335 



MUNCH, PETER ANDREAS. 



MUNDAY, ANTHONY. 



little town, as I myself knew it, it is now become a fail- and strong 

 city." Ferdinand I. died, after a reign of twenty-two years, in 1609 ; 

 it is strange therefore that Mr. Macpberson, who quotes this passage 

 in his 'Annals of Commerce," should place it under the year 1630, 

 remarking that " probably Sir. Mim was in Leghorn about this time, 

 and may have written his book about 1660." The conjecture of 

 Mr. M'Culloch (' Principles of Political Economy," p. 30), that the 

 book was probably written about 1635 or 1640, is likely to be much 

 nearer the truth. Mun, being, as we have seen, a foreign merchant of 

 the highest eminence before 1609, can hardly have been bora'later 

 than 1580, and most probably was dead long before 1660. His 

 England's Treasure ' is addressed to his son, and begins " My son, 

 in a former discourse I have endeavoured, after my manner, briefly to 

 teach thee two things : the first is piety ; . . . . the second is policy ; . . . 

 so am I now to speak of money," But whether this former discourse 

 was ever published we do not know. Mun, however, has always been 

 understood to be the writer of a work entitled 'A Discourse of Trade 

 from England to the East Indies, by T. 3rL' 4to, London, 1621. 



The object of this last-mentioned work is to defend the East India 

 trade from the charge brought against it of exhausting the national 

 wealth by occasioning an annual exportation of treasure, or of gold 

 and silver. Mun does not deny, or fnr a moment doubt, that the true 

 profit of the country upon any branch of commerce is to be measured 

 by the balance of money which it annually brings into the country ; 

 but he contends, that, although the trade with the East Indies, con- 

 sidered by itself, would upon this principle be a losing trade, yet it 

 became in reality profitable in consequence of the exportation of cer- 

 tain commodities which it enabled us to make to other European 

 countries, from, which in this way we drew back every year a much 

 larger amount of treasure than we sent out to India. The reasoning 

 is the same that was afterwards employed by Sir Josiah Child in hig 

 anonymous pamphlet, 'The East ludia Trade, a most profitable Trade 

 to this Kingdom,' published in 1677. The same doctrine is ako 

 expounded in Mun's other work, his 'England's Treasure by Foreign 

 Trade,' the fourth chapter of which, principally relating to the East 

 India trade, is headed, ' The exportation of our monies in trade of 

 merchandize is a means to increase our treasure.' The fundamental 

 principle of that work is stated in the second chapter: " The ordinary 

 means to increase our wealth and treasure is by foreign trade, wherein 

 we must ever observe this rule to sell more to strangers yearly than 

 we consume of theirs in value." Perhaps the principle of what has 

 been called the mercantile or balance of trade system had scarcely 

 before been so distinctly avowed, at least by any English economist. 

 The work, which extends to 220 pages, contains twenty-one chapters 

 in all. It was long looked upon as a great authority, and was reprinted 

 at London in 1669, in 1698, in 1700, in 1713, and again in 'A Select 

 Collection of English Tracts,' in 1856. Also at Glasgow in 1755. 



MUNCH, PKTEK ANDREAS, an ingenious and indefatigable 

 Norwegian antiquary and philologist, was born at Christiania on the 

 15th of December 1810. He received his first education from his 

 father, who was pariah-priest of Gjerpen near Skien, was then sent 

 to the Latin school at Skieu, and after 1828 pursued his studies at the 

 University of Christiauia, where, in 1834, he pawed his examina- 

 tion in jurisprudence. The law however had less attractions for 

 him than language and history; and in 1837 he obtained the post of 

 ' lector,' and in 1841 of professor of history at the University of 

 Christiania. He has since then passed his life in literary labours, and 

 has paid visits to different countries, including England and Scotland. 

