CHARACTER SKETCHES OF ROMANCE, FICTION, AND THE DRAMA.

=Mark Tapley=, a serving companion of Martin Chuzzlewit, who goes out with

him to Eden, in North America. Mark Tapley thinks there is no credit in

being jolly in easy circumstances; but when in Eden he found every

discomfort, lost all his money, was swindled by every one, and was

almost killed by fevers, then indeed he felt it would be a real credit

“to be jolly under the circumstances.”--C. Dickens, _Martin Chuzzlewit_

(1843).

=Markham=, a gentleman in the train of the earl of Sussex.--Sir W. Scott,

_Kenilworth_ (time, Elizabeth).

_Markham_ (_Mrs._), pseudonym of Mrs. Elizabeth Perrose[TN-1] (born

Elizabeth Cartwright), authoress of _History of England_, etc.

=Markleham= (_Mrs._), the mother of Annie. Devoted to pleasure, she always

maintained that she indulged in it for “Annie’s sake.” Mrs. Markleham is

generally referred to as “the old soldier.”--C. Dickens, _David

Copperfield_ (1849).

=Marksman=, one of Fortunio’s seven attendants. He saw so clearly and to

such a distance, that he generally bandaged his eyes in order to temper

the great keenness of his sight.--Comtesse D’Aunoy, _Fairy Tales_

(“Fortunio,” 1682).

=Marlborough= (_The duke of_), John Churchill. He was called by Marshal

Turenne _Le Bel Anglais_ (1650-1722).

=Marlow= (_Sir Charles_), the kind-hearted old friend of Squire

Hardcastle.

_Young Marlow_, son of Sir Charles. “Among women of reputation and

virtue he is the modestest man alive; but his acquaintances give him a

very different character among women of another stamp” (act i. 1).

Having mistaken Hardcastle’s house for an inn, and Miss Hardcastle for

the barmaid, he is quite at his ease, and makes love freely. When fairly

caught, he discovers that the supposed “inn” is a private house, and the

supposed barmaid is the squire’s daughter; but the ice of his shyness

being broken, he has no longer any difficulty in loving according to

his station.--Goldsmith, _She Stoops to Conquer_ (1773).

When Goldsmith was between 16 and 17 he set out for Edgworthstown, and

finding night coming on, asked a man which was the “best house” in the

town--meaning the best inn. The man pointed to the house of Sir Ralph

Fetherstone (or _Mr. Fetherstone_), and Oliver, entering the parlor,

found the master of the mansion sitting at a good fire. Oliver told him

he desired to pass the night there, and ordered him to bring in supper.

“Sir Ralph” knowing his customer, humored the joke, which Oliver did not

discover till next day, when he called for his bill. (We are told in

_Notes and Queries_ that Ralph Fetherstone was only _Mr._, but his

grandson was _Sir Thomas_).

=Marmaduke Wharne.= Eccentric old Englishman long resident in America.

Benevolent and beneficent, but gruff in manner and speech.--A. D. T.

Whitney, _Leslie Goldthwaite’s Summer_ (1866).

=Marmaduke= (_Sir_). A man who has lost all earth can give--wealth, love,

fame and friends, but thus comforts himself:

“I account it worth

All pangs of fair hopes crossed,--

All loves and honors lost,--

To gain the heavens, at cost

Of losing earth.”

Theodore Tilton, _Sir Marmaduke’s Musings_ (1867).

=Marmion.= Lord Marmion was betrothed to Constance de Beverley, but he

jilted her for Lady Clare, an heiress, who was in love with Ralph de

Wilton. The Lady Clare rejected Lord Marmion’s suit, and took refuge

from him in the convent of St. Hilda, in Whitby. Constance took the veil

in the convent of St. Cuthbert, in Holy Isle, but after a time left the

convent clandestinely, was captured, taken back, and buried alive in the

walls of a deep cell. In the mean time, Lord Marmion, being sent by

Henry VIII. on an embassy to James IV. of Scotland, stopped at the hall

of Sir Hugh de Heron, who sent a palmer as his guide. On his return,

Lord Marmion commanded the abbess of St. Hilda to release the Lady

Clare, and place her under the charge of her kinsman, Fitzclare of

Tantallon Hall. Here she met the palmer, who was Ralph de Wilton, and as

Lord Marmion was slain in the battle of Flodden Field, she was free to

marry the man she loved.--Sir W. Scott, _Marmion_ (1808).

