MACMAHON, duke of Magenta, his most distinguished marshal, and, after a
few months, succeeded him as ruler of France (1873-1879).
MALAKOFF (_duke of_), next to McMahon his most distinguished marshal.
MARIA, of Portugal, was the lady his friends wanted him to marry, but
he refused to do so.
MAXIMILIAN and Mexico, his evil stars (1864-1867).
MENSCHIKOFF was the Russian general defeated at the battle of the Alma
(September 20, 1854).
MICHAUD, MIGNET, MICHELET and MÉRIMÉE were distinguished writers in the
reign of Napoleon III.
MOLTKE was his destiny.
MONTHOLON was one of his companions in the escapade at Boulogne, and
was condemned to imprisonment for twenty years.
MONTIJO (_countess of_), his wife. Her name is Marie Eugénie, and his
son was born in March; so was the son of Napoleon I.
MORNY, his greatest friend.
MAGENTA, a victory won by him (June 4, 1859).
MALAKOFF. Taking the Malakoff tower and the Mamelon-vert were the great
exploits of the Crimean War (September 8, 1855).
MAMELON-VERT. (See above).
MANTUA. He turned back before the walls of Mantua after the battle of
the Mincio.
MARENGO. Here he planned his first battle of the Italian campaign, but
it was not fought till after those of Montebello and Magenta.
MARIGNANO. He drove the Austrians out of this place.
METZ, the “maiden fortress,” was one of the most important sieges and
losses to him in the Franco-Prussian war.
MEXICO and Maximilian, his evil stars.
MILAN. He made his entrance into Milan, and drove the Austrians out of
Marignano.
MINCIO (_The battle of_), called also Solfernio, a great victory.
Having won this he turned back at the walls of Mantua (June 24,
1859).
MONTEBELLO, a victory won by him (June, 1859).
⁂ The mitrailleuse was to win him Prussia, but it lost him France.
MARCH. In this month his son was born, he was deposed by the National
Assembly, and was set at liberty by the Prussians. The treaty of
Paris was March 30, 1856. Savoy and Nice were annexed in March, 1860.
MAY. In this month he made his escape from Ham. The great French
Exhibition was opened in May, 1855.
By far his best publication is his _Manual of Artillery_.
=Mab=, queen of the fairies, according to the mythology of the English
poets of the fifteenth century. Shakespeare’s description is in _Romeo
and Juliet_, act i. sc. 4 (1598).
_Queen Mab’s Maids of Honor._ They were Hop and Mop, Drap, Pip, Trip and
Skip. Her train of waiting-maids were Fib and Tib, Pinck and Pin, Tick
and Quick, Jill and Jin, Tit and Nit, Wap and Win.—M. Drayton,
_Nymphidia_ (1563-1631).
_Queen Mab, the Fairies’ Midwife_, that is, the midwife of men’s dreams,
employed by the fairies.
O, then I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies’ midwife—
_Romeo and Juliet_, act i. sc. 4.
=Mabel Dunham.= Modest, amiable, yet spirited girl, educated at the
East, who goes to the shores of Lake Ontario to meet her father, a major
in charge of an English garrison. The nickname of “Magnet,” given by her
sailor uncle, aptly describes her influence upon her associates,
especially Jasper Western and Pathfinder. She marries Western.—James
Fenimore Cooper, _The Pathfinder_ (183-).
=Maca´ber= (_The Dance_) or the “Dance of Death” (Arabic, _makabir_, “a
church-yard”). The dance of death was a favorite subject in the Middle
Ages for wall-paintings in cemeteries and churches, especially in
Germany. Death is represented as presiding over a round of dancers,
consisting of rich and poor, old and young, male and female. A work
descriptive of this dance, originally in German, has been translated
into most European languages, and the wood-cuts after Holbein’s designs,
published at Lyons in 1553, have a worldwide reputation. Others are at
Minden, Lucerne, Lubeck, Dresden, and the north side of old St. Paul’s.
_Elsie._ What are these paintings on the walls around us?
_Prince._ “The Dance of Macaber” ... “The Dance of Death.”
Longfellow, _The Golden Legend_ (1851).
=Macaire= (_Le Chevalier Richard_), a French knight, who, aided by
Lieutenant Landry, murdered Aubrey de Montdidier in the forest of Bondy,
in 1371. Montdidier’s dog, named Dragon, showed such an aversion to
Macaire, that suspicion was aroused, and the man and dog were pitted to
single combat. The result was fatal to the man, who died confessing his
guilt.
There are two French plays on the subject, one entitled _Le Chien de
Montargis_, and the other _Le Chien d’Aubry_. The former of these has
been adapted to the English stage. Dragon was called _Chien de
Montargis_, because the assassination took place near this castle, and
was depicted in the great hall over the chimney-piece.
In the English drama, the sash of the murdered man is found in the
possession of Lieutenant Macaire, and is recognized by Ursula, who
worked the sword-knot, and gave it to Captain Aubri, who was her
sweetheart. Macaire then confessed the crime. His accomplice, Lieutenant
Landry, trying to escape, was seized by the dog, Dragon, and bitten to
death.
