the Britons was included in the territory occupied by the Ordovices; and, on the prevalence of the imperial arms over the aboriginal inhabitants, was, with other parts of the island lying west of the Severn, comprised in the province of Britannia Secunda. Montgomeryshire is bounded on the north by Denbighshire, by Shropshire on the east and north-east, on the south-east by Radnorshire, on the south-west by Cardiganshire, and by Merionethshire on the west. The dimensions have been variously given; but the most accurate statement seems to be that which makes the length north to south, and from the extremities of Llangurig, on the borders of South Wales, to Pistyl Rhaiads, a noted cataract in the Berwyn hills, thirty-five miles; and its breadth, east to west from Montgomery to Machynleath, thirty miles; comprising, according to Templeman's statement, 444,800 acres. By computation 560,000; but by a recent survey, taken from Evans's map of North Wales, the average appears to amount to 491,000. About 60,000 of these are arable; 180,000 under pasturage; and about 250,000 waste or in an uncultivated state, including woodlands and other plantations. It is divided into nine hundreds, viz. Llanfyllin, Deuddwr, Pool, Cawrse, Mathrafal, Machynleth, Llanydloes, Newtown, and Montgomery; comprising forty-seven parishes and seven markettowns, viz. Montgomery, a borough, and the county town, Welsh Pool, Llanfyllin, Llanfair, Machynleth, Newtown, and Llanydloes. For ecclesiastical jurisdiction it is distributed into three portions, part lying in the diocese of Bangor, part in St. Asaph, and part in Hereford; and all included in the province of Canterbury. It sends two representatives to the imperial parliament, one as knight of the shire, and the other as burgess of the borough of Montgomery. Its honorial distinctions are confined to two families; Powys Castle gives the title of an earldom to that of Clive, and Montgomery to that of Herbert. Owing to the great irregularity of surface, there arises a very considerable difference as to the state of climate in this county. The midland, western, and south-western parts, are unfavorable to the growth of corn, both from the ungenial nature of the soil, and the elevated exposure. The narrow valleys are more friendly to vegetation, and highly productive both in corn and grass. But the finest arable land lies on the eastern side of the county, bordering on Shropshire, where agriculture has of late years received considerable improvement, and the management of the land varies but little from that adopted in the adjacent county. The air of the hills is bleak, that of the confined valleys is frequently boisterous but highly salubrious; as the numerous instances of longevity, recorded on the stones 'that mark the humble annals of the poor,' abundantly testify. There are many orchards in the valleys abounding with fruit; yet all attempts to introduce them profitably in the highest parts of the district have hitherto proved abortive. The greater part of the county assumes a mountainous characteristic, and considerable portions exhibit strong features of forbidding sterility. A line, commencing at Pumlumon, or Plinlimmon, on the south-eastern part of the district, runs in a northwesterly direction between Llanbrynmair and Carns, to Llyn Gwyddior Lake; thence to Bwlch y Groes, where, near Aran Fowddior, it enters the adjacent county, through which it continues in nearly the same line, till it terminates in the valley of Festeniog. This has been termed the back bone of Montgomeryshire and Merionethshire. A person may walk this line of fifty miles in extent without crossing a rivulet, as it is the parting ridge of the eastern and western streams; and a farm-house in this line, near Drys y Nant, is so situated that the rain-water which falls on the western side of the roof flows into Cardigan Bay at Barmouth; and that which falls on the eastern side, flows into the Irish Sea at Chester Bar. The Freidden or Briedden hills form a noble group on the eastern side of the county; one of which, Moel y Golfa, stands most conspicuously pre-eminent; and Cefr y Castell little less so. On the south, the Biga mountains lying on the north side of the valley, through which the Severn flows, and a collateral branch of the Plinlimmon ridge, form a line of high table land several miles in extent. Besides these, numerous isolated hills and crags present themselves in almost every direction. The main streams that falls on the western side of the ridge are the Traeth-bach River, flowing through the valley of Festinoig; the Mau, watering the lowlands near Dolgelley; and the Dovey, which, passing the Vale of Machynleth, may be considered to a considerable extent as claimable by Montgomeryshire. On the western side of this geological spine are found the sources of the Wye, Severn, Vyrnwy, Tanat, Rhaiadr, Ceireog, and Dee. The last two have been noticed in Denbighshire, and the former four originate in this county. These, with several other secondary streams, run