Chapter II: Front Matter (2)

=Maylie= (_Mrs._), the lady of the house attacked burglariously by Bill Sykes and others. Mrs. Maylie is mother of Harry Maylie, and aunt of Rose Fleming, who lives with her.

She was well advanced in years, but the high-backed oaken chair in
which she sat was not more upright than she. Dressed with the
utmost nicety and precision in a quaint mixture of bygone costume,
with some slight concession to the prevailing taste, which rather
served to point the old style pleasantly than to impair its effect,
she sat in a stately manner, with her hands folded before her.

_Harry Maylie_, Mrs. Maylie’s son. He marries his cousin, Rose Fleming.--C. Dickens, _Oliver Twist_ (1837).

=Mayor of Garratt= (_The_). Garratt is between Wandsworth and Tooting. The first mayor of this village was elected towards the close of the eighteenth century, and the election came about thus: Garratt Common had often been encroached on, and in 1780 the inhabitants associated themselves together to defend their rights. The chairman was called _Mayor_, and as it happened to be the time of a general election, the society made it a law that a new “mayor” should be elected at every general election. The addresses of these mayors, written by Foote, Garrick, Wilks, and others, are satires and political squibs. The first mayor of Garratt was “Sir” John Harper, a retailer of brickdust; and the last was “Sir” Harry Dimsdale, a muffin-seller (1796). In Foote’s farce so called, Jerry Sneak is chosen mayor, son-in-law of the landlord (1763).

=Mayors= (_Lord_) who have founded noble houses:

_Lord Mayor._
AVELAND (_Lord_), from Sir Gilbert Heathcote 1711
BACON (_Lord_), from Sir Thomas Cooke, draper 1557
BATH (_Marquis of_), from Sir Rowland Heyward, cloth-worker 1570
BRAYBROOKE (_Lord_), from Sir John Gresham, grocer 1547
BROOK (_Lord_), from Sir Samuel Dashwood, vintner 1702
BUCKINGHAM (_Duke of_), from Sir John Gresham, grocer 1547
COMPTON (_Lord_), from Sir Wolston Dixie, skinner 1585
CRANBOURNE (_Viscount_), from Sir Christopher Gascoigne 1753
DENBIGH (_Earl of_), from Sir Godfrey Fielding, mercer 1452
DONNE (_Viscount_), from Sir Gilbert Heathcote 1711
FITZWILLIAM (_Earl of_), from Sir Thomas Cooke, draper 1557
PALMERSTON (_Lord_), from Sir John Houblon, grocer 1695
SALISBURY (_Marquis of_), from Sir Thomas Cooke, draper 1557
WARWICK (_Earl of_), from Sir Samuel Dashwood, vintner 1702
WILTSHIRE (_Earl of_), from Sir Godfrey Boleine 1457
(queen Elizabeth was his granddaughter).

=Maypole= (_The_), the nickname given to Erangard Melousine de Schulemberg, duchess of Kendal, the mistress of George I., on account of her leanness and height (1719, died, 1743).

=Mazarin of Letters= (_The_), D’Alembert (1717-1783).

=Mazarine= (_A_), a common council-man of London; so called from the mazarine-blue silk gown worn by this civil functionary.

=Mazeppa= (_Jan_), a hetman of the Cossacks, born of a noble Polish family in Podolia. He was a page in the court of Jan Casimir, king of Poland, and while in this capacity intrigued with Theresia, the young wife of a Podolian count, who discovered the amour, and had the young page lashed to a wild horse, and turned adrift. The horse rushed in mad fury, and dropped down dead in the Ukraine, where Mazeppa was released by a Cossack, who nursed him carefully in his own hut. In time the young page became a prince of the Ukraine, but fought against Russia in the battle of Pultowa. Lord Byron (1819) makes Mazeppa tell his tale to Charles XII. after the battle (1640-1709).

“Muster Richardson” had a fine appreciation of genius, and left the
original “Mazeppa” at Astley’s a handsome legacy [1766-1836].--Mark
Lemon.

=M. B. Waistcoat=, a clerical waistcoat. M. B. means “Mark [_of the_] Beast;” so called because, when these waistcoats were first worn by Protestant clergymen (about 1830), they were stigmatized as indicating a popish tendency.

He smiled at the folly which stigmatized an M. B.
waistcoat[TN-9]--Mrs. Oliphant, _Phœbe, Jun._, ii. 1.

=McGrath= (_Miss Jane_), “is a woman. Uv course doorin’ the war she wuz loyal ez she understood loyalty. She believed in her State. She hed two brothers which went into the Confedrit servis, and she gave ’em both horses. But wood any sister let her brother go afoot?... Her case is one wich I shel push the hardest.... Ef Congress does not consider it favorably it will show that Congress hez no bowels.”--D. R. Locke’s, _The Struggles--Social, Financial and Political--of Petroleum_, V. Nasby.

=Meadows= (_Sir William_), a kind country gentleman, the friend of Jack Eustace, and father of young Meadows.

_Young Meadows_ left his father’s home because the old gentleman wanted him to marry Rosetta, whom he had never seen. He called himself Thomas, and entered the service of Justice Woodcock as gardener. Here he fell in love with the supposed chamber-maid, who proved to be Rosetta, and their marriage fulfilled the desire of all the parties interested.--I. Bickerstaff, _Love in a Village_.

Charles Dignum made his _début_ at Drury Lane, in 1784, in the
character of “Young Meadows.” His voice was so clear and
full-toned, and his manner of singing so judicious, that he was
received with the warmest applause.--_Dictionary of Musicians._

=Meagles= (_Mr._), an eminently “practical man,” who, being well off, travelled over the world for pleasure. His party consisted of himself, his daughter Pet, and his daughter’s servant called Tatty-coram. A jolly man was Mr. Meagles; but clear-headed, shrewd, and persevering.

_Mrs. Meagles_, wife of the “practical man,” and mother of Pet.--C. Dickens, _Little Dorrit_ (1857).

=Meal-Tub Plot=, a fictitious conspiracy concocted by Dangerfield for the purpose of cutting off those who opposed the succession of James, duke of York, afterwards James II. The scheme was concealed in a meal-tub in the house of Mrs. Cellier (1685).

=Measure for Measure.= There was a law in Vienna that made it death for a man to live with a woman not his wife; but the law was so little enforced that the mothers of Vienna complained to the duke of its neglect. So the duke deputed Angelo to enforce it, and, assuming the dress of a friar, absented himself awhile, to watch the result. Scarcely was the duke gone, when Claudio was sentenced to death for violating the law. His sister Isabel went to intercede on his behalf, and Angelo told her he would spare her brother if she would give herself to him. Isabel told her brother he must prepare to die, as the conditions proposed by Angelo were out of the question. The duke, disguised as a friar, heard the whole story, and persuaded Isabel to “assent in words,” but to send Mariana (the divorced wife of Angelo), to take her place. This was done; but Angelo sent the provost to behead Claudio, a crime which “the friar” contrived to avert. Next day, the duke returned to the city, and Isabel told her tale. The end was, the duke married Isabel, Angelo took back his wife, and Claudio married Juliet, whom he had seduced.--Shakespeare, _Measure for Measure_ (1603).