_Marmion_ (_Lord_), a descendant of Robert de Marmion, who obtained from

William the Conqueror, the manor of Scrivelby, in Lincolnshire. This

Robert de Marmion was the first royal champion of England, and the

office remained in the family till the reign of Edward I., when in

default of male issue it passed to John Dymoke, son-in-law of Philip

Marmion, in whose family it remains still.

=Marnally= (_Bernard_). Good-looking Irish tutor at “Happy-go-Lucky,” a

country house. He is accused of murdering the infant children of a young

widow with whom he is in love, but is acquitted and goes back to

Ireland. Some years later, he revisits America, meets his old love and

marries her.--Miriam Coles Harris, _Happy-go-Lucky_ (1881).

=Marner= (_Silas_). Miser and misogynist in humble life, who finds a

baby-girl in his cottage one night, and in bringing her up, learns to

have patience with life and charity with his kind.--George Eliot, _Silas

Marner_.

=Ma´ro=, Virgil, whose full name was Publius Virgilius Maro (B.C. 70-19).

Oh, were it mine with the sacred Maro’s art

To wake to sympathy the feeling heart,

Like him the smooth and mournful verse to dress

In all the pomp of exquisite distress ...

Then might I ...

Falconer, _The Shipwreck_, iii. 5 (1756).

=Mar´onites= (3 _syl._), a religious semi-Catholic sect of Syria,

constantly at war with their near neighbors, the Druses, a

semi-Mohammedan sect. Both are now tributaries of the sultan, but enjoy

their own laws. The Maronites number about 400,000, and the Druses about

half that number. The Maronites owe their name to J. Maron, their

founder; the Druses to Durzi, who led them out of Egypt into Syria. The

patriarch of the Maronites resides at Kanobin; the hakem of the Druses

at Deir-el-kamar. The Maronites, or “Catholics of Lebanon,” differ from

the Roman Catholics in several points, and have a pope or patriarch of

their own. In 1860 the Druses made on them a horrible onslaught, which

called forth the intervention of Europe.

=Marotte= (2 _syl._), a footman of Gorgibus; a plain bourgeois, who hates

affectation. When the fine ladies of the house try to convert him into a

fashionable flunky, and teach him a little grandiloquence, he bluntly

tells them he does not understand Latin.

_Marotte._ Voilà un laquais qui demande si vous êtes au logis, et

dit que son maître, vous venir voir.

_Madelon._ Apprenez, sotte, à vous énoncer moins vulgaiment. Dites:

Voilà un nécessaire que demande si vous êtes en commodité d’etre

visibles.

_Marotte._ Je n’entends point le Latin.--Molière, _Les Précieuses

Ridicules_, vii. (1659).

=Marphi´sa=, sister of Roge´ro, and a female knight of amazing prowess.

She was brought up by a magician, but being stolen at the age of seven,

was sold to the king of Persia. When she was 18, her royal master

assailed her honor; but she slew him, and usurped the crown. Marphisa

went to Gaul to join the army of Agramant, but subsequently entered the

camp of Charlemagne, and was baptized.--Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_

(1516).

=Marphu´rius=, a doctor of the Pyrrhonian school. Sganarelle consults him

about his marriage; but the philosopher replies, “Perhaps; it is

possible; it may be so; everything is doubtful;” till at last Sganarelle

beats him, and Marphurius says he shall bring an action against him for

battery. “Perhaps,” replies Sganarelle; “it is possible; it may be so,”

etc., using the very words of the philosopher (sc. ix.).--Molière, _Le

Mariage Forcé_ (1664).

=Marplot=, “the busy body.” A blundering, good-natured, meddlesome young

man, very inquisitive, too officious by half, and always bungling

whatever he interferes in. Marplot is introduced by Mrs. Centlivre in

two comedies, _The Busy Body_ and _Marplot in Lisbon_.

