ascendency, gave such an unfavourable account of the government and nation, that it was highly resented by prince George of Denmark, consort to the princess (afterwards queen) Anne, and produced a complaining memorial to king William from the Danish envoy. It is, indeed, one of the publications of that period which is the most hostile to arbitrary power, and which exposes with the greatest freedom the arts by which public liberty is overthrown. Nor can it be supposed that he had not also in view the ecclesiastical establishment in England, where he observes, "That it is a mistake to suppose that the popish religion is the only one of all the christian sects proper to introduce and establish slavery; for that, in Denmark, through the entire and sole dependence of the clergy upon the king; through their principles and doctrine, which are those of unlimited obedience; and through the authority they have with the common people; slavery seems to be more absolutely established than in France." Indeed, in the preface to his book he expressly declares his dissatisfaction with the English clergy for defending the revo lution upon other principles than those of the right of resistance, and of an original contract between king and people, and he strongly urges the necessity of a reform in the universities, where, he says, youth are trained in slavish principles. Dr. William King (see his article) was employed to answer this work; and being furnished with facts by the Danish resident, he was able to detect various mistakes and misrepresentations in it; the book, however, was well received by the public, and was translated into several foreign languages. It procured him the esteem of lord Shaftesbury, author of the Characteristics, who thenceforth entered into an intimate friendship and correspondence with him.

Mr. Molesworth was a member of the houses of commons both in Ireland and England, and always acted conformably to his political principles. He was of the privycouncil of queen Anne till the latter part of her reign, when a complaint from the clergy in convocation, to whose increasing influence he was a steady adversary, occasioned his removal. On the accession of George I he was, however, again in favour at court, and in 1714 was made a privy-counsellor in Ireland and a commissioner of trade and plantations. In 1716 he was called to the house of lords in Ireland, by the style of viscount Molesworth of Swordes. He afterwards interfered little in public affairs,

but passed his time chiefly in a literary retirement, connected with and esteemed by several men of learning and liberal principles, among whom were Locke, Molyneux, and Toland. To the latter he was a warm friend; and when he was lying on his death-bed, lord Molesworth wrote him a cheering letter, in which is the following passage: "Let it suffice you to know that, although my circumstances are narrow enough, you shall never want necessaries whilst I live." (Art. Toland in Biog. Brit.) His large family of seven sons and four daughters probably occasioned his being straightened in his circumstances. Lord Molesworth died in 1725, at his seat near Dublin, in the 69th year of his age. Besides the Account of Denmark, he wrote an address to the House of Commons for the encouragement of agriculture, and translated from the Latin the "Franco-Gallia” of the learned Hotoman. To his pen were also ascribed several temporary publications in favour of the English constitution, and the general principles of liberty. He was a fellow of the Royal Society. Mary, one of his daughters, the wife of George Monck, esq. of Dublin, at her death, in 1715, left a collection of miscellaneous poems which her father published, and dedicated to the princess of Wales, afterwards queen Caroline. Biogr. Britan, —A.

MOLEZIO, or MOLETTI, JOSEPH, a celebrated physician, philosopher and mathematician in the sixteenth century, was born at Messina in Sicily, about the year 1531. He was selected by William de Gonzaga, duke of Mantua, to be his son prince Vincent's mathematical tutor; and not long afterwards he obtained the chair of professor of mathematics in the university of Padua, where he was highly respected for his talents and merits. He was employed by pope Gregory XIII. in drawing up tables for that pontiff's reformation of the calendar, or what was called the new style; for which he received considerable pecuniary presents from his holiness, and also from the republic of Venice, which had intimated a wish that he would undertake that task. Moletti died at Padua in 1588, in the fifty-seventh year of his age. He was the author of the "Tables" above mentioned, to which he gave the name of Gregorian, published in quarto; "Ephemerides for twenty Years, commencing in 1564, and terminating in 1584," in Latin, 1564, quarto; "Tabule Geographicæ ex prutenicis deductæ pro motu octave Sphere, ac Luminum," 1580, quarto; an introduction in Italian,

