Part 199

"Of the orders which arose in the 15th century, the most remarkable was that of Eremites [Hermits] of St. Francis, or Minims, founded … by St. Francis of Paola, and approved by Sixtus IV. in 1474." St. Francis, a Minorite friar of Calabria, was one of the devotees whom Louis XI. of France gathered about himself during his last days, in the hope that their intercessions might prolong his life. To propitiate him, Louis "founded convents at Plessis and at Amboise for the new religious society, the members of which, not content with the name of Minorites, desired to signify their profession of utter insignificance by styling themselves Minims."

_J. C. Robertson, History of the Christian Church, volume 8, pages 369 and 224._

MINISTRY. MINISTERIAL GOVERNMENT, The English.

See CABINET, THE ENGLISH.

MINNE.

See GUILDS OF FLANDERS.

MINNESOTA: Start--------

MINNESOTA: The aboriginal inhabitants.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: SIOUAN FAMILY.

MINNESOTA: A. D. 1803. Part of the state, west of the Mississippi, acquired in the Louisiana Purchase.

See LOUISIANA: A. D. 1798-1803.

MINNESOTA: A. D. 1834-1838. Joined to Michigan Territory; then to Wisconsin; then to Iowa.

See WISCONSIN: A. D. 1805-1848.

MINNESOTA: A. D. 1849-1858. Territorial and State organizations.

Minnesota was organized as a Territory in 1849, and admitted to the Union as a State in 1858.

MINNESOTA: End--------

MINNETAREES, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: HIDATSA, and SIOUAN FAMILY.

MINORCA: Start----------

MINORCA: 13th Century. Conquest by King James of Aragon.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1212-1238.

{2187}

MINORCA: A. D. 1708. Acquisition by England.

In 1708, during the War of the Spanish Succession, Port Mahon, and the whole island of Minorca, were taken by an English expedition from Barcelona, under General Stanhope, who afterwards received a title from his conquest, becoming Viscount Stanhope of Mahon. Port Mahon was then considered the best harbor in the Mediterranean and its importance to England was rated above that of Gibraltar.

_Earl Stanhope, History of England: Reign of Queen Anne, chapter 10._

See SPAIN: A. D. 1707-1710.

At the Peace of Utrecht Minorca was ceded to Great Britain and remained under the British flag during the greater part of the 18th century.

See UTRECHT: A. D. 1712-1714.

MINORCA: A. D. 1756. Taken by the French.

At the outbreak of the Seven Years War, in 1756, there was great dread in England of an immediate French invasion; and "the Government so thoroughly lost heart as to request the King to garrison England with Hanoverian troops. This dread was kept alive by a simulated collection of French troops in the north. But, under cover of this threat, a fleet was being collected at Toulon, with the real design of capturing Minorca. The ministry were at last roused to this danger, and Byng was despatched with ten sail of the line to prevent it. Three days after he set sail the Duke de Richelieu, with 16,000 men, slipped across into the island, and compelled General Blakeney, who was somewhat old and infirm, to withdraw into the castle of St. Philip, which was at once besieged. On the 19th of May—much too late to prevent the landing of Richelieu—Byng arrived within view of St. Philip, which was still in the possession of the English. The French Admiral, La Galissonnière, sailed out to cover the siege, and Byng, who apparently felt himself unequally matched—although West, his second in command, behaved with gallantry and success—called a council of war, and withdrew. Blakeney, who had defended his position with great bravery, had to surrender. The failure of Byng, and the general weakness and incapacity of the ministry, roused the temper of the people to rage; and Newcastle, trembling for himself, threw all the blame upon the Admiral, hoping by this means to satisfy the popular cry. … A court martial held upon that officer had been bound by strict instructions, and had found itself obliged to bring in a verdict of guilty, though without casting any imputation on the personal courage of the Admiral. On his accession to power Pitt was courageous enough, although he rested on the popular favour, to do his best to get Byng pardoned, and urged on the King that the House of Commons seemed to wish the sentence to be mitigated. The King is said to have answered in words that fairly describe Pitt's position, 'Sir, you have taught me to look for the sense of my subjects in another place than the House of Commons.' The sentence was carried out, and Byng was shot on the quarter-deck of the 'Monarque' at Portsmouth (March 14, 1757)."

_J. F. Bright, History of England, period 3, pages 1021-1022._

MINORCA: A. D. 1763. Restored to England by the Treaty of Paris.

