M I C 
heavy taxes upon the people, thought it reafonable to 
draw frorn the monafteries alio part of the immenfe wealth 
with which they had been enriched by his predeceil’ors. 
This proceeding was highly relented by the patriarch, 
who arrogantly threatened to pull him down from the 
throne to which he had railed him, unlefs he rellored 
what he had taken from the religious houfes. Exafpe- 
fated at this infolcnt menace, the emperor caufed Ceru- 
larius to be arrefted, depoled, and lent into exile, where 
he died loon afterwards. Two of this patriarch’s Letters, 
and two of his Synodical Edibls, together with fragments 
of others, remain, and are referred to by Cave, Dupin, and 
Molheim. 
MI'CHAEL’s GUL'F (St.), a bay on the coaft of South 
America, in the fouth-eaft part of the Gulf of Panama, 
formed by the mouths of the rivers Congo, Santa Maria, 
and fome otliers. In it are feveral illands, which fnelter 
good ridings for Ihips, and the gulf is fufficiently capa¬ 
cious for a large fleet. The tides are furrounded with 
mangroves, growing in wet and fwampy land. 
MI'CHAEL FEODOR’OVITCHjthe firftcz.arof Ruflia, 
of the houfe of Romanoff. See the article Russia. 
MI'CHAEL in LUNGAU' (St.), a town of the arch- 
bilhopric of Salzburg : fourteen miles fouth-fouth-eaft of 
Radftadt. 
MI'CHAEL POI'NT (St), a cape on the north-weft 
coaft of Prince’s Illand, in the Atlantic. Lat. 1.55.N. 
Ion. 7. 1. E. 
MICHAE'LIS (John-Henry), a learned German divine 
and orientalift, the fon of a citizen of Elrich, was born at 
Kettenburg, in the county of Hohenftein, in the year 
1668. He was intended for trade; but, difcovering a 
ftronger inclination for ftudy than bulinels, he was allow¬ 
ed to follow the bias of his mind, and obtained admiflion 
into the fchool of St. Martin in the city of Brunfwick. 
Here he was appointed to inftrubl fome of the younger 
fcholars, in which employment he acquitted himfelf 
greatly to the fatisfablion of the reblor of the fchool. 
After this he was entered of the univerfity of Leipfic, 
where he went through courfes of philofophy and divi¬ 
nity, and alfo ftudied the oriental languages and rabbini¬ 
cal Hebrew. In 1694. he quitted Leipfic for the univer¬ 
fity of Halle, where he taught the Greek, Hebrew, and 
Chaldee, with great reputation. Here he publiflied, with 
the aftiltance of profeflbr Francke, a work entitled “ Co- 
namina brevioris Manudubtionis ad Dobtrinam de Ac- 
centibus Hebrteorum Profaicis.” In 1696 he publiflied 
another piece, entitled “ Epicrifis philologiea de reve¬ 
rend! Michaelis Beckii, Ulmenlis, Difquifitionibus phi- 
lologicis, cum Refponfionibus ad Examen XIV. Dictor. 
Gen.” He was now thoroughly converfant, not only 
with the' Greek, Hebrew, and Chaldee, but likewile with 
the Syriac, Samaritan, Arabic, and rabbinical Hebrew; 
and, having formed an acquaintance with Job Ludolf, he 
accompanied him to Frankfort, for the purpofe of learn¬ 
ing the Ethiopic language under his inftrubtions. In 
1699 he fucceeded Francke in the Greek profeflbrlhip at 
Halle; and in 1707 was made keeper of the univerfity- 
library. He was afterwards nominated profeflor of di¬ 
vinity in ordinary, and admitted to the degree of D. D. 
In 1732 lie was made fenior of the faculty of divinity, 
and infpeblor of the theological feminary. He died in 
31738, at about the age of feventy. He was author of 
many learned works befides thofe already mentioned, the 
titles of which are enumerated in Moreri. Gen. Biog. 