prefixed to " Josephi Scale Siculi Netini Artium et Medicine Doctoris Ephemerides, ad Annos duodecim incipientes ab anno, 1589," &c. 1589, octavo; "Ephemerides for eighteen Years, commencing in 1563," 1563, quarto; "De calendarii correctione et computo ecclesiastico," &c; and "A general Discourse, comprizing all the Terms and Rules belonging to Geography," 1561 and 1573, quarto, and subjoined to Jeronie Ruscelli's Italian version of Ptolemy's Geography. He also published "The Geography of Ptolemy, translated into Latin by Bilibald Pircheimher, with a long Commentary on the first and seventh Books, thirty-eight new Tables," &c. 1562, quarto. Moreri. Nouv. Dict. Hist. Landi's Hist. de la Lit. de l Italie, vol. IV. liv. xi. art. ii. sect. 60. -M.

MOLIERE, JOHN-BAPTIST POQUELIN DE, the most celebrated of modern writers in comedy, was born at Paris in 1620. His father, named Poquelin, who was valet-dechambre upholsterer to the king, and kept a broker's shop, designed to bring him up to his own employment, and gave him a conformable education. The youth, who had reached the age of fourteen with no other instruction than that of reading and writing, imbibed a taste for literature by frequenting the theatre, and through the persuasions of his grandfather was sent to the Jesuit's college as a day-student. He there became connected with Chapelle and Bernier, with whom he attended lectures in philosophy, given by Gassendi. His father becoming infirm, he was obliged to officiate for him in his employment in the royal household, and he attended Louis XIII. to Narbonne in 1641. On his return to Paris, his passion for the theatre revived, and he determined to pursue it as a profession. He associated himself with a company of young persons who played in the suburbs of St. Germain, and assuming the name of Moliere, composed several little pieces of the comic kind, and performed his part on the stage. At length he joined la Bejart, a provincial actress, and they formed a company which, in 1653, represented at Lyons his first regular comedy in verse, "LÉtourdi." It was followed by "Le Depit Amoureux," and "Les Precieuses ridicules," first exhibited at Beziers, where Moliere was very favourably received by the prince of Conti, who was holding the states of Languedoc. He next visited Grenoble and Rouen; and from the latter came to Paris under the protection of Gaston duke of Orleans, who introduced him

to Lewis XIV. and his queen. He obtained permission to open a theatre in the metropolis, and the guard-chamber in the old Louvre was first allctted him for that purpose. In 1660 it was changed for that in the palais royal; and in 1665 he was placed in the service of the king, with a pension. He continually rose in reputation as a writer by the new pieces which he presented to the public, and which became more and more perfect as he advanced in experience and observation. By almost the general consent of Europe, he is placed at the head of that genuine comedy which has for its subject the ridiculous in character and manners; and it is agreed that no one ever united more pleasantry in dialogue and incident, with more good sense and penetration in selecting just objects for comic satire, and seizing the true point of the ludicrous. He is considered as the great reformer of the French theatre in respect to comedy, as Corneille was in respect to tragedy; and though in several of his pieces he descends to what may be called farce, yet many of his scenes in low comedy abound in genuine humour and natural character. His more serious compositions, and those written in verse, are, by his countrymen, esteemed his master-pieces, especially the "Misanthrope" and the "Tartufie." In the latter of these he touched upon a dangerous topic, that of religious hypocrisy; accordingly, it raised a great clamour against him from the false devotees, who had interest to procure a prohibition of its second representation, from the parliament. Soon after, the Italian comedians. having performed a very licentious farce, entitled, "Scaramouche Hermite," the king, who had been a spectator of it with the prince of Condé, said, "I should be glad to know the reason why those who are so much scandalized with Moliere's play take no notice of this Scaramouche." "Because (answered Condé) the latter offends God alone, but the former offends the devotees." This temporary attack, however, has not prevented the "Tartuffe from' retaining its place as one of the great ornaments of the French stage. Some of the principal subjects of Moliere's satire were the coxcomb men of quality of his time, called petits maitres; the pedants and affected bellesesprits, male and female; and the medical faculty. Among the two former classes, his ridicule is said to have effected great reforms; the latter were too well fortified with gravity and the opinion of mankind to feel him. Moliere, however, had a large portion of the