That unlucky dog Marplot ... is ever doing mischief, and yet (to

give him his due) he never designs it. This is some blundering

adventure, wherein he thought to show his friendship, as he calls

it.--Mrs. Centlivre, _The Busy Body_, iii. 5 (1709).

⁂ This was Henry Woodward’s great part (1717-1777). His unappeasable

curiosity, his slow comprehension, his annihilation under the sense of

his dilemmas, were so diverting, that even Garrick confessed him the

decided “Marplot” of the stage.--Boaden, _Life of Siddons_.

N. B.--William Cavendish, duke of Newcastle, brought out a free

tranlation[TN-2] of Molière’s _L’Etourdi_, which he entitled _Marplot_.

=Marquis de Basqueville=, being one night at the opera, was told by a

messenger that his mansion was on fire. “Eh bien,” he said to the

messenger, “adressez-vous à Mme. la marquise qui est en face dans cette

loge; car c’est affaire de ménage.”--Chapus, _Dieppe et ses Environs_

(1853).

=Marrall= (_Jack_), a mean-spirited, revengeful time-server. He is the

clerk and tool of Sir Giles Overreach. When Marrall thinks Wellborn

penniless, he treats him like a dog; but as soon as he fancies he is

about to marry the wealthy dowager, Lady Allworth, he is most servile,

and offers to lend him money. Marrall now plays the traitor to his

master, Sir Giles, and reveals to Wellborn the scurvy tricks by which he

has been cheated of his estates. When, however, he asks Wellborn to take

him into his service, Wellborn replies, “He who is false to one master

will betray another;” and will have nothing to say to him.--Massinger,

_A New Way to Pay Old Debts_ (1628).

=Married Men of Genius.= The number of men of genius unhappy in their

wives is very large. The following are notorious examples:--Socratês and

Xantippê; Saadi, the Persian poet; Dantê and Gemma Donati; Milton, with

Mary Powell; Marlborough and Sarah Jennings; Gustavus Adolphus and his

flighty queen; Byron and Miss Milbanke; Dickens and Miss Hogarth; etc.

Every reader will be able to add to the list.

=Mars=, divine Fortitude personified. Bacchus is the tutelary demon of the

Mahommedans, and Mars the guardian potentate of the Christians.--Camoens,

_The Lusiad_ (1569).

_That Young Mars of Men_, Edward the Black prince, who with 8,000 men

defeated, at Poitiers, the French king, John, whose army amounted to

60,000--some say even more (A. D. 1356).[TN-3]

_The Mars of Men_, Henry Plantagenet, earl of Derby, third son of Henry,

earl of Lancaster, and near kinsman of Edward III. (See DERBY.)

=Marse’ Chan.= Brave Virginian soldier whose lady-love enacts “My Lady

Disdain” until news is brought her that he has fallen in battle. Then

she grieves for him as a widow for her husband, and when she dies, she

is buried by him.--Thomas Nelson Page, _In Ole Virginia_ (1887).

=Mars of Portugal= (_The_), Alfonso de Albuquerque, viceroy of India

(1452-1515).

=Mars Wounded.= A very remarkable parallel to the encounter of Diŏmed and

Mars in the _Iliad_, v., occurs in Ossian. Homer says that Diomed hurled

his spear against Mars, which, piercing the belt, wounded the war-god in

the bowels; “Loud bellowed Mars, nine thousand men, ten thousand, scarce

so loud, joining fierce battle.” Then Mars ascending, wrapped in clouds,

was borne upwards to Olympus.

Ossian, in _Carrick-Thura_, says that Loda, the god of his foes, came

like a “blast from the mountain. He came in his terror and shook his

dusky spear. His eyes were flames, and his voice like distant thunder.

‘Son of night,’ said Fingal, ‘retire. Do I fear thy gloomy form, spirit

of dismal Loda? Weak is thy shield of cloud, feeble thy meteor

sword.’”[TN-4] Then cleft he the gloomy shadow with his sword. It fell

like a column of smoke. It shrieked. Then rolling itself up, the wounded

spirit rose on the wind, and the island shook to its foundation.”

=Marseilles’ Good Bishop=, Henri François Xavier de Belsunce (1671-1775).

Immortalized by his philanthropic diligence in the plague at Marseilles

(1720-1722).

