Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 06.djvu/356

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MONTGOMERYSHIIIE 294 MONTPELIER northern Continental forces. He reduced Fort Cherokee, took Montreal and fell Dec. 31, 1775, in attack on Quebec. A monument was erected to his memory in front of St. Paul's Church, New York City. MONTGOMERYSHIBE, a county of north Wales situated between Shropshire on the E. and Merioneth and Cardigan on the W. It has a total area of about 800 square miles, of which the larger part is mountainous. In the valleys are grown considerable quantities of wheat, oats, and barley. There are important mines in the county from which copper, lead, and zinc are obtained. There are also slate and limestone quarries. On the higher lands there is a large amount of pasturage, and cattle and sheep raising are important industries. The principal streams in the county are the Severn and Wye. The capital of the county is Mont- gomery, but the county business is chief- ly carried on at Welshpool and Newton. Pop. about 53,000. MONTH, in astronomy, properly the time in which the moon makes one com- plete revolution round the earth, or ap- pears to return to precisely the same point in the heavens from which it started. This may be from change to change, from full moon to full moon, or in an Indefinite number of other ways. The time of the revolution now de- scribed is properly 29 days. 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 3 seconds. Twelve periods, called lunar months, fall short of a year by about 11 days. Lunar months were used by the ancient Jews, as they still are by their modern successors and by the Mohammedans. Also a solar month; the period for the passage of the sun through one of the signs of the zodiac. Twelve of these periods constitute a year. In law, formerly the word month in a statute meant a lunar month, but it was made to signify calendar months unless otherwise expressly designated. Anom- alistic month, the time taken by the moon in passing from one perigee to the next, viz., 27 days, 13 hours. 18 minutes, and 37.4 seconds. Nodical month, the time taken by the moon in revolving from one node to the same node again, VIZ., 27 days, 5 hours, 5 minutes, and 36 seconds. Sacred month: suggested at Chartist Convention, London, 1838, during which the working classes were to ab- stain from labor to compel the govern- ment to concede the Charter. Sidereal month, the time taken by the moon in passing from one star to the same star again, viz., 27 days, 7 hours, 43 minutes, 11.5 seconds. Tropical or periodic month, the time taken by the moon in passing from any point of the ecliptic to the same point again, viz., 27 days, 7 hours, 43 minutes, 4.7 seconds. MONTICELLO, the former residence of Thomas Jefferson, in Albemarle co., Va., near Charlottesville. The great statesman is buried in a small private graveyard adjoining the road leading to the house. MONTMARTRE (mowfir-martr'), for- merly a village of France, department of Seine, now a part of Paris, on a conical hill, a center for literary and artistic Bohemians. The name is derived by som.e from Mons Martis, the site of a temple to Mars; and by others from Mons Martyrum, because it was the scene of the martyrdom of St. Denis and his three companions. The Northmen pillaged it in 887, and Louis VI., "the Fat" (1108-1137), formed a Benedictine abbey. Combats between the allied ar- mies and the French took place on the heights, of which Blucher gained posses- sion, March 30, 1814. MONTMORENCY, a river of Quebec, a tributary of the St. Lawrence, famous for its beautiful falls, 8 miles N. E. of Quebec. Here the stream is 100 feet wide, and the falls have a sheer descent of 250 feet. MONTMORENCY (mong-md-rong-se) , the name of one of the oldest and most illustrious of French families, the found- er of which was Bouchard, one of the great feudatories of the 10th century. Of its members are: Mathieu, grand constable 1130, regent during the crusade 1147, died in 1160. Mathieu, grandson of the latter, called the "Great Con- stable," served in the crusade against the Albigenses, died in 1230. Charles, Mar- shal of France, and Governor of Nor- mandy, died in 1381. Anne, Constable of France, bom in 1493, companion-in- arms and in captivity of Francis I., 1525-1526, gained the battle of Dreux against the Calvinists, 1562, and that of St. Denis, where he fell in 1567. Henri I., second son of Anne, bom 1544, fought with his father, and was created Marshal of France in Piedmont, 1566. Henry IV. made him constable, 1593; died in 1614. Henri II., son of the latter, born in 1595, was named admiral by Louis XII., and distinguished himself against the Calvin- ists. He was beheaded, after opposing Richelieu, in 1632. His sister, Char- lotte Marguerite, became wife of the second Henri, Prince de Conde, and mother of the great Conde; died in 1650. MONTPELIER, a city, county-seat of Washington co., and capital of the State