Act ii. sc. 1 (1592).

These “stars” were the earl of Northumberland, the earl of Westmoreland, and the duke of Norfolk.

=Mary, the Maid of the Inn=, the delight and sunshine of the parish, about to be married to Richard, an idle, worthless fellow. One autumn night, two guests were drinking at the inn, and one remarked he should not much like to go to the abbey on such a night. “I’ll wager that Mary will go,” said the other, and the bet was accepted. Mary went, and, hearing footsteps, stepped into a place of concealment, when presently passed her two young men carrying a young woman they had just murdered. The hat of one blew off, and fell at Mary’s feet. She picked it up, and flew to the inn, told her story, and then, producing the hat, found it was Richard’s. Her senses gave way, and she became a confirmed maniac for life.--R. Southey, _Mary, the Maid of the Inn_ (from Dr. Plot’s _History of Staffordshire_, 1686).

=Mary Pyncheon.= (See PYNCHEON.)

=Mary Woodcock.= (See WOODCOCK.)

=Mar´zavan=, foster-brother of the Princess Badou´ra.--_Arabian Nights_ (“Camaralzaman and Badoura”).

=Masaniello=, a corruption of [Tom]maso Aniello, a Neapolitan fisherman, who headed an insurrection in 1647 against the duke of Arcos; and he resolved to kill the duke’s son for having seduced Fenella, his sister, who was deaf and dumb. The insurrection succeeded, and Masaniello was elected by his rabble “chief magistrate of Portici;” but he became intoxicated with his greatness, so the mob shot him, and flung his dead body into a ditch. Next day, however, it was taken out and interred with much ceremony and pomp. When Fenella heard of her brother’s death, she threw herself into the crater of Vesuvius.

⁂ Auber has an opera on the subject (1831), the libretto by Scribe. Caraffa had chosen the same subject for an opera previously.

=Mascarille= (3 _syl._), the valet of La Grange. In order to reform two silly, romantic girls, La Grange and Du Croisy introduce to them their valets, as the “marquis of Mascarille” and the “viscount of Jodelet.” The girls are taken with their “aristocratic visitors;” but when the game has gone far enough, the masters enter and unmask the trick. By this means the girls are taught a most useful lesson, and are saved from any serious ill consequences.--Molière, _Les Précieuses Ridicules_ (1659).

⁂ Molière had already introduced the same name in two other of his comedies, _L’Etourdi_ (1653) and _Le Dépit Amoureux_ (1654).

=Masetto=, a rustic engaged to Zerlīna; but Don Giovanni intervenes before the wedding, and deludes the foolish girl into believing that he means to make her a great lady and his wife.--Mozart, _Don Giovanni_ (libretto by L. da Ponte, 1787).

=Mask´well=, the “double dealer.” He pretends to love Lady Touchwood, but it is only to make her a tool for breaking the attachment between Mellefont (2 _syl._) and Cynthia. Maskwell pretends friendship for Mellefont merely to throw dust in his eyes respecting his designs to carry off Cynthia, to whom Mellefont is betrothed. Cunning and hypocrisy are Maskwell’s substitutes for wisdom and honesty.--W. Congreve, _The Double Dealer_ (1700).

=Massasowat.= The account given by Edward Winslow of the illness of Massasowat--the friendly Indian chief whose alliance with the pilgrim father ceased only with his life--is a curious contribution to colonial literature. The remedies and diet used by Winslow are so extraordinary as to give unintentional point to his remark--“We, with admiration, blessed GOD for giving his blessing to such rare and ignorant means.”--Edward Winslow, _Good News from New England_ (1624).

=Mason= (_William_). The medallion to this poet in Westminster Abbey was by Bacon.

_Mason_ (_Lady_). She forges a will purporting to be by her husband, securing his estate to herself and her son. Nobody suspects the fraud for years. When inquiry arises, Lady Mason is engaged to a gallant old baronet who will not credit her guilt until, conscience-smitten, she throws herself at his feet and acknowledges all.

_Lucius Mason._ The priggish, good-looking youth for whom Lady Mason risks so much. When he learns the truth he is stern in his judgment of the unhappy woman.--Anthony Trollope, _Orley Farm_.

