S33 



MORCELLI, STEFANO ANTONIO. 



MORE, HANNAH. 



334 



Elated by his popularity, Moratiu was preparing some new pieces, 

 when the suspicions of the Inquisition checked his ardour. Although 

 powerfully shielded by Qodoy, his ' Escuela de los Maridos,' Moliere's 

 ' Kcole des Maris ' (admirably adapted to Spain and modern times), 

 was not represented till the 17th of March, 1812, under Joseph 

 Bonaparte, wlio made the author chief royal librarian. On the resto- 

 ration of Ferdinand in 1814, Moratiu'g property was seized, and him- 

 self reduced to actual starvation. Still, before the close of that year, 

 friendship and gratitude, the prominent features of his character, 

 induced him to prepare, for the benefit of the actor Blanco of Barce- 

 lona, ' El Medico A Palo*,' a piece which was modelled, with proper 

 adaptations, on Moliere's MeJecia malgre lui.' Beloved as he was in 

 that city, the dread of official and concealed persecutors made him 

 leave it in 1817 for Paris, where he lived with his early friend Melon, 

 till the restoration of the popular Spanish constitution in 1S20, when 

 he returned to Barcelona. After editing there his father's works in 

 1821, as stated in the previous article, he left that city again on 

 account of the jellow fever, and went to join his friend Silvela at 

 Bordeaux. Ho now devoted himself exclusively to the improvement 

 of his own ' Origenes del Teatro lispaiJol,' a work of vast and rare 

 erudition and research, but which is discontinue.! by the author just 

 before the appearance of the exuberant Lope de Vega and his prolific 

 school. At the end of 1825 Moratin's health began to decliue. 

 Accompanied by Silvela, he returned in 1827 to Paris, where he died 

 on the 21st of June 182S, and was buried near Moliere's monument 

 in Pere la ChaUe, 



Although a lyric poet of equal genius and more taste than hia 

 father, and though he had the credit of having improved the blank 

 verse (verso hbre) so suitable to the Spanish ear, aud of having more- 

 over used new combinations of metres aud rhymes, Moratin did not 

 consider hinn-elf entitled to the double title of a lyric and dramatic 

 poet. A severe correctness, an excessive caution against all flights of 

 imagination, and a strict submission of all other powers to the contiol 

 of judgment, deprived L. JUoratiu of that originality and freedom 

 which are necessary for one who would aspire to be a first-rate pott. 

 Instead of intricacy, the great object of former dramatists, L. Mor.itin 

 was poetically foud of simplicity, as an element of beauty. Moreover, 

 it was by constant observation in the ranks of middle life that he 

 attained the power <<f correctly representing tbe faults and feelings 

 which characterise tliat class of society. It would be out of place 

 hero to touch on the di-pute between the classical and romantic 

 cchools, in which the two Moratius were involved. Several editions 

 of both i ho poetical and dramatic works of Leaudro Moratin have 

 been published. 



MORCELLI, STE'FANO ANTO'NIO, born at Chiari, near Brescia, 

 in 1737, studied at Koine, entered the Order of tbe Jesuit*, was tent 

 to liagusa, and afterwards returned to Kouie, when Le was made 

 Prufeseor of Rhetoric in the Roman College. After the suppression 

 of the Order of the Jesuits in 1773, he became librarian to Cardinal 

 Alejandro Albani, and then wrote hia work 'De Stilo Inscriptiouum 

 Latiuaiuni Libri III.,' Rome, 1781. In 17LW be was elected 1'rovost 

 of tin; Chapter of bis native town, Chiari, where be busied himself in 

 doing good to his townsmen, and for their sake ho afterwards refused 

 the see of liagusa, which bad been offered to him. He founded an 

 institution Tor the gratuitous education of young girls ; he gave in his 

 lift -time his own select library to the town of Chiari; he repaired 

 aud embellished tbe churches of the s.me town, acd w;is very 

 charitable towards tbe poor. He died at Chiari, in 1821. Besides 

 hi-s work on inscriptions already noticed, he wrote : 1, ' Ingcriptione.-f 

 C'oinmentariis tubjectis.' 2, ' Parergou Inscriptiouum Novissimarum.' 

 3, ' Kalendariuin Ecclesitu Constantinopolitanac cum Commentariis 

 illu.stratum,' from an ancient manuscript anterior to the schism 

 between the Eastern and Western churches. Morcelli translated the 

 manuscript from Greek into Latin, adding his own commentaries, and 

 rendering it a valuable work on church history. 4, ' Explanatio 

 Ecclcsiastica Sancti Gregorii.' This Gregory was one of the earliest 

 bi-hops of Agrigentum. 6, ' Africa Christiana,' 3 vols. 4to, Brescia, 

 1- 1'i. This is another important work on church history, from A.J>. 

 1U7 till A.D. 697. It may be styled the Fasti of the Christian Churches 

 in Northern Africa. 



Morcelli' s works on Inscriptions have been collected and published 

 together: 'Opera Epigraphies," 5 void. Padua, 1818-25, and Professor 

 Schiassi has added to them a ' Lexicon Epigraphicum Morcellianum,' 

 in Latin and Italian. Morcelli wrote also a book of epigrams 

 ' Kleutorum Libri II.;' and various dissertations on Roman antiquities. 