Charles Borromēo, archbishop of Milan a century previously (1576), was

equally diligent and self-sacrificing in the plague of Milan

(1538-1584).

Sir John Lawrence, lord mayor of London during the great plague,

supported 40,000 dismissed servants, and deserves immortal honor.

Darwin refers to Belsunce and Lawrence in his _Loves of the Plants_, ii.

433.

=Marshal Forwards=, Blücher; so called for his dash in battle, and the

rapidity of his movements, in the campaign of 1813 (1742-1819).

=Marsi=, a part of the Sabellian race, noted for Magic, and said to have

been descended from Circê.

Marsis vi quadam genitali datum, ut serpentium virulentorum

domitores sint, et incantationibus herbarumque succis faciant

medelarum mira.--_Gellius_, xvi. 11.

=Marsig´lio=, a Saracen king, who plotted the attack upon Roland, “under

the tree on which Judas hanged himself.” With a force of 600,000 men,

divided into three companies, Marsiglio attacked the paladin in

Roncesvallês and overthrew him; but Charlemagne, coming up, routed the

Saracen, and hanged him on the very tree under which he planned the

attack.--Turpin, _Chronicle_ (1122).

=Marsilia=, “who bears up great Cynthia’s train,” is the marchioness of

Northampton, to whom Spenser dedicated his _Daphnaida_. This lady was

Helena, daughter of Wolfgangus Swavenburgh, a Swede.

No less praiseworthy is Marsilia,

Best known by bearing up great Cynthia’s train.

She is the pattern of true womanhead....

Worthy next after Cynthia [_queen Elizabeth_] to tread,

As she is next her in nobility.

Spenser, _Colin Clout’s Come Home Again_ (1595).

=Mar´syas=, the Phrygian flute-player. He challenged Apollo to a contest

of skill, but being beaten by the god, was flayed alive for his

presumption.

=Mar´tafax and Ler´mites= (3 _syl._), two famous rats brought up before

the White Cat for treason, but acquitted.--Comtesse D’Aunoy, _Fairy

Tales_ (“The White Cat,” 1682).

=Marta´no=, a great coward, who stole the armor of Gryphon, and presented

himself in it before King Norandi´no. Having received the honors due to

the owner, Martano quitted Damascus with Origilla; but Aquilant unmasked

the villain, and he was hanged (bks. viii., ix.).--Ariosto, _Orlando

Furioso_ (1516).

=Marteau des Heretiques=, Pierre d’Ailly; also called _L’Aigle de la

France_ (1350-1420).

=Martel= (_Charles_), Charles, natural son of Pépin d’Héristal.

M. Collin de Plancy says that this “palace mayor” of France was not

called “Martel” because he _martelé_ (“hammered”) the Saracens under

Abd-el-Rahman in 732, but because his patron saint was _Martellus_ (or

_St. Martin_).--_Bibliothèque des Légendes._

Thomas Delf, in his translation of Chevreuil’s _Principles of Harmony,

etc., of Colors_ (1847), signs himself “Charles Martel.”

=Martext= (_Sir Oliver_), a vicar in Shakespeare’s comedy of _As You Like

It_ (1600).

=Martha:=

“Yea, Lord! Yet man must earn

And woman bake the bread;

And some must watch and wake

Early for other’s sake

Who pray instead.”

Julia C. R. Dorr, _Afternoon Songs_ (1885).

_Martha_, sister to “The Scornful Lady” (no name given).--Beaumont and

Fletcher, _The Scornful Lady_ (1616).

_Martha_, the servant-girl at Shaw’s Castle.--Sir W. Scott, _St. Ronan’s

Well_ (time, George III.).

_Martha_, the old housekeeper at Osbaldistone Hall.--Sir W. Scott, _Rob

Roy_ (time, George I.).

