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MORRIS. 24 MORRIS. 1871-74-75) ; the Epic of Uatlts (3 books, 187C- 77) ; Owen: A Drama in Monologue (1879) ; the Ode of Life (1880); !Sonys L'nsung (1883); Oycia: A Drama (1880); Songs of Britain (1887); A Vision of Saints (1890); Songs Without A'o<fs (1894); Idylls and Lyrics ( 1896) ; and Harvest-Tide ( 1901 ) . To the critic, Morris writes slight and easy verse on preten- tions tlieines. But ho lias been exceedingly popul:ir. MORRIS, Mary (Phiui>se) (1730-1825). One of the celebrated Philijjse family, born in the Philipse manor house on the Hudson. She possessed much personal beauty, and. according to tradition, she received an oli'cr of marriage from Washington! whom she met in 1756 while visiting her brother-in-law Beverly Robinson in New York. Two years later she married Captain Roger Morris, an English ollicer, and lived for many years in an elegant mansion — now known as the .Juniel mansion — on tlu- out- skirts of New York. When the Revolution broke out, she remained loyal to the Crown, and as a result she was attainted of treason and her prop- erty was confiscated. Her mansion was subse- ijuently used by General Washington as his head- quarters. In 1809 her children sold their rever- sionary rights in the conliscated property to .lohn .Tacob Astor for .$100,000. In recognition of her loyalty, the English Government made her a grant "of $S5,000. MORRIS, iliciiAEL, Baron Killanin (1827- 1901). An Irish jurist. He was born in Gal- way; studied at Trinity College. Dublin; and was called to the bar. Ills great popularity made his advance in politics very rapid. He was elected to Parliament in ISfio as a Conser- vative; was named Solicitor-General of Ireland in 1866, a puisne judge in the following year, and after the abolition of his post of Chief •lustiee of Common Pleas. Lord Chief .Justice. In 1900 he retired from the bench, and the same year was made an hereditary baron. MORRIS, RiciiARi) (1833-94). An English philologist. He was Ikuii in London, was edu- cated at Saint .John's College. Battersea. in 1869 became lecturer on the English language and literature in King's College School, and in 1871 took holy orders. Four years later he was made headmaster of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys. He edited a number of publications for the Early English Text Society, the Chaucer Societj', and the Philnlogical Society : and in 1874 was elected presiilent of the latter. Besides his editions of early English works, he pub- lished: The EliimdUigy (if Lmiil y<imrs ( 18o7 ) ; Specimens of Early English (1867); Historical Outlines of English Accidence (1872); Elc- mentiry Lessons in Historical English Orammar (l.'<7lt: I'riiner of English (Irammar (1875). MORRIS, RonERT (17341806). An eminent American financier and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He was born at Liverpool. England. .Tanuary 31. 1734. At the ape of fourteen he was sent to America and placed in the counting house of Charles Willing, a rich Philadelphia merchant, whose partner he became in 1754. continuing as such until 1793. The firm of Willing & Morris became one of the lending mercantile cstalilisbnients in America, and by the outbreak of the Revolutionary War Morris had already acquired a large fortune. Although naturally averse to a rupture with Great Britain, he sacrificed his personal inter- ests, signed the nonimportation agreement of 1705, and served as a member of the citizens' committee that compelled the stamp distributer for Philadelphia practically to relinquish his ollice. In .June, 1775, he became a member of the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety; in October of the same year he was elected to a seat in the Legislature of Pennsylvania (to which he was reelected in 1776), and in November he was appointed by that body a delegate to the Con- tinental Congress. All three of these offices were held by him at the same time. As a mem- ber of Congress he served on several important committees and signed the Declaration of Inde- pendence, although he had opposed IvCe's resolu- tion of .lune 7th and absented himself from the Congressional hall on .July 4th, when the final vote was taken. At the expiration of his term in Congress, in 1778. he was elected again to the State Legislature, but on account of miscel- laneous charges against him in connection with his mercantile operations, he failed of reelection in the following year. In October, 1780, how- ever, he was returned to the Legislature for the fourth time. It was at this time that the for- tunes of the Colonial Army reached their lowest ebb. Charleston had fallen ; Gates had been de- feated by Cornwallis ; Arnold's treachery cast gloom on the country-. Munitions and supplies were sadly wanting, and Continental currency had depreciated vmtil it was worth but little more than the paper on which it was printed. In this almost desperate situation. Congress resolved to supersede the old treasury board by a superin- tendent of finance. Morris was chosen to the position February 20. 1781, at a salary' of $6000 a year, and receivi'd large powers over the finances of the Confederation. His chief pro- gramme was to relieve the situation by import duties, loans and subsidies from France, and to inaugurate a policy of retrenchment. He was unable, however, to carry out the first part of his scheme on account of the refusal of the States to confer the necessary jiower ujion Congress for the laying of import duties. On .several occasions he succeeded in borrowing large sums on his per- sonal credit, without which some of the im- portant campaigns of the war would have been impossible. Thus the means which enabled Wash- ington and Greene to carry out the campaign of 1781 were raised mainly by his exertions. In 1781, with the ajiproval of Congress, he fotinded the Bank of North America, and he- came a large stockholder in it. This institution became of great service to the American cause and was. to a certain extent, under the control of !Morris. He continued to hold the difficult and vexatious office of Superintendent of Finance tmtil November. 1784. wiien he resigned it with a sense of relief. In the same year the Pennsyl- vania Legislature hiul annulled the charter of the bank, and in order to olitain its rei'stablishment Morris secured an election to the Legislature in 17.85 and succeeded in having the charter re- newed in 1786. In the latter year he was again elected to the Legislature, and in 1787 became a member of the Constitutional Con- vent ion at Philadcliihia. He had the honor to uiiMiinate Washington for the Presidency of the Cimvention. but did not take a prominent part in the proceedings of that body. Upon the organ-