chosen out of their order; and the passion of erecting edifices and convents, in which the monks and holy virgins might serve God in the most commodious manner, was at this time carried beyond all bounds. However their licentiousness, even in this century, was become proverbial, and they excited the most dreadful tumults and seditions in various places. The monastic orders were at first under the immediate jurisdiction of the bishops, from which they were exempted by the Roman pontiff about the end of the seventh century; and the monks, in return, devoted themselves wholly to advance the interests and to maintain the dignity of the bishop of Rome. This immunity which they obtained was a fruitful source of licentiousness and disorder, and occasioned the greatest part of the vices with which they were afterwards so justly charged. In the eighth century the monastic discipline was extremely relaxed both in the eastern and western provinces, and all efforts to restore it were ineffectual. Nevertheless this kind of institution was in the highest esteem, and nothing could equal the veneration that was paid, about the close of the ninth century, to such as devoted themselves to the sacred gloom of a convent. This veneration induced several kings and emperors to call them to their courts, and to employ them in civil affairs of the greatest moment. Their reformation was attempted by Louis the Meek, but the effect was of short duration. In the eleventh century they were exempted by the popes from the authority of their sovereigns, and new orders of monks were continually established; insomuch that in the council of Lateran, held in 1215, a decree was passed by the advice of Innocent III., to prevent any new monastic institutions; and several were suppressed. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, it appears, from the testimonies of the best writers, that the monks were generally illiterate, profligate, and licentious Epicureans, whose views in life were confined to opulence, idleness, and pleasure. However the reformation had a manifest influence in restraining their excesses, and rendering them more circumspect in their external conduct. See REFORMATION. It is fair, perhaps, to insert from an accredited source the modern doctrine of the church of Rome on this point. Respecting the celibacy of the clergy at large, she says, The discipline of our church in this point has not always been, it is plain, precisely what it is at present; but because it is discipline, therefore may it be changed, as in the alteration of times and circumstances it has seemed, or shall seem, good to our ecclesiastical rulers. In the Greek and Latin churches the discipline is not the same; but in both the advice of St. Paul, founded on the justest views, if it did not always enforce the practice, served to establish the expediency of clerical celibacy.' In regard to the religious or monastic state, it is afterwards said, 'On the advice given by Christ and by the apostle in these passages (Matt. xix. 10, 11, 20; 1 Cor. vii. 7, 8, 38-40) is founded the opinion which Catholics entertain of the expediency of what are called the evangelical counsels, that is of voluntary poverty, per petual chastity, and entire obedience. When counsel is given,' says St. Jerome,' the will is free; when a command, strict obedience is required.' To live up to these counsels constitutes the character of the monastic profession; the vows or solemn promises which are freely made induce the obligation, and from this arises the perfection of the state. The fathers are unanimous in their praises, and it was early in the Christian church that the state was embraced by many. It was not, however, before the fourth century that the eremitical life took a regular form in Egypt and other parts of the east; in the west St. Benedict, towards the close of the fifth, gave that rule to his followers which is most admired, and which has been very generally adopted by the various founders of religious orders, male and female, in the western church.-Berrington's Faith of the Catholics confirmed by Scripture, and attested by the Fathers of the first five centuries. Monks are distinguished by the color of their habits into black, white, gray, &c. Some are called monks of the choir, others professed monks, and others lay monks; which last are destined for the service of the convent, and have neither clericate nor literature. Cloistered monks are those who actually reside in the house, in opposition to extra monks, who have benefices depending on the monastery. Monks are also distinguished into reformed, whom the civil and ecclesiastical authority have made masters of ancient convents, and put in their power to retrieve the ancient discipline which had been relaxed; and ancient, who remain in the convent, to live in it according to its establishment at the time when they made their vows, without obliging themselves to any new reform. Anciently the monks were all laymen, and were only distinguished from the