804 
MORI N, 
vifited Loretto, Venice, Vicenza, and Verona; and was 
received into the family of cardinal Navager, bifhop of 
the 1 aft-mentioned city. Here fome notes upon St. Chry- 
foftom’s Commentary on the Epiftles of St. Paul were 
communicated to him; which induced him to read that 
work of the Greek father, and to give a new verfion of 
it. His profound knowledge of eccleliaftical antiquities, 
his difintereftednefs, zeal, and piety, recommended him 
to the efteem of St. Charles Borromeo. By the command 
of pope Gregory XIII. he tranflated into Latin the 
Ipeeches made in the aflembly of the ftates of France, 
and wrote “ A Treatife on Elocution, and rhetorical 
Figures.” The latter piece afforded fuch pleafure to 
St. Charles Borromeo, that he fent for Morin to Rome, 
and placed him in the academy of the Vatican. After 
this our author employed liimfelf in writing a treatife 
“ On the good Ufe or Abuf'e of the Sciences, in three 
Books.” He was intrufied by popes Gregory XIII. and 
Sixtus V. with the revifion of the text of the Septuagint, 
which was printed at Rome in 1578 ; and alfo with that 
cf the Vulgate Verfion, which appeared foon afterwards. 
On this occafion he wrote “ A Letter to Pope Sixtus V. 
concerning the Septuagint,” from which we may form 
fome judgment of the leading rules obferved by him in 
producing this edition. He informs us in it, that he has 
not only reviled the text of the Seventy, and marked the 
different readings, but has alfo examined the great variety 
of other Greek tranflations; and obferved that, almoft in 
every place where the Greek of the Septuagint is differ¬ 
ent from the Latin verfion, it proceeds from the con¬ 
founding of fome other verfion with it. He adds, that 
the common Greek verfion is corrupted in feveral places ; 
and that, to reftore it, we ought not only to confult the 
Greek manufcripts, and concordances, but alfo the He¬ 
brew text, and particularly the old Latin verfion. We 
learn likewife from this letter, that, befides our author, 
Turrian, Ciaconius, and Maldonatus, were concerned in 
preparing this edition. Morin had alfo the fuperintend- 
ence of the editions of The Decretals, and of The Oecu¬ 
menical Councils, printed at Rome in his time; and he 
was the author of feveral other tranflations, or original 
pieces, and particularly fome interefting Letters, which 
are noticed by Dupin. He died at Rome in 1608, about 
the age of feventy-feven. The critic juft mentioned 
fpeaks in high terms of his piety, integrity, franknefs, 
agreeable manners, difintereftednefs, zealous attachment 
to the interefts of literature, and unwearied induftry. 
He poft'efled great critical fkill, a found judgment, and 
a wonderful memory. He knew perfectly the Latin, 
Greek, and Hebrew', languages, and w'as not ignorant of 
Arabic, Syriac, or Chaldee. In ecclefiaftical antiquities 
he was profoundly converfant, was well verfed in the 
belles lettres, intimately acquainted with the Greek and 
Latin orators and poets, and applied their fentiments in 
his works with great felicity and propriety. In fhort, 
there was not among his contemporaries any man of let¬ 
ters who excelled him in erudition, genius, and tafte. 
Dupin. Moreri. 
MO'RIN (John-Baptift), a famous French phyfician, 
mathematical profefTor, and aftrologer, was born at Viile- 
Franche in Beaujolois, in the year 1583. He went through 
his courfe of philofophy at Aix in Provenoe, and taught 
it in that city before he was twenty years of age. From 
Aix he removed to Avignon, where he ftudied phyfic, 
and took the degree of doftor in that faculty in 1613. 
Afterwards^ne went to Paris, where he w'as received into 
the family of Claude Dormi, bifhop of Boulogne, who 
fent him to examine the nature of metals in the mines of 
Germany and Hungary. During this expedition he de- 
fcended into the deepeft pits; and, imagining that he had 
difcovered the interior of the earth to be divided into 
three regions, wrote a treatife on that fubjeft, which 
made feveral converts to his opinion. Upon his return 
to his patron, he found in his houfe a Scotch aftrologer, 
of the name of Davifon, by whom he was inftructed in 
his pretended art, to which he became warmly attached!. 