_Macaire_ (_Robert_), a cant name for a Frenchman.
=MacAlpine= (_Jeanie_), landlady of the Clachan of Aberfoyle.—Sir W.
Scott, _Rob Roy_ (time, George I.).
=Macamut=, a sultan of Cambaya, who lived so much upon poison that his
very breath and touch were fatal.—Purchas, _Pilgrimage_ (1613).
=MacAnaleister= (_Eachin_), a follower of Rob Roy.—Sir W. Scott, _Rob
Roy_ (time, George I.).
=Macare= (_2 syl._), the impersonation of good temper.—Voltaire,
_Thelème and Macare_ (an allegory).
=Macaulay= (_Angus_), a Highland chief in the army of the earl of
Montrose.
_Allan Macaulay_, or “Allan of the Red Hand,” brother of Angus. Allan is
“a seer,” and is in love with Annot Lyle. He stabs the earl of Menteith
on the eve of his marriage, out of jealousy, but the earl recovers and
marries Annot Lyle.—Sir W. Scott, _Legend of Montrose_ (time, Charles
I.).
=Macbeth=, son of Sinel, thane of Glamis, and grandson of Malcolm II.,
by his second daughter; the elder daughter married Crynin, father of
Duncan, who succeded his grandfather on the throne. Hence, King Duncan
and Macbeth were cousins. Duncan, staying as a guest with Macbeth, at
the Castle of Inverness (1040), was murdered by his host, who then
usurped the crown. The battle which Macbeth had just won was this:
Sueno, king of Norway, had landed with an army in Fife for the purpose
of invading Scotland; Macbeth and Banquo were sent against him, and
defeated him with such loss that only ten men of all his army escaped
alive. Macbeth was promised by the witches (1) that none of woman born
should kill him, and (2) that he should not die till Burham Wood removed
to Dunsinane. He was slain in battle by Macduff, who was “from his
mother’s womb untimely ripped;” and as for the moving wood, the soldiers
of Macduff, in their march to Dunsinane, were commanded to carry boughs
of the forest before them to conceal their numbers.
_Lady Macbeth_, wife of Macbeth, a woman of great ambition and
inexorable will. When her husband told her that the witches prophesied
he should be king, she induced him to murder Duncan, who was at the time
their guest. She would herself have done it, but he looked in sleep so
like her father that she could not. However, when Macbeth had murdered
the king, she felt no scruple in murdering the two grooms that slept
with him, and throwing the guilt on them. After her husband was crowned,
she was greatly troubled by dreams, and used to walk in her sleep,
trying to rub from her hands imaginary stains of blood. She died,
probably by her own hand.—Shakespeare, _Macbeth_ (1606).
“It is related of Mrs. Betterton,” says C. Dibdin, “that though ‘Lady
Macbeth’ had been frequently well performed, no actress, not even Mrs.
Barry, could in the smallest degree be compared to her.” Mrs. Siddons
calls Mrs. Pritchard “the greatest of all the ‘Lady Macbeths;’” but Mrs.
Siddons herself was so great in this character that, in the
sleep-walking scene, in her farewell performance, the whole audience
stood on the benches, and demanded that the performance should end with
that scene.
⁂ Dr. Lardner says that the name of Lady Macbeth was Graoch, and that
she was the daughter of Kenneth IV.
=MacBriar= (_Ephraim_), an enthusiast and a preacher.—Sir W. Scott, _Old
Mortality_ (time, Charles II.).
=MacBride= (_Miss_), heroine of John G. Saxe’s _Proud Miss MacBride_,
who was even “proud of her pride,” (1850).
=Mac´cabee= (_Father_), the name assumed by King Roderick, after his
dethronement.—Southey, _Roderick, the Last of the Goths_ (1814).
=MacCallum= (_Dougal_), the auld butler of Sir Robert Redgauntlet,
introduced in Wandering Willie’s story.—Sir W. Scott, _Redgauntlet_
(time, George III.).
=MacCandlish= (_Mrs._), landlady of the Gordon Arms inn at
Kippletringan.—Sir W. Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time, George II.).
=MacCasquil= (_Mr._), of Drumquag, a relation of Mrs. Margaret
Bertram.—Sir W. Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time, George II.).
=MacChoak´umchild=, schoolmaster at Coketown. A man crammed with facts.
“He and some 140 other schoolmasters had been lately turned at the same
time, in the same factory, on the same principles, like so many
pianoforte legs.”—C. Dickens, _Hard Times_ (1854).
=MacCombich= (_Evan Dhu_), foster-brother of Fergus M’Ivor, both of whom
were sentenced to death at Carlisle.—Sir W. Scott, _Waverley_ (time,
George II.).
_MacCombich_ (_Robin Oig_), or M’Gregor, a Highland drover, who stabs
Harry Wakefield, and is found guilty at Carlisle.—Sir W. Scott, _The Two
Drovers_ (time, George III.).
=MacCrosskie= (_Deacon_), of Creochstone, a neighbor of the laird of
Ellangowan.—Sir W. Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time, George II.).
