M S 



735 



M O U 



beautiful towns of Europe. But all was now in the 

 same forlorn condition ; street after street greeted the 

 eye with perpetual ruin ; disjointed columns, mutilat- 

 ed porticos, broken cupolas, walls of rugged stones, 

 black, discoloured with the stains of fire, and open on 

 every side to the sky, formed a hideous contrast with 

 the (flowing pictures which travellers had drawn of the 

 grand and sumptuous palaces of Moscow. The cross 

 lane* looked even at this interval, as if unused to hear 

 the sound of human tread : the grass sprung up 

 amidst the mouldering fragments that scattered the 

 pavements, while a low smoke, issuing perhaps from 

 orne obscure cellar corner, gave the only indications 

 of human habitation, nd seemed to make desolati.-m 

 " visible." See Coxe's TravLi in Russia; Clarke's 

 Trnvtl*, vol. i : and James's Traveft, vol. ii. 



MOSES, the inspired lawgiver of the Jews, was 

 the ion of Amram and Jocalied : and was born 

 in Fi;ypt. A. M. 2*33, and B.C. 1571. His name 

 signifies drawn out ;" and ws given to him by the 

 daughter of Pharaoh, because she had drawn him out 

 of the water. Being adopted by this princess, he was 

 instructed in all the learning of the Egyptians, and 

 pent the first forty yearn of his life at the" court of her 

 father. He is said by Jo*ephus to have commanded 

 the army of the Egyptians, in an expedition against 

 the Ethiopians, whom he defeated and subdued The 

 next forty years of his life he passed in the land of 

 m, where he took refuge from the vengeance of 

 Pharaoh, and where he married the daughter of Jethro 

 the priest of that country. The last forty years of 

 his life were employed in conducting the people of Is- 

 rael to the land of Canaan, on the borders of which he 

 died, in the 120th year of his age. The particulars of 

 hi* history are to much connected with that of the 

 Jewish people, and are so well known, by means of 

 the sacred script urer that they need not be detailed in 

 thia place. Little dependence can be placed upon the 

 accounts given of him by Josephus, I'hilo, the Jcwi.sh 

 Rabbin*, and various profane authors ; and it is only 

 in hi* own writing*, that any thing authentic can be 

 found respecting his extraordinary character and mira- 

 culous services. The frequent notice, however, that 

 i* taken of him by many ancient writers, serves to 

 eonfinn the truth of his own narrative, and to point 

 kirn out as the most ancient author, of whom any au- 

 thentic works remain. He is thus mentioned by Ma- 

 netho, Cheremon, Apollonius, and Lyimarhu*, ag 

 quoted by Josepbus against Appian, 1. i. 2ft and 32. ; 

 by Kupoletnus and Artapanus, as quoted by Eusebius, 

 Prop Ev. lix. c. 26 20. ; by Strabo. Geog. Ixvi. ; |.\ 

 Trogus Pompeius, in Justin, hist. Ixxyvi. c. ii. ; by 

 the elder, Nat. hist. 1. xxx. c, i. ; by Tacitus, 

 hist. 1. v. c. iii. ; by Juvenal, Sat. xiv. v. <)6. ; by Lon- 

 ginuson the Sublime, 9. ; by Numenius, as cited by 

 Origin against Celsut, 1. iv. p. 198. ; by the author of 

 the Orphic verse*, a production of great antiquity ; by 

 Diodorus Siculus, I. i. who mentions Moses as one 

 who ascribed his laws to the God Jaoh, which may be 

 POMJdgned M a corruption of the name Jehovah, and 

 Jw in hi* fortieth book, a* preserved by Photius, Uib. 

 No. 8*4, he speak* of him as a man of illustrious pru- 

 dence and courage ; by Poleinon, Appion of Posei- 

 don, Ptolemy Mendrsius, Hellanias, Philocorus, Cas- 

 tor, Thallus, and Alexander I'olyhiitor, a* enumerated 

 by Juitin Martyr, Cohort, ad Gent p. 9 11. 



