is sometimes applied to that faculty of the human mind, by which we pursue good and avoid evil. Thus Hobbes distinguishes the faculties of the mind into two sorts, the cognitive and motive.

Motte (Anthony Houdart de la), an ingenious Frenchman, greatly distinguished by his writings in prose and verse, and by his literary contests with many eminent persons, was born at Paris in 1672. He wrote with very different success, no man having been more praised or more criticised than he was: his literary paradoxes... radoxes, his singular systems, in all branches of polite learning, and above all his judgment upon the ancients, which, like those of Perrault, were thought disrespectful and detracting, raised him up formidable adversaries. Racine, Boileau, Rousseau, and Madame Dacier, were among the number of those who made it their business to avenge antiquity on a man who, with more wit than genius or learning, assumed a kind of dictatorial authority in the province of belles lettres. He became blind in the latter years of his life, and died in 1731. He wrote a great deal in epic poetry, tragedy, comedy, lyric, pastoral, and fables; besides a vast variety of discourses, critical and academical, in prose. A complete edition of all his works was published in 11 vols 8vo, in 1754; though, as has been said of our Swift, his reputation had been better consulted by reducing them to three or four.

MOJQUALIS, a small nation of Syria, inhabiting to the east of the country of the Dauses, in the valley which separates their mountains from those of Damascus; of which the following account is given by Mr Volney in his Travels, vol. ii. p. 84.

The characteristic distinction between them and the other inhabitants of Syria (says our author) is, that they, like the Persians, are of the sect of Ali, while all the Turks follow that of Omar or Moaouia. This distinction, occasioned by the schism which in the 6th year of the Hijra arose among the Arabs, respecting the successors of Mahomet, is the cause of an irreconcilable hatred between the two parties. The sectaries of Omar, who consider themselves as the only orthodox, assume the title of Sonnites, which has that signification, and term their adversaries Shiites, that is "sectaries of Ali." The word Motouali has the same meaning in the dialect of Syria. The followers of Ali, dissatisfied with this name, substitute that of Akia, which means "afforters of justice," literally "Justiciaries;" a denomination which they have assumed in consequence of a doctrinal point they advance in opposition to the Sonnite faith. A final Arabic treatise, entitled Theological Fragments concerning the Sects and Religions of the World, has the following passage:

"Those sectaries who pretend that God acts only on principles of justice, conformable to human reason, are called Akia or Justiciaries. God cannot (say they) command an impracticable worship, nor ordain impossible actions, nor enjoin men to perform what is beyond their ability; but wherever he requires obedience, will bestow the power to obey. He removes the cause of evil, he allows us to reason, and imposes only what is easy, not what is difficult; he makes no man responsible for the actions of another, nor punishes him for that in which he has no part; he imputes not as a crime what himself has created in man; nor does he require him to avoid what destiny has decreed. This would be injustice and tyranny, of which God is incapable from the perfection of his being." To this doctrine, which diametrically opposes the system of the Sonnites, the Motouali add certain ceremonies which increase their mutual aversion. They curse Omar and Moaouia as rebels and usurpers; and celebrate Ali and Hosain as saints and martyrs. They begin their ablutions at the elbow, instead of the end of the finger, as is customary with the Turks; they think themselves defiled by the touch of strangers; Motouali, and contrary to the general practice of the East, neither eat nor drink out of a vessel which has been used by a person not of their sect, nor will they even sit with such at the same table.

These doctrines and customs, by separating the Motouali from their neighbours, have rendered them a distinct society. It is said they have long existed as a nation in this country, though their name has never been mentioned by any European writer before the present century; it is not even to be found in the maps of Donville: La Roque, who left their country not a hundred years ago, gives them the name of Amadens. Be this as it may, in later times their wars, robberies, successes, and various changes of fortune, have rendered them of consequence in Syria. Till about the middle of this century, they only possessed Balbek, their capital, and a few places in the valley, and Anti-Lebanon, which seems to have been their original country. At that period we find them under a like government with the Druzes, that is to say, under a number of Shaiks, with one principal chief of the family of Harfoush. After the year 1750 they established themselves among the heights of Bekaa, and got footing in Lebanon, where they obtained lands belonging to the Maronites, almost as far as Becharrai. They even incommode them so much by their ravages, as to oblige the Emir Yousef to attack them with open force and expel them; but on the other side, they advanced along the river even to the neighbourhood of Sour (Tyre). In this situation, Shaik Daher had the address, in 1760, to attach them to his party. The pachas of Saide and Damascus claimed tributes, which they had neglected paying, and complained of several robberies committed on their subjects by the Motouali; they were desirous of chastising them; but this vengeance was neither certain nor easy. Daher interposed; and by becoming security for the tribute; and promising to prevent any depredations, acquired allies who were able, as it is said, to arm 10,000 horsemen, all resolute and formidable troops. Shortly after they took possession of Sour, and made this village their principal sea-port. In 1771 they were of great service to Ali Bey and Daher against the Ottomans. But Emir Yousef having in their absence armed the Druzes, ravaged their country. He was besieging the castle of Djezin, when the Motouali, returning from Damascus, received intelligence of this invasion. At the relation of the barbarities committed by the Druzes, an advanced corps, of only 500 men, were so enraged, that they immediately rushed forward against the enemy, determined to perish in taking vengeance. But the surprise and confusion they occasioned, and the discord which reigned between the two factions of Mansour and Yousef so much favoured this desperate attack, that the whole army, consisting of 25,000 men, was completely overthrown.

In the following year, the affairs of Daher taking a favourable turn, the zeal of the Motouali cooled towards him, and they finally abandoned him in the catastrophe in which he lost his life. But they have suffered for their imprudence under the administration of the pacha who succeeded him. Since the year 1777, Djezzar, master of Acre and Saide, has ince- Motteux faintly laboured to destroy them. His persecution forced them in 1784 to a reconciliation with the Druzes, and to enter into an alliance with the Emir Yousef. Though reduced to less than 700 armed men, they did more in that campaign than 15,000 or 20,000 Druzes and Maronites assembled at Dair-el-Kamar. They alone took the strong fortress of Mar-Djebaa, and put to the sword 50 or 60 Epirots who defended it. But the misunderstanding which prevailed among the chiefs of the Druzes having rendered abortive all their operations, the pasha has obtained possession of the whole valley, and the city of Balbek itself. At this period not more than 500 families of the Motoualis remained, who took refuge in Anti-Lebanon, and the Lebanon of the Maronites; and, driven as they now are from their native soil, it is probable they will be totally annihilated, and even their very name become extinct.