Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/810

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792 MONTMORENCY MONTPELIER

(1629), which terminated the last of the religious civil wars in France. In the same year he distinguished himself in Italy, and was finally made a marshal. After his return he joined Gaston of Orleans in his rebellion, and assembled his troops while Gaston was entering the kingdom from Lorraine at the head of a few thousand adventurers; but in the battle of Castelnaudary, Sept. 1, 1632, he was deserted by his ally and taken prisoner. He was sentenced to death by the parliament of Toulouse, and by order of Richelieu publicly beheaded in the great square. His life was written by Ducros, one of his officers (4to, 1633). III. Matthieu Jean Félicité, viscount and afterward duke de Montmorency-Laval, born in Paris, July 10, 1767, died there, March 24, 1826. He served in the American war, and was a deputy in 1789 to the constitutional assembly, where, during the famous night of Aug. 4, he was among the foremost to move for the spontaneous renunciation of feudal privileges and titles of nobility. Alarmed by the progress of the revolution, he emigrated in 1792, and returned in 1795, but kept aloof from politics, and lived on terms of intimate friendship with Mmes. de Staël and Récamier. He received no favors from Napoleon, but on the return of the Bourbons was appointed aide-de-camp to the count of Artois and peer of France, and on Dec. 24, 1821, minister of foreign affairs. He and Chateaubriand were the French plenipotentiaries at the congress of Verona, and on his return he was made governor to the infant duke of Bordeaux. Although he had no literary merit, he was elected in 1825 a member of the French academy. He died while at prayer in church.

MONTMORENCY, François de. See Bouteville.

MONTOUR, an E. central county of Pennsylvania, intersected in the south by the N. branch of the Susquehanna river, and drained by Chillisquaque, Mahanouring, and Big Roaring creeks; area, 210 sq. m.; pop. in 1870, 15,344. Its surface is traversed E. and W. by barren ridges, including Montour's and Limestone ridges and Muncy hills. There are several mines producing large quantities of iron. The valleys are fertile. It is traversed by the North Branch canal, and by the Catawissa railroad, passing through Danville. The chief productions in 1870 were 111,384 bushels of wheat, 176,941 of Indian corn, 179,518 of oats, 54,241 of potatoes, 192,048 lbs. of butter, and 10,142 tons of hay. There were 1,692 horses, 2,340 milch cows, 1,736 other cattle, 2,809 sheep, and 5,697 swine; 2 manufactories of forged and rolled iron, 3 of pig iron, 5 of castings, 2 breweries, 5 flour mills, 4 saw mills, and 8 tanneries. Capital, Danville.

MONTPELIER, a town of Washington co., Vermont, capital of the county and state, situated on the Onion river, here spanned by a substantial bridge, and on the Central Vermont and the Montpelier and Wells River railroads, 150 m. N. N. W. of Boston, in lat. 44° 17′ N., lon. 72° 36′ W.; pop. in 1870, 3,023. It is built on a plain near the centre of the state, and is surrounded by a highly cultivated hilly country. The principal village is compactly built. The state house is a fine edifice of light-colored granite, erected at a cost of $150,000 on the site of the former capitol, which was burned in 1857. It stands on a slight eminence, approached from a common by granite steps in terraces. It is built in the form of a cross, the main building being 72 ft. long and each of the wings 52 ft. The main building is 113 ft. deep, and 124 ft. high to the top of the dom'e, which is surmounted by a graceful statue of Ceres. The court house is also a fine structure. Montpelier has an active trade with the surrounding country, and contains several flour mills, saw mills, tanneries, an iron foundery, an extensive machine shop, and manufactories of sash and blinds, carriages, cabs and sleds, hats and caps, furniture, &c. There are two banks, three insurance companies, nine public and three private schools, four weekly newspapers (two of which publish a daily edition during the session of the legislature), and seven churches. The state library contains 14,690 volumes. The town is the seat of the Vermont Methodist seminary and female college, organized in 1869. A history of Montpelier by D. P. Thompson was published in 1860 (8vo, Montpelier).

State Capitol, Montpelier.