rest of the people by a particular habit and an extraordinary devotion. Not only the monks were prohibited the priesthood, but even priests were expressly prohibited from becoming monks, as appears from the letters of St. Gregory. Pope Syricius was the first who called them to the clericate, on occasion of some great scarcity of priests, that the church was then supposed to labor under; and, since that time, the priesthood has been usually united to the monastical profession. MONK (George), the principal agent in restoring the British monarchy, in the person of king Charles II., was descended from a very ancient family, and born in Devonshire in 1608. He dedicated himself to arms from his youth, and obtained a pair of colors in the expedition to the Isle of Rhée; he served afterwards in the Low Countries with reputation in both king Charles's northern expeditions; and did such service, in quelling the Irish rebellion, that he was appointed governor of Dublin, but was superseded by the parliament. Being made major-general of the Irish brigade, employed in the siege of Nantwich in Cheshire, he was taken prisoner by Sir Thomas Fairfax, and remained confined in the Tower of Loudon until 1646; when, to procure his liberty, he took the covenant, and accepted a command in the Irish service under the parliament. He obtained the command in chief of all the parliamentary forces in the north of Ireland, where he did signal service, until he was called to account for a treaty made with the Irish rebels. But he served in Scotland under Oliver Cromwell with such success, that he was left there as commander-inchief; and he was one of the commissioners for uniting that kingdom with the commonwealth. He served at sea also against the Dutch; and was treated so kindly on his return, that Oliver is said to have been jealous of his fame. He was, however, again sent to Scotland as coinmander-in-chief, and continued there five years; when he dissembled so well, and improved circumstances so dexterously, that he restored the king without any disturbance; for which he was duly rewarded. He was created duke of Albermarle, with a grant of £7000 per annum estate, beside other emoluments. After his death in 1670 there was published a treatise composed by him while he was prisoner in the Tower, entitled Observations on Military and Political Affairs, folio. MON'KEY. A diminutive of Sax. mon, man. An ape; baboon: hence a jackanapes or man who plays tricks like those of this animal: a term of contempt. See SIMIA. One of them shewed me a ring that he had of your daughter for a monkey:-Tubal, it was my turquoise; I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys. Shakspeare. This is the monkey's own giving out; she is persuaded I will marry her. Id. Poor monkey! how wilt thou do for a father? Id. Other creatures, as well as monkeys, destroy their young ones by senseless fondness. Locke on Education. to England, and was sent, as his father's general, to quell an insurrection in Scotland, which he effected. Being a Protestant, he was deluded into ambitious schemes, upon the hopes of the exclusion of the duke of York; he conspired against his father and the duke: and, when the latter came to the throne, he openly appeared in arms, encouraged by the Protestant army; but coming to a decisive battle before he had sufficient forces to oppose the royal army, he was defeated, taken soon after concealed in a ditch, tried for high treason, condemned, and beheaded in 1685, aged thirty-six. MONMOUTH, a borough and market town of England, the county-town of Monmouthshire, is situate at the conflux of the Monnow and Wye, over which there are three bridges; there is another also over the small river Trothy, which falls into the Wye. It is twenty-five miles west from Gloucester, and 132 west by north from London. A broad and handsome street leads to the market-place, in which stands the town-hall, built over a handsome colonnade, and ornamented with the statue of Henry V., who was born in this place. At the extremity of the town is the gaol, a stone building, commodiously constructed, and under excellent regulations. St Mary's, the parish church, is also of stone, and has a spire 200 feet high. St. Thomas's is a small ancient church near Monnow-bridge. A little to the north are the remains of an alien priory of Benedictines. There was a strong Saxon fortress here, of which the remains are very slight. A free-school is here founded by a William Jones, a native of Newland, in Gloucestershire, who also endowed alms-houses for twenty poor people, who receive 3s. 6d. per With glittering gold and sparkling gems they week: a stipend of £100 per annum is allowed shine, But apes and monkeys are the gods within. Granville. MONKLAND, an extensive district of Lanarkshire, originally forming only one parish, so named from the monks of Newbottle. But a part of it being, about 1640, erected into a separate parish, called New or East Monkland, the remainder of the district was named Old or West