Life by J.W.  Mackail (2 vols., 1899), The Books of W. Morris, Forman, etc.

MORTON, THOMAS (1764-1838).—­Dramatist, b. in Durham, came to London to study law, which he discarded in favour of play-writing.  He wrote about 25 plays, of which several had great popularity.  In one of them, Speed the Plough, he introduced Mrs. Grundy to the British public.

MOTHERWELL, WILLIAM (1797-1835).—­Poet, b. and ed. in Glasgow, he held the office of depute sheriff-clerk at Paisley, at the same time contributing poetry to various periodicals.  He had also antiquarian tastes, and a deep knowledge of the early history of Scottish ballad literature, which he turned to account in Minstrelsy, Ancient and Modern (1827), a collection of Scottish ballads with an historical introduction.  In 1830 he became ed. of the Glasgow Courier, and in 1832 he coll. and pub. his poems.  He also joined Hogg in ed. the Works of Burns.

MOTLEY, JOHN LOTHROP (1814-1877).—­Historian, b. at Dorchester, a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, was ed. at Harvard, where O.W.  Holmes (q.v.), afterwards his biographer, was a fellow-student.  After graduating he went to Europe, studied at Goettingen and Berlin, and visited Italy.  On his return he studied law, and was admitted to the Bar in 1837.  He did not, however, practise, and was in 1840 sent to St. Petersburg as Sec. of Legation.  Meanwhile, having pub. two novels, Morton’s Hope and Merry Mount, which had little success, he turned to history, and attracted attention by some essays in various reviews.  Having decided to write an historical work on Holland, he proceeded in 1851 to Europe to collect materials, and in 1856 pub. The Rise of the Dutch Republic.  It was received with the highest approval by such critics as Froude and Prescott, and at once took its place as a standard work.  It was followed in 1860 by the first two vols. of The United Netherlands.  The following year M. was appointed Minister at Vienna, and in 1869 at London.  His latest works were a Life of Barneveldt, the Dutch statesman, and A View of ... the Thirty Years’ War.  M. holds a high place among historical writers both on account of his research and accuracy, and his vivid and dramatic style, which shows the influence of Carlyle.

MOULTRIE, JOHN (1799-1874).—­Poet, ed. at Eton and Camb., took orders and was Rector of Rugby.  He wrote several books of poetry, his best known pieces are My Brother’s Grave, and Godiva.

MULOCK, DINAH MARIA (MRS. CRAIK) (1826-1887).—­Novelist, dau. of a Nonconformist minister of Irish descent.  Beginning with stories for children, she developed into a prolific and popular novelist.  Her best and most widely known book is John Halifax, Gentleman (1857), which had a wide popularity, and was translated into several languages.  Others are The Head of the Family, Agatha’s Husband, A Life for a Life, and Mistress and Maid.  She also wrote one or two vols. of essays.