before the public with his Lettres Persanes, which he had begun in the country, and finished in the leisure hours that his business left him. This work, profound under the appearance of levity, announced a distinguished writer. It gives It gives a most lively and correct picture of French manners: with a light and bold pencil, he portrays absurdities, prejudices and vices, and has the skill of imparting to all an original character. All his letters are, however, not of equal value: some contain paradoxes and coarse satires against the reign of Louis XIV. These letters introduced Montesquieu into the French academy, although this society was by no means spared in them; and cardinal Fleury, justly offended at the Persian's mockery of the Christian religion, opposed his reception. The discourse which he delivered on the occasion of his admission, in 1728, was short, but energetic, and rich in ideas. In order to collect materials for his great work, the Esprit des Lois, he resigned his office in Bordeaux, in 1726, and, after his reception into the academy, began to travel through Germany, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, Holland and England. In the last country, he spent about two years, and was made member of the royal society of sciences in London. The result of his observation was, that Germany was the place to travel in, Italy to reside in for a time, England to think in, and France to live in.* After his return to his château la Brède, he finished his work Sur les Causes de la Grandeur et de la Décadence des Romains, which first appeared in 1734. His acute remarks and excellent delineations gave to this trite subject the interest of novelty. The lofty spirit which shines in this book is still more conspicuous in the Esprit des Lois, which appeared in 1748. In this work, which exhibits the laws of states, in their broad connexion with their other elements of public life, the author distinguishes three forms of government, the democratic, the monarchical, and the despotic, and shows that the laws must correspond to the principles of these forms. The distinction is of great importance, and leads the author to a great variety of deductions. The style, without always being correct, is energetic. This work may be termed a code of national law, and its author may be termed the legislator of the human family:

* He was often accustomed to say, jocosely, of his own conduct in his travels, In France, I was the friend of every body; in England, of nobody; in Italy, I had to compliment every one, and in Germany, drink every where."

we feel that it emanates from a liberal heart, regarding the whole human race with affection. In consideration of these sentiments, Montesquieu may be forgiven for laboring to reduce every thing to a system; ascribing to climate and physical causes too much influence over the morals; for the irregularity of his work as a whole, and for having too often drawn general inferences from single cases. But it has been justly complained that we find in this chef d'œuvre many excessively long digressions respecting the feudal laws; also the testimony of travellers of doubtful credit; paradoxes instead of truths, and jests instead of reflections. He has therefore been accused of indefiniteness, forced expressions, and want of connexion. It is, however, undeniable, that this book is for the philosopher a storehouse of investigations; and no one has ever reflected more profoundly than Montesquieu on the nature, foundation, manners, climate, extent, power, and peculiar character of states; on the effects of rewards and punishments; on religion, education and commerce. To a criticism by the abbé Bonnaire, Montesquieu replied in his Défense de l'Esprit des Lois. He died at Paris, Feb. 10, 1755, at the age of sixty-six years. Although economical by nature, he could be generous, as in the well-known instance of his bounty at Marseilles, where he gave his purse to a young boatman, and secretly appropriated a considerable sum to release the father of the unhappy man, who had fallen into the hands of Barbary corsairs. It was not discovered till after Montesquieu's death that he was the liberator of the captive. A note respecting the remittance of a sum of money to a banker, found by his executors among his papers, led to the discovery of this act of liberality. It has given oc casion to the drama Le Bienfait anonyme. His mildness, good humor, and courteousness, were always equal; his conversation easy, instructive and entertaining. After his death, a collection of his works was published at London, in 1759 (3 vols., 4to.). In 1788, there appeared a good edition (in 5 vols.), to which must be added a volume of Œuvres Posthumes, that appeared in 1798. The most complete editions are those of Basle, of 1799, in 8 vols., and of Paris, 1796, in 5 vols. They contain several other works of Montesquieu, such as the Temple de Gnide, a kind of poem in prose. A history of Louis XI, which he had composed, was lost, being burned by the author by mistake. Under the name of Charles d'Outre

pont, Montesquieu has unveiled the soul of a tyrant, in a conversation between Sulla and Eucrates. Of his Lettres familières, which appeared in 1767, several are interesting. In his twenty-sixth year, Montesquieu married, and the fruits of this marriage were one son and two daughters. The first published a romance, in 1783, Arsace and Ismene, which was probably written by Montesquieu, in his younger years, and, perhaps, intended originally, as Grimm suggests, to form an episode in the Lettres Persanes. To his grandson, the baron Montesquieu, who died without children, at London, July 27, 1824, Napoleon, from respect to the author of the Esprit des Lois, restored the property of his grandfather, which had been confiscated during the revolution.