⁂ This story is from Whetstone’s _Heptameron_ (1578). A similar story is given also in Giraldi Cinthio’s third decade of stories.

=Medam´othi=, the island at which the fleet of Pantag´ruel landed on the fourth day of their voyage. Here many choice curiosities were bought, such as “the picture of a man’s voice,” an “echo drawn to life,” “Plato’s ideas,” some of “Epicurus’s atoms,” a sample of “Philome´la’s needlework,” and other objects of _vertu_ to be obtained nowhere else.--Rabelais, _Pantagruel_, iv. 3 (1545).

⁂ _Medamothi_ is a compound Greek word, meaning “never in any place.” So _Utopia_ is a Greek compound, meaning “no place;” _Kennaquhair_ is a Scotch compound, meaning “I know not where;” and _Kennahtwhar_ is Anglo-Saxon for the same. All these places are in 91° north lat. and 180° 1' west long., in the Niltālê Ocean.

=Medea=, a famous sorceress of Colchis who married Jason, the leader of the Argonauts, and aided him in getting possession of the golden fleece. After being married ten years, Jason repudiated her for Glaucê; and Medea, in revenge, sent the bride a poisoned robe, which killed both Glaucê and her father. Medea then tore to pieces her two sons, and fled to Athens in a chariot drawn by dragons.

The story has been dramatized in Greek by Euripĭdês; in Latin by Senĕca and by Ovid; in French by Corneille (_Médée_, 1635), Longepierre (1695), and Legouvé (1849); in English by Glover (1761).

Mrs. Yates was a superb “Medea.”--Thomas Campbell.

=Mede´a and Absyr´tus.= When Medea fled with Jason from Colchis (in Asia), she murdered her brother, Absyrtus, and, cutting the body into several pieces, strewed the fragments about, that the father might be delayed in picking them up, and thus be unable to overtake the fugitives.

Meet I an infant of the duke of York,
Into as many gobbets will I cut it
As wild Medea young Absyrtus did.

Shakespeare, 2 _Henry VI._ act v. sc. 2 (1591).

=Mede´a’s Kettle.= Medea, the sorceress, cut to pieces an old ram, threw the parts into her caldron, and by her incantations changed the old ram into a young lamb. The daughters of Pelias thought they would have their father restored to youth, as Æson had been. So they killed him, and put the body in Medea’s caldron; but Medea refused to utter the needful incantation, and so the old man was not restored to life.

Change the shape, and shake off age. Get thee Medea’s kettle, and
be boiled anew.--W. Congreve, _Love for Love_, iv. (1695).

=Médecin Malgré Lui= (_Le_) a comedy by Molière (1666). The “enforced doctor” is Sganarelle, a faggot-maker, who is called in by Géronte to cure his daughter of dumbness. Sganarelle soon perceives that the malady is assumed in order to prevent a hateful marriage, and introduces her lover as an apothecary. The dumb spirit is at once exorcised, and the lovers made happy with “pills matrimoniac.”

In 1723 Fielding produced a farce called _The Mock Doctor_, which was based on this comedy. The doctor he calls “Gregory,” and Géronte “Sir Jasper.” Lucinde, the dumb girl, he calls “Charlotte,” and Anglicizes her lover, Léandre, into “Leander.”

=Medham= (“_the keen_”), one of Mahomet’s swords.

=Medicine= (_The Father of_), Aretæos of Cappadocia (second and third centuries).

⁂ Also Hippoc´rates, of Cos (B.C. 460-357).

=Medina=, the Golden Mean personified, Step-sister of Elissa (_parsimony_) and Perissa (_extravagance_). The three sisters could never agree on any subject.--Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, ii. (1590).

=Medley= (_Matthew_), the factotum of Sir Walter Waring. He marries Dolly, daughter of Goodman Fairlop, the woodman.--Sir H. P. Dudley, _The Woodman_ (1771).

=Medo´ra=, the beloved wife of Conrad, the corsair. When Conrad was taken captive by the Pacha Seyd, Medora sat day after day expecting his return, and feeling the heart-anguish of hope deferred. Still he returned not, and Medora died. In the mean time, Gulnare, the favorite concubine of Seyd, murdered the pacha, liberated Conrad, and sailed with him to the corsair’s island home. When, however, Conrad found his wife dead, he quitted the island, and went no one knew whither. The sequel of the story forms the poem called _Lara_.--Byron, _The Corsair_ (1814).

=Medo´ro=, a Moorish youth of extraordinary beauty, but of humble race; page to Agramante. Being wounded, Angelica dressed his wounds, fell in love with him, married him, and retired with him to Cathay, where, in right of his wife, he became a king. This was the cause of Orlando’s madness.--Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_ (1516).

When Don Roldan [_Orlando_] discovered in a fountain proofs of
Angelica’s dishonorable conduct with Medoro, it distracted him to
such a degree that he tore up huge trees by the roots, sullied the
purest streams, destroyed flocks, slew shepherds, fired their huts,
pulled houses to the ground, and committed a thousand other most
furious exploits worthy of being reported in fame’s
register.--Cervantes, _Don Quixote_, I. iii. 11 (1605).

=Medu´sa= (_The soft_), Mary Stuart, queen of Scots (1545-1577).

Rise from thy bloody grave,
Thou soft Medusa of the “Fated Line,”
Whose evil beauty looked to death the brave!

Lord Lytton, _Ode_, i. (1839).

=Meeta=, the “maid of Mariendorpt,” a true woman and a true heroine. She is the daughter of Mahldenau, minister of Mariendorpt, whom she loves almost to idolatry. Her betrothed is Major Rupert Roselheim. Hearing of her father’s captivity at Prague, she goes thither on foot to crave his pardon.--S. Knowles, _The Maid of Mariendorpt_ (1838).

=Meg=, a pretty, bright, dutiful girl, daughter of Toby Veck, and engaged to Richard, whom she marries on New Year’s Day.--C. Dickens, _The Chimes_ (1844).

=Meg Dods=, the old landlady at St. Ronan’s Well.--Sir W. Scott, _St. Ronan’s Well_ (time, George III.).

=Meg Merrilees=, a half-crazy sibyl or gypsy woman.--Sir W. Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time, George II.).

=Meg Murdochson=, an old gypsy thief, mother of Madge Wildfire.--Sir W. Scott, _Heart of Midlothian_ (time, George II.).

=Megid´don=, the tutelar angel of Simon the Canaanite. This Simon, “once a shepherd, was called by Jesus from the field, and feasted Him in his hut with a lamb.”--Klopstock, _The Messiah_, iii. (1748).

=Megingjard=, the belt of Thor, whereby his strength was doubled.

=Megissog´won= (“_the great pearl feather_”), a magician, and the Manĭto of wealth. It was Megissogwon who sent the fiery fever on man, the white fog, and death. Hiawatha slew him, and taught man the science of medicine. This great Pearl-Feather slew the father of Niko´mis (the grandmother of Hiawatha). Hiawatha all day long fought with the magician without effect; at nightfall the woodpecker told him to strike at the tuft of hair on the magician’s head, the only vulnerable place; accordingly, Hiawatha discharged his three remaining arrows at the hair tuft, and Megissogwon died.

