of Épinal and Belfort (see these articles, also Meuse Line and articles referred to therein). The purpose of this line, the separate forts of which command the relatively few lines of advance from upper Alsace through the Vosges, is to deflect a possible German invasion from Alsace either towards Belfort or towards the open gap between Épinal and Toul called the Trouée d’Épinal.
MOSEN, JULIUS (1803–1867), German poet and author, was born at Marieney in the Saxon Vogtland on the 8th of July,
1803. He studied law at Jena, and, after two years in Italy,
at Leipzig. In 1834 he settled in Dresden as an advocate.
He had meanwhile shown great literary promise by his Lied
vom Ritter Wahn (1831). This was followed by the more philosophical
Ahasver (1838), and by a volume of poems, Gedichte
(1836, 2nd ed., 1843), among which Andreas Hofer and Die
letzten Zehn vom vierten Regiment have become popular. He
wrote the historical plays Heinrich der Finkler (Leipzig, 1836),
Cola Rienzi, Die Bräute von Florenz, Wendelin und Helene
and Kaiser Otto III. (the four last being published in his Theater
1842), and a politico-historical novel, Der Kongress von Verona
(1842), which was followed by a charming collection of short
stories (Bilder im Moose, 1846). In 1844 Mosen accepted the
appointment of dramaturge at the Court Theatre in Oldenburg,
but he was soon afterwards stricken with paralysis, and after
remaining an invalid for many years, died at Oldenburg on the
10th of October 1867. Of his later works may be mentioned
Die Dresdner Gemäldegallerie (1844), and the tragedies Herzog
Bernhard (1855) and Der Sohn des Fürsten (1858).
A collection of his works, Sämtliche Werke, appeared in 8 vols. (1863; new ed., by his son, with a biography; 6 vols., 1880).
MOSER, JOHANN JAKOB (1701–1785), German jurist, was born at Stuttgart on the 18th of January 1701. He studied
at the university of Tübingen, where, at the early age of nineteen,
he was appointed extraordinary professor of law. In 1729
he became ordinary professor, and in 1736 he accepted a chair
and directorship in the university of Frankfort-on-the-Oder.
On account, however, of differences with King Frederick William I.
of Prussia, he resigned these offices in 1739 and retired to
Ebersdorf, a village in the principality of Reuss, where for
several years he devoted himself wholly to study, and especially
to the production of his Deutsches Staatsrecht. In 1751 he was
recalled to Würtemberg as district counsellor, and in 1759 was
imprisoned at Hohentwiel on account of the steps he had taken
in connexion with this office against certain tyrannical proceedings
of the duke. In 1764 he received his liberty and was
restored to office. He died on the 30th of September 1785.
Moser was the first to discuss in an adequate form the subject of
European international law. He wrote more than 500 volumes,
his principal works being Deutsches Staatsrecht (1737–1754),
Neues deutsches Staatsrecht (1766–1775), Deutsches Staatsarchiv
(1751–1757), Grundriss der heutigen Staatsverfassung von Deutschland
(1754).
See Schmid, Das Leben J. J. Mosers (1868); Schulze, J. J. Moser, der Vater des deutschen Staatsrechts (1869).
MOSER, JUSTUS (1720–1794), German publicist and statesman, was born at Osnabrück on the 14th of December, 1720. Having studied jurisprudence at the universities of Jena and Göttingen, he settled in his native town as a lawyer. The
confidence he inspired among his fellow citizens soon led to his
being appointed advocatus patriae (state attorney). On the
appointment of the duke of York (son of George III. of England)
to the lay Protestant bishopric of Osnabrück, he was attached
to the person of the new ruler as legal adviser, and continued
in this office of trust for twenty years. From 1762 to 1768 he
was justiciarius (chief justice) of the criminal court in Osnabrück;
and in 1768 was made Geheimer Referendar (privy councillor of
justice). He died at Osnabrück on the 8th of January 1794.
Not only as a statesman and administrator, but also as a
publicist, Moser occupied a leading position among the men
of his time. His history of Osnabrück (1768; 2nd ed. 1780;
3rd ed. 1819) is a masterly work. In his Patriotische Phantasien
(1775–1786; and ed. by his daughter, I. W. J. von Voigts, 1804;
new ed. by R. Zöllner, 1871) he shows himself in advance of
his times, pleading as he does for a national organic development
of a state in the place of arbitrary laws imposed by the sovereign.