MONTE VIDEO, or CISPLATINO; a republic of South America, between Brazil on the east and north, Paraguay on the north-west, and Buenos Ayres on the west, washed by the Uruguay, the Rio de la Plata, and the Atlantic. It was declared an independent republic, by a treaty between Buenos Ayres and Brazil, in 1828. (See Banda Oriental.)

MONTE VIDEO, or S. FELIPE; capital of the republic of Monte Video, on the northern bank of the Rio de la Plata, near its mouth; lat. 34° 54' S.; lon. 56° 14′ W.; 120 miles north-east of Buenos Ayres. Near the port rises the mountain from which it derives its name, and on which there is a light-house. The city is built on a gentle ascent, and is fortified; the streets are wide, straight, and well-paved; the houses generally of one story, with flat roofs. The principal building is the cathedral. The climate is moist; storms are frequent in summer, and the cold is severe in the winter months, June, July and August. The port is the best on the Plata. The exports are tallow, hides, and salt beef; imports, manufactured goods, coffee, sugar, &c.; population 10,000. Monte Video was built by a Spanish colony from Buenos Ayres, and was a long time an object of ambition to Portugal. When the former shook off the Spanish yoke, the Brazilian court seized the opportunity of taking possession of it. It was recovered, after a long siege, in 1814, and retaken by the Brazilians in 1821. By the treaty of 1828 it became the capital of a republic of the same name. (See Banda Oriental.)

MONTEZUMA; emperor of Mexico, at the time of the Spanish invasion. In 1519, when Cortez arrived on the coast of Mexico, and expressed his intention of

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His

visiting the emperor in his capital, Montezuma sent him a rich present, but forbade his farther advance. Cortes, however heeded not this prohibition, and the emperor, intimidated, began vainly to negotiate for the departure of the Spaniards. His despotic government having made him many enemies, who willingly joined Cortes, and assisted him in his progress to Mexico, he was obliged to consent to the advance of the Spaniards, to whom he assigned quarters in the town of Cholula, where he plotted their destruction. plot being discovered, a massacre of the Cholulans followed, and Cortes proceeded to the gates of the capital, before Montezuma was determined how to receive him. His timidity prevailed, and, meeting the Spanish leader in great state, he conducted him with much respect to the quarters allotted to him. The mask was, however, soon removed: Cortes seized Montezuma in the heart of his capital, and kept him as a hostage at the Spanish quarters. (See Cortes.) He was at first treated with respect, which was soon changed into insult, and fetters were put on his legs. He was at length obliged to acknowledge his vassalage to the king of Spain, but he could not be brought to change his religion. He was constantly planning how to deliver himself and his countrymen; and when Cortes, with great part of his forces, was obliged to march out to oppose Narvaez, the Mexicans rose up and furiously attacked the Spaniards who remained. The return of their commander alone saved the latter from destruction, and hostilities were going forward, when Montezuma, still the prisoner of the Spaniards, was induced to advance to the battlements of the Spanish fortress, in his royal robes, and attempt to pacify his subjects. His address only excited indignation, and, being struck on the temple with a stone, he fell to the ground. Every attention was paid to him by Cortes, from motives of policy; but, rejecting all nourishment, he tore off his bandages, and soon after expired, spurning every attempt at conversion. This event took place in the sum mer of 1520. He left two sons and three daughters, who were converted to the Catholic faith.-Charles V gave a grant of lands, and the title of count of Montezuma, to one of the sons, who was the founder of a noble family in Spain. (See Robertson's History of America.)