nearly in a parallel course towards the vale of Chester, or the plains of Salop. (The Wye is not here mentioned first for its being the most considerable river, but on account of placing the Severn in order with its contributary rivulets.) The Wye, rising on the south side of Plinlimmon, and taking an easterly course, is joined by the Bedw rivulet at Llangerrig; whence, flowing in a south-easterly direction, it soon leaves the county. The Severn rises on the side of Plinlimmon, and, as connected with this district, it may be proper to remark that the character of the Severn does not much assimilate with its mountainous origin, and it soon loses its native rapidity, forming long vales, and generally burying itself within deep banks. Its color is far less transparent than that of the Wye, nor does it in any respect equal that river in picturesque beauty or variety of grand scenery, though it is greatly superior in commercial importance, and the population of its several districts, with their rich plains and fine cities. Even at Llanydloes it ceases to be a torrent, and from thence it forms a delightful valley, more like the extensive vales of England than those stripes of cultivation which prevail within the mountains of Wales. Every appearance of fertility exists in this happy district; and agriculture, with its attendant population, contributes to enrich it. Many villages lie spread beneath the hills; the handsome town of Newtown adorns its banks; and the fragments of Montgomery Castle start forward on a high mount, sheltering the remains of a town once more considerable. As the Severn, turned apparently by this bulwark, inclines to the north, the vale expands greatly in front of the insulated hills of Brythen and Moelygolfa, while the river flows beneath the superb groves, lawns, and terraces of Powis Castle, to commence its commercial importance at the opulent town of Welsh Pool. Soon after it quits the source, the Severn receives the waters of three powerful streams, called assistant rivers, viz. the Bacho, the Glusslyn, and the Grayling. These also rise on the side of Plinliinmon, and, becoming confluent, concur with the larger stream of the Hasren to form the original Severn, previous to its receiving a copious contributary, called the Si or Se, near the town of Llanydloes. The Byrnwy, rising in the vicinity of Bylch y Groes, takes an easterly direction to the town of Llanfair; whence it suddenly turns to the north-east, and at Llanymynech changes its course again to gain the Severn, near Llandrinia. The Tanat, or Tanad, after having been joined by the Rhaiadr a little below the village of Llanrhaiadr, the latter coming in an easterly direction from the Berwyn mountains on the confines of Denbighshire, continues it course in a similar direction, then turns suddenly to the south, and becomes confluent with the Vyrnwy, near Llansaintfraid-ymmechen. A canal, forming a branch of the Ellesmere, passes through, or ratner penetrates, a portion of this county. The line subject to the control of the Montgomeryshire canal company, commences near Lanymynech lime-works, from which there is an iron railway about two miles and a half long, by which the limestone is conveyed to the boats. From thence it proceeds southerly, and is carried over the river Vyrnwy by means of an aqueduct, consisting of five arches, each forty feet in the span, and twenty-five feet above the ordinary surface of the water, exclusive of several collateral arches for the discharge of the surplus water brought down by the land floods in rainy seasons. Thence, passing Welsh Pool, it goes on to Garthmill, below Berhiew. The soil and substratum vary, but not to so great an extent as in some of the adjacent counties, the substance of the vales being chiefly of an argillaceous, and the mountains of a schistose nature. Thus the substance of Plinlimmon, or Severn range of hills, is chiefly an homogeneous shale, becoming friable in the air, and easily abraded by water, and in all probability contains but few ores of metals; therefore when held in solution, and afterwards deposited by water, it becomes the general matrix of vegetation. Northward from the Severn the mountains retain their shaly and friable character, a few isolated rocks excepted, quite up to the vale of Vyrnwy, where, on the north side, the gray semi-indurated mountain rock commences, and continues still northward to the vale of Tanat, which receives its soil deposition from the Berwyn range of mountains, consisting of argillaceous schistus. Thus it may be seen, that not only the fertility of the soil, but also the extent of a vale, depends upon the nature and quality of the mountains and rocks by which they are surrounded. The Severn vale acquired its present superiority of extent and fertility over those more northern, owing to the facility with which the diluvian tides excavated the friable shale of its surrounding eminence. All valleys at their sources, where the streams that water them flow rapidly, consist generally