=Master= (_The_). Goethe is called _Der Meister_ (1749-1832).

I beseech you, Mr. Tickler, not to be so sarcastic on “The Master.”--_Noctes Ambrosiana._

_Master_ (_The Old_). Mythical personage, whose breakfast-table monologues are among the most charming that enliven the pages of Oliver Wendell Holmes’s _Poet at the Breakfast Table_. “I think he suspects himself of a three-story intellect, and I don’t feel sure that he isn’t right.”

=Master Adam=, Adam Billaut, the French poet (1602-1662).

=Master Humphrey=, the narrator of the story called “The Old Curiosity Shop.”--C. Dickens, _Master Humphrey’s Clock_ (1840).

=Master Leonard=, grand-master of the nocturnal orgies of the demons. He presided at these meetings in the form of a three-horned goat with a black human face.--_Middle Age Demonology._

=Master, like Man= (_Like_).

Such mistress, such Nan; Such master, such man.

Tusser, xxxviii. 22.

Again:

Such master, such man; and such mistress, such maid; Such husband and huswife; such houses arraid.

T. Tusser, _Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry_, xxxix. 22 (1557).

=Master Matthew=, a town gull.--Ben Jonson, _Every Man in His Humor_ (1598).

=Master Stephen=, a country gull of melancholy humor. (See MASTER MATTHEW).--Ben Jonson, _Every Man in His Humor_ (1598).

=Master of Sentences=, Pierre Lombard, author of a book called _Sentences_ (1100-1164).

=Masters= (_Doctor_), physician to Queen Elizabeth.--Sir W. Scott, _Kenilworth_ (time, Elizabeth).

_Masters_ (The Four): (1) Michael O’Clerighe (_or_ Clery), who died 1643; (2) Cucoirighe O’Clerighe; (3) Maurice Conry; (4) Fearfeafa Conry; authors of _Annals of Donegal_.

=Mat Mizen=, mate of H.M. ship _Tiger_. The type of a daring, reckless, dare-devil English sailor. His adventures with Harry Clifton, in Delhi, form the main incidents of Barrymore’s melodrama, _El Hyder, Chief of the Ghaut Mountains_.

=Mat-o’-the Mint=, a highwayman in Captain Macheath’s gang. Peachum says, “He is a promising, sturdy fellow, and diligent in his way. Somewhat too bold and hasty; one that may raise good contributions on the public if he does not cut himself short by murder.”--Gay, _The Beggar’s Opera_, i. (1727).

=Matabrune= (3 _syl._), wife of King Pierron of the Strong Island, and mother of Prince Oriant, one of the ancestors of Godfrey of Bouillon.--_Mediæval Romance of Chivalry._

=Mathematical Calculators.=

George Parkes Bidder, president of the Institution of Civil Engineers (1800- ).

Jedediah Buxton, of Elmeton, in Derbyshire. He would tell how many letters were in any one of his father’s sermons, after hearing it from the pulpit. He went to hear Garrick, in _Richard III._, and told how many words each actor uttered (1705-1775).

Zerah Colburn, of Vermont, U. S., came to London in 1812, when he was eight years old. The duke of Gloucester set him to multiply five figures by three, and he gave the answer instantly. He would extract the cube root of nine figures in a few seconds (1804- ).

Vito Mangiamele, son of a Sicilian shepherd. In 1839 MM. Arago, Lacroix, Libri, and Sturm examined the boy, then 11 years old, and in half a minute he told them the cube root of seven figures, and in three seconds of nine figures (1818- ).

Alfragan, the Arabian astronomer (died 820).

=Mathilde= (2 _syl._), heroine of a tale so called by Sophie Ristaud, Dame Cottin (1773-1807).

_Mathilde_ (3 _syl._), sister of Gessler, the tyrannical governor of Switzerland, in love with Arnoldo, a Swiss, who saved her life when it was imperilled by an avalanche. After the death of Gessler she married the bold Swiss.--Rossini, _Guglielmo Tell_ (an opera, 1829).