Monkland. MONMOUTH (James), duke of, son of king Charles II. by Mrs. Lucy Walters, was born at Rotterdam in 1649. Upon the Restoration he was called over to England, created earl of Orkney, and afterwards of Monmouth, and took his seat in the house of peers. He married Anne, the heiress of Francis earl of Buccleugh; and hence he had also the title of Buccleugh, and took the surname of Scott. In 1668 his father made him captain of his life-guard of horse; and in 1672 he attended the French king in the Netherlands, and gave proofs of bravery and conduct. In 1673 the king of France made him lieutenant-general of his army, with which he came before Maestricht, and behaved with great gallantry, being the first who entered it. He returned to England, was received with all possible respect, and made chancellor of the University of Cambridge. After this he went to assist the prince of Orange to raise the siege of Mons, and contributed much towards it. He returned to a lecturer. The chief business of the town arises from the navigation of the Wye, which supplies the surrounding country with necessaries, and gives it a share in the trade between Bristol and Hereford. Iron and tin-works in the vicinity also employ a few hands; as well as the preparing of bark, which is brought down in considerable quantities from the woods in the upper districts, and, being here picked and cleaned, is exported to the south of England and Ireland. In the neighbourhood is a conical hill, named the Kymin, on the top of which is a naval pavillion, affording a very extensive prospect. Monmouth is thought to have been a Roman station, and, in conjunction with Usk and Newport, sends one member to parliament. The market on Saturday is well supplied with corn and provisions. Twenty-one miles west by south of Gloucester, fifteen north of Chepstow, and 130 west by north of London. MONMOUTH, a county of New Jersey, bounded on the north-west by Middlesex county, on the north by Raritan Bay, on the east by the Atlantic, and on the south-west by Burlington county. Population 22,150. Chief town, Freehold. MONMOUTH, a town of Monmouth, county of New Jersey, sixty-three miles E. N. E. of Philadelphia. The British troops under general Clinton were defeated here on the 17th of June, 1777, by the Americans under general Washington. MONMOUTHSHIRE, a county of England, on the borders of the principality. At the time of the Roman invasion Monmouthshire was inhabited by the Silures. It was formerly called Wentset and Wents-land, and by the Britons Gwent, from an ancient city of that name. The present name is derived from the county-town. The British name was Mongwy, so called from its peninsular situation on the rivers Mon and Wye, or the mouth of the Mon (Monnow). It was originally a county of Wales, and once obtained considerable celebrity against the Roman and Saxon invaders. It sometimes formed a separate district under the name of Gevent, and at others was comprehended in Morganoc, or the kingdom of Glamorgan. When Henry VIII. abolished the government of lords marchers of Wales, and divided Wales into twelve counties, he included this county in England. A happy change,' says Mr. Coxe, from the oppression of feudal tyranny, to the just and equal administration of English laws.' Monmouthshire is situated on the north shore of the Bristol Channel, or Severn Sea; and is bounded on the west by the river Rumney, which separates it from Glamorganshire; on the north by small brooks and land-marks, and by the rivers Usk and Monnow, which separate it from the counties of Brecknock and Hereford; on the east by Gloucestershire, from which it is separated by the river Wye, from Redbrook to the Severn. The extreme points of the county,' says Mr. Hassell, whose Agricultural Survey is here quoted, taken east, west, north, and south, are from lat. 52° 22′′ to 54° 0′′, and from long. 2° 41" to 3° 19" W. from Greenwich.' The superficial contents, according to a map of the county published by C. Smith of London in 1801, amount to 316,800 acres; the length being thirty-three miles from north to south, and the breadth from east to west twenty-six miles. The county is divided into six hundreds and seven towns. It is in the diocese of Llandaff, except six parishes, four being in the diocese of Hereford, and two in that of St. David's; and in the province of Canterbury. The climate of this county is mild in the vales and southern parts, but gradually colder, ascending the hills towards Breconshire, where the snows sometimes remain on the ground till a late period of the spring. The general humidity of the western districts of the kingdom is felt in this county, where the tains are of long continuance. The great estuary of the Severn attracts the clouds of the Western Ocean, and causes torrents of rain to fall on its north and south shores, much more frequently than on the inland parts of Wales, and the West of England. The soil of this county is thus described by the Agricultural Survey: that ridge of land in the