MONTFAUCON, Bernard de, a French Benedictine, of the congregation of St. Maur, celebrated as a critic and antiquary was of noble descent, and was born at the

castle of Soulage, in Languedoc, in 1655. When young, he engaged in military service, which he quitted, and, in 1675, took the monastic vows. In 1688, he published, conjointly with fathers Lopin and Pouget, a volume entitled Analecta Græca, sive varia Opuscula. One of his great undertakings was an edition of the works of Athanasius, which appeared in 1698 (ju 3 vols., folio). He then visited Rome, where he exercised the functions of agentgeneral of the congregation; and, on his return from Rome, published an account of his observations, under the title of Diarium Italicum; and, in 1706, a collection of the works of the ancient Greek fathers, with a Latin translation, notes and remarks. In 1708 appeared his Paleographia Græca, sive de Ortu et Progressu Literarum Græcarum. Among his subsequent labors are the Hexapla of Origen (1713, 2 vols., folio); an edition of the works of Chrysostom (13 vols., folio); and Les Monuments de la Monarchie Française. His works in folio alone form 44 volumes. The most important of his productions is the treasure of classical archæology, entitled L'Antiquité expliquée et representée en Figures, with the supplement, 15 volumes, folio, containing 1200 plates. His death took place at the abbey of St. Germaindes-Prés, 1741. English translations have been published of the Diarium Italicum and Antiquité expliquée.

MONTFERRAT (Monteferrato); formerly a duchy of Italy, bounded by Piedmont, Genoa and the Milanese; the capital was Casale. It now belongs to the Sardinian territories. Mention is made of a marquis of Montferrat in 980. It was erected into a duchy by Maximilian, in 1573. In 1631, a part of it was ceded to Savoy, by the duke of Mantua, to whose ancestors Charles V had granted it in 1536. In 1703, the remainder was annexed to the same duchy, by the emperor. Since that period, it has shared the fate of Savoy. (See Savoy.)

MONTFORT, Simon de, earl of Leicester, son of Simon de Montfort, who distinguished himself by his activity, zeal and severity in the crusade against the Albigenses, was born in France, and, in 1231, retired to England, on account of some dispute with queen Blanche. Henry III received him very kindly, bestowed upon him the earldom of Leicester, which had formerly belonged to his ancestors, and gave him his sister, the countess dowager of Pembroke, in marriage. Henry soon after appointed him seneschal of Gascony, where he ruled so despotically that the

inhabitants sent a deputation to the king, declaring that they would renounce their allegiance if Montfort was not removed He was accordingly recalled, and, according to some accounts, examined before the lords, but acquitted. A violent personal altercation between the king and the haughty earl ensued, in which the former applied the opprobrious epithet of traitor to his subject, and the latter gave his sovereign the lie. A reconciliation was, however, effected, and De Montfort was employed on several occasions, in a diplomatic and military capacity. As the dissatisfaction of the barons with the gov ernment assumed a more decided tone, the name of this nobleman is more frequently mentioned. He concerted, with the principal barons, a plan of reform, and, in 1258, they appeared in parliament armed, and demanded that the administration should be put in the hands of 24 barons, who were empowered to redress grievances, and to reform the state. These concessions were called the provisions of Oxford, the parliament having been holden at that place. The adminis tration of the 24 guardians, at the head of whom was Leicester, continued for several years. In 1262, Henry made an attempt to escape from their authority, but was constrained to submit, by the vigor and activity of Leicester, and agreed that their power should be continued during the reign of his successor. This stipulation soon led to new troubles, and both parties finally consented to refer the subject to the arbitration of St. Louis. The barons refused to abide by his decision, and hostilities again commenced, which resulted in the triumph of Leicester, at the battle of Lewes. His arrogance and rapacity seem to have raised a powerful party against him among the barons, and, according to some, this was the motive which induced him to summon knights of shires and burgesses to the parliament which convened in 1265. Whatever may have been his motives, however, he thus became the founder of the English house of commons. In the same year he fell, at the battle of Evesham, in which the royal forces were led by prince Edward. (See Edward 1.) In attempting to rally his troops, by rushing into the midst of the enemy, he was surrounded and slain. His body, after being mutilated in the most barbarous and indecent manner, was laid before lady Mortimer, the wife of his implacable enemy. His memory was long revered by the people, as that of one who died a martyr to the liberties of the