See SEVEN YEARS WAR: THE TREATIES.

MINORCA: A. D. 1782. Captured by the Spaniards.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1780-1782.

MINORCA: A. D. 1802. Ceded to Spain by the Treaty of Amiens.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1801-1802.

MINORCA: End----------

MINORITES, The.

The Franciscan friars, called by their founder "Fratri Minori," bore very commonly the name of the Minorites.

See MENDICANT ORDERS.

MINQUAS, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: ALGONQUIAN FAMILY, and SUSQUEHANNAS.

MINSIS, MUNSEES, MINISINKS.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: ALGONQUIAN FAMILY, and DELAWARES; and, also, MANHATTAN ISLAND.

MINTO, Lord, The Indian administration of.

See INDIA: A. D. 1805-1816.

MINUTE-MEN.

See MASSACHUSETTS: A. D. 1774.

MINYI, The.

"The race [among the Greeks] which … first issues forth with a history of its own from the dark background of the Pelasgian people is that of the Minyi. The cycle of their heroes includes Iason and Euneus, his son, who trades with Phœnicians and with Greeks. … The myths of the Argo were developed in the greatest completeness on the Pagasæan gulf, in the seats of the Minyi; and they are the first with whom a perceptible movement of the Pelasgean tribes beyond the sea—in other words, a Greek history in Europe—begins. The Minyi spread both by land and sea. They migrated southwards into the fertile fields of Bœotia, and settled on the southern side of the Copæic valley by the sea. … After leaving the low southern coast they founded a new city at the western extremity of the Bœotian valley. There a long mountain ridge juts out from the direction of Parnassus, and round its farthest projection flows in a semicircle the Cephissus. At the lower edge of the height lies the village of Skripu. Ascending from its huts, one passes over primitive lines of wall to the peak of the mountain, only approachable by a rocky staircase of a hundred steps, and forming the summit of a castle. This is the second city of the Minyi in Bœotia, called Orchomenus: like the first, the most ancient walled royal seat which can be proved to have existed in Hellas, occupying a proud and commanding position over the valley by the sea. Only a little above the dirty huts of clay rises out of the depths of the soil the mighty block of marble, more than twenty feet high, which covered the entrance of a round building. The ancients called it the treasury of Minyas, in the vaults of which the ancient kings were believed to have hoarded the superfluity of their treasures of gold and silver, and in these remains endeavoured to recall to themselves the glory of Orchomenus sung by Homer."

_E. Curtius, History of Greece, book 1, chapter 3 (volume 1)._

See, also, BŒOTIA; and GREECE: THE MIGRATIONS.

MIR, The Russian.

"The 'mir' is a commune, whose bond is unity of autonomy and of possession of land. Sometimes the mir is a single village. In this case the economic administration adapts itself exactly to the civil. Again, it may happen that a large village is divided into many rural communes. Then each commune has its special economic administration, whilst the civil and police administration is common to all. Sometimes, lastly, a number of villages only have one mir. Thus the size of the mir may vary from 20 or 30 to some thousands of 'dvors.' … The 'dvor,' or court, is the economic unit: it contains one or several houses, and one or several married couples lodge in it. The 'dvor' has only one hedge and one gate in common for its inmates. … With the Great Russians the mir regulates even the ground that the houses stand on; the mir has the right to shift about the 'dvors.' … {2188} Besides land, the communes have property of another kind: fish-lakes, communal mills, a communal herd for the improvement of oxen and horses; finally, storehouses, intended for the distribution to the peasants of seeds for their fields or food for their families. The enjoyment of all these various things must be distributed among the members of the commune, must be distributed regularly, equally, equitably. Thus, a fair distribution today will not be fair five or six years hence, because in some families the number of members will have increased, in others diminished. A new distribution, therefore, will be necessary to make the shares equal. For a long time this equalization can be brought about by partial sharings-up, by exchange of lots of ground between the private persons concerned, without upsetting everybody by a general redistribution. … The Russian mir is not an elementary unit. It is made up of several primordial cells—of small circles that form in perfect freedom. The mir only asks that the circles (osmaks) are equal as to labour-power. This condition fulfilled, I am free to choose my companions in accordance with my friendships or my interests. When the village has any work to do, any property to distribute, the administration or the assembly of the commune generally does not concern itself with individuals, but with the 'osmak' … Each village has an administration; it is represented by a mayor (selskï starosta), chosen by the mir. But this administration has to do only with affairs determined upon in principle by the communal assembly. The starosta has no right of initiating any measures of importance. Such questions (partition of the land, new taxes, leases of communal property, etc.) are only adjudicated and decided by the assembly of the mir. All the peasants living in the village come to the assembly, even the women. If, for example, the wife, by the death of her husband, is the head of the family, at the assembly she has the right to vote. … The peasants meet very frequently. … The assemblies are very lively, … courageous, independent."