MICHAE'LIS, (Jolm-David), a celebrated biblical 
critic, and profeflor of divinity and the oriental lan¬ 
guages, was born at Halle, in Lower Saxony, in the year 
1717. He received a private education; but the Greek 
language made no part of it till within half a-year of its 
completion, a circumltance which he never ceafed to re¬ 
gret. In 1729 he was lent to the public fchool of the or- 
phan-houle, and at the fame time he occalionally attended 
his father's lebiures on the Hebrew language. Here he 
MIC 323 
received leflons in divinity from Baumgasrther; but the 
chief benefit which he received from that profeflbr was in 
the philofophical courfe. During the latter part of his 
time at fchool, he acquired a great facility in Ipeaking 
Latin, and in thinking fyftematically, from the prabtice 
of deputation, in which one of the mailers frequently ex- 
ercifed him. By his Latin mailer he was taught to write 
Latin verfes ; but as he advanced in life he renounced that 
ftudy, conlidering it to be a pedantic mifemployment of 
time. In the year 1733, Michaelis entered into the uni- 
verlity of his native place, in order to qualify himfelf ei¬ 
ther for the clerical profeifion, or for the chair of oriental 
literature, in which his father hoped to fee him one day. 
his fucceflbr. Here he applied himfelf with all diligence 
to the lludy of mathematics, metaphyfics, theology, and 
the oriental languages. He alfo prepared himfelf for pul- 
pit-fervices, and preached with great approbation at Halle 
and other places. In the year 1739 he took a degree in 
philolbphy; and about the fame time he was the fubjebt of 
a temporary melancholy, which threatened to prove a le- 
rious injury to his health, and which was owing to reli¬ 
gious impreflions, originating in certain milconceptions 
of fome of the fcriptural precepts, to which he affixed lite¬ 
ral interpretations. Upon his recovery, he was appointed 
aflillant lebturer under his father, having fliown how well 
qualified he was for that lituation, by publifliing a fmall 
treatil’e, “ De Antiquitate Punbtorum Vocalium.” In 
1741 he left his own country with a view of vifiting Eng¬ 
land ; and, pafling through Holland, became acquainted 
with the celebrated Schultens, from whom he received 
many marks of the molt friendly attention. Upon his 
arrival in England, he engaged to officiate for the German 
chaplain to the court, who was at that time in an infirm 
Hate of health ; and he continued to preach at the palace- 
chapel nearly a year and a half. During this period he 
vilited the uniyerfity of Oxford, greatly increafed his 
knowledge of the oriental languages, and formed an in¬ 
timacy with fome of the firlt literary charablers of that 
age, particularly with Dr. I.owth, afterwards bilhop of 
London, on fome of whol'e lebiures, De Sacra Poeii He- 
brseorum, he attended. 
Upon the return of Michaelis to Halle, he refumed his 
labours in the profeffional chair, as aflillant to his father; 
and delivered lebiures on the hiftorical books of the Old 
Tellament, the Syriac and Chaldee languages, and alio 
upon natural hiftory, and the Roman dailies. By the ex- 
ercife of his talents on thefe l'ubjebts he maintained and 
increafed the fame which he had already acquired, but 
without having the profpect of any immediate good efta- 
blilhment. He therefore refolved to quit Halle, and in 
1745 he went to Gottingen, in the capacity of private tu¬ 
tor. In the following year he was made profeflbr extra¬ 
ordinary of philofophy. in the univerfity of Gottingen ; 
and, in 1750, profeflbr in ordinary in the fame faculty. 
In 1751 he was appointed l’ecretary to the newly-inllituted 
Royal Society of Gottingen, of which he afterwards be¬ 
came direbtor; and about the fame time was made aulic 
counfellor by the court of Hanover. During the year 
1750, he gained the prize in the Royal Academy of Berlin, 
by a memoir “ On the Influence of Opinions on Lan¬ 
guage, and Language on Opinions.” While the l'even- 
years’ war lafted, in which the univerfity of Gottingen 
was particularly dillinguilhed, Michaelis met with but 
little interruption in his ftudies, being exempted, in com¬ 
mon with the other profefl'ors, from military employment; 
and, when the new regulations, introduced by the French 
in the year 1760, deprived them of that privilege, by the 
command of marlhal Broglio it was particularly extended 
to M. Michaelis. Soon after this, he obtained from Paris, 
by means of the marquis de Loltange, the manufeript of 
Abulfeda’s Geography, from which he afterwards edited 
his Account of the Egyptians. From this time that no¬ 
bleman was Michaelis’s firm friend, and had no little iharc 
in procuring him the honour of being choleu correlpon- 
