Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/816

 798 MONZA MOON born in Paris, Dec. 23 or 26, 1733, died there, Dec. 29, 1820. He was successively intendant of the provinces of Provence, Auvergne, and Aunis. As member of the royal council he pro- tested against the dissolution of ancient par- liaments decreed by Chancellor Maupeou, and was deprived of his office. Soon after the ac- cession of Louis XVI. he was appointed coun- cillor of state, became in 1780 chancellor of the count d'Artois (afterward Charles X.), em- igrated to England on the breaking out of the revolution, and did not return until the second restoration. He possessed a princely fortune, and devoted the larger portion to philanthro- pic purposes, founding prizes, assisting his exiled countrymen, and bequeathing to French hospitals over 3,000,000 francs. Every year the French academy distributes two Mon- ty on prizes on a foundation of 10,000 francs each : one to the poor person who has per- formed the most meritorious deed of virtue ; the other to the author of the work most useful for the improvement of public morals. Two others of equal amount are awarded by the academy of sciences: one to him who shall have found during the year some im- provement of the medical and surgical art; the other to him who shall have discovered the means of rendering some mechanical art less unhealthy. Montyon published an filoge du chancelier de VHopital (Paris, 1777) ; Becher- cJies et considerations sur la population de la France (1778) ; an essay on the influence of the discovery of America upon Europe, which won a prize at the French academy; Quelle influence ont les diverses especes d'imptite sur la morality Vactimte et Mndustrie des peuples ? (1808) ; and some other writings. MONZA, a city of Italy, in Lombardy, on the river Lambro, which divides it into almost equal parts, 9 m. N. N. E. of Milan; pop. about 16,000. Monza was once walled and defended by a castle ; the walls are now levelled. The most important building is the cathedral, founded by Queen Theodelinda in 595, and reconstructed in the 13th and 14th centuries. It contains many relics of the Lombard kingdom, of which Monza was the capital. The most celebrated relic is the iron crown which was used for the coronation of the kings of Lombardy and the emperors who subsequently claimed that title. It is mainly of gold, and takes its name from a thin band of iron, said to have been ham- mered from a nail of the true cross. Napoleon I. was the first who wore it after the emperor Charles V. It was carried off by the Austrians in 1859, but was returned in 1866. The palace of Monza is surrounded by a celebrated park. MOODY, a 8. E. county of Dakota, bordering on Minnesota, recently formed, and not inclu- ded in the census of 1870 ; area, 528 sq. m. It is intersected by the Big Sioux river, and lies partly on the Plateau du Coteau des Prairies. MOOLTAN, or Multan, a city of British India, in the Punjaub, 193 m. S. W. of Lahore, with which it is connected by railway, and 3 m. from the left bank of the river Chenaub ; pop. about 60,000. It is 3 m. in circumference, and has lofty houses but narrow streets, and the nu- merous bazaars and shops are also narrow. It is overlooked on the north by a fortress, whose walls, which are 40 ft. high on the out- Tomb of Eookum Alum, Mooltan. side, have 30 towers. In one of the angles of its interior is a large pagoda, supposed to 'be 1,000 years old, containing the graves of Koo- kum Alum and many of his descendants. The local and foreign trade is extensive. The sta- ple manufactures are silks, cottons, shawls, longees, brocades, and tissues. In the vicinity are extensive fruit gardens, and many ruins of tombs and of religious edifices. It is one of the most ancient cities of Hindostan. The English gained possession of it in 1849, after expelling the Sikhs. MOON, the satellite of the earth, the nearest of the heavenly bodies to us. It is an opaque spheroid 2,159*8 m. in diameter, shining by re- flecting the light of the sun. Situated at an aver- age distance of 238,818 m., the moon revolves about the earth in 27'32166 days, this being her mean sidereal revolution. To this motion are due her monthly phases. The course of these, however, is only completed in a lunar month, or synodical devolution, the mean length of which amounts to 29*53059 days. For the phases depend on the moon's position with respect to the sun, which is constantly advancing in the direction of her motion; so that, after completing 360 of her orbit, she has the whole amount of the sun's monthly progress, which is an arc of about 29, to pass over be- fore she can complete her course of phases.