MOSHEIM, JOHANN LORENZ VON. 



MOTTEUX, PETER ANTHONY. 



370 



engraven on stones, which were fixed on Mount Gerizim or Moun 

 Ebal (probably the former) with solemn ceremonies, in which th 

 people swore to keep the law, blessings were invoked on the obedient 

 and curs-s denounced on the transgressors. (Deut. xxvii., xxviii.) 



Viewed as a whole, the laws of Moses seem perfectly adapted to 

 the character of the people for whom he legislated, and to the phy 

 sical and political country they were to inhabit. No mistake cau be 

 greater than that which is made by many people when they suppose 

 that because these laws came from God, therefore" tbey are the bes 

 code that can ever be formed. Had tbey possessed this ideal excel 

 lence, they would have been really bad laws, because they woulc 

 have been unsuited to the nation they were intended to govern 

 They were not meant to be unalterable ; indeed some of them were 

 altered by Moses himself. They were only intended to last for a time 

 and therefore, when considered with reference to our present experi 

 ence of human affairs, they appear to have many imperfections. 



The origin of the Mosaic legislation is declared in Scripture to be from 

 God, by which we must understand tbat these laws were sanctiouet 

 by God and published by his command. It bas already been ob 

 served that many of the laws did not originate with Moses, but were 

 ancient observances which he adopted in his code by the commanc 

 of God. (See also Iken, ' Dies. II. de Institutis et Ceremoniis Legis 

 Mosaics ante Moeem ;' Reimar, ' Cogitationes de Legibus Mosaicis 

 ante Mosem.') And moreover, when we remember that he was brought 

 up in Egypt, and was " learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians" 

 (Acts vii. 22), when we compare various parts of his laws with similar 

 institutions which existed in Egypt (for example, the freehold basis 

 of the constitution, the separation of the caste of priests from the rest 

 of the community, the discouragement of commerce, and the measures 

 resorted to for keeping the Israelites distinct from other nations), it 

 becomes highly probable, if not certain, that the Mosaic institutions 

 were largely modelled on those of Egypt This opinion, which is held 

 by nearly all the be.-t critics who have examined the laws of Moses, 

 has been unaccountably regarded as opposed to the divine character 

 of these lawn, as if divine inspiration must necessarily deprive a legis- 

 lator of the wisdom which he already possesses, and prevent him from 

 adopting, under the sanction of that inspiration, whatever good ha 

 may find in the institutions of other nations. On the other hand there 

 are many points of opposition between the Mosaic and Egyptian laws 

 which it ia iiupo.-sible to overlook. Several of these are adduced by 

 Michaelis, iu a paper in the ' Comment Soc. Gutting.,' vol. iv., ' De 

 legibus quibusdaui a Mose eo fine latis, ut Israelites ^Egypti cupidis 

 Palicatinam caram faceret.' The spirit of the whole law was, as Moses 

 himself asserts (Levit xviii. 3), diametrically opposed to that of the 

 Egyptian as well as the Canaanitish institutions. For these reasons 

 it is impossible to regard the Hebrew legislation as a mere copy of the 

 Egyptian. 



Some divines of the Rationalist party have maintained that Mo>es 

 was not the author of the whole of the legislation of the Pentateuch. 

 This opinion is opposed to the evidence which exists in favour of the 

 genuineness and authenticity of the books of Moses. 



.MOSHEIM, JOHANN LORENZ VON, was born of a noblo family 

 at Lubcck, October 9, 1694. He was educated at the gymnasium of 

 Lubeck and the university of Kiel. At Kiel he succeeded Albert zuiu 

 Felde as professor of philosophy in the university. At the invitation 

 of the duke of Brunswick he became professor of theology in the 

 university of Helmstedt, where he remained from 1725 to 1747, when 

 he was appointed professor of theology at Gbttingen and chancellor 

 of the university. Here his lectures on theology attracted all classes of 

 students. He died on the 9th September 1755, at the age of sixty-one. 

 He was thrice marrierl. By his first wife he had two sons and one 

 daughter, and by his third wife cue daughter, afterwards Duchess of 

 Noailles. 



Mosheim was greatly distinguished as a preacher. His style was 

 formed on the model of the English and French preachers, Tillotson 

 and Watts, Saurin, Massillon, and Fl<Scbier. He has beeu compared 

 to Fcuelon for the graces of his style, and he is considered one of 

 the founders of the modern German literature. His talents were of 

 a very high order, his learning was immense, and his character was 

 exemplary. 



The whole number of Mosheim's works is 161. He himself pub- 

 lished at Helmitedt, in 1731, a catalogue raisonnue of the works which 

 he had published up to that time. His best known work is the ' Insti- 

 tutionum Historue EcclegiastictC, Aiitiquioris et Recentioris, libri iv.' 



with an account of Mosheitn's writings by Miller, one of his pupils. It 

 was translated into German by Von Einem, and by J. R. SchlegeL 

 Schlegel's translation ia the better, and is enriched with valuable 

 notes. It has also been translated into French, Dutch, and English. 

