MONACIIUS.
Descriptio. Animal avarum, fat idum, innnundum, siticulosum, iners, incdiam potius tolerans pant la Loren: ; 'vivunt e rapina et questu ; mundum sui tan tam causa creatum ease preedicant ; colunt clandcsti ne, nuptias non celebrant, .fietus e.rponunt ; in pro. Priam specicm serriunt, ct hostem ex insidiis diuntur.
Usus. •Terror' pondus inutile. Fruges consumere nati.
In his description of the Dominicans, the same and severe raillery is happily employed.
Eximio olfizetze pollet, vinwn et herresin e longin quo odorat. Esurit semper polyphagus. Junior-es. fame probantur. Vetcrant, relegata 077171i cura et oc cupattone,gulte indulgent, cibis succulent is nutriuntur, , molli(er cubant, tcpide quicscunt, somnum protrahunt, et ex' suis diala curant, zit esea omncs in adipern transcat, lardumque adipiscantur : hire abdomen pro lixum passim prey se ferunt, scnes ventricosi maizme estimantur, &c.
The justness of this satire was universally felt ; and. such was the sensation which it excited, that the archbishop of Vienna complained to the emperor, who replied, that the attack was made only upon the.. idle and useless part of the order. Being thus ported by Joseph, he published another satire, enti; tied, Defensio Physiophili, which was followed by his Anatomia Monachi. His satirical powers were like wise displayed upon Father Hell, the astronomer,. who was a great enemy to the freemasons.
The Emperor Joseph at last withdrew his support from the reforming free-masons, and checked them with such restrictions, that they found it necessary to dissolve the society. The influence of Born, how= ever, was not diminished. H:3 great skill in miners: logy and metallurgy raised him high in public opi. nion, was of great service to his country. Though. the use of quicksilver, in extracting the precious me. tals from their ores, was long known, yet Baron Born was the first person who introduced it on a great scale. At the desire of the emperor, an expe riment was made on a large quantity of ore at Schema. niz, in presence of some of the first chemists and me talkrgists in Europe. The success of the experi ment, and the approbation which he received, indu ced him, in 1786,.to publish his treatise on the Pro cess of Amalgamation, illustrated by engra%ings of the necessary instruments and machinery. This pro
cess was ordered by the emperor to be adopted in the Hungarian mines, and Born was remunerated for his discovery with one-third of the savings during ten years, and with 4 per cent. of this third part for the next twenty years. The success of this plan excited the jealousy of his enemies, who exerted every nerve in frustrating his views, and in defrauding him of his just reward. Besides the works which we have men tioned, Born published, in 1790, in 2 vols. his Cata logue methodique raisonnelc, of Miss Raab's collection of fossils. He began a Latin work, entitled, Fasti Leopoldini, or a History of the Reign of Leopold II. and also a Treatise on Mineralogy ; but he was sud denly seized in the midst of these occupations with violent spasms and cold, which put an end to his ex. istence, on the 28th of July 1791. .
Born was of the middle size," says Mr Town. son, « and delicate constitution, dark complexion, black hair, and long black eye-brows. Wit and sa tire, and a quick comprehension, were marked in his eyes, and his lively and penetrating genius appeared in his countenance. Besides being a good Latin classic, he was master of most European languages of note, and possessed a deal of general information no ways connected with those branches of science re quired in his profession. He was a great wit and satirist, and a good companion even under the suffer ings of bodily pain. His house was always open to the travelling literati who visited Vienna ; and unpro tected genius was always sure to find in him a friend and patron. He carried this perhaps too far,—so far as to ruin his estate : Probably the expectations of re ceiving a large income from the amalgamation, made him less attentive to economy in his domestic con cerns, though I believe his insolvency was chiefly owing to usurers and money-lenders, to whom he was obliged to have recourse to carry on his expen sive projects. Thus, though his patrimony was very considerable, he died greatly in debt. This is the more to be lamented, as lie left a wife and two daugh ters." See Dr Towuson's Travels in Hungary in 1793, p. 410. Lond. 1797 ; and Born's Travels through the Bannat of Temeswar, Transylvania, and Hungary, in 1770. Lond. 1787.