PREFACE. (continued 13)

Mademoiselle. What is understood by this word when it stands alone is Mdlle. de Montpensier, daughter of Gaston, duc d’Orléans, and cousin of Louis XIV.

Anne Marie Louis d’Orléans, duchesse de Montpensier, connue sous le nom de mademoiselle, née à Paris, 1627; m. 1693; était fille de Gaston d’Orléans frère de Louis XIII.—Bouillet.

Mademoiselle, the French lady’s-maid, waiting on Lady Fanciful; full of the grossest flattery, and advising her ladyship to the most unwarrantable intrigues. Lady Fanciful says, “The French are certainly the prettiest and most obliging people. They say the most acceptable, well-mannered things, and never flatter.” When induced to do what her conscience and education revolted at, she would playfully rebuke Mdlle. with, “Ah! la méchante Françoise!” to which Mdlle. would respond, “Ah! la belle Anglaise!”—Vanbrugh, The Provoked Wife (1697).

Madge Wildfire, the insane daughter of old Meg Murdochson, the gypsy thief. Madge was a beautiful, but giddy girl, whose brain was crazed by seduction and the murder of her infant.—Sir W. Scott, Heart of Midlothian (time, George II.).

Madman (Macedonia’s), Alexander, the Great (B.C. 356, 336-323).

Heroes are much the same, the points agreed,

From Macedonia’s Madman, to the Swede [Charles XII.].

Pope, Essay on Man, iv. 219 (1733).

How vain, how worse than vain, at length appear

The madman’s wish, the Macedonian tear!

He wept for worlds to conquer; half the earth

Knows not his name, or but his death and birth.

Byron, Age of Bronze (1819).

Madman (The Brilliant), Charles XII., of Sweden (1682, 1697-1718).

Madman of the North, Charles XII., of Sweden (1682, 1697-1718).

Madoc, youngest son of Owain Gwynedd, king of North Wales (who died 1169). He is called “The Perfect Prince,” “The Lord of Ocean,” and is the very beau-ideal of a hero. Invincible, courageous, strong and daring, but amiable, merciful and tender-hearted; most pious, but without bigotry; most wise, but without dogmatism; most provident and far-seeing. He left his native country in 1170, and ventured on the ocean to discover a new world; his vessels reached America, and he founded a settlement near the Missouri. Having made an alliance with the Az´tecas, he returned to Wales for a fresh supply of colonists, and conducted six ships in safety to the new settlement, called Caer-Madoc. War soon broke out between the natives and the strangers; but the white men proving the conquerors, the Az´tecas migrated to Mexico. On one occasion, being set upon from ambush, Madoc was chained by one foot to “the stone of sacrifice,” and consigned to fight with six volunteers. His 375first opponent was Ocell´opan, whom he slew; his next was Tlalăla, “the tiger,” but during this contest Cadwallon came to the rescue.—Southey, Madoc (1805).

... Madoc

Put forth his well-rigged fleet to seek him foreign ground,

And sailèd west so long, until that world he found ...

Long ere Columbus lived.

Drayton, Polyolbion, ix. (1612).

Mador (Sir), a Scotch knight, who accused Queen Guinever of having poisoned his brother. Sir Launcelot du Lac challenged him to single combat and overthrew him; for which service King Arthur gave the queen’s champion La Joyeuse Garde as a residence.

Mæce´nas (Caius Cilnius), a wealthy Roman nobleman, a friend of Augustus, and liberal patron of Virgil, Horace, Propertius, and other men of genius. His name has become proverbial for a “munificent friend of literature” (died B.C. 8).

Are you not called a theatrical quidnunc and a mock Mæcēnas to second-hand authors?—Sheridan, The Critic, i. (1779).

Mæ´nad, a Bacchant, plu. Mænads or Mæ´nades (3 syl.). So called from the Greek, mainomai (“to be furious”), because they acted like mad women in their “religious” festivals.

Among the boughs did swelling Bacchus ride,

Whom wild-grown Mænads bore.

Phin. Fletcher, The Purple Island, vii. (1633).

Mæon´ides (4 syl.). Homer is so called, either because he was son of Mæon, or because he was a native of Mæon´ia (Lydia). He is also called Mæonius Senex, and his poems Mænonian Lays.

When great Mæonides, in rapid song,

The thundering tide of battle rolls along,

Each ravished bosom feels the high alarms,

And all the burning pulses beat to arms.

