MONROE 



MONS 



command of the First Army, but 

 later in the year was sent to India 

 as commander-in -chief, which post 

 he resigned in 1920. In 1915 Monro 

 was knighted, in 1917 was made a 

 general, and a baronet in 1921. He 

 became governor of Gibraltar,1923 



Monroe. City of Louisiana, 

 U.S.A. On the Ouachita river, 73 

 m. W. of Vicksburg, it is served by 

 the Vicksburg, Shreveport, and 

 Pacific and other rlys. It is the 

 head of steamboat navigation on 

 the river. It manufactures cotton 

 goods, cotton-seed oil, lumber, and 

 bricks. Settled in 1785, Monroe 

 was incorporated in 1820, and be- 

 came a city in 1871. Pop. 12,700. 

 Monroe. City of Michigan, 

 U.S.A., the co. seat of Monroe co. 

 On the river Raisin, 34 m. S. by W. 

 of Detroit, it is served by the Lake 

 Shore and Michigan Southern and 

 other rlys. Situated near Lake 

 Erie, it is a summer resort. It has 

 flour and paper mills, agricultural 

 implement factories, and canneries, 

 and trades in cereals and fruit. 

 Settled in 1783, Monroe was in- 

 corporated in 1827, and became a 

 city in 1836. In an engagement 

 here, Jan. 22, 1813, known as the 

 battle of the river Raisin, the 

 British defeated the Americans. 

 Pop. 11,600. 



Monroe, JAMES (1758-1831). 

 American statesman. Born in Vir- 

 ginia, April 28, 1758, he fought in 

 the War of In- 

 dependence. 

 In 1782, owing 

 largely to fhe 

 influence of his 

 friend, Thomas 

 Jefferson, he 

 entered t h e 

 legislature of 

 Virginia, and 

 was a member 

 of that state's 

 executive council, and also of the 

 Congress of the confederation. In 

 the latter assembly he specially 

 interested himself in questions 

 affecting the future of the west. He 

 objected to the revised constitu- 

 tion of 1787, ranging himself with 

 the Anti-Federalists, but after it 

 was accepted he entered the 

 Senate in 1790, where he joined 

 the party hostile to Washington. 



In 1794 Monroe went to France 

 as minister, but after some indis- 

 creet 1 remarks was recalled two 

 years later. From 1799 to 1802 he 

 was governor of Virginia, after 

 which he went to France and Spain 

 to endeavour to bring about the 

 purchase of Louisiana and Florida 

 only accomplishing the former pur- 

 pose. From 1803-7 he was minister 

 to Britain, in addition to discharg- 

 ing his special duties. In 1811 

 Monroe became again governor of 



James Monroe, 

 American statesman 



Virginia, and in 1812 secretary of 

 state under Madison, being also 

 secretary of war during the latter 

 part of the war with Britain. In 

 1816 he was elected president 

 against Rufus King, and he filled 

 the office for two terms, or eight 

 years. His rule is known every- 

 where for his enunciation, in 1823, 

 of the Monroe Doctrine ; in the 

 States itself it was a period of 

 great material prosperity and 

 little internal strife. Florida at last 

 was bought and the Missouri Com- 

 promise effected. He died at New 

 York. July 4, 1831. See Life D. C. 

 Oilman, 1909. 



Monroe Doctrine. Principle of 

 international policy held by the 

 U.S.A., the root idea of which is 

 America for the Americans. The 

 doctrine was first formulated in a 

 message to Congress by President 

 Monroe in 1823, the two essential 

 points being the following : (1) 

 " The American Continents . . . 

 are henceforth not to be con- 

 sidered as subjects for future 

 colonisation by any European 

 power." (2) " We should consider 

 any attempt on their part to ex- 

 tend their system to any portion 

 of this hemisphere as dangerous to 

 our peace and safety." The doc- 

 trine was reaffirmed by Polk in 

 1845 and 1848, while the protests 

 of the U.S.A. against the interfer- 

 ence of the French in Mexico in 

 1866, and against the claims of 

 Great Britain in the Venezuela 

 Boundary dispute in 1895, were 

 based upon it. The doctrine does 

 not seek to prevent European 

 powers from enforcing just claims 

 under international law, as when 

 the British and German Heets com- 

 bined to blockade Venezuela in 

 1903, but both countries previously 

 gave an undertaking that they had 

 no ulterior political object. Britain 

 on the whole has supported the 

 doctrine, making as it does for the 

 security of Canada and other 

 British possessions in the American 

 continent. See International Law. 

 Monrovia. Capital of the re- 

 public of Liberia, W. Africa. It is 

 situated upon the sea-coast, and is 

 a port of entry with a trade in 

 palm nuts and dye woods. Pop. 

 (with Krutown) 6,000. 



Mons (Flemish, Bergen). Town 

 of Belgium, capital of the prov. of 

 Hainault. It stands on the river 

 Trouille, 38 m. 

 by rly. S.W. of 

 Brussels, occupy- 

 ing a hill (whence 

 its name) in the 

 important coal- 

 mining district 

 known as the Bor- 

 inage. A rly. cen- 

 Mons arm; tre of note, it is 



the terminus of the busy Mons- 

 Conde Canal. Apart from its im- 

 portance as an administrative 

 centre, Mons is a centre of the 

 local trade and has various indus- 

 tries, e.g. textiles, lace, oils, soap, 

 and sugar, and is a military centre 

 with large barracks. There is a 

 school of mining. The Gothic 

 church of S. Waudru, begun about 

 the middle of the 15th century, 

 has a % fine interior with 16th cen- 

 tury stained glass. The town hall, 

 begun in 1458, is on the Grande 

 Place, and has an ornate fagade. 



Mons, believed to have been 

 originally a Roman fortress, grew 

 in the 8th century round a monas- 

 tery founded by S. Waudru, or 

 Waltrudis, a daughter of one of 

 the counts of Hainault. It was in 

 the possession of these counts, and 

 of Spain, France, and Austria suc- 

 cessively. It has stood many 

 sieges, having been captured by 

 Louis of Orange in 1572 ; by 

 Louis XIV, 1691 and 1701 ; by 

 Prince Eugene, 1709 ; by Saxe, 

 1746 ; and by Dumouriez, 1792. 

 It was the capital of the French 



Mons, Belgium. The 15th century 

 Town Hall 



dept. of Jemappes from 1794-1814, 

 after which it became part of the 

 Netherlands. Its fortifications 

 were finally demolished in 1862. 

 Round the town was fought the 

 famous battle of Aug., 1914, and it 

 formed an important military 

 centre for the Germans during 

 their occupation of Belgium. It 

 was recaptured by Canadian troops, 

 Nov. 11, 1918. Pop. 27,400. 



Mons, BATTLE OF. On Aug. 22, 

 1914, the British expeditionary 

 force of 65,000 men and 250 guns, 

 under Sir J. French, reached a 

 front which ran from a point E. 

 of Mons to Conde. The general 

 idea of the French staff was that 