 The elucidation of the ancient history and languages of Norway and 

 the North is his favourite subject, on which he has advanced some 

 ideas of a novel character, which he defends with spirit if not with 

 niicce.-s. He oppose* the usual notion that one language formerly 

 prevailed over all Scandinavia during historic times, and that that 

 language is still preserved in Iceland contending that the three king- 

 doms of the north, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, had formerly three 

 distinct dialects, and that the literature called Icelandic is the litera- 

 ture of ancient Norway, of which kingdom the modern Icelanders 

 have preserved one dialect, and the Feroe islanders another. He 

 therefore refuses to give the name of Icelandic to the language in 

 which the ancient Sagas were written, and insists on calling it ' OM 

 Norwegian.' Even if his views were admitted to be historically 

 correct, which is by no means the case, it is obvious that his proposal 

 is open to the same objections as one for changing the name of the 

 Anglo-Saxon language to ' Old English.' The inconvenience aud con- 

 fusion that arise from giving two names to one language, are in fact 

 conspicuously shown by the operation of another Norwegian whim 

 now in fashion. The modern language of Christiania is precisely the 

 snne as that of Copenhagen ; but while in Denmark and the rest of 

 Europe this language is called Danish, in Norway it is considered 

 patriotic by many to call it Norwegian. The principle on which this 

 is done is diametrically opposite to that on which Icelandic is called 

 Old Norwegian, but as yet both the old and the modern party have 

 resolutely refused to concede an inch to their opponents. 



Professor Muuch's works are numerous and important. An 'Old 

 Norwegian' Grammar aud an 'Old Norwegian 'Readin-book are among 

 the number. He has published un edition of the ' Kongs Skuggsio,' or 

 'Icelandic Koyal Mirror; ' of the elder 'Edda,' of ' Anlak Bolt's Jorde- 

 bog,' the ' Terrier ' of an old archbishop of Drontheim, of the ' Fagrs- 



BIOG. D1V. VOL. IV. 



kinna,' a chronicle really of Old Norway, and of the ' Ancient Laws of 

 Norway,' 'Norges Gamle Love' (3 vols. 4to), in conjunction with Pro- 

 fessor Keyser. His ' Historical and Geographical Description of the 

 kingdom of Norway during the Middle Ages' (Christiania, 1849), and 

 his extended ' History of the Norwegian People ' (' Det Norske Folkes 

 Historic'), begun in 1851, and still in progress, are standard works of 

 their kind. He has not disdained to write also a ' History of Norway, 

 Sweden, and Denmark, for the use of Schools," 1838; and a series of 

 'Entertaining Stories from Norwegian History,' 1847. Professor 

 Muuch is an antagouist to ' Scandinavian!,' or the project of uuitiug the 

 three Scandiuavian kingdoms under one sceptre, and has had a paper- 

 war on the subject with Professor Worsaae the Dane, which has not 

 however prevented the exchange of courtesies between the two anti- 

 quarians. Munch has at least on one occasion written in Swedish in 

 the ' Forn-Svenskans och Forn-Norskans Sprakbyguad,' Stockholm, 

 1849, an essay on the construction of the Old Swedish aud Old Norwe- 

 gian languages. Essays from his peu appear iu English iu the. volumo 

 for 1852 of the translated series of the Transactions of the Northern 

 Antiquaries Society one 'On the Runic Inscriptions in Sodor and 

 Man ; ' another, ' Geographical Elucidations of the Scottish and Irish 

 local names occurring in the Sagas.' It is to be regretted that it 

 should be so little known that this series, bearing a French title, 

 ' MC-moires de la Socie'te' des Antiquaires du Nord,' contains more 

 articles iu English than in French. It is a set of books that ought to 

 find its way into all our large libraries. 



