he had been the first to explore. Drifting down the Amazon river, they reached Para in the autumn of 1689. Cristobal d'Acunha went immediately to Cadiz to publish the relation of the expedition, while Mouraille returned to Quito across the con- tinent with only two negroes and four Indians. He went afterward to Bahia, where he became rector of the college of the Jesuits, and at his death was provincial of the order. He published " I)e- 5cribimiento de las Provincias del Rio de las Ama- zonas " (Quito, 1647).
MOUSSE, John de la, French missionary. He
was a missionary in South America from 1(J84 till
1691. Most of this time was spent in French
Ouiana, where his zeal was indefatigable and
where he braved innumerable dangers, being at-
tacked almost every year by the fever of the coun-
try, which is generally fatal. His works, most of
which are preserved in manuscript in the library
of Lyons, are " Relation du second voyage du P.
Jean de la Mousse, chez les Indiens de la riviere de
Sinamary en 1684" ; "Relation du troisieme voy-
age du meme, chez les Galibis, en 1686 " ; " Lettres ecrites de Cayenne, en 1686 " ; and " Relation du
voyage du P. Jean de la Mousse, dans les isles de
I'Amerique et dans la terre-ferme, pendant les
annees 1688, 1689, 1690, et 1691."
MOUSSEAU, Joseph Alfred, Canadian statesman, b. in Lower Canada in July, 1838. He was educated at Berthier academy, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1860, and created a Queen's
counsel in 1873. He was elected for Bagot to the Dominion parliament in 1874, re-elected in 1878, and again in 1882. He was sworn of the privy council, became its president in November,
. and was appointed secretary of state, 20 May,
. He resigned his sea^ in the Dominion parliament, 29 July, 1882, to become premier of Quebec, and was appointed attorney-general, 31 July,
. He was elected for Bagot to the provincial
parliament, 26 Aug., 1882. He declined a judge-
ship in Manitoba in 1871. He is a writer for the
press, and was one of the founders of " Le coloni-
sateur " newspaper in 1862, and of " L'Opinion
publique " in 1870. He published " Cardinal et
Duquet, victimes de 1837- '8" (Montreal, 1861),
•and a pamphlet in defence of confederation (1867).
MOUTON, Alexander (moo-ton), senator, b. in
Attakapas (now Lafayette) parish. La., 19 Nov.,
1804 ; d. near Lafayette, La., 12 Feb., 1885. He
was graduated at Georgetown college, D. C, studied
law, was admitted to the bar in 1825, and began to
practise in his native parish. The following year
he was elected to the lower branch of the state
legislature, and he was re-elected for three con-
secutive terms. In 1831-'2 he was speaker of that
body. He was chosen presidential elector in 1828,
1832, and 1836, and was again sent to the legisla-
ture in the latter year. In January, 1837, he was
elected to the U. S. senate to fill the vacancy caused
by the resignation of Alexander Porter, and he
was subsequently chosen for the full term of six
years. On 1 March, 1842, he resigned to accept
the nomination of governor of Louisiana, to which
office he was elected, discharging its duties till
1846. He was president of the Southwestern rail-
road convention in January, 1853, and delegate to
the National Democratic conventions of 1856 and
, and to the Louisiana secession convention of
. of which latter body he was chosen president.
At an election held to choose two senators to the
Confederate senate, 29 Nov., 1861, he was defeated,
and he then retired to his plantation, where he af-
terward resided. — His son, Jean Jacques Alex-
andre Alfred, soldier, b. in Opelousas, St. Landry
parish. La., 18 Feb., 1829 ; d. in Mansfield, De Soto
parish. La., 8 April, 1864, was graduated at the
U. S. military academy, 1 July, 1850, but resigned
in the following September. Returning to Louisi-
ana, he was assistant engineer of the New Orleans,
Opelousas and Great Western railroad, 1852-3, and
brigadier-general of Louisiana militia, 1850-'61.
At the beginning of the civil war he recruited a
company among the farmers of Lafayette parish,
where he was then residing, and soon afterward
accepted the colonelcy of the 18th Louisiana regi-
ment. He commanded it at the battle of Shiloh,
and was severely wounded. He also took part in
the expedition that captured Berwick Bay, La., in
, was in the engagement at Bisland on the
Teche, and was killed at the battle of Mansfield,
La., where he was in command of a division, when
leading his men in an attack. He had been suc-
cessively promoted brigadier- and major-general in
the Confederate service.
MOWAT, Oliver, Canadian statesman, b. in
Kingston, Ont., 22 July, 1820. His father, John
Mowat, a native of Caithness-shire. Scotland, served
through the peninsular war, and came to Canada
in 1816. Oliver was educated in Kingston, subse-
quently studied law, was called to the bar of
Upjjer Canada in 1841, and was created a Queen's
counsel in 1856. He established himself in Toronto,
and obtained an extensive chancery practice. He
represented South Ontario in the Canada assembly
from 1857 till 1864, and unsuccessfully opposed
John A. Macdonald for Kingston in 1861. He
was provincial secretary in the Brown-Dorion ad-
ministration from 2 to 6 Aug., 1858, postmaster-
general in the Sandfield Macdonald-Dorion govern-
ment from May, 1863, till March, 1864, and held
the same office in the coalition government from
June, 1864, till 14 Nov., the same year. He was
then appointed vice-chancellor of Upper Canada,
which post he resigned, 25 Oct., 1872, and formed
anew administration in Ontario, becoming premier
and attorney-general of that province. He was
elected by acclamation for North Oxford to the
Ontario parliament in November, 1872, and re-
elected in 1879, 1883, and 1886. In July, 1896. he
became a senator. Mr. Mowat is a bencher ex-officio
of the Law society of Ontario, was a commissioner
for consolidating the general statutes for Canada
and Upper Canada, respectively, in 1856, and was
a delegate to the Quebec union conference in
. As vice-chancellor he was one of the judi-
cial officers that were appointed to report upon
estate bills in the Ontario asseuibly. He has been
president of the Evangelical alliance of Ontario
since 1867, a member of the senate, and has re-
ceived the degree of LL. D. from Toronto univer-
sity. Mr. Mowat is the author of many important
legislative measures in the provincial parliament,
among which is the judicature bill, an act for the
fusion of law and equity in the courts of Ontario.
He is a Liberal in politics, an effective public speak-
er, and has been a cautious, intelligent, and success-
ful administrator of the government of his native
province. At the Queen's jubilee he was knighted.
— His brother, John Bower. Canadian educator,
b. in Kingston, 8 June, 1825. was graduated in
arts in 1845, and studied theology for two sessions
at Queen's university, Kingston, and for a similar
period in Edinburgh. After holding pastorates
he was appointed in 1857 professor of Hebrew,
Chaldee, and Old Testament exegesis at Queen's
university, Kingston. He received the degree of
D. D. from Glasgow university in 1883.
MOAVATT, Anna Cora, author, b. in Bordeaux, France, in 1819; d. near London, England, 28