=Mathis=, a German miller, greatly in debt. One Christmas Eve a Polish Jew came to his house in a sledge, and, after rest and refreshment, started for Nantzig, “four leagues off.” Mathis followed him, killed him with an axe, and burnt the body in a lime-kiln. He then paid his debts, greatly prospered, and became a highly respected burgomaster. On the wedding night of his only child, Annette, he died of apoplexy, of which he had previous warning by the constant sound of sledge-bells in his ears. In his dream he supposed himself put into a mesmeric sleep in open court, when he confessed everything, and was executed.--J. R. Ware, _The Polish Jew_.

⁂ This is the character which first introduced H. Irving to public notice.

=Math´isen=, one of the three anabaptists who induced John of Leyden to join their rebellion; but no sooner was John proclaimed “the prophet-king” than the three rebels betrayed him to the emperor. When the villains entered the banquet-hall to arrest their dupe, they all perished in the flames of the burning palace.--Meyerbeer, _Le Prophète_ (an opera, 1849).

=Matilda=, wife of the earl of Leicester, in the “first American tragedy regularly produced” in the United States.

She plans to poison her lord, a plot discovered and thwarted by him. In shame and remorse she stabs herself to the heart, praying Leicester to “pity her youthful paramour.”--William Dunlap, _Leicester, A Tragedy_ (1794).

_Matilda_, sister of Rollo and Otto, dukes of Normandy, and daughter of Sophia.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Bloody Brother_ (1639).

_Matilda_, daughter of Lord Robert Fitzwalter.

⁂ Michael Drayton has a poem of some 650 lines, so called.

_Matilda_, daughter of Rokeby, and niece of Mortham. Matilda was beloved by Wilfred, son of Oswald; but she herself loved Redmond, her father’s page, who turned out to be Mortham’s son.--Sir W. Scott, _Rokeby_ (1812).

=Matsys= (_Quintin_), a blacksmith of Antwerp. He fell in love with Liza, the daughter of Johann Mandyn, the artist. The father declared that none but an artist should have her to wife; so Matsys relinquished his trade, and devoted himself to painting. After a while, he went into the studio of Mandyn to see his picture of the fallen angel; and on the outstretehed[TN-6] leg of one of the figures painted a bee. This was so life-like, that when the old man returned, he proceeded to frighten it off with his handkerchief. When he discovered the deception, and found out it was done by Matsys, he was so delighted that he at once gave Liza to him for wife.

=Matthew Merrygreek=, the servant of Ralph Roister Doister. He is a flesh-and-blood representative of “vice” in the old morality-plays.--Nicholas Udall, _Ralph Roister Doister_ (the first English comedy, 1634).

=Matthias de Monçada=, a merchant. He is the father of Mrs. Witherington, wife of General Witherington.--Sir W. Scott, _The Surgeon’s Daughter_ (time, George II.).

=Matthias de Silva= (_Don_), a Spanish beau. This exquisite one day received a challenge for defamation, soon after he had retired to bed, and said to his valet, “I would not get up before noon to make one in the best party of pleasure that was ever projected. Judge, then, if I shall rise at six o’clock in the morning to get my throat cut.”--Lesage, _Gil Blas_, iii. 8 (1715).

(This reply was borrowed from the romance of Espinel, entitled _Vida del Escudero Marços de Obregon_, 1618).

=Mattie=, maid servant of Bailie Nicol Jarvie, and afterwards his wife.--Sir W. Scott, _Rob Roy_ (time, George I.).

=Maud Muller=, pretty, shy haymaker, of whom the judge, passing by, craves a cup of water. He falls in love with the rustic maiden, but dare not wed her. She, too, recollects him with tenderness, dreaming vainly of what might have been her different lot.

“Of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these, ‘It might have been.’”

J. G. Whittier, _Maud Muller_.

Bret Harte has written a clever parody upon Maud Muller,--“_Mrs. Judge Jenkins_.”

“There are no sadder words of tongue or pen, Than ‘It is, but _it hadn’t orter been!_’”

=Maude=, (1 _syl._), wife of Peter Pratefast, “who loved cleanliness.”

She kepe her dishes from all foulenes; And when she lacked clowtes withouten fayle, She wyped her dishes with her dogges tayll.