=MacDonald’s Breed= (_Lord_), vermin, or human parasites. Lord
MacDonald, son of the “Lord of the Isles” once made a raid on the
mainland. He and his followers dressed themselves in the clothes of the
plundered party, but their own rags were so full of vermin that no one
was poor enough to covet them.
=MacDougal of Lorn=, a Highland chief in the army of Montrose.—Sir W.
Scott, _Legend of Montrose_ (time, Charles I.).
=Macduff=, thane of Fife in the time of Edward the Confessor. One of the
witches told Macbeth to “beware of the thane of Fife,” but another added
that “none of woman born should have power to harm him.” Macduff was at
this moment in England, raising an army to dethrone Macbeth, and place
Malcolm (son of Duncan) on the throne. Macbeth did not know of his
absence, but with a view of cutting him off, attacked his castle, and
slew Lady Macduff with all her children. Having raised an army, Macduff
led it to Dunsinane, where a furious battle ensued. Macduff encountered
Macbeth, and being told by the king that “none of woman born could
prevail against him,” replied that he (Macduff) was not _born_ of a
woman, but—
——was from his mother’s womb
Untimely ripp’d.
They fought and Macbeth was killed.—Shakespeare, _Macbeth_, act v. sc.
8.
=Macey.= Sturdy good man who refuses to give up a persecuted Quaker who
has sought his house for refuge. Macey would keep off the posse with his
gun, but the Friend yields himself up. When the attempt is made to
arrest Macey, also, he and his wife escape by boat to the then desolate
Island of Nautucket and make there a home.
“And yet that isle remaineth
A refuge of the free,
As when true-hearted Macey
Beheld it from the sea.
Free as the winds that winnow
Her shrubless hills of sand,
Free as the waves that batter
Along her yielding land.”
_Poems_, John Greenleaf Whittier.
=MacEagh= (_Ranald_), one of the “Children of the Mist,” and an outlaw.
Ranald is the foe of Allan Macaulay.
_Kenneth M’Eagh_, grandson of Ranald M’Eagh.—Sir W. Scott, _Legend of
Montrose_ (time, Charles I.).
=Macedonicus=, Æmilius Paulus, conqueror of Perseus (b.c. 230-160).
=Macfie=, the laird of Gudgeonford, a neighbor of the laird of
Ellangowan.—Sir W. Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time, George II.).
=Macfin= (_Miles_), the cadie in the Canongate, Edinburgh.—Sir W. Scott,
_Guy Mannering_ (time, George II.).
=MacFittoch= (_Mr._), the dancing-master at Middlemas.—Sir W. Scott,
_The Surgeon’s Daughter_ (time, George II.).
=MacFleck´noe=, in Dryden’s satire so called, is meant for Thomas
Shadwell, who was promoted to the office of poet-laureate. The design of
Dryden’s poem is to represent the inauguration of one dullard as
successor of another in the monarchy of nonsense. R. Flecknoe was an
Irish priest and hackney poet of no reputation, and _Mac_ in Celtic
being _son_, “MacFlecknoe” means the son of the poetaster so named.
Flecknoe, seeking for a successor to his own dulness, selects Shadwell
to bear his mantle.
Shadwell alone my perfect image bears,
Mature in dulness from his tender years;...
The rest to some faint meaning make pretence,
But Shadwell never deviates into sense.
Dryden, _MacFlecknoe_ (a satire, 1682).
=McFlimsey= (_Miss Flora_). Fashion-mad heroine of William Allen
Butler’s satire, _Nothing to Wear_. With a score of modish toilettes,
she represented herself as unable to attend a ball, because she had
nothing to wear (1857).
=MacGrainer= (_Master_), a dissenting minister at Kippletringan.—Sir W.
Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time, George II.).
=MacGregor= (_Rob Roy_) or ROBERT CAMPBELL, the outlaw. He was a
Highland freebooter.
_Helen M’Gregor_, Rob Roy’s wife.
_Hamish_ and _Robert Oig_, the sons of Rob Roy.—Sir W. Scott, _Rob Roy_
(time, George I.).
_MacGregor_, or Robin Oig M’Combich, a Highland drover, who stabbed
Harry Wakefield at an ale-house. Being tried at Carlisle for the murder,
he was found guilty and condemned.—Sir W. Scott, _The Two Drovers_
(time, George III.).
=MacGruther= (_Sandie_), a beggar imprisoned by Mr. Godfrey Bertram,
laird of Ellangowan.—Sir W. Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time, George II.).
=MacGuffog= (_David_), keeper of Portanferry prison.
_Mrs. M’Guffog_, David’s wife.—Sir W. Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time,
George II.).
=Macham= (_Robert_), the discoverer of Madeira Island, to which he was
driven while eloping with his lady-love (A.D. 1344). The lady soon died,
and the mariners made off with the ship. Macham, after his mourning was
over, made a rude boat out of a tree, and, with two or three men,
putting forth to sea, landed on the shores of Africa. The Rev. W. L.