_L. Tikhomirov, Russia, Political and Social, book 3, chapter 2, with foot-note, chapter 1 (volume 1)._

ALSO IN: _D. M. Wallace, Russia, volume 1, chapter 8._

_W. T. Stead, The Truth about Russia, book 4, chapter 2._

_A. Leroy-Beaulieu, The Empire of the Tsars, part 1, book 8._

MIRABEAU, and the French Revolution.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1789 (MAY). to 1790-1791.

MIRACULOUS VICTORY, The.

See THUNDERING LEGION.

MIRAFLORES, Battle of (1881).

See CHILE: A. D. 1833-1884.

MIRANDA, Revolutionary undertakings of.

See LOUISIANA: A. D. 1785-1800; and COLOMBIAN STATES: A. D. 1810-1819.

MIRANHA, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: GUCK OR COCO GROUP.

MIRISZLO, Battle of (1600).

See BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: 14TH-18TH CENTURIES.

MISCHIANZA, The.

See PHILADELPHIA: A. D. 1777-1778.

MISCHNA, The.

Rabbi Jehuda, the Patriarch at Tiberius, was the author (about A. D. 194) of "a new constitution to the Jewish people. He embodied in the celebrated Mischna, or Code of Traditional Law, all the authorized interpretations of the Mosaic Law, the traditions, the decisions of the learned, and the precedents of the courts or schools. … The sources from which the Mischna was derived may give a fair view of the nature of the Rabbinical authority, and the manner in which it had superseded the original Mosaic Constitution. The Mischna was grounded, 1. On the Written Law of Moses. 2. On the Oral Law, received by Moses on Mount Sinai, and handed down, it was said, by uninterrupted tradition. 3. The decisions or maxims of the Wise Men. 4. Opinions of particular individuals, on which the schools were divided, and which still remained open. 5. Ancient usages and customs.

The distribution of the Mischna affords a curious exemplification of the intimate manner in which the religious and civil duties of the Jews were interwoven, and of the authority assumed by the Law over every transaction of life. The Mischna commenced with rules for prayer, thanksgiving, ablutions; it is impossible to conceive the minuteness or subtlety of these rules, and the fine distinctions drawn by the Rabbins. It was a question whether a man who ate figs, grapes, and pomegranates, was to say one or three graces; … whether he should sweep the house and then wash his hands, or wash his hands and then sweep the house. But there are nobler words."

_H. H. Milman, History of the Jews, book 19._

See, also, TALMUD.

MISE OF AMIENS, The.

See OXFORD, PROVISIONS OF.

MISE OF LEWES, The.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1216-1274.

MISENUM, Treaty of.

The arrangement by which Sextus Pompeius was virtually admitted (B. C. 40) for a time into partnership with the triumvirate of Antony, Octavius and Lepidus, was so called.

See ROME: B. C. 44-42.

MISR.

See EGYPT: ITS NAMES.

MISSI DOMINICI.

"Nothing was more novel or peculiar in the legislation of Karl [Charlemagne] than his institution of imperial deputies, called Missi Dominici, who were regularly sent forth from the palace to oversee and inspect the various local administrations. Consisting of a body of two or three officers each, one of whom was always a prelate, they visited the counties every three months, and held there the local assizes, or 'placita minores.' … Even religion and morals were not exempted from this scrutiny."

P. Godwin, History of France: Ancient Gaul, chapter 17.

See, also, PALATINE, COUNTS.

MISSIONARY RIDGE: Its position, and the battle fought on it.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1863 (AUGUST-SEPTEMBER: TENNESSEE); and (OCTOBER-NOVEMBER: TENNESSEE).

MISSISSIPPI: Start--------

MISSISSIPPI: The aboriginal inhabitants.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: MUSKHOGEAN FAMILY, and CHEROKEES.

MISSISSIPPI: A. D. 1629. Embraced in the Carolina grant to Sir Robert Heath.

See AMERICA: A. D. 1629.