“Honor be to Hiawatha!
He hath slain the great Pearl-Feather;
Slain the mightiest of magicians--
Him that sent the fiery fever, ...
Sent disease and death among us.”

Longfellow, _Hiawatha_, ix. (1855).

=Megnoun.= (See MEJNOUN.)

=Meg´ra=, a lascivious lady in the drama called _Philaster_, or _Love Lies a-bleeding_, by Beaumont and Fletcher (1608).

=Meiklehose= (_Isaac_), one of the elders of Roseneath parish.--Sir W. Scott, _Heart of Midlothian_ (time, George II.).

=Meiklewham= (_Mr. Saunders_), “the man of law,” in the managing committee of the Spa hotel.--Sir W. Scott, _St. Ronan’s Well_ (time, George III.).

=Meister= (_Wilhelm_), the hero and title of a novel by Goethe. The object is to show that man, despite his errors and short-comings, is led by a guiding hand, and reaches some higher aim at last (1821).

=Meistersingers=, or minstrel tradesmen of Germany. An association of master tradesmen to revive the national minstrelsy, which had fallen into decay with the decline of the minnesingers, or love minstrels (1350-1523). Their subjects were chiefly moral or religious, and constructed according to rigid rules. The three chief were Hans Rosenblüt (armorial painter, born 1450), Hans Folz (surgeon, born 1479), and Hans Sachs (cobbler, 1494-1574). The next best were Heinrich von Mueglen, Konrad Harder, Master Altschwert, Master Barthel Regenbogen (the blacksmith), Muscablüt (the tailor), and Hans Blotz (the barber).

=Mej´noun and Lei´lah= (2 _syl._), a Persian love tale, the Romeo and Juliet of Eastern romance. They are the most beautiful, chaste, and impassionate of lovers; the models of what lovers would be if human nature were perfect.

When he sang the loves of Megnôun and Leileh ... tears insensibly
overflowed the cheeks of his auditors.--W. Beckford, _Vathek_
(1786).

=Mela Dryfoos.= Loud young lady of the gilded period, “physically too amiable and too well corporeally ever to be quite cross,” but selfish and coarse and reposing confidently upon the importance given her by her father’s money.--W. D. Howells, _A Hazard of New Fortunes_ (1889).

=Melan´chates= (4 _syl._), the hound that killed Actæon, and was changed into a hart.

Melanchates, that hound
That plucked Actæon to the grounde,
Gaue him his mortal wound, ...
Was chaungéd to a harte.

J. Skelton, _Philip Sparow_ (time, Henry VIII).

=Melantius=, a rough, honest soldier, who believes every one is true till convicted of crime, and then is he a relentless punisher. Melantius and Diph´ilus are brothers of Evadnê.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Maid’s Tragedy_ (1610).

⁂ The master scene between Antony and Ventidius in Dryden’s _All for Love_ is copied from _The Maid’s Tragedy_. “Ventidius” is in the place of Melantius.

=Melchior=, one of the three kings of Cologne. He was the “Wise Man of the East” who offered to the infant Jesus _gold_, the emblem of royalty. The other two were Gaspar and Balthazar. Melchior means “king of light.”

_Melchior_, a monk attending the black priest of St. Paul’s.--Sir W. Scott, _Anne of Geierstein_ (time, Edward IV.).

_Melchior_ (_i.e. Melchior Pfinzing_), a German poet who wrote the _Teuerdank_, an epic poem which has the kaiser Maximilian (son of Frederick III.) for its hero. This poem was the _Orlando Furioso_ of the Germans.

Sat the poet Melchior, singing kaiser Maximilian’s praise.

Longfellow, _Nuremberg_.

=Melea´ger=, son of Althæa, who was doomed to live while a certain log remained unconsumed. Althæa kept the log for several years, but being one day angry with her son, she cast it on the fire, where it was consumed. Her son died at the same moment.--Ovid, _Metam._, viii. 4.

Sir John Davies uses this to illustrate the immortality of the soul. He says that the life of the soul does not depend on the body as Meleager’s life depended on the fatal brand.

Again, if by the body’s prop she stand--
If on the body’s life her life depend,
As Meleager’s on the fatal brand;
The body’s good she only would intend.

_Reason_, iii. (1622).

=Melesig´enes= (5 _syl._). Homer is so called from the river Melês (2 _syl._), in Asia Minor, on the banks of which some say he was born.

... various measured verse,
Æolian charms and Dorian lyric odes,
And his who gave them breath, but higher sung,
Blind Melesigēnês, thence Homer called,
Whose poem Phœbus challenged for his own.

Milton, _Paradise Regained_ (1671).

=Melema= (_Tito_). Beautiful accomplished Greek adventurer who marries and is unfaithful to Romola. He dies by the hand of an old man who had been the benefactor of his infancy and youth, and whom he had basely deserted and ignored.--George Eliot, _Romola_.

=Me´li= (_Giovanni_), a Sicilian, born at Palermo; immortalized by his eclogues and idylls. Meli is called “The Sicilian Theocritus” (1740-1815).

Much it pleased him to peruse
The songs of the Sicilian Muse--
Bucolic songs by Meli sung.

Longfellow, _The Wayside Inn_ (prelude, 1863).

=Meliadus=, father of Sir Tristan; prince of Lyonnesse, and one of the heroes of Arthurian romance.--_Tristan de Leonois_ (1489).

⁂ Tristan, in the _History of Prince Arthur_, compiled by Sir T. Malory (1470), is called “Tristram;” but the old minnesingers of Germany (twelfth century) called the name “Tristan.”

=Mel´ibe= (3 _syl._), a rich young man married to Prudens. One day, when Melibê was in the fields, some enemies broke into his house, beat his wife, and wounded his daughter Sophie in her feet, hands, ears, nose and mouth. Melibê was furious and vowed vengeance, but Prudens persuaded him “to forgive his enemies, and to do good to those who despitefully used him.” So he called together his enemies, and forgave them, to the end that “God of His endeles mercie wole at the tyme of oure deyinge forgive us oure giltes that we have trespased to Him in this wreeched world.”--Chaucer, _Canterbury Tales_ (1388).

⁂ This prose tale is a liberal translation of a French story.--See _MS. Reg._, xix. 7; and _MS. Reg._, xix. 11, British Museum.

=Melibee=, a shepherd, and the reputed father of Pastorella. Pastorella married Sir Calidore.--Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, vi. 9 (1596).

“Melibee” is Sir Francis Walsingham. In the _Ruins of Time_, Spenser calls him “Melibœ.” Sir Philip Sidney (the “Sir Calidore” of the _Faëry Queen_) married his daughter Frances. Sir Francis Walsingham died in 1590, so poor that he did not leave enough to defray his funeral expenses.

=Melibœus=, one of the shepherds in _Eclogue_ i. of Virgil.

Spenser, in the _Ruins of Time_ (1591), calls Sir Francis Walsingham “the good Melibœ;” and in the last book of the _Faëry Queen_ he calls him “Melibee.”

