to the
lost Oscar," and all accept it except Allan, who is there and then
denounced as the murderer of his brother. Oscar then vanishes, and Allan
dies.--Byron, _Oscar of Alva_.

=Moradbak=, daughter of Fitead, a widower. Hudjadge, king of Persia, could
not sleep, and commanded Fitead, his porter and jailer, under pain of
death, to find some one to tell him tales. Fitead's daughter, who was
only 11, undertook to amuse the king with tales, and was assisted in
private by the sage Abou'melek. After a perfect success, Hudjadge
married Moradbak, and at her recommendation, Aboumelek was appointed
overseer of the whole empire.--Comte de Caylus, _Oriental Tales_ (1743).

=Morakan'abad=, grand vizier of the Caliph Vathek.--Beckford, _Vathek_
(1784).

=Moral Philosophy= (_The Father of_), Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274).

=Moran, Son of Fithil=, one of the scouts in the army of Swaran, king of
Lochlin (_Denmark_).--Ossian, _Fingal_.

=Moran's Collar=, a collar for magistrates, which had the supernatural
power of pressing the neck of the wearer if his judgments deviated from
strict justice, and even of causing strangulation if he persevered in
wrong doing. Moran, surnamed "the Just," was the wise counsellor of
Feredach, an early king of Ireland.

=Morat=, in _Aurungzebe_, a drama by Dryden (1675).

Edward Kynaston [1619-1687] shone with uncommon lustre in "Morat"
and "Muley Moloch." In both these parts he had a fierce, lion-like
majesty in his port and utterance, that gave the spectators a kind
of trembling admiration.--Colley Cibber.

=Morbleu!= This French oath is a corrupt contraction of Mau'graby; thus,
_maugre bleu_, _mau'bleu_. Maugraby was the great Arabian enchanter, and
the word means "barbarous," hence a barbarous man or barbarian. The oath
is common in Provence, Languedoc, and Gascoigne. I have often heard it
used by the medical students at Paris.

Probably it is a punning corruption of _Mort de Dieu_.

=Mordaunt=, the secretary, at Aix, of Queen Margaret, the widow of Henry
VI. of England.--Sir W. Scott, _Anne of Geierstein_ (time, Edward IV.).

=Mor'decai= (_Beau_), a rich Italian Jew, one of the suitors of
Charlotte Goodchild, but, supposing the report to be true that she has
lost her fortune, he calls off and retires.--C. Macklin, _Love
[`a]-la-Mode-_[TN-22] (1759).

_Mordecai._ Earnest young Jew, supporting himself by repairing watches,
jewelry, etc. He is devoted to h