MISSISSIPPI: A. D. 1663. Embraced in the Carolina grant to Monk, Chesterfield, and others.

See NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1663-1670.

MISSISSIPPI: A. D. 1732. Mostly embraced in the new province of Georgia.

See GEORGIA: A. D. 1732-1739.

MISSISSIPPI: A. D. 1763. Partly embraced in West Florida, ceded to Great Britain.

See SEVEN YEARS WAR: THE TREATIES; FLORIDA: A. D. 1763; and NORTHWEST TERRITORY: A. D. 1763.

MISSISSIPPI: A. D. 1779-1781. Reconquest of West Florida by the Spaniards.

See FLORIDA: A. D. 1779-1781.

{2189}

MISSISSIPPI: A. D. 1783. Mostly covered by the English cession to the United States.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1783 (SEPTEMBER).

MISSISSIPPI: A. D. 1783-1787. Partly in dispute with Spain.

See FLORIDA: A. D. 1783-1787.

MISSISSIPPI: A. D. 1798-1804. The Territory constituted and organized.

"The territory heretofore surrendered by the Spanish authorities, and lying north of the 31st degree of latitude, with the consent and approbation of the State of Georgia, was erected into a territory of the United States by act of Congress, approved April 7th, 1798, entitled 'an act for the amicable settlement of limits with the State of Georgia, and authorizing the establishment of a government in the Mississippi Territory. The territory comprised in the new organization, or the original Mississippi Territory, embraced that portion of country between the Spanish line of demarkation and a line drawn due east from the mouth of the Yazoo to the Chattahoochy River. The Mississippi River was its western limit and the Chattahoochy its eastern. The organization of a territorial government by the United States was in no wise to impair the rights of Georgia to the soil, which was left open for future negotiation between the State of Georgia and the United States." In 1802 the State of Georgia ceded to the United States all her claim to lands south of the State of Tennessee, stipulating to receive $1,250,000" out of the first nett proceeds of lands lying in said ceded territory." In 1804 "the whole of the extensive territory ceded by Georgia, lying north of the Mississippi Territory, and south of Tennessee, was … annexed to the Mississippi Territory, and was subsequently included within its limits and jurisdiction. The boundaries of the Mississippi Territory, consequently, were the 31st degree on the south, and the 35th degree on the north, extending from the Mississippi River to the western limits of Georgia, and comprised the whole territory now embraced in the States of Alabama and Mississippi, excepting the small Florida District between the Pearl and Perdido Rivers. Four fifths of this extensive territory were in the possession of the four great southern Indian confederacies, the Choctâs, the Chickasâs, the Creeks, and the Cherokees, comprising an aggregate of about 75,000 souls, and at least 10,000 warriors. The only portions of this territory to which the Indian title had been extinguished was a narrow strip from 15 to 50 miles in width, on the east side of the Mississippi, and about 70 miles in length, and a small district on the Tombigby."

_J. W. Monette, Discovery and Settlement of the Valley of the Mississippi, book 5, chapter 13 (volume 2)._

MISSISSIPPI: A. D. 1803. Portion acquired by the Louisiana Purchase.

See LOUISIANA: A. D. 1798-1803.

MISSISSIPPI: A. D. 1812-1813. Spanish West Florida annexed to Mississippi Territory and possession taken.

See FLORIDA: A. D. 1810-1813.

MISSISSIPPI: A. D. 1813-1814. The Creek War.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1813-1814 (AUGUST-APRIL).

MISSISSIPPI: A. D. 1817. Constitution as a State and admission into the Union.

The sixth and seventh of the new States added to the original Union of thirteen were Indiana and Mississippi. "These last almost simultaneously found representation in the Fifteenth Congress; and of them Indiana, not without an internal struggle, held steadfastly to the fundamental Ordinance of 1787 under which it was settled, having adopted its free State constitution in June, 1816; Mississippi, which followed on the slave side, agreeing upon a constitution, in August, 1817, which the new Congress, at its earliest opportunity [December 10, 1817] after assembling, pronounced republican in form, and satisfactory."

_J. Schouler, History of the United States, volume 3, page 100._

At the same time, the part of Mississippi Territory which forms the present State of Alabama was detached and erected into the Territory of Alabama.

See ALABAMA: A. D. 1817-1819.

MISSISSIPPI: A. D. 1861 (January). Secession from the Union.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1861 (JANUARY-FEBRUARY).