hundred of Wentloog, extending from Rumney Bridge to Newport, consists of clay, loam, and gray soil; the clay being for the most part towards the west end of the ridge, the loam along its south and middle, and the gray soil to the northern confines of it, but not nearly of equal extent with the loam, the latter extending itself along the Rumney to Machen and Bedwas, and up the vale from Tredegar to Risca. The sub stratum of these soils is rock or rubble, except in a few places, where the clay is deep. Beds of limestone also occur in several parts, which afford an ample supply of manure to the tillers of the ground. The soil of the level is for the most part loamy, a mixture of mud, brought down by the influx of the Severn, Wye, Usk, Rumney, and other rivers, and marine sand thrown in by strong tides from the westward. The clays are here as in most other counties. Of Caldicot Level, extending along the coast from the river Usk to Portskewit, the soil is a rich loam, with more or less strength in proportion to the quantity of mud or sand mixed with it. The substratum is limestone in part, and a brown or gray rock in other parts; not ranging in regular strata, but breaking out here and there in a promiscuous manner. The soil of the Usk hundred is more argillaceous than that of Caldicot, and may be reckoned on the whole a clay district; about Usk, however, and for the space of two miles up the river, the land is sandy and rather light, with a good depth in most parts. There are also some spots of sandy land along the river downwards. The county westward of the Usk maintains the general character of the hundred, being a clay or strong loam. Ragland hundred has soils of various sorts. In the vale district, and for several miles round Ragland, it is a strong clay. The vale part, indeed, is altogether of a strong argillaceous kind, with as little variety as can be expected in a county consisting of undulated lands. Neither high hills nor extensive levels are to be found; but a waving surface every where prevails. The substratum consists mostly of rubble and detached stones, except in such parts as where beds of clay are found to a great depth. On the hilly ridge from Wobes Newton in the south to Pennalth in the north, the soil is loamy, sometimes of a reddish color, sometimes gray, and lying in broken strata without any regular courses of either sort. The substratum is mostly a rubble, with here and there a quarry of tolerable stone for building. The limestone ends to the southward of Tintern Abbey, and is not found again as you travel northward through this district, except a few partial spots near Dingestow. Skenfreth hundred borders on Herefordshire, and exhibits more of the agricultural practice of that county than any other district in the county of Monmouth. The vale lands around Monmouth, and skirting the hills to Llangattock, Vibonavel, and White Castle, consist mostly of clay soil, with a substratum of rubble; in some parts grit or loose gravel, with a mixture of sand; in others deep clays. The lands about the Wye and Monnow rivers are rich meadows, whenever they lie low enough to receive the overflowing of those rivers whose waters bring down the rich mucilaginous mud of Herefordshire. The hilly part of this hundred, stretching towards the north-west from Rockfield, consists of more light and loamy soil than the vale; the lands are interspersed with woods. The soil of Abergavenny hundred is exceedingly variable; many parts of it consist of a brown loam, sometimes approaching to red; others of a gray loam and many of the old enclosed farms, and of the wastes adjacent to them, are of a moist and peaty soil, requiring draining and cultivation. The soil of the hills extending northward from Abergavenny to the confines of Herefordshire, beyond Llanthony Abbey, and eastward to Compston Mountain, consist of a brown or reddish loam, varying in depth according to the situation and steepness of the lands, from five inches to fifteen. The principal rivers are the Wye, which enters the county two miles above Monmouth, and passing that town and Chepstow falls into the Severn Sea three miles below the latter; the Usk enters the county near Clydach, passes Abergavenny, Usk Caerleon, and Newport, and falls into the Severn Sea three miles below the latter; and the Rumney, which forms the western boundary of the county. The most important source of commercial intercourse, until a recent period, was little known in this county. The Monmouthshire Canal, commenced in 1792 and completed in 1798, consists of two branches, which unite at Malpas. This canal commences on the west side of the town of Newport, having a basin connected with the river Usk. Passing between the town and the river, it crosses the Chepstow road, and pursues its route parallel by Pont y Pool to Pontnewyndd. The principal produce of this county consists in corn, fine oxen, and sheep. This county returns three members to parliament, viz. two for the shire, and one for the county of Monmouth. The