9i 



MURRAINMURRAY. 



after made an attempt as an actor, in the character 

 of Othello, and held an engagement with Foote for a 

 single sdfeson, and then retired. On quitting the 

 stage, he determined to study the law, and was 

 admitted a barrister l;y the society of Lincoln's Inn, 

 in 1757. In 1759, he produced the Orphan of China, 

 from the tragedy of Voltaire, and a variety of other 

 pieces, of tragedy, comedy, and farce, for the ground- 

 work of which he was generally indebted to some 

 foreign original. Of these, the Grecian Daughter, 

 the Way to keep him, All in the Wrong, and Know 

 your own Mind, still keep the stage. In 1788, he 

 retired altogether from the bar, and occupied himself 

 entirely for the press. In 1792, appeared his Essay 

 on the Life and Genius of Doctor Johnson; and, in 

 1793, he published his translation of Tacitus, with 

 historical supplements. In 1798, appeared his tra- 

 gedy of Arminius; and his warmth in favour of the 

 then pending war obtained him a pension of 200 

 per annum. He died in June, 1805, in his seventy- 

 eighth year. One of his latest works was a life of 

 Garrick; and a translation of Sallust has appeared 

 since his death. 



MURRAIN, or GARGLE; a contagious disease 

 among cattle, principally caused by a hot, dry season, 

 or general putrefaction of the air, which begets an 

 inflammation of the blood, and a swelling in the 

 throat, that soon proves mortal. The symptoms are 

 a hanging down and swelling of the head, abundance 

 of gum in the eyes, rattling in the throat, a short 

 breath, palpitation of the heart, staggering, a hot 

 breath, and a shining tongue. 



MURRAY, LINDLEY, author of the most useful 

 and popular grammar of the English language, was 

 born in the year 1745, at Swatara, near Lancaster, 

 in the state of Pennsylvania, of Quaker parents, in 

 the middle station of life, he received the rudiments 

 of his education at Philadelphia, in the academy of 

 the society of Friends. In 1753, his father removed, 

 with his family, to New York, where Lindley was 

 placed at a good school. At an early age he entered 

 a counting-house, being destined for the mercantile 

 profession; but, having been severely chastised for a 

 breach of domestic discipline, he privately left his 

 father's house, took up his abode in a seminary at 

 Burlington, New Jersey, and there contracted a love 

 of books and study. When brought back, after some 

 time, lie prevailed upon his father to procure a 

 classical tutor for him, under whom he applied him- 

 self with diligence and success. From the precepts 

 and example of his parents, he imbibed lasting senti- 

 ments of morality and religion. He now undertook 

 the study of the law in the office of an eminent 

 counsellor, the celebrated John Jay being his fellow- 

 student. At the age of twenty-one or twenty-two, 

 he was called to the bar, and soon obtained practice. 

 Within two years, he married a lady, with whom he 

 lived in the tenderest union for more than half a cen- 

 tury. He was very successful and sedulous in his 

 business as a lawyer, until the war broke out between 

 Great Britain and the colonies. About that time, 

 the decline of his health induced him to remove into 

 ~the country, about forty miles from New York. In 

 this retreat he passed four years; and, at the expira- 

 tion of this time, he was driven back to the city (then 

 in possession of the British) by the necessity of pro- 

 curing funds for the subsistence of his family. The 

 profession of the law being no longer lucrative, he 

 turned merchant again, and accumulated property 

 enough to enable him to retire from business, about 

 the period of the establishment of American indepen- 

 dence. He then purchased a beautiful country-seat, 

 on the banks of the river Bellevue, about three miles 

 from New York ; but a severe sickness subjected 

 him to a general debility of the muscles, for the cure 



of which Le was induced to go, with his family, to 

 England. He intended to remain there only two 

 years ; but the local attachments which he formed 

 and his bodily infirmities, detained him for the rest ol 

 his life. He bought a very peasant estate at Hold- 

 gate, about a mile from the city of York. Here 

 rendered sedentary by the weakness of his muscles, 

 he gave himself chiefly to reading and composition. 

 His first book is entitled the Power of Religion on 

 the Mind, &c. , and appeared in 1787. It was 

 anonymous, gained much reputation, and has passed 

 through seventeen editions. His Grammar was first 

 issued in 1795. It was greatly enlarged and improved 

 in successive editions, and has not yet been surpassed 

 or superseded. It is still, altogether, the best extant, 

 of the English language. It was succeeded by his 

 English Exercises and Key, intended to correspond 

 with, and illustrate, the Grammar ; abridgments ot 

 which treatises were published in 1797, and met with 

 an extensive sale, which they still maintain. His next 

 work was a compilation, entitled the English Reader, 

 also extensively used. In 1802, he produced a French 

 compilation of the same kind, entitled Lecteur Fran- 

 cats, and, subsequently, an Introduction au Leclcnr 

 Francois; and, in 1804, an English Spelling Book. 

 He also published a Selection from Home's Com- 

 mentary on the Psalms, and the Duty and Benefits 

 of Reading the Scriptures. His publications were 

 lucrative, and acquired public favour, both in Great 

 Britain and the United States. In 1809, he finished 

 interesting Memoirs of his life, printed since his 

 decease. He lived upwards of sixteen years from 

 that period, a martyr to bodily infirmities and diseases, 

 which he bore with the most exemplary fortitude, and 

 Christian serenity. He expired Feb. 16, 1826, in hts 

 eighty-first year. He had been a highly useful la- 

 bourer for education, and was a man of a very 

 amiable character. 



MURRAY, WILLIAM VANS, distinguished in the 

 annals of American diplomacy and oratory, was born 

 in Maryland about the year 1762. Having received 

 a classical education, -he went to London, after the 

 peace of 1783, and resided there three years, as u 

 student of law in the Temple. He published, in the 

 British capital, a pamphlet on the Constitutions and 

 Laws of the United States, suggested by the observa- 

 tions of Price, Turgot, and Mably, which was much 

 commended. About 1785, he returned to Maryland, 

 where he engaged in the practice of the law; but his 

 general reputation and merits caused him to be soon 

 called to the councils of his country. He was first 

 elected a member of the legislature of Maryland. 

 For upwards of six years (from 1790 to 1797), he 

 held a seat in the house of representatives of the 

 United States. Few of that body equalled him in 

 eloquence, or the other qualifications of a member of 

 a deliberative assembly. His name ranks with the 

 most conspicuous in the legislative annals of that 

 period. In 1797, he declined a re-election to con- 

 gress, having too long neglected his private affairs. 

 One of the last acts of general Washington, as presi- 

 dent of the United States, was the appointment of 

 Mr Murray as minister plenipotentiary to the Bata- 

 vian republic. The minister arrived at the Hague 

 at a crisis when abilities, zeal, and address such as 

 his were required, to counteract the unfriendly influ- 

 ence of France over the Batavian government. He 

 succeeded in preserving harmony between the Ameri- 

 can and Batavian republics; and the first advances to a 

 reconciliation between the United States and France 

 were made in the intercourse of the French charge 

 d'affaires, at the Hague, with Mr Murray. Pro- 

 posals being made for a direct negotiation, they 

 were accepted by Mr Adams, then president of the 

 United States, who appointed Mr Murray sole rnvoy 



