734 MON 
mily of Roquetaillade, in the diocefe of Alet. After an 
education under the fathers of the Chriftian Do&rine, he 
entered as a cadet into the regiment of Perpignan, and 
i'erved two or three compaigns. From a fituation fo little 
adapted to that propenfity to lludy which afterwards cha¬ 
racterized him, he was detached by the death of his pa¬ 
rents, and fome other circumftances, which gave him a 
diftafte to the world, and infpired him with the refolu- 
tion of embracing a monaftic life. He entered, in 1675, 
among the Benedictines of St. M’aur, and devoted liimfelf 
to the purfuits of literature. In 1688, in conjunction 
with two brothers of his order, he publiflied “ AnaleCta 
Greca, Gr. Lat. cum Notis,” 4to. Paris. His {hare in this 
work was greater than that of his two affociates. In 1690 
he publiflied in a fmall volume “ La Verite de PHiftoire 
de Judith,” in which he gave fome learned elucidations of 
the hiltory of the Median and Affyrian empires. A new 
edition of the Works of St. Athanafius, Gr. and Lat. oc¬ 
cupied him for fome years, and appeared in 3 vols. folio, 
in 1698, dedicated to pope Innocent XII. It is preceded 
by a new life of that father, and by feveral learned dif- 
fertations; and is much efteemed. In the fame year he 
undertook a journey to Italy for the purpofe of confult- 
ing the libraries and fearching manufcripts relative to the 
inquiries in which he was engaged. He fpenta confider- 
able time at Rome, where he was treated with great dif- 
tinCfion by the pope and cardinals, and where he added as 
procurator for his order. After an abfence of more than 
three years, he returned to Paris, where, in 1702 , he pub¬ 
liflied an account of the obfervations made in this tour, 
under the title of “ Diarium Italicum, five Monumen- 
torum veterum, Bibliothecarum, Mufeorum, Sec. Noti- 
tias fingulares Itinerario Italico colleCfss,” 4to. A critique 
on this work by M. Ficorini appeared in 1709, to which 
Montfaucon replied in the Journal des Savans. During 
liis abode at Rome, he printed a defence of the edition of 
St. Auguftin publiflied by the fathers of his order, againll 
various attacks that it had undergone. In 1706, he pub¬ 
liflied a Collection of ancient Greek ecclefiaftical Writers, 
in 2 vols. folio, with tranflations, notes, and differtations. 
One of his moll learned and important works appeared in 
3708, with the title of “ Palasographia Grasca, five de 
Ortu et Progreffu Literarum Grecarum, et de variis om¬ 
nium Seculorum Scriptionis Gnecae generibus,” Sec. folio. 
This performance is highly valued by the learned; and has 
effected, with refpeCt to the afeertainment of the age of 
Greek manufcripts, that which the work of Mabillon “ De 
Re Diplomatica” has done with refpeCt to the Latin. 
He gave, in 1709, a French verfion of Philo on the con¬ 
templative Life, with obfervations to prove that the The- 
rapeutas mentioned in that treatife were Chriftians. This 
opinion was controverted by the prefident Bouhier, and 
by Gilbert Cuper, and was defended by Montfaucon. In 
3713 our learned father publiflied what remains of the 
Hexapla of Origen in 2 vols. folio ; and about the fame 
time he undertook a new edition of all the works of St. 
John Chryfoltom, of which he publiflied in fucceffion 13 
vols. folio. In 1715 he printed Bibliotheca Coifliniana, 
folio, containing a lift of 400 Greek manufcripts with 
their refpeClive ages, highly valuable to colleClors. The 
Academy of Infcriptions and Belles Lettres, in 1719, no¬ 
minated him a fupernumerary honorary member; and in 
the lame year he publiflied in Latin and French his cele¬ 
brated work, L’Antiquite expliquee et reprefentee en 
figures, 10 vols. folio, Paris. A fupplement to it ap¬ 
peared in 1724, in 5 vols. folio; and the above editions 
are accounted the bell, on account of the goodnefs of the 
plates. This ftupendous collection of monuments of an¬ 
tiquity contains 1200 plates, comprifing between 30 and 
40,000 figures. His indultry was by no means yet ex- 
haufted; for he publiflied, from 1729 to 1733, Monu- 
mens de la Monarchic Frangoife, 5 vols. folio, with a great 
number of figures; and in 1739 he gave his concluding 
work, entitled “ Bibliotheca Bibliothecarum Manufcrip- 
torum nova,” z vols. folio. 
