Part 3

=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.