_Martha_, daughter of Ralph and Louise de Lascours, and sister of Diana

de Lascours. When the crew of the _Urania_ rebelled, Martha, with Ralph

de Lascours (the captain), Louise de Lascours, and Barabas, were put

adrift in a boat, and cast on an iceberg in “the Frozen Sea.” The

iceberg broke, Ralph and Louise were drowned, Barabas was picked up by a

vessel, and Martha fell into the hands of an Indian tribe, who gave her

the name of Orgari´ta (“withered corn”). She married Carlos, but as he

married under a false name, the marriage was illegal, and when Carlos

was given up to the hands of justice, Orgarita was placed under the

charge of her grandmother, Mde. de Théringe, and [probably] espoused

Horace de Brienne.--E. Stirling, _The Orphan of the Frozen Sea_ (1856).

_Martha_, a friend of Margaret. She makes love to Mephistophelês, with

great worldly shrewdness.--Goethe, _Faust_ (1798).

_Martha, alias_ ULRICA, mother of Bertha, who is betrothed to Hereward

and marries him.--Sir W. Scott, _Count Robert of Paris_ (time, Rufus).

_Martha_ (_The Abbess_), abbess of Elcho Nunnery. She is a kinswoman of

the Glover family.--Sir W. Scott, _Fair Maid of Perth_ (time, Henry

IV.).

_Martha_ (_Dame_), housekeeper to major Bridgenorth.--Sir W. Scott,

_Peveril of the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).

=Martha Hilton=, serving-maid in the household of the widowed Governor

Wentworth, until, on his sixtieth birthday, he surprised the guests

assembled to do him honor by wedding her in their sight.--Henry

Wadsworth Longfellow, _Lady Wentworth_.

=Marthé=, a young orphan, in love with Frédéric Auvray, a young artist who

loves her in return, but leaves her, goes to Rome, and falls in love

with another lady, Elena, sister of the Duke Strozzi. Marthé leaves the

Swiss pastor, who is her guardian, and travels in midwinter to Rome,

dressed as a boy, and under the name of Piccolino. She tells her tale to

Elena, who abandons the fickle, false one, and Frédéric forbids the

Swiss wanderer ever again to approach him. Marthé, in despair, throws

herself into the Tiber, but is rescued. Frédéric repents, is reconciled,

and marries the forlorn maiden.--Mons. Guiraud, _Piccolino_ (an opera,

1875).

=Marthon=, an old cook at Arnheim Castle.--Sir W. Scott, _Anne of

Geierstein_ (time, Edward IV.).

_Marthon, alias_ RIZPAH, a Bohemian woman, attendant on the Countess

Hameline of Croye.--Sir W. Scott, _Quentin Durward_ (time, Edward IV.).

=Martian Laws= (not _Mercian_ as Wharton gives it in his _Law Dictionary_)

are the laws collected by Martia, the wife of Guithelin, great grand-son

of Mulmutius, who established in Britain the “Mulmutian Laws” (_q.v._).

Alfred translated both these codes into Saxon-English, and called the

Martian code _Pa Marchitle Lage_. These laws have no connection with the

kingdom of Mercia.--Geoffrey, _British History_, iii. 13 (1142).

Guynteline, ... whose queen, ... to show her upright mind,

To wise Mulmutius’ laws her Martian first did frame.

Drayton, _Polyolbion_, viii. (1612).

=Martigny= (_Marie le comptesse de_), wife of the earl of

Etherington.--Sir W. Scott, _St. Ronan’s Well_ (time, George III.).

=Martin=, in Swift’s _Tale of the Tub_, is Martin Luther; “John” is

Calvin; and “Peter” the pope of Rome (1704).

In Dryden’s _Hind and Panther_, “Martin” means the Lutheran party

(1687).

_Martin_, the old verdurer near Sir Henry Lee’s lodge.--Sir W. Scott,

_Woodstock_ (time, Commonwealth).

_Martin_, the old shepherd in the service of the lady of Avenel.--Sir W.

Scott, _The Monastery_ (time, Elizabeth).

_Martin_, the ape in the beast-epic of _Reynard the Fox_ (1498).

_Martin_ (_Dame_), partner of Darsie Latimer at the fishers’

dance.--Sir W. Scott, _Redgauntlet_ (time, George III.).

_Martin_ (_Sarah_), the prison reformer of Great Yarmouth. This young

woman, though but a poor dressmaker, conceived a device for the

reformation of prisoners in her native town, and continued for

twenty-four years her earnest and useful labor of love, acting as

schoolmistress, chaplain and industrial superintendent. In 1835, Captain

Williams, inspector of prisons, brought her plans before the Government,

under the conviction that the nation at large might be benefitted by

their practical good sense (1791-1843).

