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 782 MONTESQUIEU MONTEVIDEO later, succeeding his uncle in that office. He applied himself scrupulously to its duties, though chiefly devoted to the pursuits of lit- erature. A literary and musical society formed at Bordeaux in 1716 was through his influence transformed into an academy of sciences, to which he .contributed memoirs chiefly on natu- ral history until almost entire blindness for- bade this study. Among his early writings were dissertations on the physical history of the earth (1719) and on the policy of the Romans in their religion. His first work that attract- ed general attention was the Lettres persanes (1721). It consists of letters purporting to have been written by a Persian travelling in France, assailing beneath a transparent veil the whole system of principles prevalent in church and state. It abounds in paradoxes, -jests, and sprightly satire, and also in profound views of law, commerce, and social problems. In 1726 he retired from the duties of the magistracy to devote himself solely to literature ; was re- ceived into the French academy in 1728, hav- ing overcome the opposition of Cardinal Fleury by modifying obnoxious passages in his Let- tres persanes ; and soon after began to travel through Europe to collect materials for an elaborate work on politics and jurisprudence, spending about two years in England, where he became a member of the royal society. He returned to La Brede after an absence of four years, and after two years of retirement pub- lished his Considerations sur les causes de la grandeur et de la decadence des Romains (Paris, 1734). His great work, De V esprit des lois (2 vols., 1748), was the result of 20 years of la- bor; 22 editions were issued in 18 months, and it was translated into most of the Euro- pean tongues. It ultimately became the ora- cle of the friends of moderate freedom, as distinguished from the followers of Rousseau. Montesquieu passed the latter part of his life alternately at La Brede and Paris. Among his minor writings are academical discourses ; the Dialogue de Sylla et d>Eucrate, an explana- tion of the political conduct of Sulla; the Tem- ple de Guide, a romance of classical antiquity ; and an Essai sur le gout, written for the Ency- clopedic. The most complete editions of his works are those of Lef&vre (6 vols., Paris, 1816)' and Lequieu (8 vols., 1819, and with the eloges by D'Alembert and Villemain, 1827). A new edition of Nugent's translation of the u Spirit of the Laws," with D'Alembert's me- moir of Montesquieu, was published in Cin- cinnati in 1873. MONTEVERDE, Claudio, an Italian composer, born in Cremona about 1565, died in Venice in 1649. He composed both secular and ecclesi- astical music, but was particularly celebrated for his motets and madrigals, of the latter of which he produced five books. MONTEVIDEO, a city, capital of Uruguay, South America, and of the department of its own name, on the N. shore of the estuary of the Rio de la Plata, 130 m. E. S. E. of Buenos Ayres, in lat. 34 53' S., Ion. 56 15' W. ; pop. in 1872, 105,296. It is built on a gentle eleva- tion, at the extremity of a tongue of land jut- ting, into the bay, and is defended by a citadel mounting 20 guns. It comprises two divi- sions, the old and the new town, between which traces of the old wall are still visible. A mountain in the rear, to which it owes its Montevideo. name, is surmounted by an antique Spanish castle. The streets are very regular, well paved, and lighted with gas. The houses are substantial ; many of them have two and even three stories. Excellent water is brought from a distance of 34 m. The principal square, with an area of two acres, is tastefully planted with trees and flowers, and has a superb fountain. On the S. side is the parish church, with turrets 225 ft. above the level of the bay ; and on the N. side is the cabildo, containing the law courts, senate house, and prison. The government