=Melin´da=, cousin of Sylvia. She loves Worthy, whom she pretends to dislike, and coquets with him for twelve months. Having driven her modest lover to the verge of distraction, she relents, and consents to marry him.--G. Farquhar, _The Recruiting Officer_ (1705).

=Mel´ior=, a lovely fairy, who carried off, in her magic bark, Parthen´opex, of Blois, to her secret island.--_Parthenopex de Blois_ (a French romance, twelfth century).

=Melisen´dra= (_The princess_), natural daughter of Marsilio, and the “supposed daughter of Charlemagne.” She eloped with Don Gayferos. The king, Marsilio, sent his troops in pursuit of the fugitive. Having made Melisendra his wife, Don Gayferos delivered her up captive to the Moors at Saragossa. This was the story of the puppet-show of Master Peter, exhibited to Don Quixote and his squire at “the inn beyond the hermitage.”--Cervantes, _Don Quixote_, II. ii. 7 (1615).

=Melissa=, a prophetess who lived in Merlin’s cave. Bradamant gave her the enchanted ring to take to Roge´ro; so, under the form of Atlantês, she went to Alcīna’s isle, delivered Rogēro, and disenchanted all the captives in the island.

In bk. xix. Melissa, under the form of Rodŏmont, persuaded Agramant to break the league which was to settle the contest by single combat, and a general battle ensued.--Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_ (1516).

⁂ This incident of bk. xix. is similar to that in Homer’s _Iliad_, iii. iv., where Paris and Menelāos agree to settle the contest by single combat; but Minerva persuades Pandăros to break the truce, and a general battle ensues.

=Me´lita= (now _Malta_). The point to which the vessel that carried St. Paul was driven was the “Porto de San Paolo,” and according to tradition, the cathedral of Citta Vecchia stands on the site of the house of Publius, the Roman governor. St. Paul’s grotto, a cave in the vicinity, is so named in honor of this great apostle.

=Meli´tus=, a gentleman of Cyprus, in the drama called _The Laws of Candy_, by Beaumont and Fletcher (1647).

=Melizyus=, king of Thessaly, in the golden era of Saturn. He was the first to tame horses for the use of man.

_Melizyus_ (_King_) held his court in the Tower of Chivalry, and there knighted Graunde Amoure, after giving him the following advice:

And first _Good Hope_ his legge harneyes should be;
His habergion, of _Perfect Ryhteousnes_,
Gird first with the girdle of _Chastitie_;
His rich placarde should be good busines,
Brodred with _Alms_ ...
The helmet _Mekenes_, and the shelde _Good Fayeth_,
His swerde _God’s Word_, as St. Paule sayeth.

Stephen Hawes, _The Passe-tyme of Plesure_, xxviii. (1515).

=Mell= (_Mr._), the poor, down-trodden second master at Salem House, the school of Mr. Creakles. Mr. Mell played the flute. His mother lived in an almshouse, and Steerforth used to taunt Mell with this “degradation,” and indeed caused him to be discharged. Mell emigrated to Australia, and succeeded well in the new country.--C. Dickens, _David Copperfield_ (1849).

=Melle´font= (2 _syl._), in love with Cynthia, daughter of Sir Paul Pliant. His aunt, Lady Touchwood, had a criminal fondness for him, and, because he repelled her advances, she vowed his ruin. After passing several hair-breadth escapes from the “double dealing” of his aunt and his “friend,” Maskwell, he succeeded in winning and marrying the lady of his attachment.--W. Congreve, _The Double Dealer_ (1700).

=Mellifluous Doctor= (_The_), St. Bernard, whose writings were called “a river of paradise” (1091-1153).

=Melnotte= (_Claude_), a gardener’s son, in love with Pauline, “the Beauty of Lyons,” but treated by her with contempt. Beauseant and Glavis, two other rejected suitors, conspired with him to humble the proud fair one. To this end, Claude assumed to be the prince of Como, and Pauline married him, but was indignant when she discovered how she had been duped. Claude left her to join the French army, and, under the name of Morier, rose in two years and a half to the rank of colonel. He then returned to Lyons, and found his father-in-law on the eve of bankruptcy, and Pauline about to be sold to Beauseant to pay the creditors. Claude paid the money required, and claimed Pauline as his loving and truthful wife.--Lord L. B. Lytton, _Lady of Lyons_ (1838).

=Melo= (_Juan de_), born at Castile in the fifteenth century. A dispute having arisen at Esalo´na upon the question whether Achillês or Hector were the braver warrior, the Marquis de Ville´na called out, “Let us see if the advocates of Achillês can fight as well as prate.” At the word, there appeared in the assembly a gigantic fire-breathing monster, which repeated the same challenge. Every one shrank back except Juan de Melo, who drew his sword and placed himself before King Juan II. to protect him, “tide life, tide death.” The king appointed him alcaydê of Alcala la Real, in Grana´da, for his loyalty.--_Chronica de Don Alvaro de Luna._

=Melrose= (_Violet_), an heiress, who marries Charles Middlewick. This was against the consent of his father, because Violet had the bad taste to snub the retired tradesman, and considered vulgarity as the “unpardonable sin.”

_Mary Melrose_, Violet’s cousin, but without a penny. She marries Talbot Champneys; but his father, Sir Geoffrey, wanted him to marry Violet, the heiress.--H. J. Byron, _Our Boys_ (a comedy, 1875).

=Melusi´na=, the most famous of the _fées_ of France. Having enclosed her father in a mountain for offending her mother, she was condemned to become a serpent every Saturday. When she married the count of Lusignan, she made her husband vow never to visit her on that day, but the jealousy of the count made him break his vow. Melusina was, in consequence, obliged to leave her mortal husband, and roam about the world as a ghost till the day of doom. Some say the count immured her in the dungeon wall of his castle.--_Jean d’Arras_ (fourteenth century).

⁂ The cry of despair given by the _fée_ when she discovered the indiscreet visit of her husband, is the origin of the phrase, _Un cri de Mélusine_ (“A shriek of despair”).

=Melvil= (_Sir John_), a young baronet, engaged to be married to Miss Sterling, the elder daughter of a City merchant, who promises to settle on her £800,000. A little before the marriage, Sir John finds that he has no regard for Miss Sterling, but a great love for her younger sister, Fanny, to whom he makes a proposal of marriage. His proposal is rejected; and it is soon brought to light that Miss Fanny had been clandestinely married to Lovewell for four months.--Colman and Garrick, _The Clandestine Marriage_ (1766).

=Melville= (_Major_), a magistrate at Cairnvreckan village.--Sir W. Scott, _Waverley_ (time, George II.).

_Melville_ (_Sir Robert_), one of the embassy from the privy council to Mary queen of Scots.--Sir W. Scott, _The Abbot_ (time, Elizabeth).

_Melville_, the father of Constantia.--C. Macklin, _The Man of the World_ (1764).

_Melville_ (_Julia_), a truly noble girl, in love with Faulkland, who is always jealous of her without a shadow of cause. She receives his innuendos without resentment, and treats him with sincerity and forbearance (see act i. 2).--Sheridan, _The Rivals_ (1775).