MON 
Montfaucon died at the abbey of St. Germain des Pres 
in 1741, at the age of eighty-feven, having preferved his 
faculties fo entire, that nearly to the termination of his 
long career he employed eight hours a-day in ftudy. A 
very regular and abftemious life had fo fortified his con- 
ftitution, that during fifty years he never was indifpofed ; 
nor does it appear that his fevere literary labours had any 
tendency to abridge his days. He was not lefs eftimable 
for his piety, candour, and goodnefs, than for the extent 
and folidity of his erudition. He was in general efteein 
with the learned world, and behaved wdth great polite- 
nefs and affability to the ftrangers who vifited him. The 
prodigious quantity of his writings precluded him from 
much attention to purity and elegance of ftyle, and his 
works are rather ufeful to be confulted for their matter 
than to be imitated for their manner. Moron. 
Among the voluminous works of this learned and inde¬ 
fatigable writer, there is, in his “ Trefor d’Antiquitez fa- 
crees,” a diflertation on the mufic of the ancients, and par¬ 
ticularly of the Hebrews, which merits fome confideration. 
The antiquity of the facred w ritings is now' fo remote as 
to throw into the regions of conjecture almoft every thing 
concerning the Hebrews that is not in the Bible. After 
an eulogy almoft enthufiaftic on the mufic of the ancients 
in general, and of the Hebrews in particular, up to Tubal 
Cain, this pious BenediCtine proceeds to deferibe their 
mufic and mufical inftruments, with as much firmnefs as 
if he had feen and heard them but yefterday. He allows, 
however, that there was no mufical eftablifhment, even in 
the celebration of religious rites, till the time of the 
royal pfalmift David, when he conftituted it a part of 
prieftly ftudy. So that they had it all to learn. The au¬ 
thor then deferibes the mufical eftablifhments of David 
and Solomon for the fervice of religion; which were in¬ 
deed the moft numerous and fplendid upon record. When 
David firft regulated thefe eftablifhments, it appears that 
not only the feleft band of finging men and finging wo¬ 
men, but 4000 Levites were appointed to praife the Lord 
with inftruments, and the number of thofe that were in- 
Jlrutted and cunning in fong, is faid to be 288. (1 Citron. 
xxv. 7.) But all this fudden cultivation of mufic does 
not refledit any great honour on the Hebrews as inventors 
of the art; for the learned writer fays that they had their 
mufic from the Chaldeans and the Egyptians, and never 
pretended to the honour of invention. The rabbins enu¬ 
merate thirty-four different mufical inftruments which 
they feem to have had in ufe, and which, perhaps, furpaffes 
the Grecian lift. But, after examining the names of thefe 
inftruments, he found it neceffary to retrench fourteen of 
them at once, as there did not appear among them any 
term which indifputably fignified an inftrument of mufic; 
fo that the number is reduced to twenty, of which he has 
given engravings ; but every one of thefe is dernonftrably 
Grecian, and copied from ancient fculpture, known to 
be Greek. The reverend father, indeed, does not feem 
deeply read in mufical hiftory, or he would never have af¬ 
fected that feveral of thefe ancient inftruments were played 
with a low inftead of a pleiStrum : for it has not been 
proved by any of the moft curious and perfpicuous anti¬ 
quaries, that the ufe of the bow was ever known to the 
ancients, nor can it be demonftrated of higher antiquity 
than 500 years. Burney. 
MONTFERRAN'D, a town of France, in the depart¬ 
ment of the Puy de Dome : one mile north of Clermont. 
See Clermont. 
MONTFERRAN'D, f. A fine fort of red Bourdeaux 
wine, the produce of Clermont-Ferrand, in Auvergne. 
It is principally lent to Holland, Germany, and the north 
of Europe. 
MON FFER'RAT, a province of Italy, with the title 
of a duchy ; bounded on the eaft by the duchy of Milan, 
and part of the territory of Genoa ; on the north, by the 
Vercellefe and Canavele ; on the weft, by Piedmont pro¬ 
perly fo called ; and on the fouth by the territory of Ge¬ 
noa, from whence it is feparated by the Appennjne moun- 
x tains. 
