Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 10.djvu/635

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MORRIS


r)77


MORSB


partly in India, partly at Harrow, partly in reading for Cambridge with Dean Alford, the New Testament scholar. Under him a great change passed over Mor- ris's ideas. Giving up the thought of taking the law as his profession, he became enthusiastic for ecclesias- tical antiquities, took a deep interest in the Tracta- rian movement, and resolved to become an Anglican clergyman. Going up to Trinity College, Cambridge, in October, 1845, he became the friend, and then the pupil of F. A. Paley, grandson of the well-known di- vine, and already one of the leading Greek scholars of the university. The conversion of Newman, fol- lowed by the receptions of so many others, deeply im- pressed him, and he was reconciled by Bishop Ware- ing, 20 May, 1846. A storm followed, beginning in the "Times", which made itself felt even in Parlia- ment. Paley had to leave Cambridge (which led to his subsequently joining the Church), while Morris was practically cast off by his family. He then went to the English College, Rome, under Dr. Grant (q. v.), and was there during the revolution of 1848. Soon after the restoration of the English Hierarchy in 1850, he was made Canon of Northampton, and then re- turned as vice-rector to Rome (18.53-1856). He now became poslulator for the English Martyrs (q. v.), whose cause owes perhaps more to him than to any other person. Returning to England, he took part in the third .Synod of Westminster, became secretary to Cardinal Wiseman (q. v.), whom he affectionately nursed on his death-bed, antl served under Archbishop Manning (q. v.), until he became a Jesuit in 1867. He taught Church History from 1873-1874; he was Rec- tor of St. Ignatius' College, Malta, from 1877-78; master of novices in 1879; and director of the writers of the English Province in 1888. Always remarkable for his ardent affectionate nature, his untiring energy and earnest holiness of life, he was also an excellent scholar, an eloquent speaker, and a high-principled leader of souls. His death befitted his life; for he ex- pired in the pulpit, uttering the words, "Render to God the things that are God's." His principal works are: "The Life and Martvrdomof St. Thomas Becket " (London, 1859 and 1885); "The Life of Father John Gerard" (London, 1881), translated into French, German, Spanish, and Polish; "Troubles of our Cath- oUc Forefathers" (3 vols., London, 1872-1877); "Let- ter-books of Sir Amias Poulet" (London, 1874); and many contributions to "The Month", ','The Dubhn Review", " Archsologia", and other periodicals.

Pollen. Life and Letters of Father John Morris (London, 1896) ; Morris, Journals kepi during Times of Retreat (London, 1895) ; SoMMEHVOQEL, Bibl. de la C. de Jesus, V, p. v-viii; IX. 692.

J. H. Pollen.

Morris, John B. See Little Rock, Diocese op.

Morris, John Brande, b. at Brentford, Middle- sex, 4 September, 1812; d. at Hammersmith, London, 9 April, 1880; he studied at Baliol College, Oxford, graduating in 1834 (B.A. honours) and 1837 (M.A.). He was at once elected Petrean Fellow of Exeter Col- lege, and lectured on Hebrew. His favourite field of study was Eastern and patristic theology. While at Oxford he wrote an "Essay towards the Conversion of learned and Philosophical Hindus" (1843); a poem entitled "Nature: a Parable" (1842); and translated "Select Homilies from St. Ephraem" from the Syriac (1846), likewise St. Chrysostom's "Homilies on the Romans" (1841) for the "Library of the Fathers". Having joined the Tractarian Movement, he was re- ceived into the Church, 16 January, 1846, resigning his Oxford fellowship a few days later. He was or- dained at Oscott in 1851 and in the same year was ap- pointed professor at Prior Park, near Bath. He soon began parish work and for the next nineteen years ministered in Plymouth, Shortwood (Somersetshire), and other parts of England. He was for a time chap- lain to Sir John Acton and Coventry Patmore. In 1870 he became spiritual director of the Soeurs de X.— 37


Misi'-ricorde, Hammersmith, which post he occupied till his death. After his conversion he contributed to the "Dublin Review", the "Lamp" and other Catho- lic periodicals; and wrote "Jesus the Son of Mary" (1851), a treatise on the Incarnation and devotion to Our Lady; "Taleetha Koomee" (1858), a metrical re- ligious drama; and "Eucharist on Calvary", an essay on the first Mass and the Passion.

rafcW (17 April, 1880); Times (12 April, 1880) ; Gillow, Dirf. Biog. of Eng. Cath.,3.v. A. A. MacErLEAN.

Morris, Martin Ferdinand, lawyer and jurist, b. 3 December, 1834, at Washington, D. C; d. 12 Sep- tember, 1909, at Washington, D. C. Descended from an Irish Catholic family, he was educated at George- town University, from which he was graduated in 1854. On leaving Gcorgetomi he entered the Jesuit Novitiate, at Frederick, Md., to prepare himself for the priesthood, to which high culling Iiis inclinations from early youth had impelled him, antl for which, by rea.son of his studious habit, scholarly tastes, and high moral standards, he was in every way fitted. His ambition, howerer, could not be realized, as the death of his father left him the sole support of his mother and si.sters. In 1863 he began the practice of law in Baltimore, Maryland, and in 1867 remove<l to Wash- ington to enter into partnership with the late Richard T. Merrick. He continued a member of tlie firm of Merrick and Morris until the death of Mr. Merrick (1885) when he formed a partnershi]) with (leurge E. Hamilton, and continued actively to ])r:ii'tisc his pro- fession, being connected with important litigation both in the local courts and in the Supreme Court, un- til appointed by President Cleveland an Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia upon the establishment of that Court in 1893. Modest, unassuming, almost diffident in man- ner, he was best adapted to office practice, and yet, when occasion required it, was forceful and successful in the trial of cases. A skilled lawyer, standing high in his profession, judicial labours did not prevent him from taking an active interest in civic and social con- ditions, or from broadening the scope of his re- searches into the fields of science, of literature, and of art. Actively interested in his Alma Mater, and in the growth and development of Catholic education, he was one of the founders of Georgetown Law School (1871), then under the direction of the late P. F. Healey, S.J., to-day one of the largest and most suc- cessfully conducted law schools in this country. In 1877 he received from Georgetown, in recognition of his nobility of character, his broad scholarship, and achievements as lawyer and judge, the degree of LL.D. He wrote "Lectures on the History of the Development of Constitutional and Civil Liberty" (1898); also numerous monographs and addresses. George E. Hamilton.

Morse (Lat. tnorsus), also called the Monile, Fi- bula, Firmale, Pectorals, originally the rectan- gular ornamented piece of material attached to the two front edges of the cope near the breast to pre- vent the vestment from slipping from the shoulders. Morses were provided with hook and eye, and were often richly ornamented with embroidery or precious stones. The name was also applied to metal clasps used instead of such pieces of woven fabric. As early as the eleventh century such metal clasps are found represented in miniatures and mentioned in inven- tories. These clasps, however, gradually lost their practical use and became mere ornaments, which were sometimes sewn firmly to the flaps that served to fasten the cope, sometimes only attached to the flaps by hooks, so that, after the vestment had been worn, the clasps could be removed and cared for sep- arately. This latter was especially the case when, as frequently happened at least in the later Middle Ages, the clasp was very heavy or very valuable. Aa