=Melyhalt= (_The Lady_), a powerful subject of King Arthur, whose domains Sir Galiot invaded; notwithstanding which the lady chose Sir Galiot as her fancy knight and chevalier.

=Memnon=, king of the Ethiopians. He went to the assistance of his uncle, Priam, and was slain by Achillês. His mother, Eos, inconsolable at his death, weeps for him every morning, and her tears constitute what we call dew.

_Memnon_, the black statue of King Amen´ophis III., at Thebes, in Egypt, which, being struck with the rays of the morning sun, gives out musical sounds. Kircher says these sounds are due to a sort of clavecin or Æolian harp enclosed in the statue, the cords of which are acted upon by the warmth of the sun. Cambyses, resolved to learn the secret, cleft the statue from head to waist; but it continued to utter its morning melody notwithstanding.

_Memnon_, “the mad lover,” general of As´torax, king of Paphos.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Mad Lover_ (1617).

_Memnon_, the title of a novel by Voltaire, the object of which is to show the folly of aspiring to too much wisdom.

=Memnon’s Sister.= He´mera, mentioned by Dictys Cretensis.

Black, but such as in esteem
Prince Memnon’s sister might beseem.

Milton, _Il Penseroso_ (1638).

=Memorable= (_The Ever-_), John Hales, of Eton (1584-1656).

=Memory.= The persons most noted for their memory are:

Magliabecchi, of Florence, called “The Universal Index and Living Cyclopædia” (1633-1714).

P. J. Beronicius, the Greek and Latin improvisator, who knew by heart Horace, Virgil, Cicero, Juvenal, both the Plinys, Homer, and Aristophănês. He died at Middleburgh, in 1676.

Andrew Fuller, after hearing 500 lines twice, could repeat them without a mistake. He could also repeat verbatim a sermon or speech; could tell either backwards or forwards every shop sign from the Temple to the extreme end of Cheapside, and the articles displayed in each of the shops.

“Memory” Woodfall could carry in his head a debate, and repeat it a fortnight afterwards.

“Memory” Thompson could repeat the names, trades, and particulars of every shop from Ludgate Hill to Piccadilly.

William Ratcliff, the husband of the novelist, could repeat a debate the next morning.

_Memory_ (_The Bard of_), Samuel Rogers, author of the _Pleasures of Memory_ (1762-1855).

=Men of Prester John’s Country.= Prester John, in his letter to Manuel Comnēnus, says his land is the home of men with horns; of one-eyed men (the eye being in some cases before the head, and in some cases behind it); of giants, forty ells in height (_i.e._ 120 feet); of the phœnix, etc.; and of ghouls who feed on premature children. He gives the names of fifteen different tributary states, amongst which are those of Gog and Magog (now shut in behind lofty mountains); but at the end of the world these fifteen states will overrun the whole earth.

=Menalcas=, any shepherd or rustic. The name occurs in the _Idylls_ of Theoc´ritos, the _Eclogues_ of Virgil, and the _Shepheardes Calendar_ of Spenser.

=Men´cia of Mosquera= (_Donna_) married Don Alvaro de Mello. A few days after the marriage, Alvaro happened to quarrel with Don An´drea de Baesa and kill him. He was obliged to flee from Spain, leaving his bride behind, and his property was confiscated. For seven years she received no intelligence of his whereabouts (for he was a slave most of the time), but when seven years had elapsed the report of his death in Fez reached her. The young widow now married the marquis of Guardia, who lived in a grand castle near Burgos, but walking in the grounds one morning she was struck with the earnestness with which one of the under-gardeners looked at her. This man proved to be her first husband, Don Alvaro, with whom she now fled from the castle; but on the road a gang of robbers fell upon them. Alvaro was killed, and the lady taken to the robbers’ cave, where Gil Blas saw her and heard her sad tale. The lady was soon released, and sent to the castle of the marquis of Guardia. She found the marquis dying from grief, and indeed he died the day following, and Mencia retired to a convent.--Lesage, _Gil Blas_, i. 11-14 (1715).

=Mendo´za=, a Jew prize-fighter, who held the belt at the close of the last century, and in 1791 opened the Lyceum in the Strand, to teach “the noble art of self-defence.”

I would have dealt the fellow that abused you such a recompense in
the fifth button, that my friend Mendoza could not have placed it
better.--R. Cumberland, _Shiva, the Jew_, iv. 2 (1776).

There is a print often seen in old picture shops, of Humphreys and
Mendoza sparring, and a queer angular exhibition it is. What that
is to the modern art of boxing, Quick’s style of acting was to
Dowton’s.--_Records of a Stage Veteran._

_Mendoza_ (_Isaac_), a rich Jew, who thinks himself monstrously wise, but is duped by every one. (See under ISAAC.)--Sheridan, _The Duenna_ (1775).

=Menech´mians=, persons exactly like each other, as the brothers Dromio. So called from the Mencœchmi of Plautus.

=Menec´rates= (4 _syl._), a physician of Syracuse, of unbounded vanity and arrogance. He assumed to himself the title of Jupiter, and in a letter to Philip, king of Macedon, began thus: “Menecratês Jupiter to King Philip, greeting.” Being asked by Philip to a banquet, the physician was served only with frankincense, like the gods; but Menecratês was greatly offended, and hurried home.

=Mengs= (_John_), the surly innkeeper at Kirchhoff village.--Sir W. Scott, _Anne of Geierstein_ (time, Edward IV.).

=Menippee= (_Satyre_), a famous political satire, written during the time of what is called in French History the Holy League, the objects of which were to exterminate the Huguenots, to confine the king (Henri III.) in a monastery, and to crown the duc de Guise. The satire is partly in verse, and partly in prose, and its object is to expose the perfidious intentions of Philip of Spain and the culpable ambition of the Guises.

It is divided into two parts, the first of which is entitled _Catholicon d’Espagne_, by Pierre Leroy (1593), exposing those who had been corrupted by the gold of Spain; the second part is entitled _Abrégé des Etats de la Ligue_, by Gillot, Pithou, Rapin and Passerat, published 1594.

⁂ Menippus was a cynic philosopher and poet of Gadara, in Phœnicia, who wrote twelve books of satires in prose and verse.

Varro wrote in Latin a work called _The Satires of Menippus_ (_Satyræ Menippeæ_).

=Mennibojou=, a North American Indian deity.

=Mentz= (_Baron von_), a Heidelberg bully, whose humiliation at the hands of the fellow-student he has insulted is the theme of an exciting chapter in Theodore S. Fay’s novel, _Norman Leslie_ (1835).

=Menteith= (_the earl of_), a kinsman of the earl of Montrose.--Sir W. Scott, _Legend of Montrose_ (time, Charles I.).

=Mentor=, a wise and faithful adviser or guide. So called from Mentor, a friend of Ulyssês, whose form Minerva assumed when she accompanied Telemachus in his search for his father.--Fénelon, _Télémaque_ (1700).

