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Rh M U N M U N 31 which had long been subject to the same evils, were recon structed under similar schemes. The privileges of the cities in the United States illustrate the proposition that the history of every country must determine the type of its municipalities. In almost all parts of Europe the civic franchises arose out of some treaty or contract between the lord and his dependents ; in France, however, the character of the corporations was gradually modified as the communal system was extended to the rural districts. In the United States the French model has been followed with the addition of many improvements ; and where self-government has been impartially granted to the county, the township, and the village the purely muni cipal organization has lost its special significance. It is regarded in the American courts as a revocable agency established by the State (without contract or consideration for the grant) for the purpose of carrying out the necessary details of civil government among the inhabitants of an urban district. It is considered to have no vested right to any of its powers or franchises, which are only allowed to exist in furtherance of the design for which the munici pality was constituted, that object being the exercise in subordination to the legislature of certain minor powers of government over part of the territory of the State (see Philadelphia v. Fox, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Rep., vol. xiv.). Each city has the general powers of a corpora tion and no others, in the absence of special laws. It has executive functions and powers of legislation for civic pur poses, which are vested in the mayor and his subordinate officers, but it is not in any other way entrusted with judicial authority (see The Political Code of New York, titles 4, 5, ss. 947-8). Besides the authors cited above and the ordinary historical text-books, see Gneist, Self-Government ; and the work on Local Government by M. D. Chalmers, and the Memoranda by R. S. Wright there cited. For France, see Thierry, Lett res sur I histoire de France ; Leber, Pouvoir municipal, 1829 ; Clos, Regime mun icqa.il dans le Midi, 1853 ; Riviere, liienscommtinaux, &c., 1856 ; Bechard, Droit muni cipal; 8aa.Ty,Originedudroit municipalises. ForSpain, consult Marina, Teoria tie las Cortes, and Ensayo historico-critico, and compare the review on the latter work, Edinb. Rev., No. 43. For Germany and Italy, see ~Wida.,Gildenwesen, 1831 ; Hiillmann, Sttidtewesen, 182S ; Bethmann-Hollweg, Ursprung der Lombard. Sttidte- freiheit, 1846 ; Lambert, Die Entwickelung der Deutschen Stddteverfassung, 1865 ; Gaupp, Deutsche Stadtrechte, 1851 ; Horneyer, Stadtbilcher des Mittelalters, 1860 ; Gengler, Codex Juris Municipalis, 1867 ; and Maurer, Gesch. der Stadtn-erfassung in Deutschland, 1870-1871. (C. I. E.) MUNSTER. See IRELAND. MUNSTER, the chief town of the province of West phalia in Prussia and formerly the capital of the important bishopric of its own name, lies in a sandy plain about half way between Cologne and Bremen on the Aa, an insigni ficant affluent of the Ems. It is one of the best-preserved old towns in Germany, its quaint mediaeval character being most strongly impressed on the &quot;prinzipal-markt,&quot; with its lofty gabled houses, its arcades, the town -house, a fine Gothic building of the 14th century, and many churches. Of the latter the most important is the cathedral, one of the most original and striking structures in Germany, though much disfigured by modem decoration, rebuilt after a fire in the 13th and 14th centuries, and exhibiting a combination of Romanesque and Gothic forms ; the church of St Ludgerus, originally erected in the Romanesque style in 1170, was extended in the Gothic style in 1383, with a tower terminating in a picturesque lantern ; the Lieb- f rauenkirche is of the 1 4th century ; the old church of St Maurice, founded about 1070, was rebuilt in 1859-1862. The room in the town-house in which the peace of West phalia was signed in 1648 contains portraits of the am bassadors present at the ceremony. On the tower of St Lambert s church (14th century), the upper part of which has recently been pulled down as insecure, were hung three iron cages in which the bodies of John of Leyden and two of his followers were exposed in 1536 (see ANABAPTISTS). The old Stadtkeller contains a collection of early German paintings. The university of Minister, founded after the Seven Years War and closed at the beginning of this cen tury, is now represented by