756 
M O O R E. 
himfelf of his intereft at court for the advancement of 
learning, the encouragement of merit, and the eftablilh- 
ment of inilitutions highly favourable and beneficial to 
the interefts of the public, and of fcience in general. He 
patronized the famous Mr. Flamfteed, who had but a 
very fcanty income at Cambridge when he took him 
under his protection. In connexion with fir Chriftopher 
Wren, he urged the king to ereft Flamfteed-houfe at 
Greenwich for a public obfervatory, recommending Mr. 
Flamfteed to be the king’s aftronomer, to make obfer- 
vations there; and being furveyor-general of the ord¬ 
nance himfelf, was the reafon why the falary of the aftro- 
nomer-royal was made payable out of the office of ord¬ 
nance. Being eleCted a governor of Chrift’s Hofpital, he 
was very inftrumental in perfuading the king to found 
a mathematical l'chool there, with the allowance of a 
handfome falary for a mafter to inftruft a number of boys 
in the fea-fervice. The fchool being eftabliflied, there 
was ftill wanting a methodical work neceffary for the in- 
ftrufition of the young people : this fir Jonas Moore 
undertook, but death put an end to his labours before 
the work was completed. We are not informed of the 
year when that event took place, but it was probably in 
1681, or rather before this, as the work referred to was 
publilhed in that year by his f'ons-in-law, Mr. Hanway and 
Mr. Potinger, who fpared neither expenle nor labour to 
have it finifhed in the beft manner, and fecuring proper 
affiftance for the purpofe. Befides the “ New Syfteme of 
Mathematics,” in 2 vols. 4to. which was the title of his 
pofthumous work, fir Jonas publifhed, 2. Arithmetic, in 
two Books, viz. Vulgar Arithmetic and Algebra. To 
which are added two Treatifes : the one, a new Contem¬ 
plation Geometrical, upon the oval Figure called the 
Ellipiis ; the other, the two firft Books of Mydorgius 
his Conical Seftions analyzed, 1660, 8vo. 3. A Mathe¬ 
matical Compendium; or, ufeful Practices in Arithmetic, 
Geometry, and Aftronomy, Geography, and Navigation, 
&c. &c. the fourth edition of which is dated in 1705; 
i2mo. 4. A General Treatife of Artillery, or Great 
Ordnance; written in Italian by Tomaf'o Moretii of 
Brefcia; translated into Englifh, with Notes there- 
xipon, and fome Additions out of French for Sea-gun¬ 
ners ; 8vo. with the date of 1688. Preface to the new 
Si/fteme of the Mathematics. Hatton. Chalmers's Biog. Did. 
MOORE (Edward), a poet, eflayilt, and dramatic 
writer, was born, Mar. 22, 1712, at Abingdon, where his 
father, the Rev. Thomas Moore, was pallor of a congrega¬ 
tion of proteftant difl'enters. Being deftined for trade, 
he was placed at a proper age with a wholefale linen- 
draper in London ; and, after leaving him, he went in the 
capacity of fadtor to Ireland in the fervice of a linen- 
merchant, and refided fome years in that country. On 
his return, he entered into partnerfhip with an Irifli 
gentleman in the linen-trade ; but commerce did not 
prove more propitious to him than it has ufually done 
to the votaries of the mufes, of whom he was proba¬ 
bly already one in fecret; and the partnerfhip after a 
time was difiblved. Fie now quitted bufinefs, and de¬ 
voted himfelf to the profeffion of an author; and his firft 
publication was his Fables for the Female Sex, printed in 
5744. In this work he received fome alfiftance from 
Henry Brooke, author of Gullavus Vafa, &c. The pro¬ 
duction obtained the public favour, which doubtlef's en¬ 
couraged him to proceed in his literary career. Mr. 