Some of the Psalms, particularly the xc. have been 

 ascribed to Motes ; and also the book of Job, Or at 

 least the rendering of it from the original Arabic into 



1 



the Hebrew language. But these are no more than Motion 

 mere conjectures ; and the only unquestionable writings 

 of Moses, are the first five books of the Old Testament, *^ 

 generally called the Pentateuch, and which are suppos- 

 ed to have formed originally but one book. 



The Editio Princeps of the Pentateuch, was publish- 

 ed with the Hebrew Bible, printed at Soncini, 1488 ; 

 and the first translation into English, by William 

 Tindale, was printed at Marlborow, in the land of 

 Hesse, by Hans Lul't, 1530, and at Hamburgh in the 

 same year, (g.) 



MOTION. See DYNAMICS and MECHANICS. 

 MOULINS, a town of France, and the capital of the 

 department of the Allier, is situated in a fertile plain, 

 on the right bank of the river which gives its name to 

 the department. Moulins is divided into the old and 

 new town, and has two suburbs. The streets are in ge- 

 neral broad and well paved, but the houses look ill, 

 from being built of differently coloured bricks. The 

 principal public buildings are the Military School, 

 the Chateau, the Tower of Jacquemarre, the Churches 

 of Notre Dame, the Caimelites, and the Jacobins, the 

 Caserne, and the Bridge. The Military School is a 

 tplendid building on the north side of the town, is two 

 stories h'gh, has 28 windows in the length of its 1'ront, 

 and a noble Ionic portal. The chateau, of which a part 

 only remains, is now a prison. The tower of Jacque- 

 marre, from which there is a fine view of the town, of 

 the beautiful gardens of the Bercy, andlhe surrounding 

 country, is merely a tower for a clock on which the 

 hours are struck by two men. The church of Notre 

 Dame, which has never been finished, is handsome, 

 with five butresses, but has suffered much during the 

 Involution. Behind the altar is a fine representation 

 of our Saviour's sepulchre. The church of the Convent 

 of St. Marie, situated beside the military school, has a 

 neat portal, but is remarkable chiefly for the tomb of 

 the celebrated Duke de Montmorency, who was be- 

 headed in the reign of Louis XIII. It is a splendid 

 specimen of sculpture in marble, by Covsto. The re- 

 mains of the Duke and his Duchess are deposited in a 

 noble sarcophagus of black marble, with a simple in- 

 scription. Above the sarcophagus are recumbent sta- 

 tues of the Duke and Duchess. On the right hand is 

 a statue of Generosity, and on the left a fine one of Her- 

 cules. Above these, on each side of the marble co- 

 lumns, are a statue of Mars with his spear, and of Reli- 

 gion with her cross. The Chateau d'iiau, which sup- 

 plies the town with water, is an elegant little building- 

 The collegium, which seems to have been a huge build- 

 ing, is in ruins. The town is almost surrounded with 

 a splendid promenade, flanked with fine poplars. Mou- 

 lins contains also a public library, public baths, and a 

 Mn.iil theatre. The principal article manufactured 

 here is scissars The town has very little trade Po- 

 pulation about H.OOO. East Long. 3" 20' 5", and 

 North Lat. 46 34' 4" 



MOUNTAINS. See MINEHALOGY, in this volume, 

 and PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



MOURZOUK, the capital of the kingdom of Fez- 

 zan, is situated in27.-',' J of south latitude, and 15 of 

 cast longitude. It is the great market, and place of 

 resort for various caravans from Cairo, Bengasi, Tripo- 

 li, Gadames, Twat, and Soudan, and for the smaller 

 troops of African traders. Though Mr. Horneman 

 resided in this place for several months, he has given 

 no description of it as a city. Its inhabitants carry on 

 no manufactures, and produce no other handicrafts but 

 those of smiths and shoemakers. They are remarkable 



