MONMOUTH-Tlie Ebwy also rises in Brecknockshire, and passingunder the Beacon Mountain, flows through the wildvalley of Ebwy ; and joined by a similar stream fromthe Sorwy valley, falls into the estuary of the Uskbelow Newport.

The county of Monmouth had in 1700 a popu-lation of 39,700 persons. In 1750 they had increasedto 40,600; ill 1801, to 47,100; in 1811, to 64,200;in 1821, to 72,300; and by the census taken in 1831,they had increased to 98,130. It sends two membersto the British parliament. The polling places forthis county are held at the towns of Monmouth,Abergavenny, Usk, Newport, and the Rock Inn, inthe parish of Bedwelty.

Monmouth. A borough town in the county ofMonmouth, situated at the confluence of the Wyeand the Monnow. The principal business of theinhabitants arises from the navigation of the Wye,which supplies the surrounding country with neces-saries, and gives it a share of the trade betweenBristol and Hereford. Monmouth is supposed tohave been a Roman station ; but there is no certainproof that this was the fact. In the principal streetis the market-place, in which stands the town-hall,built over a handsome colonnade, and ornamentedwith a statue of Henry V., who was born in this town.Monmouth contains several places of worship ; theparish church is dedicated to St. Mary, and its spireis 200 feet high. By the last census, it contained11,163 inhabitants, and in conjunction with Newportand Usk sends one member to the British parliament.Monmouth is twenty-one miles W. of Gloucester,and 132 W. by N. of London.

Monotheism. The belief in, and worship of asingle God, opposed to a plurality of gods (poly-theism). The most ancient written records, and thetraditions of the most ancient nations, give us cause toregard this religion (in an imperfect state indeed (asthe oldest and original religion. The Mosaic annalsspeak of God as the Creator of heaven anti earth ;and the ancient doctrines of the Bramins speak of asingle divine nature holding preeminence over the threeother principal divinities, which are to be regarded,as it were, as the three chief energies of a supremeGod, viz. of the Parabrama, who is fully and clearlyset forth, with all the attributes of divinity. TheChaldeans, also, besides the light which they opposedto darkness, believed in a higher increate light, whichis eternal, almighty, wise and good, and from whichfirst proceeded the corporeal light. The Persiansplaced above their Ormuzd and Ahjiman their Zeru-anon Akherme, and the eternal word. Even theEgyptians had, in their Eikton, a Supreme Being, atleast for their secret religion.

All the different mythologies have, among the hostof gods with which they people heaven and earth,some supreme God, more or loss defined, but, in everycase, distinguished above the others. And in everyinstance we see, in these mythologies, the gods gra-dually multiplied, as man departed, farther and farther,from the simple and original revelation, till lost inthe multitude of deified personifications which he hadhimself created ; but even in the case of the mostrefined polytheism, there always remains an idea ofsomething more powerful, to which even the gods aresubject, as the Fate of the ancients. The altar atAthens, “ to the unknown God,” mentioned in theActs of the Apostles, is also a proof of the prevalenceof the same feeling. Reflecting minds, too, were

MONSAL DALE. 891

always found, who deviated from the national poly-theism, as the heathen philosophers, Parmenides,Socrates, Plato, &c., and many later Platonists, who,according to Plutarch (Life of Alexander), incul-cated the doctrine that God is the general Fatherof all men, choosing the best of them for his chil-dren. The history of the Hebrews affords the moststriking instance of the preservation of mono-theism amid the corruptions of paganism. Notwith-standing the errors into which they were frequentlyled by the example of the nations around them, theystill preserved the idea of one God, the Creator ofheaven and earth, till, from their view of Jehovah,whom they regarded and adored, for the most part,only as the original God of the chosen people, wasunfolded the purer and more comprehensive mono-theism of Christianity.

Mons. A large town of Belgium, divided by theriver Trouble into two parts. It is surrounded by anearth-work and ditch ; and was considerably strength-ened in 1820. The Hotel de Ville is a fine oldbuilding, richly ornamented with sculpture. Thechurch of St. Elizabeth was erected on the site of anancient fortress which is said to have owed its originto Julius Caesar.

In 1691, Mons was besieged by Louis XIV., andto prevent its being entirely destroyed by the bom-bardment that took place, the citizens compelled thegovernor to capitulate. In 1709 it was taken by theallies under the duke of Marlborough and princeEugene ; and in 1746 it was successfully attackedby Marshal Saxe. During the wars attendant onthe French revolution, it was repeatedly taken andretaken by the various contending parties, and inconsequence suffered considerably'. Lon. 3° 57' E.,lat. 50° 27' N.

Monsal-Dale. A very beautiful district nearTideswell, in Derbyshire. The scenery around thissequestered retreat is in some places highly romantic,and its general character is that of picturesquebeauty, which it possesses in a very eminent degree.Near the head of the dale, the rocks jut out on thesouth side, like the immense towers of a strong for-tress, having the stream of the Wye sportively flow-ing at their feet. Lower down the crags soften intoverdure, the dale expands, and the eye dwells enrap-tured on the rich prospect that presents itself. Themountainous banks on each side are partly diversifiedwith fine masses of wood, which occasionally slopedown to the margin of the river, and wave their pen-dent branches in its translucent waters. In otherplaces, the grey colour of the rocks is beautifully har-monised by shrubs, underwood, and green turf, whichintermix their varying tints, and increase the generalrichness of the scenery'. More distant, the bosomof the dale spreads wider; and the stream softlymeanders through luxuriant meadows, having theirmargin occupied by a small farm-house, partly con-cealed by trees, and with its accompaniments of arustic wooden bridge, broken rocks &c., composinga very picturesque scene. The back-ground is formedby a steep precipice, variegated by short herbageand brushwood, with occasionally a projecting rockbreaking its continuity' of surface. On ascendingthis eminence, and looking back from its brow uponthe dale, the sight is delighted by one of the mostbeautiful views that the plastic hand of nature everarranged. Wood, water, and rock, intermingle inthe prospect, and so happily combine with the fertile