Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 39.djvu/93

  of the principal clothiers of the kingdom, and agreed upon a report, presented to the commons (March 1640) by Matthew Cradock. No further progress was made for seven years. Morrell then suggested the appointment of a commission of merchants or ' councell for trade ... to whome overtures will be more freely presented, tendinge to the publike good, then they dare to doe to the parliament' (ib.) Among the subjects he proposed for consideration by the commission were the means by which England might be made 'the magazine of Christendom;' the foundation of a bank similar to the Bank of Amsterdam; the removal of the greater part of the duties on manufactures and the customs on wool imported, and the establishment of a merchants' court.

In 1650 Morrell was employed by parliament in commercial negotiations with France, but he appears to have exceeded his powers, for on 9 Dec. he was requested 'not to presume ... to offer anything to the crown of France on behalf of the Commonwealth, nor to intermeddle concerning affairs of state, but to keep himself to the solicitation of merchants' affairs' (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1653, xi. 112). His services, however, were retained, and he lived in Paris until the Restoration. He died probably about 1664.

 MORRELL, WILLIAM (fl. 1625), New England poet, was an Anglican clergyman who went to Massachusetts in 1623 with the company sent out by the Plymouth council, under the command of Captain Robert Gorges, son of Sir Ferdinando Gorges [q. v.] He bore a commission from the ecclesiastical court to exercise superintendence over the churches that were, or might be, established in the colony. The attempt by this company to form a settlement at Wessagussett (now Weymouth) was unsuccessful. After Gorges's departure Morrell remained a year at Plymouth out of curiosity to learn something of the country, but made no use of his commission, nor even mentioned it till just before he sailed for England. He wrought the result of his observations into some elegant Latin hexameters, which he translated into English heroic verse, and published under the title of 'New-England, or a briefe Enarration of the Ayre, Earth, Water, Fish, and Fowles of that Country. With a Description of the. . .Habits and Religion of the Natives, in Latine and English Verse,' 4to, London, 1625. The English version, which is frequently harsh and obscure, is preceded by a poetical address to the king. A copy of this rare tract, which is dedicated to the lords, knights, and gentlemen, adventurers for New England, is in the British Museum; it was reprinted in 1792 in the 'Collections' of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 1st ser. vol. i. pp. 125-39. In a postscript Morrell announced his intention of publishing another book on New England.

 MORREN, NATHANIEL (1798–1847), Scottish divine, born in Aberdeen 3 Feb. 1798, was educated at the grammar school and at Marischal College, where he graduated M.A. in 1814. He became a tutor at Fort George; subsequently taught at Caen, France; studied theology in the universities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh; was licensed by the presbytery of Aberdeen in October 1822; appointed minister of Blackhall Street (afterwards North) Church, Greenock, in June 1823; translated to the first charge of Brechin September 1843; and died of apoplexy 28 March 1847. He was a devoted minister, and a good scholar. The work by which he is best known is his ‘Annals of the General Assembly from 1739 to 1766,’ 2 vols. Edinburgh, 1838–40, which has been much quoted by subsequent historians of the Scottish church. He was also the author of ‘Biblical Theology,’ Edinburgh, 1835; ‘My Church Politics,’ Greenock, 1842; ‘Dialogues on the Church Question,’ Greenock, 1843; and of various articles in Kitto's ‘Biblical Encyclopædia’ and Macphail's ‘Ecclesiastical Journal.’ He annotated a pocket edition of the Bible, 1845; translated from the German Rosenmuller's ‘Biblical Geography of Central Asia;’ and, along with others, edited the ‘Imperial Family Bible.’

 MORRES, HERVEY MONTMORENCY (1767–1839), United Irishman, eldest son of Matthew Montmorency Morres and Margaret, second daughter of Francis Magan of Emo, co. Westmeath, was born at Rathailean Castle, co. Tipperary, on 7 March 1767. At the age of fifteen he entered the Austrian service. He served as ensign under Field-marshal Lacy against the Turks, distinguishing himself at the siege of Belgrade in 1788, and was transferred with the rank of lieutenant into Count Kavanagh's regiment of cuirassiers. He subsequently served 