Page:A biographical dictionary of modern rationalists.djvu/301

 MOKELLET

MORGAN

MORELLET, Andre, French Encyclo pedist (&quot; the Abbe Morellet &quot;). B. Mar. 7, 1727. Ed. Jesuit Seminary, Paris, and the Sorbonne. In 1752 he became tutor to the son of the Polish King s Chancellor. He returned to Paris with an annuity, and, although he kept the clerical title of Abbe, he was one of the most industrious and notorious of the Encyclopaedists. He was an intimate of Voltaire, D Alembert, and Diderot, and was very friendly with Franklin and Lord Shelburne. Morellet &quot; did more than any in spreading the views of the philosophers &quot; (Grande Encyclopedie). He was admitted to the Academy in 1785. He published his writings under the title Melanges de litterature et de philosophic du xv Hi siecle (4 vols., 1818), and left behind him the manuscript of his valuable Memoires sur le xviii siecle (2 vols., 1821). It was Morellet who translated Beccaria into French. D. Jan. 12, 1819.

MORELLI, Giovanni, Italian writer and politician. B. Feb. 25, 1816. Ed. Bergamo, Aarau, Munich, Erlangen, Paris, and Siena. Morelli had a remarkably varied and sound scientific education, but in the course of his extensive travels he turned rather to art. The rebellion against the Papacy and Austria drew him into active life in 1848, and at the collapse of the Eepublic he returned to the cultivation of art. His valuable critical essays were mostly written under the pseudonym of &quot; Ivan Lermolieff,&quot; but he wrote, in Italian and German, several notable volumes on the Italian and foreign galleries. The renewal of the insurrection again drew him into active life, and in 1859 he was commander of the National Guard at Magenta. From 1860 to 1870 he sat in Parliament for Bergamo, and in 1873 he passed to the Senate. D. Feb. 28, 1891.

MORELLY, N., French writer. B. about 1769. Little is known concerning Morelly except that he was a priest who turned Eationalist and drew upon himself the zeal of the orthodox by his writings. He began with his Essai sur I esprit humain 529

(1843), and later wrote a series of works in glorification of reason and natural law. His Naufrage des iles flottantes (2 vols., 1753) is an early Utopian romance, and in that and his Code de la nature (1755) he pleads for a rational communistic life.

MORFILL, Professor William Richard,

M.A., Ph.D., philologist. B. Nov. 17, 1834. Ed. Tonbridge School and Oxford (Oriel College). After a few years as a coach at Oxford, he travelled extensively in eastern Europe, and became a high authority on Slav life and languages. He was three times invited to deliver the Ilchester Foundation lecture on Slavonic literature. In 1889 he was appointed university reader in Eussian, and in 1900 professor of Eussian and of the Slavonic languages. In 1903 he was elected to the British Academy. Professor Morfill composed grammars of the Eussian, Polish, Serb, Tchek, and Bulgar languages. He was familiar also with Turkish, Irish, Welsh, and various other languages. His Eationalist senti ments appear in his article on Slav religion in Eeligious Systems of the World, and he wrote histories of Eussia and Poland in the &quot; Story of the Nations &quot; series. D. Nov. 9, 1909.

MORGAN, Professor Conwy Lloyd,

biologist. B. Feb. 6, 1852. Ed. Eoyal Grammar School, Guildford, and Eoyal College of Science. He was Duke of Cornwall s Scholar, Murchison Medallist, and De la Beche Medallist. After five years (1878-83) as lecturer in English and physical science at the Diocesan College, Eindebosch (South Africa), he returned to England and became professor of zoology and geology at Bristol University College. He was Principal of the College from 1887 to 1909, and was first Vice-Chancellor of Bristol University. The latter office he resigned within three months, and he then took the chair of psychology. Professor Lloyd Morgan s chief works (Animal Life and Intelligence, 1890 ; Habit and Instinct, 1896 ; Instinct and Experience, 1912, etc.) 530