Stephen Hawes, _The Pastyme of Pleasure_, xxix. (1515).

=Maugis=, the Nestor of French romance. He was one of Charlemagne’s paladins, a magician and champion.

⁂ In Italian romance he is called “Malagigi” (_q.v._).

=Maugis d’Aygremont=, son of Duke Bevis d’Aygremont, stolen in infancy by a female slave. As the slave rested under a white-thorn, a lion and a leopard devoured her, and then killed each other in disputing over the infant. Oriande la fèe, attracted to the spot by the crying of the child, exclaimed, “by the powers above, the child is _mal gist_ (‘badly nursed’)!” and ever after it was called Mal-gist or Mau-gis’. When grown to manhood, he obtained the enchanted horse Bayard, and took from Anthenor (the Saracen) the the[TN-7] sword Flamberge. Subsequently he gave both to his cousin Renaud (_Renaldo_). Romance of _Maugis d’Aygremont et de Vivian son Frère_.

⁂ In the Italian romance, Maugis is called “Malagigi,” Bevis is “Buovo,” Bayard is “Bayardo,” Flamberge is “Fusberta,” and Renaud is “Renaldo.”

=Maugrabin= (_Zamet_), a Bohemian, hung near Plessis lés Tours.

_Hayraddin Maugrabin_, the “Zingaro,” brother of Zamet Maugrabin. He assumes the disguise of Rouge Sanglier, and pretends to be a herald from Liège [_Le.aje_].--Sir W. Scott, _Quentin Durward_ (time, Edward IV.).

=Mau´graby=, son of Hal-il-Maugrăby and his wife Yandar. Hal-il-Maugraby founded Dom-Daniel “under the roots of the ocean” near the coast of Tunis, and his son completed it. He and his son were the greatest magicians that ever lived. Maugraby was killed by Prince Habed-il-Rouman, son of the caliph of Syria, and with his death Dom-Daniel ceased to exist.--_Continuation of Arabian Nights_ (“History of Maugraby”).

Did they not say to us every day that if we were naughty the Maugraby would take us?--_Continuation of Arabian Nights_, iv. 74.

=Maugys=, a giant who kept the bridge leading to a castle in which a lady was besieged. Sir Lybius, one of the knights of the Round Table, did battle with him, slew him, and liberated the lady.--_Libeaux_ (a romance).

=Maul=, a giant who used to spoil young pilgrims with sophistry. He attacked Mr. Greatheart with a club; but Greatheart pierced him under the fifth rib, and then cut off his head.--Bunyan, _Pilgrim’s Progress_, ii. (1684).

=Maul of Monks=, Thomas Cromwell, visitor-general of English monasteries, which he summarily suppressed (1490-1540).

=Maulstatute= (_Master_), a magistrate.--Sir W. Scott, _Peveril of the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).

=Maun´drel=, a wearisome gossip, a chattering woman.

_Maundrels_, vagaries, especially those of a person in delirium, or the disjointed gabble of a sleeper.

⁂ The word is said to be a corruption of Mandeville (_Sir John_), who published a book of travels, full of idle tales and maundering gossip.

=Mauprat= (_Adrien de_), colonel and chevalier in the king’s army; “the wildest gallant and bravest knight of France.” He married Julie; but the king accused him of treason for so doing, and sent him to the Bastille. Being released by the Cardinal Richelieu, he was forgiven, and made happy with the blessing of the king.--Lord Lytton, _Richelieu_ (1839).

_Mauprat_, the last of a fierce race of French robber nobles. His wild nature is subdued into real nobility by his love for his beautiful cousin.--George Sand, _Mauprat_ (1836).

=Maurice Beevor= (_Sir_), a miser, and (failing the children of the countess) heir to the Arundel estates. The countess having two sons (Arthur and Percy), Sir Maurice hired assassins to murder them; but his plots were frustrated, and the miser went to his grave “a sordid, spat-upon, revengeless, worthless, and rascally poor cousin.”--Lord Lytton, _The Sea-Captain_ (1839).

=Mause= (_Old_), mother of Cuddie Headrigg, and a covenanter.--Sir W. Scott, _Old Mortality_ (time, Charles II.).