=Martin Weldeck=, the miner. His story is read by Lovel to a picnic party

at St. Ruth’s ruins.--Sir W. Scott, _The Antiquary_ (time, George III.).

=Martine= (3 _syl._), wife of Sganarelle. She has a furious quarrel with

her husband, who beats her, and she screams. M. Robert, a neighbor,

interferes, says to Sganarelle, “Quelle infamie! Peste soit le coquin,

de battre ainsi sa femme.” The woman snubs him for his impertinence, and

says, “Je veux qu’il me battre, moi;” and Sganarelle beats him soundly

for meddling with what does not concern him.--Molière, _Le Médecin

Malgré Lui_ (1666).

=Martival= (_Stephen de_), a steward of the field at the tournament.--Sir

W. Scott, _Ivanhoe_ (time, Richard I.).

=Martivalle= (_Martius Galeotti_), astrologer to Louis XI. of France.--Sir

W. Scott, _Quentin Durward_ (time, Edward IV.).

=Martyr King= (_The_), Henry VI., buried at Windsor beside Edward IV.

Here o’er the Martyr King [_Henry VI._] the marble weeps.

And fast beside him once-feared Edward [_IV._] sleeps;

The grave unites where e’en the grave finds rest,

And mingled lie the oppressor and th’opprest.

Pope.

_Martyr King_ (_The_), Charles I. of England (1600, 1625-1649).

Louis XVI. of France is also called Louis “the Martyr” (1754,

1774-1793).

=Martyrs to Science.=

Claude Louis, Count Berthollet, who tested on himself the effects of

carbonic acid on the human frame, and died under the experiment

(1748-1822).

Giordano Bruno, who was burnt alive for maintaining that matter is the

mother of all things (1550-1600).

Galileo, who was imprisoned twice by the Inquisition for maintaining

that the earth moved round the sun, and not the sun round the earth

(1564-1642).

And scores of others.

=Marvellous Boy= (_The_), Thomas Chatterton (1752-1770).

I thought of Chatterton, the marvellous boy,

The sleepless soul that perished in his pride.

Wordsworth.

=Marwood= (_Alice_), daughter of an old woman who called herself Mrs.

Brown. When a mere girl she was concerned in a burglary and was

transported. Carker, manager in the firm of Dombey and Son, seduced her,

and both she and her mother determined on revenge. Alice bore a striking

resemblance to Edith (Mr. Dombey’s second wife), and in fact they were

cousins, for Mrs. Brown was “wife” of the brother-in-law of the Hon.

Mrs. Skewton (Edith’s mother).--C. Dickens, _Dombey and Son_ (1846).

_Marwood_ (_Mistress_), jilted by Fainall, and soured against the whole

male sex. She says, “I have done hating those vipers--men, and am now

come to despise them;” but she thinks of marrying to keep her husband

“on the rack of fear and jealousy.”--W. Congreve, _The Way of the World_

(1700).

=Mary=, the pretty housemaid of the worshipful, the mayor of Ipswich

(_Nupkins_). When Arabella Allen marries Mr. Winkle, Mary enters her

service; but eventually marries Sam Weller, and lives at Dulwich, as Mr.

Pickwick’s housekeeper.--C. Dickens, _The Pickwick Papers_ (1836).

_Mary_, niece of Valentine, and his sister Alice. In love with Mons.

Thomas.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _Mons. Thomas_ (1619).

_Mary. The queen’s Marys_, four young ladies of quality, of the same age

as Mary, afterwards “queen of Scots.” They embarked with her in 1548, on

board the French galleys, and were destined to be her playmates in

childhood, and her companions when she grew up. Their names were Mary

Beaton (or _Bethune_), Mary Livingston (or _Leuison_), Mary Fleming (or

_Flemyng_), and Mary Seaton (_Seton_ or _Seyton_).

⁂ Mary Carmichael has no place in authentic history, although an old

ballad says:

Yestrien the queen had four Marys;

This night she’ll hae but three:

There was Mary Beaton, and Mary Seaton,

And Mary Carmichael, and me.