=Mephistoph´eles= (5 _syl._), the sneering, jeering, leering attendant demon of Faust in Goethe’s drama of _Faust_, and Gounod’s opera of the same name. Marlowe calls the name “Mephostophilis” in his drama entitled _Dr. Faustus_. Shakespeare, in his _Merry Wives of Windsor_ writes the name “Mephostophilus;” and in the opera he is called “Mefistofele” (5 _syl._). In the old demonology, Mephistophelês was one of the seven chief devils, and second of the fallen archangels.

=Mephostophilis=, the attendant demon of Faustus, in Marlowe’s tragedy of _Dr. Faustus_ (1589).

There is an awful melancholy about Marlowe’s “Mephostophilis,”
perhaps more expressive than the malignant mirth of that fiend in
the renowned work of Goethe.--Hallam.

=Mephostophilus=, the spirit or familiar of Sir John Faustus or [Dr.] John Faust (Shakespeare, _Merry Wives of Windsor_, 1596). Subsequently it became a term of reproach, about equal to “imp of the devil.”

=Mercedes=, Spanish woman, who, to disarm suspicion, drinks the wine poisoned for the French soldiery who have invaded the town. She is forced to let her baby drink it, also, and gives no sign of perturbation until the invaders, twenty in number, have partaken of the wine, and the baby grows livid and expires before their eyes.--Thomas Bailey Aldrich, _Mercedes_ (drama, 1883).

=Mercer= (_Major_), at the presidency of Madras.--Sir W. Scott, _The Surgeon’s Daughter_ (time, George II.).

=Merchant of Venice= (_The_), Antonio, who borrowed 3000 ducats for three months of Shylock, a Jew. The money was borrowed to lend to a friend named Bassanio, and the Jew, “in merry sport,” instead of interest, agreed to lend the money on these conditions: If Antonio paid it within three months, he should pay only the principal; if he did not pay it back within that time, the merchant should forfeit a pound of his own flesh, from any part of his body the Jew might choose to cut it off. As Antonio’s ships were delayed by contrary winds, he could not pay the money, and the Jew demanded the forfeiture. On the trial which ensued, Portia, in the dress of a law doctor, conducted the case, and, when the Jew was going to take the forfeiture, stopped him by saying that the bond stated “a pound of flesh,” and that, therefore, he was to shed no drop of blood, and he must cut neither more nor less than an exact pound, on forfeit of his life. As these conditions were practically impossible, the Jew was nonsuited and fined for seeking the life of a citizen.--Shakespeare, _Merchant of Venice_ (1598).

The story is in the _Gesta Romanorum_, the tale of the bond being ch. xlviii., and that of the caskets ch. xcix.; but Shakespeare took his plot from a Florentine novelette called _Il Pecorone_, written in the fourteenth century, but not published till the sixteenth.

There is a ballad on the subject, the date of which has not been determined. The bargain runs thus:

“No penny for the loan of it,
For one year shall you pay--
You may do me a good turn
Before my dying day;
But we will have a merry jest,
For to be talkêd long;
You shall make me a bond,” quoth he,
“That shall be large or strong.”

=Merchant’s Tale= (_The_), in Chaucer, is substantially the same as the first Latin metrical tale of Adolphus, and is not unlike a Latin prose tale given in the appendix of T. Wright’s edition of Æsop’s fables. The tale is this:

A girl named May married January, an old Lombard baron, 60 years of
age, but entertained the love of Damyan, a young squire. She was
detected in familiar intercourse with Damyan, but persuaded her
husband that his eyes had deceived him, and he believed
her.--Chaucer, _Canterbury Tales_ (1388).

=Mercian Laws.= (See MARTIAN.)

=Mercilla=, a “maiden queen of great power and majesty, famous through all the world, and honored far and nigh.” Her kingdom was disturbed by a soldan, her powerful neighbor, stirred up by his wife Adicĭa. The “maiden queen” is Elizabeth; the “soldan,” Philip of Spain, and “Adicia” is injustice, presumption, or the bigotry of popery.--Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, v. (1596).

=Mercu´tio=, kinsman of Prince Escalus, and Romeo’s friend. An airy, sprightly, elegant young nobleman, so full of wit and fancy that Dryden says Shakespeare was obliged to kill him in the third act, lest the poet himself should have been killed by Mercutio.--Shakespeare, _Romeo and Juliet_ (1598).

=Mercutio of Actors= (_The_), William Lewis (1748-1811).

=Mercy=, a young pilgrim, who accompanied Christiana in her walk to Zion. When Mercy got to the Wicket Gate, she swooned from fear of being refused admittance. Mr. Brisk proposed to her, but being told that she was poor, left her, and she was afterwards married to Matthew, the eldest son of Christian.--Bunyan, _Pilgrim’s Progress_, ii. (1684).

=Merdle= (_Mr._), banker, a skit on the directors of the Royal British bank, and on Mr. Hudson, “the railway king.” Mr. Merdle, of Harley Street, was called the “Master Mind of the Age.” He became insolvent, and committed suicide. Mr. Merdle was a heavily made man, with an obtuse head, and coarse, mean, common features. His chief butler said of him, “Mr. Merdle never was a gentleman, and no ungentlemanly act on Mr. Merdle’s part would surprise me.” The great banker was “the greatest forger and greatest thief that ever cheated the gallows.”

Lord Decimus [_Barnacle_] began waving Mr. Merdle about ... as
Gigantic Enterprise. The wealth of England, Credit, Capital,
Prosperity, and all manner of blessings.--Bk. ii. 24.

_Mrs. Merdle_, wife of the bank swindler. After the death of her husband, society decreed that Mrs. Merdle should still be admitted among the sacred few; so Mrs. Merdle was still received and patted on the back by the upper ten.--C. Dickens, _Little Dorrit_ (1857).

=Meredith= (_Mr._), one of the conspirators with Redgauntlet.--Sir W. Scott, _Redgauntlet_ (time, George III.).

_Meredith_ (_Mr. Michael_), “the man of mirth,” in the managing committee of the Spa hotel.--Sir. W. Scott, _St. Ronan’s Well_. (time, George III.).

_Meredith_ (_Sir_), a Welsh knight.--Sir W. Scott, _Castle Dangerous_ (time, Henry I.).

_Meredith_ (_Owen_), pseudonym of the Hon. Edward Robert Bulwer Lytton (Lord Lytton), author of _The Wanderer_ (1859), etc. This son of Lord Bulwer Lytton, poet and novelist, succeeded to the peerage in 1873.

=Me´rida= (_Marchioness_), betrothed to Count Valantia.--Mrs. Inchbald, _Child of Nature_.

=Meridarpax=, the pride of mice.

Now nobly towering o’er the rest, appears
A gallant prince that far transcends his years;
Pride of his sire, and glory of his house,
And more a Mars in combat than a mouse;
His action bold, robust his ample frame,
And Meridarpax his resounding name.

Parnell, _The Battle of the Frogs and Mice_, iii. (about 1712).

=Merid´ies= or “Noonday Sun,” one of the four brothers who kept the passages of Castle Perilous. So Tennyson has named him; but in the _History of Prince Arthur_, he is called “Sir Permōnês, the Red Knight.”--Tennyson, _Idylls_ (“Gareth and Lynette”); Sir T. Malory, _History of Prince Arthur_, i. 129 (1470).