Bowles has made the marvellous adventures of Robert Macham the subject
of a poem; and Drayton, in his _Polyolbion_, xix, has devoted twenty-two
lines to the same subject.
=Macheath= (_Captain_), captain of a gang of highwaymen; a fine,
bold-faced ruffian, “game” to the very last. He is married to Polly
Peachum, but finds himself dreadfully embarrassed between Polly, his
wife, and Lucy, to whom he has promised marriage. Being betrayed by
eight women at a drinking bout, the captain is lodged in Newgate, but
Lucy effects his escape. He is recaptured, tried, and condemned to
death; but, being reprieved, acknowledges Polly to be his wife, and
promises to remain constant to her for the future.—J. Gay, _The Beggar’s
Opera_ (1727).
=Machiavelli= (_Niccolo del_), of Florence, author of a book called _The
Prince_, the object of which is to show that all is fair in diplomacy,
as well as in “love and war” (1469-1527).
⁂ _Machiavellism_, political cunning and duplicity, the art of tricking
and overreaching by diplomacy.
Tiberius, the Roman emperor, is called “The Imperial Machiavelli” (B.C.
42 to A.D. 37).
=MacIan= (_Gilchrist_), father of Ian Eachin M’Ian.
_Ian Eachin_ (or _Hector_) _M’Ian_, called Conachar, chief of the clan
Quhele, son of Gilchrist M’Ian. Hector is old Glover’s Highland
apprentice, and casts himself down a precipice, because Catharine Glover
loves Henry Smith better than himself.—Sir W. Scott, _Fair Maid of
Perth_ (time, Henry IV.).
=MacIlduy=, or Mhich Connel Dhu, a Highland chief in the army of
Montrose.—Sir. W. Scott, _Legend of Montrose_ (time, Charles I.).
=MacIntyre= (_Maria_), niece of Mr. Jonathan Oldbuck, “the antiquary.”
_Captain Hector M’Intyre_, nephew of Mr. Jonathan Oldbuck, and brother
of Maria M’Intyre.—Sir W. Scott, _The Antiquary_ (time, George III.).
=MacIvor= (_Fergus_), or “Vich Ian Vohr,” chief of Glennaquoich.
_Flora M’Ivor_, sister of Fergus, and the heroine of _Waverley_.—Sir W.
Scott, _Waverley_ (time, George II.).
=Mackitchinson=, landlord at the Queen’s Ferry Inn.—Sir W. Scott, _The
Antiquary_ (time, George III.).
=Macklin.= The real name of this great actor was Charles MacLaughlin;
but he dropped the middle syllable when he came to England (1690-1797).
_Macklin_ (_Sir_), a priest who preached to Tom and Bob and Billy, on
the sinfulness of walking on Sundays. At his “sixthly” he said, “Ha, ha,
I see you raise your hands in agony!” They certainly had raised their
hands, for they were yawning. At his “twenty-firstly” he cried, “Ho, ho,
I see you bow your heads in hear[t**]felt sorrow!” Truly they bowed
their heads, for they were sleeping. Still on he preached and thumped
his hat, when the bishop passing by, cried, “Bosh!” and walked him
off.—W. S. Gilbert, _The Bab Ballads_ (“Sir Macklin”).
=Maclean= (_Sir Hector_), a Highland chief in the army of Montrose, Sir
W. Scott, _Legend of Montrose_ (time, Charles I.).
=Macleary= (_Widow_), landlady of the Tully Veolan village
ale-house.—Sir W. Scott, _Waverley_ (time, George II.).
=MacLeish= (_Donald_), postilion to Mrs. Bethune Baliol.—Sir W. Scott,
_Highland Widow_ (time, George II.).
=Macleod= (_Colin_ or _Cawdie_), a Scotchman, one of the house-servants
of Lord Abberville, entrusted with the financial department of his
lordship’s household. Most strictly honest and economical, Colin Macleod
is hated by his fellow-servants, and, having been in the service of the
family for many years, tries to check his young master in his road to
ruin.
⁂ The object of the author in this character is “to weed out the unmanly
prejudice of Englishmen against the Scotch,” as the object of _The Jew_
(another drama) was to weed out the prejudice of Christians against that
much-maligned people.—Cumberland, _The Fashionable Lover_ (1780).
=Macleod of Dare.= Young Scotchman who visits London and loses his heart
to a beautiful actress. She encourages him for a while, but in the end
jilts him. In the insanity consequent upon the disappointment, he causes
her death and his own.—William Black, _Macleod of Dare_.
=Macleuchar= (_Mrs._), bookkeeper at the coach-office in Edinburgh.—Sir
W. Scott, _The Antiquary_ (time, George II.).
=MacLouis=, captain of the king’s guard.—Sir W. Scott, _Fair Maid of
Perth_ (time, Henry IV.).
=Maclure= (_Elizabeth_), an old widow and a covenanter.—Sir W. Scott,
_Old Mortality_ (time, Charles II.).
=MacMorlan= (_Mr._), deputy-sheriff, and guardian to Lucy Bertram.
