The American Cyclopædia (1879)/More, Henry

MORE, Henry, an English philosopher, born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, Oct. 12, 1614, died in Cambridge, Sept. 1, 1687. He studied at Eton, and in 1631 removed to Christ's college, Cambridge, where he took the degree of bachelor in 1635 and of master in 1639, became a fellow of his college, and passed the remainder of his life in retirement and meditation. The rectory of Ingoldsby was resigned by him in 1642, and he became a prebendary of Gloucester in 1675, but soon resigned. In 1640 he published a philosophical poem, entitled "Psychozoia, or the Life of the Soul." At the request of Lady Conway, a Quakeress, he wrote the Conjectura Cabalistica, the Philosophiæ Teutonicæ Censura, and other works. The first of these treatises was an attempt to interpret the book of Genesis into three distinct meanings, the literal, philosophical, and mystical or divinely moral. In 1656 appeared his Enthusiasmus Triumphatus, a discourse on the nature, causes, kinds, and cure of enthusiasm. Among his other publications are: Enchiridium Metaphysicum; "The Mystery of Godliness;" "The Mystery of Iniquity;" a "Discourse on the Immortality of the Soul;" and a treatise entitled "Medela Mundi, or Cure of the World," left unfinished. His principal writings appeared in English (2d ed., 1662; 4th ed., 1712), and a complete edition of his works was published in Latin (1679). His life was written by the Rev. Richard Ward (London, 1710).