of a light gravelly soil; but the farther they extend, and the more expansive they become, from the waters proceeding nearly in a level in their course, the more loamy will be the sediment, and consequently the richer and more productive the soil. Limestone strata are rarely found in this district; the only limestone rocks of any consideration are in the vicinity of Llanymynech, the termination of a ridge which comes from the north-west of Anglesey, in a line through the counties of Caernarvon and Denbigh. Lead ore of various qualities and divers quantities has been discovered in many parts of this district. Slates are principally found in the vicinity of Llangynnog. From a stupenduous rock pre-eminently rising on the north side of the village are obtained those slates, which for strength and durability are celebrated for the purposes of roofing throughout this and the adjacent counties. In an angle of the county, at Coedwae, on the borders of Salop, a few coal-pits have been opened, capable of producing about twelve tons per day. The state of husbandry in this district is extremely various, owing to causes partially arising from the different nature of the soils, the confined prejudices of ignorant farmers, or the more enlightened views of liberal agriculturists. The manufacture of this county consists chiefly of flannels, which are principally manufactured in the south-west of the county. MONTH, n. s. Sax. mona; Tent. MONTH'S MIND, monat; Lat. mensis; MONTHLY, adj. & adv, Gr. unv. Four weeks, S or see below: month's mind is used by Shakspeare for strong desire: monthly is continuing; performed or occurring once in a month. Wher ye seyen not, that yit foure monthes ben; Till the expiration of your month, Shakspeare. King Lear. For if a trumpet sound, or drum beat, Id. I would ask concerning the monthly revolutions of the moon about the earth, or the diurnal ones of the earth upon its own axis, whether these have been finite or infinite. Bentley. MONTH, in its proper acceptation, is that space of time which the moon takes up in passing from any certain point to the same again, which is called a periodical month; or, it is the space of time between two conjunctions of the moon with the sun, which is called a synodical month. That space of time which the sun takes up in passing through one sign, or twelfth part of the zodiac, is also called (but improperly) a month. So that there are two sorts of months; lunar, which are measured by the moon (see CHRONOLOGY); and solar, which are measured by the sun. A solar month contains, upon a mean calculation, thirty days, ten hours, twenty-nine minutes, five seconds. The Jews, Greeks, and Romans, made use of lunar synodical months; but, to avoid fractions, they consisted alternately of twentynine and thirty days. The former, the Romans called cavi, and the Greeks yoλo; the latter were termed pleni and πλήρεις. MONTHS, GRECIAN. The months of the Athenian year consisted alternately of twenty-nine and thirty days. The first month, according to Meton's reformation of the kalendar, began with the first new moon after the summer solstice, and was called hecatombæon, answering to the latter half of June, and the former half of July. The order of the months, with the number of days of each, were as follows: Each month was divided into three decades of days called dexnμepa. The first was called Mnvoc axes or tape, or the decade of the beginning of the month; the second was Mŋvos μɛσ8vтog, or the decade of the middle; and the third was Μηνος φθίνοντος, παυομενα or λήγοντος, the decade of the expiring month. The first day of the first decade was termed Neoμnvia, because the first month began with the new moon; the second day was δευτερα, ιταμένο ; the third τριτη isaμev8, &c. The first day of the second decade was πρωτη μεσωνος, the second δευτερα μεσεντος, &c.-the days of this decade were also called πршTη eπɩ derα, devтepa enɩ deкa, &c. The first day of the third decade was wrŋ en' eiradi; the second day was deutɛpa en' eixadı, &c., i. e. the first, second, &c., after twenty, because the last decade began on the twentieth day. This decade was also counted by inversion thus: Fivovros dekarn the twenty-first; pivovтoç evvarη the twenty-second; porros oycon the twentythird; and so of the rest of the last day of the month, which was called evŋ kai via, the old and the new, because one part of that day belonged to the old and the other to the new moon; but after the time of Demetrius, the last day of the month was called from him Anuntpias; it sometimes was named roiakas. The Grecian months, thus consisting of twenty-nine and thirty days alternately, fell short of the solar year eleven days six hours. To remedy this defect, the cycle of four years, called Teтpairηpis, was invented. In this cycle, after the two first years, they added an intercalated month called μBoxiμos, consisting of twenty-two days; and again, after the expiration of two years more, they inserted another month of twenty-three days, the fourth part of a day having in the space of four years amounted to a whole year. See YEAR. MONTHS, HEBREW. The Hebrew months were ranged differently in their sacred and in their civil year. Order of the sacred Year. | Order of the civil Year. 1 Nisan 1 Tisri 2 Jair 3 Sivan 4 Thammuz 5 Ab 6 Elul 7 Tisri Answering to our Answering to our Mar. