, but by many strong negative facts; as the improbability of any child being born perfect, had such a power existed; the freedom of children from any blemish, though their mothers had been in situations most exposed to objects likely to produce them; the ignorance of the mother of any thing being wrong in the child, till, from information of the fact, she begins to recollect every accident which happened during her pregnancy, and assigns the worst or the most plausible as the cause; the organization and color of these adventitious substances; the frequent occurrence of monsters in the brute creation, in which the power of the imagination cannot be great; and the analogous appearances in the vegetable system. Judging, however, from appearances, accidents may perhaps be allowed to have considerable influence in the production of monsters of some kinds, either by actual injury upon parts, or by suppressing or deranging the principle of growth, because, when an arm, for instance, is wanting, the rudiments of the deficient parts may generally be discovered.

MONSTRELET, Enguerrand de, a chronicler of the fifteenth century, born at Cambray, of which he became governor, was the author of a history in French, of his own times. The history extends from 1400 to 1467; but the last fifteen years were furnished by another hand. It contains a narrative of the contentions of the houses of Orleans and Burgundy, the capture of Normandy and Paris by the English, with their expulsion, &c. Monstrelet died in 1453.

MONT BLANC (white mountain); the loftiest mountain of Europe, one of the summits of the Pennine Alps, on the borders of Savoy and Aosta, between the valleys of Chamouni (q. v.) and Entreves; lat. 45° 50′ N.; lon. 6° 52′ E. The following measurements of its elevation above the surface of the Mediterranean sea are deemed the most accurate: by M. Deluc, 15,302 feet; M. Pictet, 15,520; sir George Shuckburgh, 15,662; M. Saussure, 15,670; M. Tralles, 15,780.

MONT BLANC-MONTAGU.

Its elevation above the valley of Chamouni is 12,160 feet. It is discernible from Dijon and Langres, 140 miles distant. It receives its name from the immense mantle of snow with which its summit and sides are covered, and which is estimated to extend not less than 12,000 feet, without the least appearance of rock to interrupt its glaring whiteness. An ascent to the summit was first made, in 1786, by doctor Pacard, of Chamouni, and his guide, James Balma. In August, 1787, Saussure ascended it with 18 guides, and remained on the summit five hours. The pulse was found to beat more rapidly, and the party complained of exhaustion, thirst, and want of appetite. The color of the sky was very deep blue bordering on black, and in the shade the stars were visible. Up to 1828, fourteen ascents had been made. In 1818, Messrs. Howard and Van Renssalaer from New York, in 1825, doctor Clark and captain Sherwill, ascended it.-See Sherwill's Visit to the Summit of Mont Blanc (London, 1827). In 1827, two English gentlemen, who made the attempt, were obliged, by a new cleft in the ice, to take a new course, which has proved to be less toilsome and hazardous than the former. Eighteen glaciers lie around, whose various and fantastic forms increase the magical effect of the wonderful spectacle from the summit, from which the view extends nearly 150 miles in almost every direction. The highest summit is a small ridge, about six feet wide, precipitous on the north side, and called in Savoy, the dromedary's back. It is covered with a solid body of snow. (See Alps, Glaciers, Andes, Himalaya, and Mountains.)

MONT D'OR; a mountain of France, in Puy-de-Dôme, about 6130 feet above the level of the sea, abounding in curious plants and mineral springs.

MONT PERDU; summit of the Pyrenees, on the frontier line between France and Spain; about 100 miles east of the bay of Biscay, and further west from the Mediterranean. It has a double summit, one computed at 10,700 feet, or, by another statement, 11,265 feet high; the other at 10,400. The line of perpetual congelation here is about 7500 feet in height.

MONTAGU, Charles, earl of Halifax; an English statesman and poet, born at Horton, in Northamptonshire, in 1661. He was descended from the family of the Montagus, earls of Manchester, and was educated at Westminster school, and Trinity college, Cambridge. From the university he went to London, where he

attracted notice by his verses on the death of Charles II; and, in 1687, he wrote, in conjunction with Prior, the City Mouse and Country Mouse-a travesty on Dryden's Hind and Panther. In the reign of William III, he obtained the place of clerk of the privy council, and became a member of the house of commons. In 1694, he was made chancellor of the exchequer, and subsequently first lord of the treasury. His administration was distinguished by the adoption of the funding system, and the establishment of the bank of England. In 1698, Montagu was a member of the council of regency during the absence of the king, and, in 1700, was raised to the peerage. In the reign of Anne, when tory influ ence prevailed, he was twice impeached before the house of lords; but the proceedings against him fell to the ground. George I created him earl, and bestowed on him the order of the garter; but Halifax, being disappointed in his expectation of obtaining the office of lord treasurer, joined the opposition. His death took place May 19, 1715. The poems and speeches of lord Halifax were published, with biographical memoirs, in 1715 (8vo.); and the former were included in the edition of English Poets, by doctor Johnson. He aspired to the character of the Mæcenas of his age, and his patronage of Addison is creditable to his discrimination, though little can be said in praise of his munificence.