It is not a little curious to obferve, that Morin, conceiv¬ 
ing a diflike to phyfic on account of the uncertainty which 
he found in it, preferred tire ftudy of judicial aftrology;: 
while Davifon, difgufted with the uncertainty of the 
aftrological art, applied himfelf to the ftudy of phyfic \ 
and that both purfued the new objedts of their choice 
with fuch fuccefs, as to have their names enrolled with 
thofe of the moft famous men of their time. Morin, hav¬ 
ing applied the rules of his art to calculate the events of 
the year 1617, acquainted the bifhop of Boulogne that he 
Was threatened with the lofs of liberty or of life. At this 
intelligence, the prelate, though a believer in the pre¬ 
tended fcience, only laughed ; but, luckily for the credit 
of our aftrologer, engaging foon afterwards in fome ftate 
intrigues, and embarking with the party that proved un- 
fuccefsful, he was treated as a rebel, and aftually impri- 
foned in that year. After the fall of this prelate, he lived 
for four years with M. de la Bretonniere, abbot of St. 
Evroul in Normandy, in the capacity of his phyfician in 
ordinary; and in 1621 he was called to court, on the re¬ 
commendation of a privy-councillor who was his good 
friend, thatliemight be phyfician in ordinary to the duke 
of Luxemburg, in whofe family he lived eight years. In 
the year 1629, upon the death of Sainclair, profefTor-royal 
of mathematics, he fucceeded in an application for that 
poft, and was urged by his friends to pay his addreftes to 
the pfofeffor’s widow. Upon this, confulting the ftars, he 
could not find that they encouraged him to marry, and 
therefore declared his determination to remain a bachelor. 
Being however repeatedly importuned upon the fubjedr, 
andconfidering that the lady was reputed rich, he was in¬ 
duced to alter his mind; but he was fo deliberate in pre¬ 
paring for his firft vifit, and fo little inquifitive about her, 
that he knew nothing of herficknefs and death, till upon 
approaching her houfe he found that fire was juft going to 
be buried. This circumftance gave him fuch a fhock, 
that he entered into a firm refolution never to marry, to 
which he adhered all his life ; aruj it alfo contributed not 
a little to ftrengthen his confidence in aftrology. 
At this period the courts of the greateft princes, and 
fome of the moft diftinguifhed characters of the age, were 
infatuated by the delufion of judicial aftrology. He had. 
accefs to cardinal Richelieu, who had the weaknefs to 
place confidence in his pretended fcience, and is faid fre¬ 
quently to have confulted him on affairs of importance ; 
till Morin, who perfuaded himfelf that he had found out 
the method of determining the longitude, and that the 
cardinal was the chief obftacle to his receiving the recom- 
penfe which fuch a difcovery deferved, would no longer 
wait on his eminence, and entertained the moft lively re- 
fentment againft him as long as he lived. Cardinal Ma¬ 
zarine was alfo impofed upon by his pretenfions, and 
granted him a penfion of two thoufand livres, which was 
regularly paid. Queen Chriftina of Sweden, when fhe 
was at Paris, lent for him, and declared that fhe regarded 
him as the greateft aftrologer in the world. Count Savigny, 
fecretary of ftate, depended much on his aftrological ora¬ 
cles, as may be feen by fome anecdotes which are detailed 
at length by Bayle; to whom we refer thofe of our readers 
who may have any curiofity to perufe an account of fuch 
of his predictions as were pretended to be fulfilled, the 
inftances in which his calculations failed, and the artful 
evafions to which, in fuch events, he had recourfe, in or¬ 
der to preferve his reputation with his credulous adhe¬ 
rents. There were not wanting among his contempories, 
however, men of true fcience, who laughed at his follies, 
and fully expofed the falfehood of his pretended art. In 
this number were Gafiendi, and others of his friends, who 
alfo defended Copernicus againft his attacks, with folid 
reafoning, and pointed ridicule. But, with all Morin’s 
follies and eccentricities, his knowledge of fcience was 
not contemptible, and recommended him to the efteem 
and correfpo.ndence of Des Cartes; who, upon receiving 
fome objections from him to his Theory of Light, thought 
them 