MISSISSIPPI: A. D. 1862 (April-May). The taking of Corinth by the Union forces.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (APRIL-MAY: TENNESSEE-MISSISSIPPI).

MISSISSIPPI: A. D. 1862 (May-July). First Union attempts against Vicksburg.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (MAY-JULY: ON THE MISSISSIPPI).

MISSISSIPPI: A. D. 1862 (September-October). The battles of Iuka and Corinth.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER: MISSISSIPPI).

MISSISSIPPI: A. D. 1863 (April-May). Grierson's raid.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1863 (APRIL-MAY: MISSISSIPPI).

MISSISSIPPI: A. D. 1863 (April-July). Federal siege and capture of Vicksburg.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1863 (APRIL-JULY).

MISSISSIPPI: A. D. 1863 (July). Capture and destruction of Jackson.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1863 (JULY: MISSISSIPPI).

MISSISSIPPI: A. D. 1864 (February). Sherman's raid to Meridian.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1863-1864 (DECEMBER-APRIL: TENNESSEE—MISSISSIPPI).

MISSISSIPPI: A. D. 1865 (March-April). Wilson's raid. The end of the Rebellion.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1865 (APRIL-MAY).

MISSISSIPPI: A. D. 1865 (June). Provisional government set up under President Johnson's plan of Reconstruction.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1865 (MAY-JULY).

MISSISSIPPI: A. D. 1865-1870. State reconstruction.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1865 (MAY-JULY), to 1868-1870.

MISSISSIPPI: End--------

MISSISSIPPI RIVER: Start--------

MISSISSIPPI RIVER: A. D. 1519. Discovery of the mouth by Pineda, for Garay.

See AMERICA: A. D. 1519-1525.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER: A. D. 1528-1542. Crossed by Cabeça de Vaca, and by Hernando de Soto. Descended by the survivors of De Soto's company.

See FLORIDA: A. D. 1528-1542.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER: A. D. 1673. Discovery by Joliet and Marquette.

See CANADA: A. D. 1634-1673.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER: A. D. 1682. Exploration to the mouth by La Salle. See CANADA: A. D. 1669-1687.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER: A. D. 1712. Called the River St. Louis by the French.

See LOUISIANA: A. D. 1698-1712.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER: A. D. 1783-1803. The question of the Right of Navigation disputed between Spain and the United States.

See FLORIDA: A. D. 1783-1787; and LOUISIANA: A. D. 1785-1800, and 1798-1803.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER: A. D. 1861-1863. Battles and Sieges of the Civil War.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1861 (SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER: ON THE MISSISSIPPI), Belmont; 1862 (MARCH-APRIL), NEW

Madrid and Island No. 10; 1862 (APRIL), New Orleans; 1862 (MAY-JULY), First Vicksburg attack; 1862 (JUNE), Memphis; 1862 (DECEMBER), Second Vicksburg attack; 1863 (JANUARY-APRIL), and (APRIL-JULY),

Siege and capture of Vicksburg; 1863 (MAY-JULY), Port Hudson and the clear opening of the River.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER: End--------

{2190}

MISSISSIPPI SCHEME, John Law's.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1717-1720; and LOUISIANA: A. D. 1717-1718.

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY: Start--------

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY: A. D. 1763. Cession of the eastern side of the river to Great Britain.

See SEVEN YEARS WAR: THE TREATIES.

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY: A. D. 1803. Purchase of the western side by the United States.

See LOUISIANA: A. D. 1798-1803.

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY: End--------

MISSOLONGHI, Siege and capture of (1825-1826).

See GREECE: A. D. 1821-1829.

MISSOURI: Start--------

MISSOURI: A. D. 1719-1732. First development of lead mines by the French.

See LOUISIANA: A. D. 1719-1750.

MISSOURI: A. D. 1763-1765. French withdrawal to the West of the Mississippi. The founding of St. Louis.

See ILLINOIS: A. D. 1765.

MISSOURI: A. D. 1803. Embraced in the Louisiana Purchase.

See LOUISIANA: A. D. 1798-1803.

MISSOURI: A. D. 1804-1812. Upper Louisiana organized as the Territory of Louisiana. The changing of its name to Missouri.

See LOUISIANA: A. D. 1804-1812.

MISSOURI: A. D. 1819. Arkansas detached.

See ARKANSAS: A. D. 1819-1836.