* ANDREAS MUNCH, a cousin of Professor Peter Andreas Munch, ia 

 a Norwegian poet of some note. He is the son of the Bishop of 

 Christians;* nd, was born in 1811, and has been since 1S30 an ainauueusis 

 in the University Library of Christiauia. His 'Digte gamle og nye' 

 (' Poems Old and New,' Christiania, 1848), and his ' Nye Digte ' ( New 

 Poems,' Christiania, 1850), are spoken of as of merit. He has also 

 written a drama on the subject of Solomon de Cans, respecting whom 

 a ridiculous story has been put iu circulation by a French wag, that 

 the Marquis of Worcester conceived the notion of the steam-engine 

 from his ravings when a madman confined in the I licutrc. 



MONCHHAUSKN, ADOLPHUS, BARON, born in Hanover in 

 1688, studied at Jena, Halle, and Utrecht, and afterwards filled several 

 important official stations iu the electorate. Ho was an active agent 

 in founding the University of Gottingen, of which he was appoiuted 

 curator, which situation ho held till his death. He devoted himself 

 with great assiduity aud zeal to the advancement of that institution, 

 which rose under his care to a high rank among the universities of 

 Germany. He established the chairs of geography, literary history, 

 and political science, aud improved the system of teaching philosophy 

 and theology, by doing away with the old scholastic methods. Heyne 

 says that Miiuchhausen introduced into the university freedom of 

 thinking, feeling, and writing. He promoted the establishment of the 

 Rojal Society of Sciences of Gottingen. He increased the library of 

 the university from 10,000 to 60,000 volumes, which number after- 

 wards, whilst Hejne was librarian, was brought up to 200,000. All 

 these things Munchhausen did with very moderate means, aud chiefly 

 by his activity, judgment, and perseverance. More ample particulars 

 of what Miinchuausen effected for_the benefit of the University of 

 Gottingen are given in Heyne's 'Oratio in Honorem ac Memoriam 

 Miinchbausiauam," inserted in the 2nd volume of his 'Opuscula 

 Academica,' and in his other oration on the same subject delivered 

 before the Royal Society of Sciences of Gottingen, inserted iu the 

 second volume of ' Novi Commentarii Societatis Gottingensis ; ' and 

 also in Heeren's ' Life of Heyne.' 



Munchhausen was for many years privy-counsellor to the elector of 

 Hanover, George II. of Great Britain, and in the latter years of his 

 life was appoiuted first minister, by his successor, for the electorate 

 of Hanover, which situation he filled to the general satisfaction, though 

 only for a short time. He died at Hanover, in 1770. 



MUNDAY, ANTHONY, must, according to his epitaph, have been 

 born in 1553. His early life is almost totally unknown; but he was 

 at one time abroad, and describes himself as having been " the pope's 

 scholar in the seminary at Rome." In 1582 he was one of the instru- 

 ments in the detection of the popish conspiracy ; he was a witness 

 against some of the prisoners; aud he published 'A breefe and true 

 Reporte of the Execution of certain Traytours at Tiborue the 28th and 

 30th days of May, 1582 ; gathered by A. M., who was there present.' 

 He had, it appears, held a dispute at the foot of the gallows with one 

 of the victims. This pamphlet was not Munday's first publication. 

 His tract, called ' The Mirror of Mutabilitie,' had appeared in 1579; 

 and he published, after this date, a large number of pieces in prose 

 and verse, originals and translations. Lists will be found iu the 

 ' British Bibliographer ' and elsewhere. His dramatic productions are 

 now more interesting than any of the others. He is said, but on 

 equivocal authority, to have been a player and an unsuccessful one : 

 he was at any rate a frequent writer of pla^B, and also of pageauts for 

 the corporation aud companies of London. Ben Jouson, in ' The Case 

 is Altered,' written early in 1599, ridicules him aud his city-shows in 

 his character of Antonio Balladiuo, making this personage to say of 

 himself, that he "supplies the place of pageant-poet to the city of 

 Milan when a woree cannot be had," and that he " uses as much stale 

 stuff as any man does." Perhaps Gen's critical acumen was a little 

 sharpened by the fact that Munday had just been calleil "our best 



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