=Merion= (_James_), New York lawyer, who plays the lover to three women, honestly believing himself enamoured of each.--Ellen Olney Kirke, _A Daughter of Eve_ (1889).

=Merle= (_Madame_), a plausible woman with an ambition to be thought the incarnation of propriety, who carries with her the knowledge that she is the mistress of a man who has a wife, and that Madame Merle’s illegitimate daughter is brought up by the step-mother, who knows nothing of the shameful story.--Henry James, _The Portrait of a Lady_ (1881).

=Merlin= (_Ambrose_), prince of enchanters. His mother was Matilda, a nun, who was seduced by a “guileful sprite,” or incubus, “half angel and half man, dwelling in mid-air betwixt the earth and moon.” Some say his mother was the daughter of Pubidius, lord of Math-traval, in Wales; and others make her a princess, daughter of Demetius, king of Demet´ia. Blaise baptized the infant, and thus rescued it from the powers of darkness.

Merlin died spell-bound, but the author and manner of his death are given differently by different authorities. Thus, in the _History of Prince Arthur_ (Sir T. Malory, 1470), we are told that the enchantress Nimue or Ninive inveigled the old man, and “covered him with a stone under a rock.” In the _Morte d’Arthur_ it is said “he sleeps and sighs in an old tree, spell-bound by Vivien.” Tennyson, in his _Idylls_ (“Vivien”), says that Vivien induced Merlin to take shelter from a storm in a hollow oak tree, and left him spell-bound. Others say he was spell-bound in a hawthorn bush, but this is evidently a blunder. (See MERLIN THE WILD.)

⁂ Merlin made “the fountain of love,” mentioned by Bojardo in _Orlando Innamorato_, l. 3.

Ariosto, in _Orlando Furioso_, says he made “one of the four fountains” (ch. xxvi).

He also made the Round Table at Carduel for 150 knights, which came into the possession of King Arthur on his marriage with Queen Guinever; and brought from Ireland the stones of Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain.

Allusion is made to him in the _Faëry Queen_; in Ellis’s _Specimens of Early English Metrical Romances_; in Drayton’s _Polyolbion_; in _Kenilworth_, by Sir W. Scott, etc. T. Heywood has attempted to show the fulfilment of Merlin’s prophecies.

Of Merlin and his skill what region doth not hear?...
Who of a British nymph was gotten, whilst she played
With a seducing sprite ...
But all Demetia thro’ there was not found her peer.

Drayton, _Polyolbion_, v. (1612).

_Merlin_ (_The English_), W. Lilly, the astrologer, who assumed the _nom de plume_ of “Mer´linus Anglĭcus” (1602-1681).

=Merlin the Wild=, a native of Caledonia, who lived in the sixteenth century, about a century after the great Ambrose Merlin, the sorcerer. Fordun, in his _Scotichronicon_, gives particulars about him. It was predicted that he would die by earth, wood, and water, which prediction was fulfilled thus: A mob of rustics hounded him, and he jumped from a rock into the Tweed, and was impaled on a stake fixed in the river bed. His grave is still shown beneath an aged hawthorn bush at Drummelzier, a village on the Tweed.

=Merlin’s Cave=, in Dynevor, near Carmarthen, noted for its ghastly noises of rattling iron chains, brazen caldrons, groans, strokes of hammers, and ringing of anvils. The cause is this: Merlin set his spirits to fabricate a brazen wall to encompass the city of Carmarthen, and as he had to call on the Lady of the Lake, bade them not to slacken their labor till he returned; but he never did return, for Vivien by craft got him under the enchanted stone, and kept him there. Tennyson says he was spell-bound by Vivien in a hollow oak tree, but the _History of Prince Arthur_ (Sir T. Malory) gives the other version.--Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, iii. 3 (1590).

=Merop’s Son=, a nobody, a _terræ filius_, who thinks himself somebody. Thus Phaëton (Merop’s son), forgetting that his mother was an earthborn woman, thought he could drive the horses of the sun, but not being able to guide them, nearly set the earth on fire. Many presume like him, and think themselves capable or worthy of great things, forgetting all the while that they are only “Merop’s son.”

Why, Phaëton (for thou art Merop’s son),
Wilt thou aspire to guide the heavenly car,
And with thy daring folly burn the world?

Shakespeare, _Two Gentlemen of Verona_, act iii. sc. 1 (1594).

=Merrilees= (_Meg_), a half-crazy woman, part sibyl and part gypsy. She is the ruler and terror of the gypsy race. Meg Merrilees was the nurse of Harry Bertram.--Sir W. Scott, _Gay Mannering_ (time, George II.).

In the dramatized version of Scott’s novel, Miss Cushman [1845-9]
made “Meg Merrilees” her own. She showed therein indisputably the
attributes of genius. Such was her power over the intention and
feeling of the part, that the mere words were quite a secondary
matter. It was the figure, the gait, the look, the gesture, the
tone, by which she put beauty and passion into language the most
indifferent.--Henry Morley.

=Merry Andrew=, Andrew Borde, physician to Henry VIII. (1500-1549).

⁂ Prior has a poem on _Merry Andrew_.

=Merry Monarch= (_The_), Charles II., of England (1630, 1660-1685).

=Merry Mount.= Name of the home of a certain Englishman, called in the chronicle “the pestilent Morton,” who set up a May-pole in colonial Massachusetts.

“That worthy gentleman, Mr. John Endicott, ... visiting those
parts, caused that May-pole to be cut down, and rebuked them for
their profaneness ... so they now (or others) changed the name of
their place, ‘Merry Mount,’ again, and called it ‘Mount
Dagon.’”--William Bradford, _History of the Plymouth Plantation_
(1630-50).

=Mer´rylegs=, a highly trained, performing dog, belonging to Signor Jupe, clown in Sleary’s circus. This dog leaves the circus when his master disappears, but several years afterwards finds its way back and dies.--C. Dickens, _Hard Times_ (1854).

=Merthyr Tydvil=, a corruption of _Martyr St. Tidfil_, a Welsh princess who suffered martyrdom.

=Merton= (_Tommy_), one of the chief characters in _Sanford and Merton_, a tale for boys, by Thomas Day (1783-9).

_Merton_ (_Tristram_). Thomas Babington Macaulay (Lord Macaulay), so signs the ballads and sketches which he inserted in _Knight’s Quarterly Magazine_.

=Mertoun= (_Basil_), _alias_ VAUGHAN, formerly a pirate.

_Mordaunt Mertoun_, son of Basil Mertoun. He marries Brenda Troil.--Sir W. Scott, _The Pirate_ (time, William III.).

=Merveilleuse= [_Mair.vay.´uze_], the sword of Doolin of Mayence. It was so sharp that, if placed edge downwards on a block of wood, it would cut through it of itself.

=Mervett= (_Gustavus de_), in _Charles XII._, an historical drama by J. R. Planché (1826).

=Mervyn= (_Mr. Arthur_), guardian of Julia Mannering.--Sir W. Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time, George II.).

=Messali´na=, wife of the Emperor Claudius of Rome. Her name is a by-word for incontinency (A.D. *-48).