Falconer, The Shipwreck, iii. 1 (1756).

Mævius, any vile poet. (See Bavius).

But if fond Bavius vent his clouted song,

Or Mævius chant his thoughts in brothel charm,

The witless vulgar, in a numerous throng,

Like summer flies about the dunghill swarm ...

Who hates not one may he the other love.

Phineas Fletcher, The Purple Island, i. (1633).

Magalo´na (The Fair), daughter of the king of Naples. She is the heroine of an old romance of chivalry, originally written in French, but translated into Spanish in the fifteenth century. Cervantes alludes to this romance in Don Quixote. The main incident of the story turns on a flying horse made by Merlin, which came into the possession of Peter of Provence.—The History of the Fair Magalona, and Peter, the son of the Count of Provence.

⁂ Tieck has reproduced the history of Magalona in German (1773-1853).

Mage Negro King, Gaspar, king of Tarshish, a black Ethiop, and tallest of the three Magi. His offering was myrrh, indicative of death.

As the Mage negro king to Christ the babe.

Robert Browning, Luria, i.

Maggy, the half-witted granddaughter of little Dorrit’s nurse. She had had a fever at the age of ten, from ill-treatment, and her mind and intellect never went beyond that period. Thus, if asked her age, she always replied, “Ten;” and she always repeated the last two or three words of what was said to her. She called Amy Dorritt “Little Mother.”

She was about eight and twenty, with large bones, large features, large feet and hands, large eyes, and no hair. Her large eyes were limpid and almost colorless; they seemed to be very 376little affected by light, and to stand unnaturally still. There was also that attentive listening expression in her face, which is seen in the faces of the blind; but she was not blind, having one tolerably serviceable eye. Her face was not exceedingly ugly, being redeemed by a smile.... A great white cap, with a quantity of opaque frilling ... apologized for Maggy’s baldness, and made it so difficult for her old black bonnet to retain its place on her head, that it held on round her neck like a gypsy’s baby.... The rest of her dress resembled sea-weed, with here and there a gigantic tea-leaf. Her shawl looked like a huge tea-leaf after long infusion.—C. Dickens, Little Dorrit, ix. (1857).

Magi, or Three Kings of Cologne, the “wise men from the East,” who followed the guiding-star to the manger in Bethlehem with offerings. Melchior, king of Nubia, the shortest of the three, offered gold, indicative of royalty; Balthazar, king of Chaldea, offered frankincense, indicative of divinity; and Gaspar, king of Tarshish, a black Ethiop, the tallest of the three, offered myrrh, symbolic of death.

Melchior means “king of light”light”; Balthazar “lord of treasures;” and Gaspar or Caspar, “the white one.”

⁂ Klopstock, in his Messiah, makes the Magi six in number, and gives the names as Hadad, Selima, Zimri, Mirja, Beled and Sunith—Bk. v. (1771).

Magic Rings, like that which Gyges, minister to King Candaules of Lydia, found in the flanks of a brazen horse. By means of this ring, which made its wearer invisible, Gyges first dishonored the queen, and then with her assistance, assassinated the king and usurped his throne.—Plato’s Republic; Cicero’s Offices.

Magic Wands. The hermit gave Charles the Dane and Ubaldo a wand, which, being shaken, infused terror into all who saw it.—Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered (1575).

The palmer who accompanied Sir Guyon had a wand of like virtue. It was made of the same wood as Mercury’s caduceus.—Spenser, Faëry Queen, ii. (1590).

Magician of the North (The), Sir W. Scott (1771-1832).

How beautifully has the Magician of the North described “The Field of Waterloo!”—Lord W.P. Lennox, Celebrities, etc., i. 16.

⁂ Johann Georg Hamann of Prussia, called himself “The Magician of the North” (1730-1788).

Magliabechi, the greatest book-worm that ever lived. He devoured books, and never forgot anything he read. He had also so exact a memory that he could tell the precise place and shelf of a book, as well as the volume and page of any passage required. He was the librarian of the Great-Duke Cosmo III. His usual dinner was three hard-boiled eggs and a draught of water (1633-1714).

Magmu, the coquette of Astracan.