⁂ One of Whyte Melville’s novels is called _The Queen’s Marys_.

=Mary Anne=, a slang name for the guillotine; also called _L’abbaye de

monte-à-regret_ (“the mountain of mournful ascent”). (See MARIANNE.)

_Mary Anne_, a generic name for a secret republican society in France.

[TN-5]See MARIANNE.)--B. Disraeli, _Lothair_.

Mary Anne was the red-name for the republic years ago, and there

always was a sort of myth that these secret societies had been

founded by a woman.

The Mary-Anne associations, which are essentially republic, are

scattered about all the provinces of France.--_Lothair._

=Mary Graham=, an orphan adopted by old Martin Chuzzlewit. She eventually

married Martin Chuzzlewit, the grandson, and hero of the tale.

=Mary Scudder.= Blue-eyed daughter of a “capable” New England housewife.

From childhood she has loved her cousin. Her mother objects on the

ground that James is “unregenerate,” and brings Mary to accept Dr.

Hopkins, her pastor. The doctor, upon discovering the truth, resigns his

betrothed to the younger lover.--Harriet Beecher Stowe, _The Minister’s

Wooing_ (1862).

=Mary Stuart=, an historical tragedy by J. Haynes (1840). The subject is

the death of David Rizzio.

⁂ Schiller has taken Mary Stuart for the subject of a tragedy. P. Lebrun

turned the German drama into a French play. Sir W. Scott, in _The

Abbot_, has taken for his subject the flight of Mary to England.

=Mary Tudor.= Victor Hugo has a tragedy so called (1833), and Tennyson, in

1878, issued a play entitled _Queen Mary_, an epitome of the reign of

the Tudor Mary.

=Mary and Byron.= The “Mary” of Lord Byron was Miss Chaworth. Both were

under the guardianship of Mr. White. Miss Chaworth married John Musters,

and Lord Byron married Miss Milbanke; both equally unfortunate. Lord

Byron, in _The Dream_, refers to his love-affair with Mary Chaworth.

=Mary in Heaven= (_To_) and _Highland Mary_, lyrics addressed by Robert

Burns to Mary Campbell, between whom and the poet there existed a strong

attachment previous to the latter’s departure from Ayrshire to

Nithsdale. _Mary Morison_, a youthful effusion, was written to the

object of a prior passion. The lines in the latter

Those smiles and glances let me see,

That make the miser’s treasure poor,

resembles those in _Highland Mary_--

Still o’er those scenes my mem’ry wakes,

And fondly broods with miser care.

=Mary of Mode´na=, the second wife of James II. of England, and mother of

“The Pretender.”

Mamma was to assume the character and stately way of the royal

“Mary of Modena.”--Percy Fitzgerald, _The Parvenu Family_, iii.

239.

=Mary Queen of Scots= was confined first at Carlisle; she was removed in

1568 to Bolton; in 1569 she was confined at Tutbury, Wingfield, Tutbury,

Ashby-de-la-Zouche, and Coventry; in 1570 she was removed to Tutbury,

Chatsworth, and Sheffield; in 1577 to Chatsworth; in 1578 to Sheffield;

in 1584 to Wingfield; in 1585 to Tutbury, Chartley, Tixhall, and

Chartley; in 1586 (September 25) to Fotheringay.

⁂ She is introduced by Sir W. Scott, in his novel entitled _The Abbot_.

Schiller has taken Mary Stuart for the subject of his best tragedy, and

P. Lebrun brought out in France a French version thereof (1729-1807).

_Mary queen of Scots._ The most elegant and poetical compliment ever

paid to woman was paid to Mary queen of Scots, by Shakespeare, in

_Midsummer Night’s Dream_. Remember, the _mermaid_ is “Queen Mary;” the

_dolphin_ means the “dauphin of France,” whom Mary married; the _rude

sea_ means the “Scotch rebels;” and the _stars that shot from their

spheres_ means “the princes who sprang from their allegiance to Queen

Elizabeth.”

Thou remember’st

Since once I sat upon a promontory,

And heard a _mermaid_, on a _dolphin’s_ back,

Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath,

That the _rude sea_ grew civil at her song;

And certain _stars shot madly from their spheres_,

To hear the sea-maid’s music.