great family of Morgan Tredegar for a long time almost constantly represented this county. This county has not produced many persons of eminence. Geoffrey of Monmouth, whose proper name was Geoffery ap Arthur, was, as is thought, a native of Monmouth. He was a learned monk of the Benedictine order, and wrote a translation into Latin of a British history, entitled Brut y Breninodd, or the Chronicle of the Kings of Britain. He lived in the twelfth century. Henry V., king of England, was also born here. The county town, Monmouth, gives the title of earl to the Mordaunt family-Abergavenny gives the title of earl and baron to the Neville family-Chepstow gives the title of baron to the Somerset family-Lathony gives the title of baron to the Buller family-Ragland and Gower the same to the Somersets-and Grosmount the title of viscount to the same. This county formerly manufactured large quantities of flannel and narrow cloth; but the quantity now made is so inconsiderable as not to be an object among its productions. The manufacture of japan ware was also famous in its day; this also has declined, and is only continued on a very narrow scale at Pontypool and Usk. The iron works are the boast, and certainly, in every point of view, the most important objects of trading consideration in Monmouthshire. The attention of the county was first excited to this lucrative branch of manufacture in the reign of queen Elizabeth; and from that period, considered by many the time of their origin, the iron business of this district, and in the adjacent one of Glamorganshire, made a rapid progress; and much surprise had been expressed why they should have been so long 6 neglected. This surprise, indeed, may almost rise into wonder, when it is recollected that iron was manufactured in this part of the island at an epoch beyond the reach of history. Large heaps of cinders, or slag, have often been discovered, evidently the refuse of Roman or British bloomeries, the process in which was the ancient method of fusing iron. The iron trade again declined, after its revival in the time of Elizabeth, from a variety of causes. The troubles in the reign of Charles I., and the changes which took place in point of property, occasioned an alteration in the genius of the people: agriculture was more attended to; the lands were cleared; the forests were neglected. Mr. Coxe, who wrote in the year 1801, says that about forty years ago a sudden renewal of the works took place, occasioned by the discovery that pitcoal would form a useful substitute for charcoal in the making of pig-iron; and its utility was further extended to the manufacturing of bariron. The local advantages of this county, in these respects, are peculiarly great, as the district abounds in iron ore, coal, lime, numerous streams of water, and every requisite proper for this branch of business. These have been powerfully aided by the mechanical powers, the use of the steam-engine, the improvement in hydraulic machinery, and the adoption of rollers instead of forge hammers, called the puddling process, by which bar-iron is formed with a degree of despatch and exactness previously unknown. From this occurrence of circumstances, the success has been no less rapid than extraordinary. Fifteen years ago the weekly quantity of pig-iron made in this part of Monmouthshire, and in the contiguous district of Glamorganshire, did not exceed sixty tons; at present it scarcely falls short of 600. At that period no bar-iron was manufactured, but now the quantity amounts weekly to more than 300 tons. The works are rapidly increasing in extent and importance, and appear likely to surpass the other iron manufactories throughout the kingdom.' MONNET (Anthony Grimoald), a French chemist of eminence, and inspector-general of mines, was born of low parentage, in Auvergne, in 1734. He settled as an apothecary at Rouen, but, becoming known as a superior chemist, he removed to Paris, and obtained in 1774, through the patronage of Malesherbes, the place of inspector-general of mines. He now prepared, in conjunction with Guettard, a mineralogical atlas of France, and was one of the few chemical philosophers who rejected and opposed the theories of Lavoisier. Deprived of office at the Revolution, he passed the latter part of his life in retirement, and died at Paris in 1817. He wrote also Memoire Historique et Politique sur les Mines de France, 1790, 8vo.; Demonstration de la Fausseté des Principes des Nouveaux Chimistes, 1798, 8vo.; besides a great number of analyses and memoirs in the Journal de Physique, &c. MONNOYE (Bernard de la), an eminent French writer, born at Dijon in 1641. He was a man of great learning, and gained some of the first prizes instituted by the French academy, till he discontinued to write for them at their own solicitation; a circumstance which reflects the highest honor on him. He was equally skilful in Latin and French poetry, and Menage and Bayle bestowed the highest encomiums on his Latin poetry. His Greek and