M O D 



592 



M G 





cember, 1288, Obizzo II. Ntarquis of F.ste. Thc-r 

 princes governed the city until towards thecomvn 

 nient of the- foui'teei ry, when tin- desire for-'rc- 



l>ublic,m form- 'in Italy. From this pe- 



riod there was an iii/t >,um of about forty years, dur- 

 inu which Modena' WAS go\erned by various masters, 

 and suii'ered iiiuch from hostile factions. Finally, in 

 the year 1 .'!:>, Obix/.o III. of Este, resumed possession 

 of the city, which his successors enjoyed till the year 

 l?yfi, with the exception of some periods of interrup- 

 tion, occasioned by the wars which from time to time 

 desolated the Italian peninsula. In the last mentioned 

 year Modena was occupied by the French, and after- 

 wards formed a part of the kingdom of Italy, until the 

 year 1814, when it was restored to its legitimate sove- 

 reign Francis IV. Archduke of Austria. 



The government is monarchical. There is, how- 



cious. The town contains many good houses, twoanns, 

 excellent lodgingfeyMS, with a handsome church, and 

 an assembly roOj^M 



Moffat is principally celebrated for its mineral w a . 

 waters. The sulphureous spring called Moffat Well is 

 situated about a mile and a half from the town. There 

 is a good carriage road to the well, and excellent ac- 

 commodation f>r the company while they are drinking 

 the water. This well was discovered about 170 years 

 ago ; and, according to Dr. Garnet, it-tflfejins muriate 

 of soda, 36 grains, sulphuretted hydrogen gas, 10 cu- 

 bic inches, azotic gas, 4 cubic inches, "ffiiiMr' '- 

 acid gas, 5 cubic inches. 



The chalybeate spring called Hartfell Spa, issues 

 from a rock of alum slate, on a tremendous ravine on 

 the side of Hartfell. According to Dr. Garnet, a wine 

 gallon of it contains sulphate of iron, 81 grains, sul- 



I 



i n i i -uij/i.nLv, \_?L uuu, |. SU1- 



ever, a noble regency of conservators, who administer phate of alumine, 12 grains, azotic gas. 5 cubic : 

 the public patrimony of the community, under the di- tno-pthpr with i c .,; f :,i- J? 



the public patrimony of the community, under the di- 

 rection of a governor named by the sovereign. There 

 is a bishop, a chapter, and a seminary ; and also a flou- 

 rishing college for the education of native and foreign 

 nobles. The university has been restored by the 

 reigning sovereign, who allows the students the use of 

 his vast and elegant Ifbrary, which is preserved in his 

 royal palace, and is rich in books and precious manu- 

 scripts. He has also revived the Academy of Sciences, 

 literature and the arts, the Academy called Atestina, or 

 the fine arts, and has here fixed the seat of the Italian 

 Society of Sciences, formerly instituted by the illustrious 

 Chevalier Gio. Mario Lorgna Veronese. The Capitu- 

 liir archive of the cathedral is celebrated on account of 

 the antiquity of its documents, and its very honourable, 

 royal, and imperial diplomas, among which are some 

 original.-) of Charlemagne. Still more rich is the secret 

 archive of the family of Este, in which are preserved a 

 great many precious parchments and remarkable docu- 

 ments relative to the antiquity and grandeur of that fa- 

 mily, one of the most ancient and noble lines of sove- 

 reign princes. There are various charitable institu- 

 tions in Modena, among which are the grand hospital, 

 the house of recovery, and the house called St. Paul, 

 which was recently rounded by the present sovereign 

 for the education of poor girls. 



Many learned men have" flourished in the dominions 

 of the house of Este, as may be st-cii in the work entit- 

 led, Biiilioleca Modenese, by C. Tiraboschi . and among 

 whom are distinguished the names of Sigonio, Oastelve- 

 tro, Montecuccoli, Vallisniere, and Muratori. The 

 means which this city -po present for the cul- 



tivation of science, literal- , , is. have brought 



letters into high e-' red flourishing 



the study of the science'. 



The country, in general, 'is fertile in all kinds of 

 grain, leguminous vegetables and mulberries; and in 

 all sorts of large and small cattle, grapes, chesnuts, and 

 fruits. The principal commerce of this state consists 

 in wines, spirits, silks, bestial and coarse cloths. Few 

 manufactured articles are exported ; because, being an 

 agricultural country, the greater part of its population 

 is employed in cultivating the ground. It has, how- 



together with 15 grains of oxide of iron, with which 

 the sulphuric acid seems to be supersaturated, and 

 which it gradually deposits on exposure to the air, and 

 almost immediately when boiled. The other chalybe- 

 ate spring near the bridge is now choaked up. There 

 are vestiges of a Roman military road, and of several 

 stations near the town About a mile east of the Ro- 

 man road are two large caves cut out of freestone rock. 



In 1811, the parish contained 406 families, of whom 

 120 were employed in trade, and 72 in agriculture ; 

 and the total population was 1 824 inhabitants. See Dr. 

 Singer's Agricult. Accouw of Dumfries-Mrc, p. *8, &c. 



MOGADORE, or MOOODOR, a maritime town of the 

 empire of Morocco, is situated in 29 50' of north lati- 

 tude, and 9 36' of west longitude, about 48 miles 

 south of the river Tensift. It was founded in tiie year 

 1760 by the Emperor Mohammed-ben- Abdallah oen- 

 Ismael, and received its naint from a sanctuary in the 

 vicinity called Seedi Mogodol. But by the moors it is 

 called Suerah, or more properly Saweera, a name con- 

 ferred upon it by the Emperor in allusion to the beauty 

 of its appearance, and particularly the regularity of its 

 construction. It is built upen a low, flat, sandy tract, and 

 in spring tides is almost surrounded by the sea, but is 

 defended from the encroachment of the ocean by a line 

 of rocks, which extend from the northern to the south, 

 ern gate. The harbour, or bay, is formed by a curve 

 in the land, and a small island, about a quarter of a mile 

 from the shore, but is rather shallow, and daily becom- 

 ing more so by the accumulation of the sand, so that 

 ship of war or of great burden, must lie at anchor 

 above a mile and a half west of the Long Battery on 

 the west of the town towards the sea. A t the entrance 

 of the road is a circular battery, and, within the har- 

 bour, at the landing place, are two long Jjatteries 

 mounted with handsome brass eighteen pounders. On 

 the land-side also, to the eastward of the town, is a 

 battery of considerable force, fully sufficient to keep 

 the Arabs at a distance ; and were the other forts well 

 mounted and manned, it is supposed that six or seven 

 large frigates would be required to reduce the place. 

 There is a very spacious cistern under the battery at 

 the Water port gate, which is filled with rain water irom 



ever, one very lucrative branch of commerce, viz. thar the adjoining terraces, which is never used except in 



( hats, called cappelli di truicolo, of which great num- 

 bers are exported. 



OFFAT, the name of a town and parish of Scot- 

 land, in the county of Dumfries. The town is situat- 

 ed un the east side of the River Annan, at the head of a 

 plain or valley extending upwards of 20 miles along 

 the banks of the river. 



The principal street, through which passes the great 

 road from Edinburgh to Dumfries and Carlisle, is spa- 



cases of emergency ; and as the water for the use of the 

 town is brought from the river, this supply might be 

 rendered inaccessible in the event of an attack.- There 

 are two towns, or rather a citadel and an outer town, 

 both of which are walled in and protected by cannon. 

 The citadel contains the custom-house, the treasury, 

 the re pof the alkaid, the houras of the foreign 



merchiils, and those of some of the Civil officers; and 

 as the houses are all of stone, and of a white colour, the 