 MUKUAUNT, CHARLKS, EARL OF PETERBOROUGH, a 

 nobleman famed for 1 in romantic exploits in the war of the Spanish 

 Succession, as well as for hia lettered tastes anil personal eccentricities, 

 was the son of John lord Mordaunt, whom he succeeded in his title 

 ami estates. Ho vtaa born in 1658. In his boyhood he served in the 

 navy ; but afterwards exchanged that profession for the army, aud 

 was present in ItJfcO at the siege of Tangier. He fir=t obtained histo- 

 rical notice however by the decided part which he took in politics, 

 during the reign of James II., against the despotic government of that 

 king. Passing over to Holland, he attached himself to the Prince of 

 Orange, upon whom he warmly urged the project of the expedition 

 to England; aud, on its success, was immediately created, in 1089, 

 Earl of Moumouth, a title which he subsequently exchanged for that 



of Peterborough, as the heir of hia uncle, second earl of the latter 

 name. Of the questionable though comparatively unimportant share 

 of the new earl in the political transactions of the reigu of William III., 

 a full account may be collected from Bishop Burnet's ' History of hia 

 own Time,' but it was only after the opening of the Spanish Succession 

 war that he obtained a more creditable field of action, by his appoint- 

 ment, iu 1705, to the command of a naval squadron and body of 

 5000 English and Dutch laud forces, with discretionary powers to 

 act on the coasts of Spain aud Italy. Receiving on board his fleet at 

 Lisbon the Archduke Charles of Austria, clamant of the Spanish 

 crown, he sailed to the eastern coast of the Peninsula, and entered ou 

 a career of daring and successful adventure uu paralleled in modern 

 warfare. The capture of Barcelona, the reduction of Valencia, aud 

 the gaining over of all the eastern parts of Spain to the cause of the 

 archduke, were among the fruits of his brilliant successes; and there 

 can be little doubt that, if his plans had been followed, Charles might 

 have beju seated, for a time at least, on the throne of that kingdom. 

 But the conduct of Peterborough himself was intolerably overbearing 

 and arrogant; and his real services, as well as his presumption, 

 rendered him an object of envy and dislike to the archduke aud the 

 other allied commanders. When therefore at length Peterborough 

 petulantly resented the repeated neglect of his counsels, by declaring 

 his intention of quitting Spain, Charles showed an ungrateful 

 readiness to be rid of bi.n. 



The remainder of his public life was chiefly passed in hurrying 

 from one court to another, so that he was humorously said to have 

 " seen more kings aud more postillions than any man in Europe." 

 This spirit of locomotion however was anything but harmless: it 

 engaged him iu negotiations for which he had often no authority, and 

 ltd him frequently to sow the seeds of intrigues, the more dangerous 

 as they were supported by his singular talents, and were designed 

 only to minuter to a love of action and of personal display as reckless 

 as his vanity was insatiable. In the struggle of parties, during the 

 last days of Queen Anne, Peterborough, through hatred to Marl- 

 borough, sided violently with the Tories, and received the order of 

 the Garter and other dignities and offices. On tLe accession of 

 George I. therefore he had rendered himself too obnoxious to the 

 Whigs to be employed iu public business during their ascendancy ; 

 aud the remainder of his existence, which extended to 1735, was 

 distinguished only by his aflectiouate intimacy with some of the most 

 eminent literary men of hia age Pope, Swift, Prior, Atterbury, 

 Berkeley, and others. 



Gay, volatile, aud generous to profusion, and with a mind as full of 

 careless wit and negligent grace as of chivalrio courage, ingenious 

 expedient, aud adventurous stratagem, Peterborough was equally 

 fitted to dazzle iu society and iu the field. But, both for civil and 

 military life, his qualities were more brilliant than solid ; his best 

 actions were the result of an iuordiuate passion for fame; and, in 

 the gratification of this pursuit, his means were as unscrupulous as 

 his appetite was greedy. With strong impulses of patriotic feeling 

 therefore he was often regardless of his country's good ; with the 

 persuasive faculties of a diplomatist, he wanted the dignity and con- 

 sistency of a true .statesman ; and jvith undoubted genius for war, he 

 display eel the qualities of an admirable partisan rather than those of a 

 great general. 



A lively sketch of the character of Peterborough will be found in 

 Horace Walpole's 'Catalogue of Royal and Noble Authors," which, 

 may be compared with that drawn by Lord Mahon (' Hist, of Eug.,' 

 vol. i. c. x.}. The political and military actions of his lire are to be 

 gathered from Burnet's ' History of his own Time ; ' from the ' Account 

 of the Earl of Peterborough's Conduct in Spain,' by his physician, 

 Dr. Friend ; and from Captain Carltou's ' Memoirs." A full account 

 of his whole career is contained in the modern compilation of the 

 ' Lives of Briti.-h Military Commanders.' 



MORE, HANNAH, was born in 1745, and was the daughter of a 

 village schoolmaster, one of the humbler persons of his class, who 

 had the care of the charity-school at Stapletou, near Bristol, but who, 

 some time after the birth of his daughter Hannah, removed to Bristol, 

 where he had a private school. There were other daughters, and thu 

 family soon begau to be taken notice of as one in which there was a 

 display of talent that was unusual ; so that some exertions were made 

 by persous to whom they weie known, and the sisters became early 

 iu life established iu a school for the education of girls, which con- 

 tinued for many years the moat flourishing establishment of the kind 

 iu the west 01' England. 



Hannah was from the beginning the most remarkable of the group. 

 She wrote ver=e at a very early age, aud iu 1773 was prevailed upon 

 to publish a pastoral drama, which was entitled ' The Search after 

 Happiness.' In the next year she published a regular tragedy on the 

 story of Regulus, and two talcs, in verse, and her turn being then 

 thought by her friends to incline to the drama, means were taken to 

 obtain an introduction for her to Can ick, by whom she was very kindly 

 received. This introduced her to the ncquaiutauce of Dr. Johnson, 

 Burke, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and other persons who at that time, 

 formed what was considered the best literary society of London. 

 During thispeiiod of her life she produced two tragedies, 'Percy' 

 aud ' The Fatal Falsehood," with other poems. 



Such was the beginning of the life of Mrs. Hannah More. But 