_Mrs. M’Morlan_, his wife.—Sir W. Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time, George
II.).
=MacMurrough=, “Nan Fonn,” the family bard at Glennaquoich to Fergus
M’Ivor.—Sir W. Scott, _Waverley_ (time, George II.).
=Ma´coma´=, a good and wise genius, who protects the prudent and pious
against the wiles of all evil genii.—Sir C. Morell [J. Ridley], _Tales
of the Genii_ (“The Enchanter’s Tale,” vi., 1751).
=MacPhadraick= (_Miles_), a Highland officer under Barcaldine, or
Captain Campbell.—Sir W. Scott, _The Highland Widow_, (time, George
II.).
=Macraw= (_Francis_), an old domestic at the earl of Glenallen’s.—Sir W.
Scott, _The Antiquary_ (time, George III.).
=Macready= (_Pate_), a pedlar, the friend of Andrew Fairservice,
gardener at Osbaldistone Hall.—Sir W. Scott, _Rob Roy_ (time, George
I.).
=Mac´reons=, the British. Great Britain is the “Ireland of the
Macreons.” The word is a Greek compound, meaning “long-lived,” “because
no one is put to death there for his religious opinions.” Rabelais says
the island “is full of antique ruins and relics of popery and ancient
superstitions.”—Rabelais, _Pantag´ruel_ (1545).
⁂ Rabelais describes the persecutions which the Reformers met with as a
storm at sea, in which Pantagruel and his fleet were tempest-tossed.
=Macro´bii= (“_the long-lived_”), an Ethiopian race, said to live to 120
years and upwards. They are the handsomest and tallest of all men, as
well as the longest-lived.
=Macroth´umus=. long-suffering personified. (Greek, _makrothumia_=long
suffering). Fully described in _The Purple Island_, (canto x.).—Phineas
Fletcher (1633).
=MacSarcasm= (_Sir Archy_), in _Love à-la-mode,_ by C. Macklin (1779).
Boaden says: “To Covent Garden, G. F. Cooke [1746-1812] was a great
acquisition, as he was a ‘Shylock,’ an ‘Iago,’ a ‘Kitely,’ a ‘Sir
Archy,’ and a ‘Sir Pertinax’ [_McSycophant_].” Leigh Hunt says that G.
F. Cooke was a new kind of Macklin, and, like him, excelled in “Shylock”
and “Sir Archy M’Sarcasm.”
⁂ “Shylock” in the _Merchant of Venice_ (Shakespeare); “Iago” in
_Othello_ (Shakespeare); “Kitely” in _Every Man in His Humor_ (B.
Jonson); “Sir Archy,” that is, “M’Sarcasm”; “Sir Pertinax McSycophant”
in _The Man of the World_ (Macklin).
=MacSillergrip=, a Scotch pawnbroker, in search of Robin Scrawkey, his
runaway apprentice, whom he pursues upstairs and assails with blows.
_Mrs. M’Sillergrip_, the pawnbroker’s wife, always in terror lest the
manager should pay her indecorous attentions.—Charles Mathews (At home,
in _Multiple_).
The skill with which Mathews [1775-1835] carried on a conversation
between these three persons produced a most astonishing
effect.—_Contemporary Paper_.
=MacStin´ger= (_Mrs._), a widow who kept lodgings at No. 9 Brig Place,
on the brink of a canal near the India Docks. Captain Cuttle lodged
there. Mrs. MacStinger was a termagant, and rendered the captain’s life
miserable. He was afraid of her, and, although her lodger, was her
slave. When her son, Alexander, was refractory, Mrs. MacStinger used to
seat him on a cold paving-stone. She contrived to make Captain Bunsby
her second husband.—C. Dickens, _Dombey and Son_ (1846).
=MacSyc´ophant= (_Sir Pertinax_), the hotheaded, ambitious father of
Charles Egerton. His love for Scotland is very great, and he is
continually quarrelling with his family because they do not hold his
country in sufficient reverence.
I raised it [_my fortune_] by booing ... I never could stand straight in
the presence of a great man, but always booed, and booed, and booed, as
it were by instinct.—Act. iii. 1.
_Charles Egerton M’Sycophant_, son of Sir Pertinax. Egerton was the
mother’s name. Charles Egerton marries Constantia.—C. Macklin, _The Man
of the World_ (1764).
=Mactab= (_The Hon. Miss Lucretia_), sister of Lord Lofty, and
sister-in-law of Lieutenant Worthington, “the poor gentleman.” Miss
Lucretia was an old maid, “stiff as a ramrod.” Being very poor, she
allowed the lieutenant “the honor of maintaining her,” for which “she
handsomely gave him her countenance;” but when the lieutenant was
obliged to discontinue his hospitality, she resolved to “countenance a
tobacconist of Glasgow, who was her sixteenth cousin.”—G. Colman, _The
Poor Gentleman_ (1802).
=MacTavish Mhor= or Hamish M’Tavish, a Highland outlaw.