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Oct. 8 Jair Apr. May June 8 Marschevan 9 Casleu 10 Thebet 11 Sebat 12 Adar These months, being lunar, cannot exactly answer to our solar months; but every Jewish month must be conceived to answer to two of ours, and partake of both. As these twelve lunar months consisted only of 354 days, the Jews, in order to bring it nearer to the true year, took care every three years to intercalate a thirteenth month into the number, which they called ve-adar, or the second adar. The new moon was always the beginning of the month; and it is said the Jews had people posted on elevated places, to give notice to the Sanhedrim as soon as she made her appearance. After this, proclamation was made by sound of trumpet, and the feast of the new moon' resounded among the people. The ancient Hebrew months were of thirty days each, excepting the last, which consisted of thirty-five; so that the year contained 365 days, with an intercalary month at the end of 120 years, which, by absorbing the odd hours which remained at the conclusion of each year, brought it back nearly to its proper place. This regulation of the year was borrowed from the Egyptians. MONTHS, ROMAN. The Roman year under Romulus consisted of ten mot.ths only, and began with March, which contained thirty-one days, then followed April, which had thirty, May thirty-one, June thirty, Quintilis thirty-one, Sextilis thirty, September thirty, October thirty-one, November thirty, December thirty. These ten months containing no more than 304 days, this division was soon found deficient. Numa Pompilius, therefore, took away one day from each of these six months, April, June, Sextilis, September, November, December; and to the six days thus obtained he added fifty-one, which was the number that Romulus's year, in his opinion, wanted to make it perfect. Numa had now fiftyseven days to dispose of; he therefore divided them, and constituted two other months, January and February; the former consisting of twentynine and the latter of twenty-eight days. January, which he placed at the winter solstice, he made instead of March, to begin the year. Thus Numa's year consisted of 355 days; but, this being found eleven days six hours short of the solar year, he made use of the intercalation of ninety days at the expiration of eight years perpetually; which number, being made up of the eleven days and a quarter, kept the year pretty well to its place. The beginning of the year in Julius Cesar's time had anticipated its true place sixty-seven whole days; these he intercalated betwixt November and December; so that the year consisted of fifteen months, or 445 days. This reformation was called the Julian correction, and this year the year of confusion. At the end of twelve years, by the ignorance of priests, who did not understand intercalation, twelve days had been intercalated for nine. This was observed by Augustus, and rectified, by ordering twelve years to pass without any intercalary days. The order and succession of months was the same as that of Numa; but January, March, May, Quintilis, Sextilis, October, and December, had each thirty-one days; April, June, September, thirty; and February, in common years, twenty-eight, but every fourth year or bissextile twenty-nine. This, with a very little difference, is the account observed at present. Quintilis, in compliment to Julius Cæsar, was called July, because in this month he was born; and Sextilis, in honor of Augustus, was called August, both which names are still continued. See YEAR. Each month by the Romans was divided into kalends, nones, and ides, all of which were reckoned backwards, The kalends were the first day of the month. See KALENDAR. MONTJOYE, a town of Prussia, in the duchy of Juliers. It has a castle on an eminence; and a small stream, the Tigenbruch, divides the town. It is surrounded by steep rocks, and is situated in a barren district; but it has extensive woollen manufactures. Population 3200. Sixteen miles S. S. E. of Aix-la-Chapelle. MONTINIA, in botany, a genus of the tetrandria order, belonging to the dimecia class of plants. MALE perianth, of the male quadridented superior; petals four: FEMALE CAL. and COR. as in the male; filaments barren; style bifid; CAPS. oblong and bilocular. MONTMORENCI, or MONTMORENCY (Ann de), a peer, marshal, and constable of France, and one of the greatest generals of the sixteenth century. He defended, in 1512, the city of Menziers against the emperor Charles V., and obliged the count of Nassau to raise the siege. In 1513 he was made marshal of France; and, in 1525, following king Francis I. into Italy, he was taken with that prince at the battle of