_Messalina_ (_The Modern_), Catherine II. of Russia (1729-1796).

=Messalina of Germany=, Barbary of Cilley, second wife of Kaiser Sigismund of Germany (fifteenth century).

=Messala.= Haughty young Roman who feigns friendship for Ben-Hur, and betrays his confidence. In after years the scheme of revenge nursed by the ruined youth is fulfilled in the famous chariot-race.--Lew Wallace, _Ben Hur_, _A Tale of the Christ_ (1880).

=Messiah= (_The_), an epic poem in fifteen books, by F. G. Klopstock. The first three were published in 1748, and the last in 1773. The subject is the last days of Jesus, His crucifixion and resurrection. Bk. i. Jesus ascends the Mount of Olives, to spend the night in prayer. Bk. ii. John the Beloved, failing to exorcise a demoniac, Jesus goes to his assistance; and Satan, rebuked, returns to hell, where he tells the fallen angels his version of the birth and ministry of Christ, whose death he resolves on. Bk. iii. Messiah sleeps for the last time on the Mount of Olives; the tutelar angels of the twelve apostles, and a description of the apostles are given. Satan gives Judas a dream, and then enters the heart of Caiaphas. Bk. iv. The council in the palace of Caiaphas decree that Jesus must die; Jesus sends Peter and John to prepare the Passover, and eats His Last Supper with His apostles. Bk. v. The three hours of agony in the garden. Bk. vi. Jesus, bound, is taken before Annas, and then before Caiaphas. Peter denies his Master. Bk. vii. Christ is brought before Pilate; Judas hangs himself; Pilate sends Jesus to Herod, but Herod sends Him again to Pilate, who delivers Him to the Jews. Bk. viii. Christ nailed to the cross. Bk. ix. Christ on the cross. Bk. x. The Death of Christ. Bk. xi. The vail[TN-10] of the Temple rent, and the resurrection of many from their graves. Bk. xii. The burial of the body, and death of Mary, the sister of Lazarus. Bk. xiii. The resurrection and suicide of Philo. Bk. xiv. Jesus shows Himself to His disciples. Bk. xv. Many of those who had risen from their graves show themselves to others. Conclusion.

_Messiah_, an oratorio by Handel (1749). The liberetto was by Charles Jennens, nicknamed “Soliman the Magnificent.”

=Metanoi´a=, Repentance personified, by William Browne, in _Britannia’s Pastorals_, v. (Greek, _mĕtanoia_, “repentance”.)

Faire Metanoia is attending
To croune thee with those joys that know no ending.

_Pastorals_, v. 1 (1613).

=Metasta´sio.= The real name of this Italian poet was Trapassi (_death_). He was brought up by Gravina, who Grecized the name (1698-1782).

⁂ So “Melancthon” is the Greek form of _Schwarzerdê_ (“black earth”); “Œcolampadius” is the Greek form of the German name _Hausschein_; “Desiderius Erasmus” is _Gheraerd Gheraerd_ (the first “Gheraerd” is Latinized into _Desiderius_, and the latter is Grecized into _Erasmus_).

=Meth´os=, drunkenness personified. He is twin-brother of Gluttony, their mother being Caro (_fleshly lust_). In the battle of Mansoul, Methos is slain by Agnei´a (_wifely chastity_) spouse of Eucra´tês (_temperance_), and sister of Parthen´ia (_maiden chastity_). (Greek, _methê_ or _methŭs_ is “drunkenness.”)--Phineas Fletcher, _The Purple Island_, vii., xi. (1633).

=Met´ophis=, the corrupt chief minister of Sesostris.

Il avait l’ame aussi corrumpue et aussi artificieuse que Sesostris
était sincère et généreux.--Fénelon, _Télémaque_ (1700).

=Mexit´li=, chief god and idol of the Az´tecas. He leaped full-grown into life, and with a spear slew those who mocked his mother, Coatlan´tona (4 _syl._).

Already at [_his mother’s breast_] the blow was aimed,
When forth Mexitli leapt, and in his hand
The angry spear.

Southey, _Madoc_, ii. 21 (1805).

⁂ Of course, it will be remembered that Minerva, like Mexitli, was born full-grown and fully armed.

=Mezen´tius=, king of the Tyrrhenians, who put criminals to death by tying them face to face with dead bodies.--Virgil, _Æneid_, viii. 485.

=Mezzora´mia=, an earthly paradise in Africa, accessible by only one road. Gaudentio di Lucca discovered the road, and lived at Mezzoramia for twenty-five years.--Simon Berington, _Gaudentio di Lucca_.

=M. F. H.=, Master [_of the_] Fox-hounds.

=Micaw´ber= (_Mr. Wilkins_), a most unpractical, half-clever man, a great speechifier, letter writer, projector of bubble schemes, and, though confident of success, never succeeding. Having failed in everything in the old country, he migrated to Australia, and became a magistrate at Middlebay.--C. Dickens, _David Copperfield_ (1849).

⁂ This truly amiable, erratic genius is a portrait of Dickens’s own father, “David Copperfield” being Dickens, and “Mrs. Nickleby” (one can hardly believe it) is said to be Dickens’s mother.

=Mi´chael= (2 _syl._), the special protector and guardian of the Jews. This archangel is messenger of peace and plenty.--Sale’s _Korân_, ii. notes.

⁂ That Michael was really the protector and guardian angel of the Jews we know from _Dan._ x. 13, 21; xii. 1.

Milton makes Michael the leader of the heavenly host in the war in heaven. The word means “God’s power.” Gabriel was next in command to the archangel Michael.

Go, Michael, of celestial armies prince

_Paradise Lost_, vi. 44 (1665).

⁂ Longfellow, in his _Golden Legend_, says that Michael is the presiding spirit of the planet Mercury, and brings to man the gift of prudence (“The Miracle-Play,” iii., 1851).

_Michael_, the “trencher favorite” of Arden of Feversham, in love with Maria, sister of Mosby. A weak man, who both loves and honors Arden, but is inveigled by Mosby to admit ruffians into Arden’s house to murder him.--Geo. Lillo, _Arden of Feversham_ (1592).

=Michael, God of Wind= (_St._). At the promontory of Malea is a chapel built to St. Michael, and the sailors say when the wind blows from that quarter it is occasioned by the violent motion of St. Michael’s wings. Whenever they sail by that promontory, they pray St. Michael to keep his wings still.

_St. Michael’s Chair._ It is said that any woman who has sat on Michael’s chair (on St. Michael’s Mount, in Cornwall), will rule her husband ever after.

=Michael Angelo of Battle-Scenes= (_The_), Michael Angelo Cerquozzi, of Rome (1600-1660).

=Michael Angelo of France= (_The_), Jean Cousin (1500-1590).

=Michael Angelo des Kermesses=, Peter van Laar, called _Le Bamboche_, born at Laaren (1613-1673).

Or _Michel-Ange des Bamboches_.

=Michael Angelo of Music= (_The_), Johann Christoph von Glück (1714-1787).

=Michael Angelo of Sculptors= (_The_), Pierre Puget (1623-1694).