_Elspat M’Tavish_, or “The Woman of the Tree,” widow of M’Tavish Mhor;
“the Highland widow.” She prevents her son from joining his regiment, in
consequence of which he is shot as a deserter, and Elspat goes mad.
_Hamish Beam M’Tavish_, son of Elspat M’Tavish. He joins a Highland
regiment, and goes to visit his mother, who gives him a sleeping draught
to detain him. As he does not join his regiment in time, he is arrested
for desertion, tried, and shot at Dunbarton Castle.—Sir W. Scott,
_Highland Widow_ (time, George II.).
=MacTurk= (_Captain Mungo_ or _Hector_), “the man of peace,” in the
managing committee of the Spa Hotel.—Sir W. Scott, _St. Ronan’s Well_
(time, George III.).
=MacVittie= (_Ephraim_), a Glasgow merchant, one of Osbaldistone’s
creditors.—Sir W. Scott, _Rob Roy_ (time, George I.).
=MacWheeble= (_Duncan_), bailie at Tully Veolan, to the baron of
Bradwardine.—Sir W. Scott, _Waverley_ (time, George II.).
=Mad.= The Bedlam of Belgium is Gheel, where madmen reside in the houses
of the inhabitants, generally one in each family.
Dymphna was a woman of rank, murdered by her father for resisting his
incestuous passion, and became the tutelar saint of those stricken in
spirit. A shrine in time rose in her honor, which for ten centuries has
been consecrated to the relief of mental diseases. This was the origin
of the insane colony of Gheel.
=Mad Cavalier= (_The_), Prince Rupert, of Bavaria, nephew of Charles I.
He was noted for his rash courage and impetuosity (1619-1682).
=Mad Lover= (_The_), a drama by Beaumont and Fletcher (before 1618). The
name of the “mad lover” is Memnon, who is general of Astorax, king of
Paphos.
=Mad Poet= (_The_), Nathaniel Lee (1657-1690).
=Madasi´ma= (_Queen_), an important character in the old romance called
_Am´adis de Gaul_; her constant attendant was Elis´abat, a famous
surgeon, with whom she roamed in solitary retreats.
=Mad´elon=, cousin of Cathos, and daughter of Gor´gibus, a plain citizen
of the middle rank of life. These two silly girls have had their heads
turned by novels, and, thinking their names commonplace, Madelon calls
herself Polixĕna, and Cathos calls herself Aminta. Two gentlemen wish to
marry them, but the girls fancy their manners are too easy to be
“stylish;” so the gentlemen send their valets to them, as the “marquis
of Mascarille” and the “viscount of Jodelot.” The girls are delighted
with these “real gentlemen;” but when the farce has been carried far
enough, the masters enter and unmask the trick. The girls are thus
taught a useful lesson, but are not subjected to any serious ill
consequences.—Molière, _Les Précieuses Ridicules_ (1659).
=Mademoiselle.= What is understood by this word when it stands alone is
Mdlle. de Montpensier, daughter of Gaston, duc d’Orléans, and cousin of
Louis XIV.
Anne Marie Louis d’Orléans, duchesse de Montpensier, connue sous le nom
de _mademoiselle_, née à Paris, 1627; m. 1693; était fille de Gaston
d’Orléans frère de Louis XIII.—Bouillet.
_Mademoiselle_, the French lady’s-maid, waiting on Lady Fanciful; full
of the grossest flattery, and advising her ladyship to the most
unwarrantable intrigues. Lady Fanciful says, “The French are certainly
the prettiest and most obliging people. They say the most acceptable,
well-mannered things, and never flatter.” When induced to do what her
conscience and education revolted at, she would playfully rebuke Mdlle.
with, “Ah! la méchante Françoise!” to which Mdlle. would respond, “Ah!
la belle Anglaise!”—Vanbrugh, _The Provoked Wife_ (1697).
=Madge Wildfire=, the insane daughter of old Meg Murdochson, the gypsy
thief. Madge was a beautiful, but giddy girl, whose brain was crazed by
seduction and the murder of her infant.—Sir W. Scott, _Heart of
Midlothian_ (time, George II.).
=Madman= (_Macedonia’s_), Alexander, the Great (B.C. 356, 336-323).
Heroes are much the same, the points agreed,
From Macedonia’s Madman, to the Swede [_Charles XII_.].
Pope, _Essay on Man_, iv. 219 (1733).
How vain, how worse than vain, at length appear
The madman’s wish, the Macedonian tear!
He wept for worlds to conquer; half the earth
Knows not his name, or but his death and birth.
Byron, _Age of Bronze_ (1819).
_Madman (The Brilliant)_, Charles XII., of Sweden (1682, 1697-1718).
=Madman of the North=, Charles XII., of Sweden (1682, 1697-1718).
=Madoc=, youngest son of Owain Gwynedd, king of North Wales (who died
1169). He is called “The Perfect Prince,” “The Lord of Ocean,” and is
the very beau-ideal of a hero. Invincible, courageous, strong and
daring, but amiable, merciful and tender-hearted; most pious, but
without bigotry; most wise, but without dogmatism; most provident and
far-seeing. He left his native country in 1170, and ventured on the
ocean to discover a new world; his vessels reached America, and he
founded a settlement near the Missouri. Having made an alliance with the
Az´tecas, he returned to Wales for a fresh supply of colonists, and
conducted six ships in safety to the new settlement, called Caer-Madoc.