Pavia, which was fought contrary to his advice. The important services he afterwards rendered the state were rewarded by the sword of constable of France, with which he was presented by the king, February 10th, 1538. He afterwards underwent various revolutions of fortune both at court and in the field. At last, being wounded at the battle of St. Denis, which he gained on the 10th of November, 1567, he died of his wounds two days after, aged seventy-four. A cordelier offering to prepare him for death, when he was covered with blood and wounds, after the battle of St. Denis, he replied in a firm and steady voice: Do you think that a man who has lived nearly eighty years with honor, has not learnt to die for a quarter of an hour?' MONTMORENCI, a river of Canada, falling into the St. Lawrence about seven miles below Quebec. It runs altogether a very irregular course, through a thickly wooded country and over a bed of broken rocks, till it comes to the brink of a precipice, down which it descends in one beautiful uninterrupted and nearly perpendicular fall of 240 feet. The stream, except at the time of floods, is but scanty; but being broken into foam, by rushing with such rapidity as it does over the rocks at the top of the precipice, it is much dilated. The breadth at top, from bank to bank, is about fifty feet only. In its fall it is said to have the exact appearance of snow, as when thrown in heaps from the roof of a house. The spray at the bottom is considerable, and, when the sun happens to shine, the prismatic hues are exhibited in it in all their variety. MONTMORENCY-ENGHIEN, lately called Emile, the principal place of a canton in the department of the Seine-et-Oise, France, is a posttown with 1800 inhabitants, and situated on an eminence, which overlooks a valley celebrated for its fertility. The view is one of the most delightful that can be conceived, and the air pure and serene. There is a chateau in the neighbourhood, very finely situated, with an extensive park, intersected by the river Nôtre, and containing some excellent springs and plantations. The forest of Montmorency is near the town, at the extremity of which is the house once inhabited by J. J. Rousseau, called The Hermitage. In the chestnut grove adjoining, the towns-people and peasantry assemble to dance at the festival of the guardian saint of Montmorency on the two Sundays which follow the 28th of July. Near the pool of this town, in the valley, is a sulphureous spring, almost equal to that of Barège, which has been the occasion of a celebrated establishment of warm baths at Enghien. These are open from the fifteenth of June to the end of September, when the fine park of Saint Gratien, and the large lake of Montmorency, furnish the bathers with charming walks through plantations extending over more than 500 acres, and disposed after the English manner; while the expenses of the place are very moderate, considering the improvements that have been made. Coaches start for Paris several times in the day for the convenience of the visitors. Manufactures of lace and embroidery are carried on here: vegetable, fruits, and fruit-trees, especially cherries, are much cultivated, and there is some traffic in all these articles. The parish church is remarkable for its architecture and Gothic sculpture, the production of the sixteenth century. This place is fifteen miles south-east of Pontoise, and nine north of Paris. MONTPELIER, a post town of Washington county, Vermont, on Onion River; thirty-eight miles E. S. E. of Burlington, sixty north of Windsor, 120 S. S. E. of Montreil, 150 N.N. E. of Albany, 160 N. N.W. of Boston. It is the permanent seat of the state government, and the shire town of the county. The village is situated on the south-west part of the township, and coutains a commodious state-house built of wood, a court-house, a jail, an academy, two paper-miils, two carding machines, two clothiers' works, a printing-office, and about 100 dwelling-houses, the most of which are handsomely built. It is a flourishing place, and has considerable trade. But the site on which it is built is low, being surrounded by hills of considerable height. It is situated within ten miles of the centre of the state, and is a great thoroughfare. MONTPELLIER, or MONTPELIER, Mons Puellarum, a large and handsome city, the chief place of a prefecture of the same name, in the department of Herault, France, having a royal court for the departments of Herault, the Aude, the Aveyron, and the Eastern Pyrenees; an inferior court of justice, chamber of commerce, an agricultural society, an academy, faculties of medicine and science, an athenæum, a royal college, a veterinary school, and a bishopric. It is the first place of the ninth military division, and a post town, containing 32,000 inhabitants. It stands in a fine situation on a hill, at the foot of which flow the Lez and the Merdanson. The surrounding country is beautiful, adorned with elegantly built country houses, covered with gardens and orchards, and