Morin, Stephen

, a learned French protestant, was the son of Isaac Morin, a merchant of Caen, and born in that city, Jan. 1, 1625. Losing his father at three years of age, his mother designed him for trade; but his taste for learning beginning to show itself very early, she determined to give him a liberal education. Accordingly he studied the classics and philosophy at Caeu, and then removed to Sedan, to study theology under Peter du Moulin, who conceived a great friendship for him. He afterwards pursued the same studies under Andrew Rivet, and made a great proficiency in the Oriental languages under Golius. Returning to his country in 164-9, he became a minister of two churches in the neighbourhood of Caen, where he was much distinguished by his uncommon parts and learning, and had several advantageous offers made him from other countries, but he preferred his own. In 1664, he was chosen minister of Caen; and his merits soon connected him in friendship with Huetius, Segrais, Bochart, and other learned townsmen. The revocation of the edict of Nantz, in 1685, obliging him to quit Caen, he retired with his wife and three children to Leyden, but soon after was called to Amsterdam, to be professor of the Oriental tongues in the university there; to which employment was joined, two years after, that of minister in ordinary. He died, after a long indisposition both of body and mind, May 5, 1700.

He was the author of several works; as, 1. “Dissertationes octo, in quibus multa sacra3 et profanae Antiquitatis Monumenra explicantur,” Genev. 1683, 8vo. A second edition, enlarged and corrected, was printed at Dort, 1700, in 8vo. 2. “Oratio inauguralis de Linguarum Orientalium ad intelligentiam Sacrse Scripture utilitate,” L. Bat. 1686. This was reprinted with, 3. “Explanationes sacrse et philologicae in aliquot V. et N. Testament! Loca,” L. Bat. 1698, 8vo. 4. “Exercitationes de Lingua primaeva cjusque Appendicibus,” Ultraj. 1694, 4to. 5. “Dissertatio de Paradiso terrestri;” printed in Bochart’s works, the third edition of which was published at Utrecht in 1692, with Bochart’s life by Morin prefixed. 6. “Epistolse duae | seu Responsiones ad Ant. Van. Dale cle Pentateucho Samaritano;” printed with Van Dale’s “De Origine et Progressu Idololatrise,” Amst. 1696, 4to. 7. “Lettre sur l‘Origine de la Langue H^bra’ique,” with an answer of Huetius; printed in the first volume of “Dissertations sur diverses Matieres de Religion et de Philologie, recueillies par M. l’Abbe de Tilladet,” Paris, 1712, 12mo. Morin endeavours to prove in this letter, that the Hebrew language is as old as the creation, and that God himself inspired it into Adam. His great fondness for this language made him run into some extravagant notions about it, as Huetius tells him in his answer. Lastly, Morin prefixed a “Life of Jacobus Palmerius” to the “Graecse antiquae Decsriptio,” Leyden, 1678, 4ko. His son, Henry, who died at Caen in 1728, aged seventy-three, was a member of the academy of inscriptions and belles lettres at Paris; and there are several dissertations of his in the “Memoirs of this Academy.” ¹