an academy with the rank of a university, possessing faculties of philosophy and theology (Roman Catholic). In connexion with it are botanical and zoological gardens, several scientific collections, and a library. The private houses of Miinster afford an ad mirable picture of German domestic architecture in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, Gothic, Renaissance, and Rococo. Miinster is the seat of a Roman Catholic bishop, of the headquarters of an army corps, and of the administrative and judicial authorities of Westphalia. The Westphalian Society of Antiquaries and several other learned bodies also have their headquarters here. The population in 1880 was 40,434, including about 6000 Protestants. The rela tive industrial importance of Miinster is no longer main tained, but manufactures of cotton, linen, and woollens, candles, leather, &c., are still carried on, and it is the centre of a tolerably brisk trade in these products, as well as in cattle, Westphalian hams, grain, and books. History. The first historical mention of Miinster takes us back to the close of the 8th century, when Charlemagne fixed &quot;Mime- gardevoord &quot; as the residence of the newly-appointed bishop of the Saxons. The growth of the settlement round the &quot; Monasterium &quot; was slow, owing to its distance from any navigable river or im portant highway, and it was not till 1180 that it received a municipal charter. The name Miinster had supplanted the ori ginal one about a century earlier. During the 13th century Miinster Avas one of the most important members of the Hanseatic League. At the time of the Reformation the citizens were inclined to adopt Protestantism, but the excesses of the ANABAPTISTS (q.v.) led to the armed intervention of the bishop and the forcible suppres sion of all divergence from the ancient faith. The Thirty Years War, during which Miinster suffered most from the Protestant armies, was terminated by the peace of Westphalia or Miinster, signed in the town-hall here on 24th October 1648. The authority of the bishops, who seldom resided at Miinster, was usually somewhat limited, but in 1661 Bishop Bernhard von Galen took the town by force, built a citadel, and deprived the citizens of most of their privileges. In the Seven Years War Miinster was occupied both by the French and by the allied troops. Towards the close of last century Miinster was recognized as one of the intellectual centres of Germany, being the home of Hemsterlmis, Princess Gallitzin, F. von Stolberg, Fiirstenberg, and other notabilities. The bishopric of Miinster, which possessed the freedom of the empire, embraced an area of 2500 square miles and contained about 350,000 inhabitants. In the 17th century Bishop Galen was of such importance he supported an army of 20,000 men that his alliance was sought by the English in 1665 in the war against Holland. The bishopric was secularized and annexed to Prussia in 1803. Comp. Geisberg, Merkwiirdigkeite.i der Stadt Miinster (6th ed., 1877) ; Erhard, Gt schichte Ministers (1837). MUNSTER, SEBASTIAN (1489-1552), Hebraist, geo grapher, and mathematician, was born at Ingelheim in the Palatinate in 1489. After studying at Heidelberg and Tiibingen, he entered the Franciscan order, but abandoned it for Lutheranism about 1529. Shortly afterwards he was appointed court preacher at Heidelberg, where also he lectured in Hebrew and Old Testament exegesis. From 1536 he taught at Basel, where he died of the plague on 23d May 1552. He was described on his tombstone as the Ezra and the Strabo of the Germans. Miinster, a disciple of Elias Levita, was the first German to edit the Hebrew Bible (2 vols. fol., Basel, 1534-1535) ; this edition was accompanied by a new Latin translation and a large number of annotations. He published more than one Hebrew grammar, and was the first to prepare a Grammatica Chaldaica (Basel, 1527). His lexicographical labours included a Dictionarium Chaldaicum (1527) and a Dictionarium Trilingue (Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, 1530). One of Miinster s best-known works was a geography book (Cosmo- graphia Univcrsalis, fol., Basel, 1544), which was often reprinted in Latin and frequently translated into German. Among his other writings (for which see the Eiogr. Generalc) are a treatise on dialling (Horologiographia, Basel, 1531), one on the planetary motions (Organum Uranicum, 1536), and a volume entitled Eudimcnta Mathematica (Basel, 1551). The notes on the Old Testament are incorporated in the Critici Sacri. MUNTJAK, one of the native names, now generally