encircled with hills crowned with shrubberies and planted with vines and olives. The town is generally built of freestone; but most of the streets are narrow and steep, and the public squares are small and irregular; yet the general appearance of the place is pleasing. There are several beautiful parts, some fine fountains, a spacious esplanade, a noble botanical garden, a magnificent walk, and several well executed monuments. The history of Montpellier does not go farther back than the eighth century; before that epoch it was only a village formed out of the ruins of Maguelone, the bishopric of which was afterwards transferred hither. Charles Martel increased the number of its inhabitants and gave them a taste for commerce; in a few years it became an important town, and the reputation of its physicians was celebrated as early as the twelfth century. One of the daughters of William, the lord of this place, having married Peter II., king of Arragon, in 1204, it passed into the hands of the sovereigns of Majorca. Philip de Valois obtained possession of it in 1349; but a short time after Charles V. ceded it to Charles the Bad, king of Navarre, and it did not come into the possession of the kings of France until towards the end of the reign of Charles VI. Montpellier has been the theatre of many bloody tragedies on religious accounts. The Huguenots obtained it in the reign of Henry III., and established a republican government, which lasted till the year 1622: after that, having sustained a terrible siege, it submitted to Louis XIII., who caused a citadel to be built in it. It owes great part of its celebrity to its medical school, so much famed through all Europe, and which originated with the Arabs, who were driven out of Spain by the Goths and hospitably received by the earls of Montpellier. During seven centuries that it has been estab lished it has not belied its reputation, but always attracted a great number of students. There are here manufactures of cloth, woollen counterpanes, muslins, handkerchiefs, verdigris, mineral acids and other chemicals, soap, corks, liqueurs and perfumes; also cotton-spinning factories, numerous distilleries for brandy and other spirits, sugar refining-houses, tan yards, &c. A considerable trade is here carried on in wines, brandies, olive oil, citrons, oranges, dried fruits, leather, wool, copper, and verdigris. An institution has been set on foot for lending sum; of money without interest. The medical school has a fine amphitheatre, the marble seat in which was found the arena of Nimes, and a public library occupying several rooms, and containing 35,000 volumes; together with a number of very valuable manuscripts, an anatomical museum, and a public hall, decorated with busts. Among the other places worthy of notice may be mentioned the city public library, the museum of pictures, and the botanical garden, in which more than 8000 plants are cultivated. In one of the walks of this garden stands the tomb of Narcissa, Dr. Young's daughter. The promenade of Peyrou is very fine; it is a magnificent platform, surrounded with bulustrades, raised ten or twelve feet above another promenade, which surrounds it with its covered vista; the ascent is by steps, and you enter by a gate. At one end is a chateau with six fronts, adorned with pillars; within this building is a basin, from which a sheet of water falls in a cascade over a fine imitation of rocks into another basin below. The water is brought to it by a noble aqueduct of modern construction, built of freestone in the style of the ancients, consisting of three rows of arcades, one over the other, and crossing a valley about nine miles broad. The most magnificent prospect is enjoyed from this promenade. The assembly room is a building of great simplicity, capable of containing 2000 spectators. Besides these there are the exchange, the observatory, the tower of pines, the general infirmary, the fountain of Jacques Cœur, and the triumphal arch called the gate of Peyrou, of the Doric order. About five miles south of Montpellier, at the pool of Maguelonne, are to be seen the ruins of the town of that name. This city is situated in lat. 41° 36′ N., long. 1° 32′ E. from Paris, being about 598 miles south of that metropolis, forty south-west of Nêmes, seventy north-west of Avignon, and 126 W.N.W. of Marseilles. MONT-PERDU, a very lofty mountain in the Pyrenees, on the frontier of France and Spain. It is about 100 miles from the bay of Biscay, west, and considerably more from the Mediterranean; having a double summit, of which the higher is computed at 10,700, and the lower at 10,400 feet. The line of perpetual congelation begins here, 7500 feet. Adjoining is the great mountain of Marbore, and the remarkable cleft in its rocks, called la Breche de Roland. MONTREAL, an important town, or city, of Upper Canada, on the south side of the island of this name. It is divided into the Upper and Lower town, subdivided into wards. The streets are airy, and the new ones particularly com |