MOR 
MOR 
Books, viz. Vulgar Arithmetic, and Alge- 
bra. To which are added, two Treatises, 
tlie one a new Contemplation Geometrical, 
upon the oval figure called the Ellipsis ; 
tlie otlier, tlie two first Books of Mjdor- 
gius, his Conical Sections analyzed, 1660, 
octavo ; A Mathematical Conipendimn ; 
or, useful Practices in Arithmetic, Geome- 
try, and Astronomy, Geography, and Na- 
vigation, See. &.C. the fourth edition of 
which is dated in 1705, 12mo. ; A Gene- 
ral Treatise of Artillery ; or. Great Ord- 
nance. Written in Italian by Thomas Mo- 
retii of Brescia. Translated into English, 
with Notes tliereupon, and some Additions 
out of French for Sea-gunners. By Sir Jo- 
nas Moore, Knt. octavo, with the date of 
1688. 
MOORING, or Moaring, in the sea- 
language, is the laying out the anchors of a 
ship in a place where she can ride secure. 
Mooring across, is laying out an anchor on 
each side : and mooring along, is to have an 
anchor in a river and a hawser on shore. 
When ships are laid up in ordinary, or are 
under orders of fitting for the sea, the 
moorings are laid out in harbours ; and con- 
sist of claws, pendent chains, cables, bri- 
dles, anchors, swivels, Jew’s-harps, buoys, 
and chains. 
MOOT, a difficult case argued by the 
young bairisters and students at the inns of 
court, by way of exercise, the better to 
qualify them for practice, and to defend the 
causes of their clients. This, which is call- 
ed mooting, is the chief exercise of the inns 
of court. Particular times are appointed 
for the arguing moot-cases ; the place where 
this exercise is performed was anciently 
called moot-hall ; and there is a bailiff, or 
surveyor of the moots, annually chosen by 
the bench, to appoint the moot-men for the 
inns of chancery, and to keep an account of 
the peiformance of exercises. 
MORiEA, in botany, so called in honour 
of Robert Moore, of Shrewsbury, a genus 
of theTriandria Monogynia class and order. 
Natural order of Ensatae. Irides, Jussieu. 
Essential character: corolla six petallcd, 
the three inner parts spreading narrower; 
stigma trifid. There are seventeen species. 
Linnaeus remarks that the flower of Morasa 
differs from that of Iris, in having alt the 
six petals equally spreading; this being the 
chief difference, Gaertner is of opinion that 
Moraea is too artificial a genus, and might 
more properly be mixed partly with Iris and 
partly with Ixia. 
MORALITY, the science and doctrine 
of morals, otherwise called ethics. See 
Philosophy, moral. 
MORAVIANS, Herrnhutters, or 
Unit AS Fratrum, in church history, a de- 
nomination of Christians, concerning whose 
origin, history, and character, various con- 
tradictory reports have been published, 
Crantz divides their history into what he 
calls ancient and modern. Tlie former 
refers to them before the time of their 
stettlement in Upper Lusatia, in 1722 ; 
the latter after tliat period. The United 
Brethren claim the famous Huss, and Je- 
rome of Prague, as their martyrs. M. 
Crantz, however, places the beginning of 
the Church of the United Brethren in the 
year 1457, and says, that it arose out of the 
scattered remains of the followers of Huss. 
In the year 1450 this people became re- 
united to the Greek Church; but on the 
taking of Constantinople by the Turks about 
two years afterwards, that union was again 
dissolved. After this, various attempts 
were made to form them into a regularly 
constituted church, but without success. 
At length, after many vexations and com- 
motions among themselves, and sundry per- 
secutions from others, they obtained per- 
mission to withdraw to a part of the king’s 
domain, on the boundary between Silesia 
and Moravia. In the same year, 1457, they 
formed their church fellowship, calling 
themselves “ Unitas Fratrum,” or “ Fra- 
tres Unitatis,” the United Brethren. From 
this period to the Reformation they suffered 
many cruel and vexatious persecutions ; yet 
they preserved their unity, and formed a 
kind of alliance with the AFaldeuses, who 
had for many centuries opposed many of 
the corrupt practices and doctrines of the 
Romish church. After the Reformation, 
they professed to adhere to the Augslmrgh 
Confession, yet they continued a distinct 
body. After various persecutions and dis- 
couragements, during the seventeenth cen- 
tury, they became in a manner extinct ; 
until about the year 1720, when they began 
to revive in Bohemia; but as no free tole- 
ration could be obtairfed for them in that 
country, they agreed to emigrate. Appli- 
cations were accordingly made to Nicholas 
Lewis, Count of Zinzendorf, who readily 
granted them permission to settle on his 
estates in Upper Lusatia. Thither, in 
1722, a company of them repaired, and 
formed the settlement of Herrnhut, from 
whence they are sometimes called Herrn- 
hutters. Their friend and protector. Count 
Zinzendorf, at length became a convert to 