philosophy of good sense, and seldom failed to discern the weak part of what he chose for the topic of his sarcasm. He had likewise a very just sense of propriety in the conduct of life; and though he occasionally falls into the common fault of the writers of plays and romances, that of treating with levity violations of common honesty and conjugal fidelity, for the sake of comic effect, yet in a serious humour he is always the friend of honour and integrity. His own character was, in many respects, estimable. He was kind, obliging, and generous. Various instances of his liberality are mentioned, of which the following is the most striking. Having one day given to a beggar by mistake a piece of gold, which was returned him by the poor man, "In what hole (said Moliere) is virtue going to hide herself? Here! my friend, here is another for your honesty." At a mature age he married the daughter of the actress Bejart, who followed the same profession; and he is said to have incurred the same ridicule that he so plentifully bestowed upon poor husbands in his comedies. In friendship he was more happy, and he numbered among his intimates not only men of wit, but some of the greatest persons about the court. It is remarkable that his death was the immediate consequence of his acting the principal part in his diverting play of "Le Malade Imaginaire." He was labouring under a pulmonary complaint, and was strongly urged by his wife, and Baron the actor, to defer the representation. "What (cried Moliere) must then become of so many poor people who depend upon it for their bread? I should reproach myself for having neglected a single day to supply them with necessaries." He exerted himself on the stage with unusual spirit, and his efforts brought on the rupture of a bloodvessel, by which he was suffocated. This happened in February, 1673, when he was in the 53d year of his age. The archbishop of Paris, Harlai, a man of loose morals, but desirous of pleasing the rigorists of the Roman church, refused him christian burial, and the king's authority was requisite to procure him private interment in a chapel of the church of St. Eustache. The bigotry of the populace impeded even this obscure ceremonial; for they collected in great crowds before his door on the day, and would not suffer the funeral to proceed till money had been thrown among them. Such was the treatment of a man who was an honour to his country, and who will ever rank among the principal ornaments of the age in

which he lived! No one was more sensible of his merit than the great Condé, who said to a miserable rhymer, who brought him an epitaph on Moliere," Would to heaven he had presented me with thine." Boileau has honoured his memory with some fine lines in his seventh epistle; and Racine, on being asked by the king whom he thought the first writer that had appeared in his reign, without hesitation, named Moliere. Voltaire, in his Siécle de Louis XIV. calls him "the best comic writer of any nation," and no one has since risen to bear away the palm from him. His style in prose is perfectly natural and easy. In verse he has been accounted incorrect and careless; but Voltaire asserts that he is full of admirable lines which imprint themselves on the memory. As an actor he excelled only in comedy: his voice was feeble and indistinct, but his strong expressive features, animated by archness and intelligence, rendered him the perfect representative of the characters in his own pieces which he took upon himself. Of the many editions of his works, that of M. Bret, at Paris, in six volumes, octavo, with commentaries, is one of the most esteemed. Moreri. Nouv. Dict. Hist.-A.

MOLIERES, JOSEPH-PRIVAT DE, a celebrated French priest and able mathematician who flourished in the eighteenth century, was descended from noble families both in the paternal and maternal line, and born at Tarascon in the county of Foix, in the year 1677. As his constitution was naturally extremely delicate, and he was subject to frequent ill health, he was left at entire liberty either to spend his time in amusement, or to follow any particular pursuit for which he might have an inclination. He chose a life of study, and learned Latin, the belles lettres, and philosophy, in the usual course, and became sufficiently acquainted with the mathematics to be sensible that those sciences were best adapted to the bent of his genius. His elder brother, who was a soldier, having been killed in battle in 1695, M. Molieres' parents were very solicitous that he should settle in the world; but his love of study, and particularly his passion for the mathematics, rendered all their persuasions ineffectual. That he might put an end to all importunity on this head, he embraced the ecclesiastical life, and was ordained priest in the year 1701.. Afterwards he entered in the congregation of the oratory, and taught the classics and philosophy with great success, in their seminaries at Angers, Saumur, and Juilly.