=Mauso´lus=, king of Caria, to whom his wife Artĕmisia erected a sepulchre which was one of the “Seven Wonders of the World” (B.C. 353).

The chief mausoleums besides this are those of Augustus; Hadrian (now called the castle of St. Angelo) at Rome; Henri II., erected by Catherine de Medicis; St. Peter the martyr, in the church of St. Eustatius, by G. Balduccio; that to the memory of Louis XVI.; and the tomb of Napoleon in Les Invalides, Paris. The one erected by Queen Victoria to Prince Albert may also be mentioned.

=Mauthe Dog=, a black spectre spaniel that haunted the guard-room of Peeltown in the Isle of Man. One day a drunken trooper entered the guard-room while the dog was there, but lost his speech, and died within three days.--Sir W. Scott, _Lay of the Last Minstrel_, vi. 26 (1805).

=Mauxalin´da=, in love with Moore, of Moore Hall; but the valiant combatant of the dragon deserts her for Margery, daughter of Gubbins, of Roth’ram Green.--H. Carey, _Dragon of Wantley_ (1696-1743).

=Mavortian=, a soldier or son of Mavors (_Mars_).

Hew dreadfull Mavortian the poor price of a dinner.--Richard Brome, _Plays_ (1653).

=Mawworm=, a vulgar copy of Dr. Cantwell “the hypocrite.” He is a most gross abuser of his mother tongue, but believes he has a call to preach. He tells old Lady Lambert that he has made several sermons already, but “always does ’em extrumpery” because he could not write. He finds his “religious vocation” more profitable than selling “grocery, tea, small beer, charcoal, butter, brickdust, and other spices,” and so comes to the conclusion that it “is sinful to keep shop.” He is a convert of Dr. Cantwell, and believes in him to the last.

Do despise me; I’m the prouder for it. I like to be despised.--I. Bickerstaff, _The Hypocrite_, ii. 1 (1768).

=Max=, a huntsman, and the best marksman in Germany. He was plighted to Agatha, who was to be his wife, if he won the prize in the annual match. Caspar induced Max to go to the wolf’s glen at midnight and obtain seven charmed balls from Samiel, the Black Huntsman. On the day of contest, while Max was shooting, he killed Caspar, who was concealed in a tree, and the king in consequence abolished this annual _fête_.--Weber, _Der Freischütz_ (an opera, 1822).

=Maxime= (2 _syl._), an officer of the Prefect Almachius. He was ordered to put to death Valerian and Tibur´cê, because they refused to worship the image of Jupiter; but he took pity on them, took them to his house, became converted and was baptized. When Valerian and Tiburcê were afterwards martyred, Maxime said he saw angels come and carry them to heaven, whereupon Almachius caused him to be beaten with rods “til he his lif gan lete.”--Chaucer, _Canterbury Tales_ (“Second Nun’s Tale,” 1388).

⁂ This is based on the story of “Cecilia” in the _Legenda Aurea_; and both are imitations of the story of Paul and the jailer of Philippi (_Acts_ xvi. 19-34).

=Maximil´ian= (son of Frederick III.), the hero of the _Teuerdank_, the _Orlando Furioso_ of the Germans, by Melchior Pfinzing.

....[_here_] in old heroic days Sat the poet Melchoir, singing Kaiser Maximilian’s praise.

Longfellow, _Nuremberg_.

=Maximin=, a Roman tyrant.--Dryden, _Tyrannic Love_, or _the Royal Martyr_.

=Maximus=, (called by Geoffrey, “Maximian”), a Roman senator, who in 381, was invited to become king of Britain. He conquered Armorica (_Bretagne_), and “published a decree for the assembling together there of 100,000 of the common people of Britain, to colonize the land, and 30,000 soldiers to defend the colony.” Hence Armorica was called, “The other Britain” or “Little Britain.”--Geoffrey, _British History_, v. 14 (1142).

Got Maximus at length the victory in Gaul, ... where after Gratian’s fall. Armorica to them the valiant victor gave.... Which colony ... is “Little Britain” called.

Drayton, _Polyolbion_, ix. (1612).