War soon broke out between the natives and the strangers; but the white
men proving the conquerors, the Az´tecas migrated to Mexico. On one
occasion, being set upon from ambush, Madoc was chained by one foot to
“the stone of sacrifice,” and consigned to fight with six volunteers.
His first opponent was Ocell´opan, whom he slew; his next was Tlalăla,
“the tiger,” but during this contest Cadwallon came to the
rescue.—Southey, _Madoc_ (1805).
... Madoc
Put forth his well-rigged fleet to seek him foreign ground,
And sailèd west so long, until that world he found ...
Long ere Columbus lived.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, ix. (1612).
=Mador= (_Sir_), a Scotch knight, who accused Queen Guinever of having
poisoned his brother. Sir Launcelot du Lac challenged him to single
combat and overthrew him; for which service King Arthur gave the queen’s
champion La Joyeuse Garde as a residence.
=Mæce´nas= (_Caius Cilnius_), a wealthy Roman nobleman, a friend of
Augustus, and liberal patron of Virgil, Horace, Propertius, and other
men of genius. His name has become proverbial for a “munificent friend
of literature” (died B.C. 8).
Are you not called a theatrical quidnunc and a mock Mæcēnas to
second-hand authors?—Sheridan, _The Critic_, i. (1779).
=Mæ´nad=, a Bacchant, plu. =Mænads= or =Mæ´nades= (_3 syl._). So called
from the Greek, _mainomai_ (“to be furious”), because they acted like
mad women in their “religious” festivals.
Among the boughs did swelling Bacchus ride,
Whom wild-grown Mænads bore.
Phin. Fletcher, _The Purple Island_, vii. (1633).
=Mæon´ides= (_4 syl._). Homer is so called, either because he was son of
Mæon, or because he was a native of Mæon´ia (_Lydia_). He is also called
_Mæonius Senex_, and his poems _Mænonian Lays_.
When great Mæonides, in rapid song,
The thundering tide of battle rolls along,
Each ravished bosom feels the high alarms,
And all the burning pulses beat to arms.
Falconer, _The Shipwreck_, iii. 1 (1756).
=Mævius, any vile poet.= (See BAVIUS).
But if fond Bavius vent his clouted song,
Or Mævius chant his thoughts in brothel charm,
The witless vulgar, in a numerous throng,
Like summer flies about the dunghill swarm ...
Who hates not one may he the other love.
Phineas Fletcher, _The Purple Island_, i. (1633).
=Magalo´na= (_The Fair_), daughter of the king of Naples. She is the
heroine of an old romance of chivalry, originally written in French, but
translated into Spanish in the fifteenth century. Cervantes alludes to
this romance in _Don Quixote_. The main incident of the story turns on a
flying horse made by Merlin, which came into the possession of Peter of
Provence.—_The History of the Fair Magalona, and Peter, the son of the
Count of Provence_.
⁂ Tieck has reproduced the history of Magalona in German (1773-1853).
=Mage Negro King=, Gaspar, king of Tarshish, a black Ethiop, and tallest
of the three Magi. His offering was myrrh, indicative of death.
As the Mage negro king to Christ the babe.
Robert Browning, _Luria_, i.
=Maggy=, the half-witted granddaughter of little Dorrit’s nurse. She had
had a fever at the age of ten, from ill-treatment, and her mind and
intellect never went beyond that period. Thus, if asked her age, she
always replied, “Ten;” and she always repeated the last two or three
words of what was said to her. She called Amy Dorritt “Little Mother.”
She was about eight and twenty, with large bones, large features, large
feet and hands, large eyes, and no hair. Her large eyes were limpid and
almost colorless; they seemed to be very little affected by light, and
to stand unnaturally still. There was also that attentive listening
expression in her face, which is seen in the faces of the blind; but she
was not blind, having one tolerably serviceable eye. Her face was not
exceedingly ugly, being redeemed by a smile.... A great white cap, with
a quantity of opaque frilling ... apologized for Maggy’s baldness, and
made it so difficult for her old black bonnet to retain its place on her
head, that it held on round her neck like a gypsy’s baby.... The rest of
her dress resembled sea-weed, with here and there a gigantic tea-leaf.
Her shawl looked like a huge tea-leaf after long infusion.—C. Dickens,
_Little Dorrit_, ix. (1857).
=Magi=, or _Three Kings of Cologne_, the “wise men from the East,” who
followed the guiding-star to the manger in Bethlehem with offerings.
Melchior, king of Nubia, the shortest of the three, offered gold,
indicative of royalty; Balthazar, king of Chaldea, offered frankincense,
indicative of divinity; and Gaspar, king of Tarshish, a black Ethiop,
the tallest of the three, offered myrrh, symbolic of death.