Some years after this, having read and admired the works of father Malebranche, he was anxious to become acquainted with their author; and for that purpose quitted the oratory and repaired to l'aris. Here he attached himself closely to that philosopher; and after his death, the abbé Molieres resumed his mathematical studies, which he had in some degree neglected for metaphysics. He presented several memoirs to the Academy of Sciences, and in 1721, was received into it as an adjunct to the mechanical class. Two years after wards he obtained the professorship of philosophy in the College-royal; and in 1729, rose to the rank of associate in the Academy of Sciences. In the year 1726, he published a work entitled, "Mathematical Lessons necessary for those who would understand the Principles of Natural Philosophy, at this Time taught in the College-Royal," 12mo.; in which the principles of algebra and arithmetical calculation are methodically laid down, and the theorems well explained and demonstrated. Afterwards he published, at different periods, the last in 1739, four volumes of "Lectures on Natural Philosophy, containing the Elements of Physics determined solely by the Laws of Mechanics; as explained at the College-Royal," 12mo. This is the most extended and laboured of his performances, as well as the most singular in its kind. We here find him a partizan of the vortices of Des Cartes; but, perceiving himself obliged to explode some of his whimsical notions, and to admit the discoveries of Newton, he attempts to rectify the ideas of the French, by the experiments of the English philosopher. Selecting, therefore, what appeared to him to be best founded in the system of Des Cartes, he endeavours to place it in a new light; and to avail himself of the principles of Newton in explaining the celestial vortices, the laws of those vortices, and their mechanical effects. However modern philosophers may smile at his efforts, they will allow that the author's work displays no little portion of ingenuity. This modification of Des Cartes's doctrine was attacked in the year 1740, by the abbé Sigorgue, afterwards professor of philosophy at the college du Plessis, and was defended by the abbé de Launay, one of the disciples of M. de Molieres; and the antagonists kept up for some time their controversy on this subject. In the year 1741, our author published the first part of his "Elements of Geometry," 12mo. intendea as an introduction to his physical lectures. In this work he approaches nearly to

the ancients, at least with respect to their synthesis and rigorous manner of demonstration, notwithstanding that he departed widely from them in his physics. The abbé Molieres was always prepared zealously to defend his system of vortices at the meetings of the academy; but he could not at all times bear with good temper the raillery with which it was attacked. One day, in particular, he grew seriously angry, and became so agitated and heated by passion, that upon going out into the open air he caught a violent cold, which brought on a fever that proved fatal to him in the year 1742, when he was about the age of sixty-five. But, setting aside this imperfection in his character, the abbé Molieres was an excellent man, and in general remarkable for his composure, which, when he gave himself up to philosophical meditation, sometimes appeared to border on insensibility. So noted was he for absence of mind, that rogues used to mark him as a fine subject of depredation. One day a shoe-black, finding him absorbed in a profound reverie, had the impudence to steal the silver buckles out of his shoes, replacing them with iron ones. At another time, a thief having broken into his apartment, and demanded his money, Molieres, without rising from his studies, or giving any alarm, coolly shewed him where it was, and suffered him to take it, only requesting of him the favour that he would not derange his papers. Moreri. Nouv. Dict. Hist. -M.

MOLINA, LEWIS DE, a famous Spanish Jesuit in the sixteenth century, after whom those Roman catholics who seem to incline to the doctrines of grace and free will, that are maintained in opposition to those of Augustine, are distinguished by the denomination of Molinists. He was descended from a noble family, and born at Cuença in New Castile, about the year 1535. At the age of eighteen he entered into the society of Jesus, and was sent to pursue his studies at Coimbra in Portugal. Here he distinguished himself by the diligence of his application; and as he possessed excellent natural abilities, and a happy memory, he secured the applause and esteem of his superiors by his proficiency in the different branches of academical learning. He particularly excelled in his knowledge of philosophy, civil law, and divinity. From Coimbra Molina was sent to the university of Evora in the same kingdom, where he taught philosophy, and afterwards divinity for twenty years, with very great reputation and success. He died at