=Maxwell=, deputy chamberlain at Whitehall.--Sir W. Scott, _Fortunes of Nigel_ (time, James I.).

_Maxwell_ (_Mr. Pate_), laird of Summertrees, called “Pate in Peril;” one of the papist conspirators with Redgauntlet.--Sir W. Scott, _Redgauntlet_ (time, George III.).

_Maxwell_ (_The Right Hon. William_), Lord Evandale, an officer in the king’s army.--Sir W. Scott, _Old Mortality_ (time, Charles II.).

=May=, a girl who married January, a Lombard baron 60 years old. She loved Damyan, a young squire; and one day the baron caught Damyan and May fondling each other, but the young wife told her husband his eyes were so defective that they could not be trusted. The old man accepted the solution--for what is better than “a fruitful wife and a confiding spouse?”--Chaucer, _Canterbury Tales_ (“The Merchant’s Tale,” 1388).

=May unlucky for Brides.= Mary, queen of Scotland, married Bothwell, the murderer of her husband, Lord Darnley, on May 12.

Mense malum Maio nubere vulgus ait.

Ovid, _Fasti_, v.

=May-Day= (_Evil_), May 1, 1517, when the London apprentices rose up against the foreign residents and did incalcuable[TN-8] mischief. This riot began May 1, and lasted till May 22.

=May Queen= (_The_), a poem in three parts by Tennyson (1842). Alice, a bright-eyed, merry child, was chosen May queen, and, being afraid she might oversleep herself, told her mother to be sure to call her early.

I sleep so sound all night, mother, that I shall never wake, If you do not call me loud when the day begins to break; But I must gather knots of flowers, and buds and garlands gay, For I’m to be queen o’ the May, mother, I’m to be queen o’ the May.

The old year passed away, and the black-eyed rustic maiden was dying. She hoped to greet the new year before her eyes closed in death, and bade her mother once again to be sure to call her early; but it was not now because she slept so soundly. Alas! no.

Good night, sweet mother; call me before the day is born. All night I lie awake, but I fall asleep at morn; But I would see the sun rise upon the glad New Year, So, if you’re waking, call me, call me early, mother dear.

The day rose and passed away, but Alice lingered on till March. The snow-drops had gone before her, and the violets were in bloom. Robin had dearly loved the child, but the thoughtless village beauty, in her joyous girlhood, tossed her head at him, and never thought of love, but now, that she was going to the land of shadows, her dying words were:

And say to Robin a kind word, and tell him not to fret; There’s many worthier than I, would make him happy yet. If I had lived--I cannot tell--I might have been his wife; But all these things have ceased to be, with my desire of life.

=Maye= (_The_), that subtle and abstruse sense which the goddess Maya inspires. Plato, Epicharmos, and some other ancient philosophers refer it to the presence of divinity. “It is the divinity which stirs within us.” In poetry it gives an inner sense to the outward word, and in common minds it degenerates into delusion or second sight. Maya is an Indian deity, and personates the “power of creation.”

Hartmann possède la Mâye ... il laisse pénétrer dans ses écrits les sentiments, et les pensées dont son âme est remplie, et cherche sans cesse à resoudre les antithèses.--G. Weber, _Hist. de la Littérature Allemande_.

=Mayeux=, a stock name in France for a man deformed, vain, and licentious, but witty and brave. It occurs in a large number of French romances and caricatures.

=Mayflower=, a ship of 180 tons, which in December, 1620, started from Plymouth, and conveyed to Massachusetts 102 puritans, called the “Pilgrim Fathers,” who named their settlement New Plymouth.

... the _Mayflower_ sailed from the harbor [_Plymouth_], Took the wind on her quarter, and stood for the open Atlantic, Borne on the sand of the sea, and the swelling hearts of the pilgrims.

Longfellow, _Courtship of Miles Standish_, v. (1858).

_Men of the Mayflower_, the Pilgrim Fathers, who went out in the _Mayflower_ to North America in 1620.

_Mayflower_ (_Phœbe_), servant at Sir Henry Lee’s lodge.--Sir W. Scott, _Woodstock_ (time, commonwealth).

=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.