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.

vii. Christ is brought before Pilate; Judas hangs himself; Pilate sends

Jesus to Herod, but Herod sends Him again to Pilate, who delivers Him to

the Jews. Bk. viii. Christ nailed to the cross. Bk. ix. Christ on the

cross. Bk. x. The Death of Christ. Bk. xi. The vail[TN-10] of the Temple

rent, and the resurrection of many from their graves. Bk. xii. The

burial of the body, and death of Mary, the sister of Lazarus. Bk. xiii.

The resurrection and suicide of Philo. Bk. xiv. Jesus shows Himself to

His disciples. Bk. xv. Many of those who had risen from their graves

show themselves to others. Conclusion.

_Messiah_, an oratorio by Handel (1749). The liberetto was by Charles

Jennens, nicknamed “Soliman the Magnificent.”

=Metanoi´a=, Repentance personified, by William Browne, in _Britannia’s

Pastorals_, v. (Greek, _mĕtanoia_, “repentance”.)

Faire Metanoia is attending

To croune thee with those joys that know no ending.

_Pastorals_, v. 1 (1613).

=Metasta´sio.= The real name of this Italian poet was Trapassi (_death_).

He was brought up by Gravina, who Grecized the name (1698-1782).

⁂ So “Melancthon” is the Greek form of _Schwarzerdê_ (“black earth”);

“Œcolampadius” is the Greek form of the German name _Hausschein_;

“Desiderius Erasmus” is _Gheraerd Gheraerd_ (the first “Gheraerd” is

Latinized into _Desiderius_, and the latter is Grecized into _Erasmus_).

=Meth´os=, drunkenness personified. He is twin-brother of Gluttony, their

mother being Caro (_fleshly lust_). In the battle of Mansoul, Methos is

slain by Agnei´a (_wifely chastity_) spouse of Eucra´tês (_temperance_),

and sister of Parthen´ia (_maiden chastity_). (Greek, _methê_ or

_methŭs_ is “drunkenness.”)--Phineas Fletcher, _The Purple Island_,

vii., xi. (1633).

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

Il avait l’ame aussi corrumpue et aussi artificieuse que Sesostris

était sincère et généreux.--Fénelon, _Télémaque_ (1700).

=Mexit´li=, chief god and idol of the Az´tecas. He leaped full-grown into

life, and with a spear slew those who mocked his mother, Coatlan´tona (4

_syl._).

Already at [_his mother’s breast_] the blow was aimed,

When forth Mexitli leapt, and in his hand

The angry spear.

Southey, _Madoc_, ii. 21 (1805).

⁂ Of course, it will be remembered that Minerva, like Mexitli, was born

full-grown and fully armed.

=Mezen´tius=, king of the Tyrrhenians, who put criminals to death by tying

them face to face with dead bodies.--Virgil, _Æneid_, viii. 485.

=Mezzora´mia=, an earthly paradise in Africa, accessible by only one road.

Gaudentio di Lucca discovered the road, and lived at Mezzoramia for

twenty-five years.--Simon Berington, _Gaudentio di Lucca_.

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

=Micaw´ber= (_Mr. Wilkins_), a most unpractical, half-clever man, a great

speechifier, letter writer, projector of bubble schemes, and, though

confident of success, never succeeding. Having failed in everything in

the old country, he migrated to Australia, and became a magistrate at

Middlebay.--C. Dickens, _David Copperfield_ (1849).

⁂ This truly amiable, erratic genius is a portrait of Dickens’s own

father, “David Copperfield” being Dickens, and “Mrs. Nickleby” (one can

hardly believe it) is said to be Dickens’s mother.

=Mi´chael= (2 _syl._), the special protector and guardian of the Jews.

This archangel is messenger of peace and plenty.--Sale’s _Korân_, ii.

notes.

⁂ That Michael was really the protector and guardian angel of the Jews

we know from _Dan._ x. 13, 21; xii. 1.

Milton makes Michael the leader of the heavenly host in the war in

heaven. The word means “God’s power.” Gabriel was next in command to the

archangel Michael.