 Th.- first English version was made in 1764, by Dr. Maclaine, an assis- 

 tant minister :it the Hague, and has been frequently reprinted. It is 

 very unfaithful. Dr. Maclaine's professed object was to improve 

 Mosheim's style, by adding words and rounding off periods. His 

 alterations and additions constantly express his own sentiments 

 instead of Moeheim'g, and sometimes flatly contradict his author. In 

 Woo. iv. vol. IV, 



1832 a faithful translation, with valuable notes, was published by 

 Dr. Murdock, of New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Mosheim's 

 'Ecclesiastical History' extends from the birth of Christ to the 

 beginning of the 18th century. Each century is treated of sepa- 

 rately, under the two heads of External and Internal History. The 

 External History comprises ' prosperous events,' or the extension of 

 the Church by the efforts of its public rulers and private memberf , 

 and ' calamitous events,' such as persecutions and infidel attacks. The 

 Internal History includes the history 1, of the Christian doctors ; 

 2, of the doctrines and laws of the Church ; 3, of its ceremonies anil 

 worship ; 4, of heresies. This arrangement is open to several 

 objections, of which the chief are, that it is too artificial; that what 

 Mosheim calls external and internal history constantly run into each 

 other (and indeed it is not easy to understand how any part of th.< 

 history of a community can be said to be ' external ' to it) ; and 

 lastly, it imposes on the historian the necessity of deciding what no 

 human mind can decide, namely, what events are prosperous and 

 what calamitous to the Church. But the work of Mosheim is open to 

 a graver objection. He has not treated his subject with the proper 

 spirit of pious interest, though his own orthodoxy is undoubted. 

 Nevertheless, his deep knowledge, his patient research, his general 

 candour and impartiality, and his philosophical spirit, entitle Moaheim 

 to a place among the best Church historians. His works gave an 

 impulse to the study of Church history in Germany, which has pro- 

 duced, among other works, those of Pfaff, Baumgarten, Walsh, Semler, 

 Schrbckh, Henke, Schmidt, Neander, &c. Of these, that of Sohrokh, 

 a pupil of Mosheim, is the fullest, extending to 45 vols. 8vo. Nean- 

 der's ' Kirchengeschichte ' is however a far superior work. 



Mosheim published several works on Church history, besides the 

 ' Institutions,' of which the most important are, his tract ' De Rebus 

 Christianorum ante Constantinum,' and ' Institutiones Historiic 

 Christiana; Majores,' 1739, which is a full Church history of the first 

 century. Among his other works are, a Latin translation, with notes, 

 of Cudworth's 'Systema Intellectual?,' Jena, 1738; six volumes of 

 sermons, 1747 ; and nine volumes on the ' Morals of Holy Scripture,' 

 1773. 



MOTHE-LE-VAYER, FRANgOIS DE LA, was boru at Paria in 

 1588, and iu 1625 succeeded his father as substitute to the procureur- 

 ge'ne'ral ; but he soon abandoned his profession to pursue his favourite 

 study of history. In 1639 he was admitted into the Academy. 

 Cardinal Richelieu being pleased with his work on the education of a 

 prince, intended to appoint him preceptor to the dauphin, but the 

 queen, Anne of Austria, refused her consent Notwithstanding this, 

 in 1649 he was entru-ted with tbc education of the young Duke of 

 Orleans, whose astonishing progress under the tuition of Le Vayer 

 induced the queen to acknowledge the talents of the master, and con- 

 fide to him the completion of the king's (Louis XIV.) education. He 

 died in 1672, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. 



Of his numerous works, which obtained extraordinary success, tho 

 most important are 1, 'Discours de la Contraridtd d'Huineurs qui se 

 trouve entre certaiues Nations, et singulierement la Franyoise et 

 I'Espagnole,' 8vo, Paris, 1636. The title-page states it to be a trans- 

 lation from the Italian of Fabricio- Campolini. 2. 'Considerations 

 sur 1'Eloquence Franyoise,' 12mo, 1638. 3. 'De I'lnstructiou de 

 .Mons. le Dauphin,' 4to, 1640. 4. ' De la Vertu des Paiens,' 4to, Paris, 

 1642; 3rd edition, 1647. Several collections of his works have been 

 made; but the be~t is that of Dresden, 14 vols. 8vo, 1756-59, tho 

 materials of which were furnished by Roland le Vayer, nephew of the 

 author. La Mothe is styled the Historiographer of France by Vol- 

 :aire (' Siecle de Louis XIV.'), who also mentions him as a notorious 

 fyrrhonist. 



The great diversity of opinion which La Mothe observed in tho 

 world seems to have laid the foundation of that scepticism which 

 wrvades his writings. His society was eagerly sought by all the 

 earned and witty of his time, and he was readily admitted into tho 

 jrilliaut circles of Mademoiselle Gournay, who at her death bequeathed 

 Mm her library. La Mothe was nearly fifty years of age before he pub- 

 ished his first work. From that time (1636) he published regularly 

 every year. His work 'De la Vertu des Paiens' was answered by 

 Arnauld, in a tract entitled ' De la Nc'ceesite' de la Foi en Jesus Christ.' 

 IA Mothe's book not selling so fast as the bookseller desired, he inadu 

 rievous complaints. " 1 have a method that will facilitate its Bale," 

 said the author, and immediately procured a prohibition against the 

 reading of it, which had the desired effect, for the work was read with 

 admiration, and every copy sold off. The story is very characteristic 

 of the man. His writings were of little real value. 

 MOTTE, A. H. DE LA. [LA MOITE.] 



MOTTEUX, PETER ANTHONY, was born at Rohan in Normandy, 

 n 1660, at which place he also received his education. After tho 

 revocation of the Edict of Nantes he came over to England, and 

 iucceeded in establishing himself in business, and kept a large East 

 ndia warehouse in Leadenhall-street. Being master of several lan- 

 guages, he obtained a situation iu the foreign-letter department of the 

 J ost-office. His death, which was attended with suspicious circum- 

 tances, took place on his 58th birth-ciay the 19th February 1718, in 

 a disorderly house in the parish of St. Clement Danes. His remains 

 were interred in the church of St. Mary Axe, London. Motteux so 

 ompletely acquired the English language as to be able to produce a 



2 D 