His Vermischte Schriften (published by F. Nicolai with a biography,
1797–1798) also display a deep insight into human
nature and sparkle with humour and witty sallies. Moser was
also a poet of some repute and wrote a tragedy, Arminius
(1749). A statue of him by Drake was unveiled in Osnabrück
in 1836.
His collected works, Sämtliche Werke, were published by B. R. Abeken (10 vols., 1842–1844). See J. Kreyssig, Justus Möser (1857); L. Rupprecht, Justus Mösers soziale und volkswirtschaftliche Anschauungen (1892); K. Mollenhauer, Mösers Anteil an der Wiederbelebung des deutschen Geistes (1896).
MOSES (Gr. Μωυσῆς, Μωσῆς), the great Jewish lawgiver, prophet and mediator, and leader of the Israelites from Egypt
to the eastern borders of the promised land. The records of
his life and work are noticed in the articles Exodus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy, where the several sources of the narratives
are described. He appears in Midian at the “Mount of God”
(Horeb) dwelling with its priest Jethro (q.v.), one of whose seven
daughters he married, thus becoming the father of Gershom
and Eliezer. Of his earlier life it was said that he was born in
Egypt of Levite parents, and when the Pharaoh commanded
that every new-born male child of the Hebrews should be killed,
he was put into a chest and cast upon the Nile. He was found
by Pharaoh’s daughter, and his (step-)sister Miriam contrived
that he should be nursed by his mother; on growing up he killed
an Egyptian who was oppressing an Israelite, and this becoming
known, he sought refuge in flight.
The story of the youth of Moses is, as is commonly the case with great heroes, of secondary origin; moreover, the circumstances of his birth as related in Exod. ii. find numerous parallels in legend elsewhere, e.g. in the story of the historical Sargon (L. W. King, Early Bab. Kings, ii. 87 sqq.), in the myths of Osiris and many others (see, at length, A. Jeremias’s Das Alte Test. im Lichte des alten Orients, 1906, pp. 408 sqq.; Bab. im N. Test. p. 30 seq.). The story of the adoption of Moses by the Egyptian princess appealed to later imagination (Josephus, Ant. ii. 9, 10; Acts vii. 20–22), and many fanciful fables grew up around this and the other biblical statements. The name Mosheh, explained by the fact that the princess “drew him” (māshāh) out of the waters, means properly “one who draws”; a derivation from Eg. mes(u), “child,” finds more favour, but is not certain.
At the holy mount, Moses received the divine revelation and was commissioned to bring the people a three-days’ journey out of Egypt to sacrifice at this spot (Exod. iii. 12, 18; v. 3; viii. 27). The deity revealed himself in a new name, Yahweh, and with signs and wonders fortified Moses for his task. On his return he experienced a remarkable incident which is obscurely associated with the rite of circumcision.[1] The plagues with which the reluctant Pharaoh was coerced culminated in the destruction of all the first-born, and Israel escaped to the Red Sea. The pursuing Egyptians were drowned, and the miraculous preservation of the chosen people at the critical moment marks the first stage in the national history.[2] (See Exodus, The.)
The other events need not be detailed. Kadesh (holy) was
- ↑ Exod. iv. 24–26; it possibly explains the transference of the rite from the bridegroom to the new-born son. For a recent discussion, see H. P. Smith, Journ. Bib. Lit. (1906), pp. 14–24; and the article Circumcision (with J. G. Frazer’s essay in the Independent Review 1904, pp. 204–218).
- ↑ The plagues appear to have been amplified. In Exod. iv. three signs are given: the hand of Moses is stricken with leprosy and restored (the sign for Moses); his rod becomes a serpent (cf. vii. 8–13, the sign for Pharaoh); and the water is turned into blood (cf. vii. 17 sqq.). If Pharaoh still remains obdurate his first-born is threatened (iv. 21 sqq.). As regards the crossing of the Red Sea, a perfectly rationalizing explanation can be found: with a strong east wind its waters could temporarily recede and permit a passage (see Journ. Vict. Inst. xxvi. 28; xxviii. 268, 277). To the Israelites, however, it was a miracle, an unexpected intervention on the part of Yahweh, and the first of many marvels which he performed on behalf of the people of his choice. To rationalize this or any of the series misses the whole point of the religious history.