(afterwards lord) Lyttleton was now in place, and was 
diftinguiflied both as a man of letters and a patron of 
them. Moore, therefore, in 1748, appeared as the de¬ 
fender of his political character, and his panegyrift, in a 
poem entitled, “ The trial of Selim the Perfian for high 
Crimes and Mifidemeanors;” iix which, under the nfafk 
of irony, lie pays him many elegant compliments. In 
the fame year, his firft dramatic piece, the comedy of the 
Foundling, was brought upon the ftage, aided by the act¬ 
ing of Garrick and the other principal performers of the 
time. Its fuccefs was not confiderable; and it retains 
no place among the ftock-plays, though it is by no means 
devoid of entertainment. In 1740 he ventured to marry 
a beautiful and accomplifhed young lady, daughter to 
Mr. Hamilton, table-decker to the princefles. Their 
reciprocal attachment had already been made known to 
the public in a fprightly fong, written by Francklin the 
tranftator of Sophocles and Lucian, in the perfon of Mifs 
Hamilton, and ingenioufly quibbling upon the equi¬ 
voque of Mocn-eand More. (This was afterwards printed ' 
in the Gent. Mag. for 1749 p. 516.) If he had any hopes 
of political promotion from the patronage of Lyttleton, 
they were difappointed ; but .the kindnefs of Garrick, 
which he had fecured by an ode to him on his marriage, 
and a tale entitled, Envy and Fortune, addrefted to Mrs. 
Garrick, was of fubftantial advantage to him. When, 
in 1754, he produced his comedy of Gil Bias, it was 
forcibly carried through nine nights at Drury-lane, 
notwithftanding a violent oppofition. That inimitable 
actor’s powers were likewife vigoroufly exerted in favour 
of his friend’s tragedy of the Gamefter, brought on the 
ftage in 1755. This is the dramatic performance by 
which Moore is moft advantageoufly known, for it is ftill 
occafionally reprefented, and always with ftriking pathetic 
eft'eft. The ftory, being in common life is thereby ren¬ 
dered, if lefs dignified, more impreflive; and the horror 
infpired by the cataftrophe, though painful to the feelings, 
is l'alutary in enforcing the moral lefl'on intended by the 
writer. 
In 1758 he made a commencement of a periodical 
paper, entitled “The ’Pvorld,” which is among the few 
that have obtained fuccefs fince thofe of Addifon and 
Steele. For this it was chiefly indebted to the contribu¬ 
tions of the wits of the age, leveral of them men of rank 
and quality, who were induced through regard to Moore 
to become his coadjutors. The names of lord Chefter- 
field, Horace Walpole, Richard Owen Cambridge, fir 
David Dalrymple, and Soame Jenyns, are fufficient to 
atteft the editor’s refpeftable chara&er and connexions, 
and to enfure the value of many of the papers. Thofe 
by Moore himfelf are lively and fenfible, but the per¬ 
petual ufe of his favourite irony gives them an unpleafing 
famenefs. While yet engaged in this publication, he was 
carried off by an inflammation of the lungs in February 
1757, at the age of forty-five. He had publifhed, in 1756, 
a collection of his works by fubfeription in a quarto 
volume dedicated to the duke of Newcaftle, and deli¬ 
cately complimenting his brother Mr. Pelham; but it 
was his fate to live on the verge of that indigence which 
is generally the lot of thofe who truft to their pen alone 
for a fubfiftence. He was, however, a man greatly be¬ 
loved in fociety for the amiable fimplicity of his man¬ 
ners, and the vivacity of his converfation. He left a 
widow, and an only fon, whole education and fettling in 
the world were generoufly undertaken by lord Chefter- 
field. As a poet, Edward Moore is chiefly remembered 
by his Fables, which are fprightly, ingenious, and in- 
ftruftive. They happily enforce fome of the points of 
morality which are peculiarly appropriate to the female fex. 
His other verfes are chiefly effufions of the light familiar 
kind, and fongs, of which laft leveral were let to mufic, 
and became popular in their day. Anderfon's Brit. Poets. 
MOORE (John, M.D.), a native of Scotland, born 
in 1730 at Stirling, was the fon of the Rev. Charles Moore, 
a clergyman of the eftabliflied church, who was in high 
eftimation among his people for the purity of his manners, 
and the amiablenefs of his difpofition. On the death of 
his father, about the year 1735, John, then but five years 
oid, removed with his mother to Glafgow, of which city 
Ihe was a native, and where a fmall ertate bequeathed to 
her by her father was fituated. The lady, poflefting great 
ftrength of mind, was enabled to fuperintend, witli pro¬ 
priety and efteCt, the education of her fon and his three 
fillers. Being herfelf eminent for piety, Hie inftilled the 
fame principle into the minds of her offspring. After 
the neceflary preparation in grammar-learning, the fub- 