realm. During the succeeding reign, this feeling was discouraged, but, in the next generation, he was called St. Simon the Righteous. Miracles were ascribed to him, and the people murmured that canonization was withheld from him. Though Simon de Montfort was slain, his lifeless remains outraged, and his acts branded as those of a usurper, yet, in spite of authority and prejudice, his bold and fortunate innovation survived. He disclosed to the world (whether conscious or not of the importance of his measure), the great principle of popular representation, which has drawn forth liberty from the walls of single cities, has removed all barriers to the extent of popular governments, and has given them a regularity, order and vigor which put to shame the boasted energy of despotism.

MONTGOLFIER, Jacques Etienne, the inventor of the balloon, the son of a papermaker, was born at Vidalon-lès-Annonai, in 1745, and, with his elder brother, Joseph Michael (born 1740, died 1810), devoted himself to the study of mathematics, mechanics, physics and chemistry. They carried on the manufactory of their father together, and were the first who made vellum paper. Joseph was also the inventor of the water-ram, which raises water to the height of 60 feet. His brother died in 1799. (See Aeronautics.)

MONTGOMERY, Gabriel, count de; a French knight, celebrated for his valor and his fate. In his youth, he was the innocent cause of the death of Henry II. That prince had already broken several lances, at a tournament held in 1559, in honor of the marriage of his daughter Elizabeth with Philip, king of Spain, when he desired to run a tilt with the young Montgomery, then a lieutenant in the Scotch guards. The latter consented with great reluctance, but finally yielded, when he saw that Henry was displeased with his refusal. In the encounter, his lance struck with such violence on the visor of the king, as to raise it, and pass through his head, just above the right eye. The prince died 11 days after, commanding that Montgomery should not be proceeded against on account of the accident. The latter retired to his estate in Normandy, which he left, for a time, to travel, and returned to France at the time of the first civil war, in which he acted as a leader of the Protestants. He defended Rouen, with great bravery, against the royal army, in 1562, and, on the capture of the city, made his escape to Havre. On the night of St. Bartholomew's, he was at

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Paris, but succeeded in saving himself by flight, and went to England. In 1573, he brought a powerful fleet, partly fitted out at his own expense, to the relief of Rochelle, which was besieged by the Catholics, but did not effect any thing, and, returning to Normandy, connected himself with the Protestant noblesse of that province. After several battles, he was obliged to throw himself into the castle of Domfront, where, in spite of a vigorous resistance, he was at length overpowered (May 27, 1574), and made prisoner, by the royalist general Matignon. By the ccmmand of Catharine of Medici, Matignon transferred his captive to Paris, where he was beheaded, June 26 of the same year, displaying the most heroic courage on the scaffold.

MONTGOMERY, Richard, a major-general in the army of the U. States, was born in 1737, in the north of Ireland. He embraced the profession of arms, and served under Wolfe, at Quebec, in 1759; but, on his return to England, he left his regiment, although his prospects of promotion were fair. He then removed to America, for which country he entertained a deep affection, purchased an estate in New York, about 100 miles from the city, and married a daughter of judge Livingston. His feelings in favor of America were so well known, that, on the commer.cement of the revolutionary struggle, he was intrusted with the command of the continental forces in the northern departinent, in conjunction with general. Schuyler. The latter, however, fell sick, and the chief command, in consequence, devolved upon Montgomery, who, after various successes (the reduction of Fort Chamblee, the capture of St. John's, and of Montreal), proceeded to the siege of Quebec. This he commenced Dec. 1, 1775, after having formed a junction with colonel Arnold, at Point-aux-Trembles; but, as his artillery was not of sufficient calibre to make the requisite impression, he determined upon attempting the capture of the place by storm. He made all his arrangements, and advanced, at the head of the New York troops, along the St. Lawrence. He assisted, with his own hands, in pulling up the pickets, that obstructed his approach to the second bar rier, which he was resolved to force, when the only gun fired from the battery of the enemy killed him and his two aid-de camps. The three fell at the same time and rolled upon the ice formed upon the river. The next day his body was brought into Quebec, and buried withom

any mark of distinction. Congress directed a monument, with an inscription, to be erected to his memory, and placed in front of St. Paul's church, in New York, and, July 8, 1818, his remains were brought from Quebec, in consequence of a resolve of the state of New York, and interred near the monument. General Montgomery was gifted with fine abilities, and had received an excellent education. His military talents, especially, were great; his measures were taken with judgment, and executed with vigor. The sorrow for his loss was heightened by the esteem which his amiable character had gained him. At the period of his death, he was only 38 years of age.