Melchior means “king of light”; Balthazar “lord of treasures;” and
Gaspar or Caspar, “the white one.”
⁂ Klopstock, in his _Messiah_, makes the Magi six in number, and gives
the names as Hadad, Selima, Zimri, Mirja, Beled and Sunith—Bk. v.
(1771).
=Magic Rings=, like that which Gyges, minister to King Candaules of
Lydia, found in the flanks of a brazen horse. By means of this ring,
which made its wearer invisible, Gyges first dishonored the queen, and
then with her assistance, assassinated the king and usurped his
throne.—_Plato’s Republic; Cicero’s Offices_.
=Magic Wands.= The hermit gave Charles the Dane and Ubaldo a wand,
which, being shaken, infused terror into all who saw it.—Tasso,
_Jerusalem Delivered_ (1575).
The palmer who accompanied Sir Guyon had a wand of like virtue. It was
made of the same wood as Mercury’s caduceus.—Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, ii.
(1590).
=Magician of the North= (_The_), Sir W. Scott (1771-1832).
How beautifully has the Magician of the North described “The Field of
Waterloo!”—Lord W.P. Lennox, _Celebrities, etc._, i. 16.
⁂ Johann Georg Hamann of Prussia, called himself “The Magician of the
North” (1730-1788).
=Magliabechi=, the greatest book-worm that ever lived. He devoured
books, and never forgot anything he read. He had also so exact a memory
that he could tell the precise place and shelf of a book, as well as the
volume and page of any passage required. He was the librarian of the
Great-Duke Cosmo III. His usual dinner was three hard-boiled eggs and a
draught of water (1633-1714).
=Magmu=, the coquette of Astracan.
Though naturally handsome, she used every art to set off her beauty. Not
a word proceeded from her mouth that was not studied. To counterfeit a
violent passion, to sigh _à propos_, to make an attractive gesture, to
trifle agreeably, and collect the various graces of dumb eloquence into
a smile, were the arts in which she excelled. She spent hours before her
glass in deciding how a curl might be made to hang loose upon her neck
to the greatest advantage; how to open and shut her lips so as best to
show her teeth without affectation—to turn her face full or otherwise,
as occasion might require. She looked on herself with ceaseless
admiration, and always admired most the works of her own hand in
improving on the beauty which nature had bestowed on her.—T. S.
Gueulette, _Chinese Tales_ (“Magmu,” 1723).
=Magnanimous= (_The_), Alfonso of Aragon (1385, 1416-1458).
Khosru or Chosroës, the twenty-first of the Sassanĭdês, was surnamed
_Noushirwan_ (“Magnanimous”) (*, 531-579).
=Magnano=, one of the leaders of the rabble that attacked Hudibras at a
bear-baiting. The character is designed for Simeon Wait, a tinker, as
famous an independent preacher as Burroughs. He used to style Cromwell
“the archangel who did battle with the devil.”—S. Butler, _Hudibras_, i.
2 (1663).
=Magnificent= (_The_), Khosru or Chosroës I., of Persia (*, 531-579).
Lorenzo de Medici (1448-1492).
Robert, duc de Normandie; called _Le Diable_ also (*, 1028-1035).
Soliman I., greatest of the Turkish sultans (1493, 1520-1566).
=Magnus Troil=, honest, plain Zetlander, convivial in his habits, but
frank and hospitable. He has two motherless daughters.—Walter Scott,
_The Pirate_. (See MINNA and BRENDA.)
=Magog=, according to _Ezek._ xxxviii., xxxix., was a country or people
over whom Gog was prince. Some say the Goths are meant, others the
Persians, others the Scythians or the northern nations of Europe
generally.
Sale says that Magog is the tribe called by Ptolemy “Gilân,” and by
Strabo “Geli” or “Gelæ.”—_Al Korân_, xxviii. note. (See GOG).
_Magog_, one of the princes of Satan, whose ambition is to destroy hell.
=Magrico=, the champion of Isabella, of Portugal, who refused to pay
truage to France. He vanquished the French champion, and thus liberated
his country from tribute.
=Magua=, subtle and cruel Huron chief, whose unholy passion for Cora
Munro is the cause of her death.—James Fenimore Cooper, _The Last of the
Mohicans_ (1826).
=Magwitch= (_Abel_), a convict for life, the unknown father of Estella,
who was adopted from infancy by Miss Havisham, the daughter of a rich
banker. The convict, having made his escape to Australia, became a
successful sheep farmer, and sent money secretly to Mr. Jaggers, a
London lawyer, to educate Pip as a gentleman. When Pip was 23 years old
Magwitch returned to England, under the assumed name of Provis, and made
himself known to Pip. He was tracked by Orlick and Compeyson, arrested,
condemned to death, and died in jail. All his money was confiscated.—C.
Dickens, _Great Expectations_ (1860).
=Mahmut=, the “Turkish Spy,” who remained undiscovered in Paris for
forty-five years, revealing to his Government all the intrigues of the
Christian courts (1637-1682).
=Mahomet= or MOHAMMED, the titular name taken by Halaibi, founder of
Islam (570-632.)