She

MONTAGU, lady Mary Wortley, one of the most celebrated among the female literary characters of England, was the eldest daughter of Evelyn, duke of Kingston, by his wife lady Mary Fielding, the daughter of the earl of Denbigh. was born about 1690, at Thoresby, in Nottinghamshire, and displaying uncommon abilities at an early age, was educated upon a liberal plan, and instructed by the same masters as her brother, in the Greek Latin and French languages. In her twentieth year, she gave an extraordinary proof of her erudition, by a translation of the Enchiridion of Epictetus, which was revised by bishop Burnet, by whom her education was ultimately superintended. Her mind was nourished in great comparative retirement, previously to her marriage, in 1712, with Edward Wortley Montagu. Even after her marriage, she lived chiefly at her husband's seat of Wharncliffe, near Sheffield, until the latter, being introduced to a seat in the treasury, by the earl of Halifax (see the preceding article), brought his dy to

London. Being thus placed in the sphere of the court, she attracted that admiration which beauty and elegance, joined to wit and the charms of conversation, never fail to inspire. She became familiarly acquainted with Addison, Pope, and other distinguished writers. In 1716, Mr. Wortley being appointed ambassador to the Porte, lady Mary determined to accompany him, and hence her admirable correspondence, chiefly consisting of letters addressed to the countess of Mar, lady Rich and Mr. Pope; to whom she communicated her observations on the new and interesting scenes to which she was a witness. On many occasions she displayed a mind superior to common prejudices, but in none so happily as in a courageous adoption of the Turkish practice of inoculation for the small-pox in the case of her own son, and a zealous patronage of its introduction into England. In 1718, Mr. Wortley returned to England, and at the request of Pope, lady Mary took up her summer residence at Twickenham, and a friendship was formed between these kindred genuises, which gradually gave way to dislike, produced by difference of political opinion, petulance and irritability on the side of the poet, and no small disposition to sarcastic keenness on that of the lady; and a literary war ensued, which did honor to neither party. Lady Mary preserved her ascendency in the world of rank and fashion until 1739, when, her health declining, she took the resolution of passing the remainder of her days on the continent, not without the world surmising that other causes concurred to induce her to form this resolution. She, however, retired with the full concurrence of her husband, with whom her subsequent correspondence betrays neither resentment nor humiliation. Venice, Avignon and Chamberry were, in turn, her residence, until the death of Mr. Wortley, in 1761, when she complied with the solicitations of her daughter, the countess of Bute, and returned to England, after an absence of twenty-two years. She enjoyed a renewal of family intercourse for a short time only, as she died of a gradual decay, in 1762, aged seventy-two. As a poetess, lady Mary Wortley Montagu exhibits ease, and some powers of descripton; but she is negligent and incorrect. The principal of her performances in this class is her Town Eclogues, a satirical parody of the common pastoral, upplied to fashionable life and manners. As a letter-writer, her fame stands very high; her letters were collected and

copied by herself, and presented, in 1766, to the reverend Mr. Sowden, of Amsterdam, of whom they were purchased by the earl of Bute: a surreptitious copy of them was published in 1763, in 3 vols., 12mo. The authenticity of these letters, which obtained universal admiration for their wit, judgment and descriptive powers, was, for a long time, doubted; but all distrust was done away by the following publication, under the sanction of the earl of Bute: the Works of the Right Honorable Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, including her Correspondence, Poems and Essays, published by permission from her genuine papers (London, 1803, 6 vols., 12mo.), with a Life, by Mr. Dallaway. This edition contains many additional letters, written in the latter part of her life, which display much excellent sense and solid reflection, although tinged with some of the prejudices of rank, and indicative of increasing misanthropy.

MONTAGU, Edward Wortley, the only son of the subject of the preceding article, was born in 1713. At an early age, he was sent to Westminster school, from which he ran away three times, and, associating himself with the lowest classes of society, passed through some extraordinary adventures, sailed to Spain as a cabinhoy, and was at length discovered by the British consul at Cadiz, and restored to his family. A private tutor was then provided for him, with whom he trav elled on the continent. During his residence abroad, he wrote a tract, entitled Reflections on the Rise and Fall of Ancient Republics. On his return to Engand, he obtained a seat in the house of commons; but, living extravagantly, he became involved in debt, and left his native country never to return. His future conduct was marked by eccentricities not less extraordinary than those by which he had been distinguished in the early part of his life. He went to Italy, where he professed the Roman Catholic religion; and from that he apostatized to become a disciple of Mohammed, and a scrupulous practiser of the formalities of Islamism. After passing many years in Egypt, and other countries bordering on the Mediterranean, he was about to return to England, when his death took place at Padua, in Italy, in 1776. He was the author of an Examination into the Causes of Earthquakes, and some papers in the Philosophical Transactions.

MONTAGU, Elizabeth, a lady of literary celebrity, was the daughter of Matthew Robinson, of the Rokeby family, and was

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