MONTGOMERY, James, a living English poet, born at Irvine, in Ayrshire, in 1771, is the eldest son of a Moravian minister, and was educated at the Moravian seminary at Fulneck, near Leeds, in Yorkshire. After this period, he never saw his parents. They were sent to the West Indies, to preach to the Negroes, and fell the victims of disease. Montgomery continued ten years at Fulneck, during which he acquired Greek, Latin, French and German. To poetry he was early devoted, for he began to write verses when he was only 10 years old, had filled three volumes by the time that he was 12, and, before he was 14, had composed a mock heroic poem, of more than a thousand lines. In his 15th year, he projected an epic poem on the wars of Alfred. His tutors endeavored, in vain, to wean him from that love of the muse which they believed to be incompatible with his intended calling of a minister of the gospel; and, at length, they consented that he should turn his attention to lay pursuits. He was placed with a person who kept a shop at Mirfield, but this situation he soon quitted for another of the same kind; and, finally, with a volume of his poems, he travelled to London, and, for some time, was in the shop of a Mr. Harrison, in that city. In 1792, Montgomery settled at Sheffield, and engaged with Mr. Gales, the publisher of the Sheffield Register. Mr. Gales, being threatened with a prosecution, was obliged to leave England, in 1794, and, by the assistance of a friend, Montgomery was enabled to become the proprietor of the paper, the name of which he changed to that of the Iris. Two prosecutions were successively instituted against him; on the first of which he was sentenced to a fine of £20 and to three months' imprisonment, and, on the second, to a fine of £30 and an incarceration of six months.

During his confinement, he wrote a vol. ume of poems, which he published in 1797, under the title of Prison Amusements. In the following year, he gave to the press a volume of essays, called the Whisperer. His Battle of Alexandria, and other poems, in the first volume of the Poetical Register, were extensively admired. Encouraged by the applause which was bestowed on his contributions, he ventured, in 1806, to give to the world the Wanderer of Switzerland, and other Poems, and, in spite of a severe criticism in the Edinburgh Review, they rose into popularity, and established his reputation. His subsequent works are, the West Indies, a Poem, and other Poems (1810); the World before the Flood, (1813); Verses to the Memory of Richard Reynolds, (1816); Thoughts on Wheels, a Poem (1817); Greenland, and other Poems (1819); Polyhymnia, Songs to Foreign Music (1821); Songs of Zion, (1822); Pelican Island (1827); Voyages of Tyerman and Bennet (missionary agents) in the South Seas, China, &c. (1831). He is not to be confounded with Robert Montgomery, author of several poems-Omnipresence of the Deity (1828); Universal Prayer; Death; a Vision of Hell; a Vision of Heaven (1829); Satan (1830); which have passed through several editions, and had an extensive circulation in England.

MONTH; the 12th part of the year, and so called from the moon, by whose motions it was regulated, being properly the time in which the moon runs through the zodiac. (For the civil division of months, see the articles Calendar, and Epoch.) The lunar month is either illuminative, periodical, or synodical. Illuminative month is the interval between the first appearance of one new moon and that of the next following. As the moon appears sometimes sooner after one change than after another, the quantity of the illuminative month is not always the same. The Turks and Arabs reckon by this month. Lunar periodical month is the time in which the moon runs through the zodiac, or returns to the same point again, the quantity of which is 27 days, 7 hours. 43 minutes, 8 seconds. Lunar synodica month, called also a lunation, is the time between two conjunctions of the moon with the sun, or between two new moons, the quantity of which is 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, 3 seconds, 11". The ancient Romans used lunar months, and made them alternately of 29 and 30 days. They marked the days of each month by three terms, viz., calends, nones, and ides.