Italian poems are likewise very good. He had also a very accurate and extensive knowledge of the languages; He wrote Remarks on the Menagiana; in the last edition of which, in 4 vols. 12mo, printed in 1715, are several pieces of his poetry, and a curious dissertation on the book De Tribus Impostoribus. His Dissertation on Pomponius Lætus is inserted in Baillet's Jugemens des Sçavans, in 1722, with remarks and corrections by La Monnoye. He also embellished the AntiBaillet of Menage with many corrections and notes. He was of great service to the republic of letters, not only by productions of his own, but by freely assisting upon all occasions the learned of his time. He favored Bayle with many curious particulars for his Dictionary, and was highly applauded by him. He died in Paris, October 15th, 1728, in his eighty-eighth year. Mr. De Sallinger published at the Hague a Collection of his Poems, with his eulogium. He also left behind him a Collection of Letters, mostly critical; several curious Dissertations; 300 Select Epigrams from Martial, and other poets, in French verse; and several other works in prose and verse, in French, Latin, and Greek. MONNOYER (John Baptist), one of the greatest masters,' according to Mr. Walpole, 'that have appeared in flower painting. They are not so exquisitely finished as Van Huysum's, but his coloring and composition are in a bolder style.' He was born at Lisle in 1635; and educated at Antwerp. Going to Paris in 1663, he was received into the academy with applause; was employed at Versailles, Trianon, Marly, and Meudon; and painted in the hotel de Bretonvilliers at Paris, &c. The duke of Montagu brought him to England, where many of his pieces are to be seen at Montagu House, Hampton Court, and Kensington. But his most curious work is a looking-glass at Kensington Palace, which he adorned with flowers for queen Mary II., who honored him with her presence nearly the whole time he was busied in the performance. He went several times to France, where his daughter had married a French painter. He died in Pall-mall in 1699. MONOCEROS, unicorn, in astronomy, a southern constellation formed by Hevelius, containing in his catalogue nineteen stars, and in the Britannic catalogue thirty-one. MONOCEROS, in zoology. See MONODON. The MONOCHORD is used as well in the natural as in tempered scales. Originally it had, as its name implies, only one string; but it is better constructed with two, as we have, by means of this additional string, an opportunity of judging of the harmony of two tempered notes in every possible variety of temperament. See TEMPERAMENT and TONE. It consists of a brass rule placed upon a sound-board, and accurately divided into different scales, according to the purposes for which it is chiefly intended. Above this rule the strings are to be stretched over two fixed bridges, between which there is a MONOC'ULOUS. having only one eye. Gr. μevoç, one, and oculus. One-eyed ; He was well served who, going to cut down an antient white hawthorn tree, which, because she budded before others, might be an occasion of superstition, had some of the prickles flew into his eye, and made him monocular. Howel. Those of China repute the rest of the world monoculous. Glanville's Scepsis. MONOCULUS, in entomology, a genus of insects of the order aptera. Its body is short, of a roundish figure, and covered with a firm crustaceous skin; the fore legs are ramose, and serve for leaping and swimming; it has but one eye, which is large and composed of three smaller ones. Of this genus, many of which have been reckoned among the microscopic animals, authors enumerate a great number of species. The name monoculus has been given to this genus, as consisting of individuals which apparently have but one eye and, from the manner in which they proceed forward in the water by leaping, they have also been called water fleas. The branching antennæ serve them instead of oars, the legs being seldom used for swimming. The tail forked in some species, in others simple, serves them for a rudder. Their color varies from white to green, and to red, more or less deep, doubtless in a ratio to the fragments of the vegetables on which they feed. The red tincture they sometimes give to the water has made some think that the water had turned to blood. Too weak to be carnivorous, they fall a prey to other aquatic insects, even to the polypi. Their body, compact and hard, is so transparent that in some the eggs with which the abdomen is filled are discernible. The water parrot and the shell monoculus are remarkable. This latter is provided with a bivalvular shell, within which he shuts himself up, if drawn out of the water. The shell opens underneath, the insect puts forth its antennæ, by means of which' it swims very expeditiously in various directions, seeking a solid body to adhere to, and then it is it uses its feet in walking, by stretching them out through the aperture of its shell. ‘I preserved a pair of these insects,' says Mr. Barbut, in a |