Madrid in 1600, when about sixty-five years of age, universally respected for his virtues, as well as his learning. He was the author of "Commentarii in primam partem D. Thome Summæ," in two volumes, published at Cuença in 1593; and a large and able work on civil law, entitled, "De Justitia et Jure," in six volumes. He also left behind him two other treatises relating to jurisprudence, which his death prevented him from completing. But the most celebrated of his performances was entitled, "Liberii Arbitrii Concordia cum Gratiæ Donis, divina Præscientia, Providentia, Prædestinatione, et Reprobatione," which was first published at Lisbon in folio, in the year 1588; and afterwards, with additions, in quarto, at Antwerp, Lyons, Venice, and other places. A third edition, still further augmented, was published at Antwerp in 1609. The author's design was to shew, that the operations of divine grace were entirely consistent with the freedom of human will, and, by the introduction of a new kind of hypothesis, to remove the difficulties attending the doctrines of predestination, and liberty, and to reconcile the jarring opinions of the Augustinians, Thomists, semi-Pelagians, and other contentious divines. He affirmed, that the decree of predestination to eternal glory was founded upon a previous knowledge and consideration of the merits of the elect; that the grace, from the operation of which these merits are derived, is not efficacious by its own intrinsic power only, but also by the consent of our own will, and because it is administered in those circumstances in which the deity, by that branch of his knowledge, which is called scientia media, foresees that it will be efficacious. The kind of prescience, denominated in the schools scientia media, is that foreknowledge of future contingencies, that arises from an acquaintance with the nature and faculties of rational beings, of the circumstances in which they shall be placed, of the objects that shall be presented to them, and of the influence which these circumstances and objects must have on their

actions.

No sooner had this work of Molina made its appearance, than the Dominicans, who followed Aquinas as their theological guide, sounded the alarm of heresy throughout the whole kingdom of Spain; attacked it most violently in their theses, and accused it before the Inquisition of Valladolid, as well as that of the kingdom of Castille; and charged the Jesuits with an attempt to renew the errors of

Pelagius. The consequence was, that commotions were excited in every place, and all things seemed to prognosticate a general flame, when cardinal Quiroga, the grand-inquisitor of Spain, laid the business before the tribunal of pope Clement VIII. That pontiff, persuaded that gentle remedies would soon remove the disease, and that, in time, the heat and animosities between the contending parties would undoubtedly subside, imposed silence on them; promising, at the same time, that he would himself examine every thing relating to the new debate, in order to decide it in such a manner as might tend to promote the cause of truth, and the peace of the church. The event, however, was far from answering that pontiff's expectation. For the Dominicans, who had long fostered a deep-rooted hatred to the Jesuits, having now a favourable oppor tunity of venting their indignation, exhausted their furious zeal against the doctrine of Molina, notwithstanding the orders of the papal edict. They also incessantly wearied king Philip II. and pope Clement, with their importunate clamours, until at length the latter found himself under a necessity of assembling at Rome a sort of council for the decision of this controversy. Thus commenced, in the year 1598, those famous deliberations concerning the contests of the Jesuits and Dominicans, which were held in the congregation de auxiliis: so denominated on account of the principal point in debate, which was the efficacy of the aids of divine grace. The remaining part of this century, and some years of the next, were employed by these spiritual judges in hearing and weighing the arguments alleged in favour of their respective opinions, by the contending parties. The Dominicans maintained, with the greatest pertinacity, the doctrine of their patron St. Thomas, as alone conformable to truth. On the other hand, the Jesuits, though they did not adopt the religious tenets of Molina, thought the honour of their order concerned in this controversy, on account of the violent opposition so publicly made to one of its members, and consequently used their utmost endeavours to have the Spanish doctor acquitted of the charge of pelagianism, and declared free from any errors of moment. From a comparison of the various jarring and contradictory histories of the transactions of this congregation, it appears to be doubtful which of the two parties defended their cause with the most dexterity and success, and which the court of Rome favoured most. At length,