Though naturally handsome, she used every art to set off her beauty. Not a word proceeded from her mouth that was not studied. To counterfeit a violent passion, to sigh à propos, to make an attractive gesture, to trifle agreeably, and collect the various graces of dumb eloquence into a smile, were the arts in which she excelled. She spent hours before her glass in deciding how a curl might be made to hang loose upon her neck to the greatest advantage; how to open and shut her lips so as best to show her teeth without affectation—to turn her face full or otherwise, as occasion might require. She looked on herself with ceaseless admiration, and always admired most the works of her own hand in improving on the beauty which nature had bestowed on her.—T. S. Gueulette, Chinese Tales (“Magmu,” 1723).

Magnanimous (The), Alfonso of Aragon (1385, 1416-1458).

Khosru or Chosroës, the twenty-first of 377the Sassanĭdês, was surnamed Noushirwan (“Magnanimous”) (*, 531-579).

Magnano, one of the leaders of the rabble that attacked Hudibras at a bear-baiting. The character is designed for Simeon Wait, a tinker, as famous an independent preacher as Burroughs. He used to style Cromwell “the archangel who did battle with the devil.”—S. Butler, Hudibras, i. 2 (1663).

Magnificent (The), Khosru or Chosroës I., of Persia (*, 531-579).

Lorenzo de Medici (1448-1492).

Robert, duc de Normandie; called Le Diable also (*, 1028-1035).

Soliman I., greatest of the Turkish sultans (1493, 1520-1566).

Magnus Troil, honest, plain Zetlander, convivial in his habits, but frank and hospitable. He has two motherless daughters.—Walter Scott, The Pirate. (See Minna and Brenda.)

Magog, according to Ezek. xxxviii., xxxix., was a country or people over whom Gog was prince. Some say the Goths are meant, others the Persians, others the Scythians or the northern nations of Europe generally.

Sale says that Magog is the tribe called by Ptolemy “Gilân,” and by Strabo “Geli” or “Gelæ.”—Al Korân, xxviii. note. (See Gog).

Magog, one of the princes of Satan, whose ambition is to destroy hell.

Magrico, the champion of Isabella, of Portugal, who refused to pay truage to France. He vanquished the French champion, and thus liberated his country from tribute.

Magua, subtle and cruel Huron chief, whose unholy passion for Cora Munro is the cause of her death.—James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans (1826).

Magwitch (Abel), a convict for life, the unknown father of Estella, who was adopted from infancy by Miss Havisham, the daughter of a rich banker. The convict, having made his escape to Australia, became a successful sheep farmer, and sent money secretly to Mr. Jaggers, a London lawyer, to educate Pip as a gentleman. When Pip was 23 years old Magwitch returned to England, under the assumed name of Provis, and made himself known to Pip. He was tracked by Orlick and Compeyson, arrested, condemned to death, and died in jail. All his money was confiscated.—C. Dickens, Great Expectations (1860).

Mahmut, the “Turkish Spy,” who remained undiscovered in Paris for forty-five years, revealing to his Government all the intrigues of the Christian courts (1637-1682).

Mahomet or Mohammed, the titular name taken by Halaibi, founder of Islam (570-632.)

Adopted Son: Usma, son of Zaid, his freed-man. (See below, “Zainab.”)

Angel, who revealed the Koran to Mahomet: Gabriel.

Banner: Sanjak-sherif, kept in the Eyab mosque at Constantinople.

Birthplace: Mecca, A.D. 570.

Bow: Al Catûm (“the strong”), confiscated from the Jews. In his first battle he drew it with such force that it snapped in two.

Camel: Al Adha (“the slit-eared”) the swiftest of his camels. One of the ten dumb animals admitted into paradise.

Concubines: Marīyeh, mother of Ibrahim, his son, was his favorite; but he had fourteen others.

Cousins: Ali, his best friend: Abû Sofiân ebn al Hareth.

378Cuirass: Al Fadha. It was of silver, and was confiscated from the Jews.

Daughters by Kadijah; Zainab, Rukaijah, Umm Kulthûm, and Fâtima, his favorite (called one of the “three perfect women”).

Defeat: At Ohud, where it was reported that he was slain (A.D. 623).

Died at Medīna, on the lap of Ayishah, his favorite wife, 11 Hedjrah (June 8, 632).

Father: Abdallah, of the family of Hâshim and tribe of Koreish. Abdallah was a small merchant, who died when his son was five years old. At the death of his father, his grandfather took charge of him; but he also died within two years. He then lived with his uncle Abu Taleb (from the age of 7 to 14). (See Zesbet).

Father-in-law: Abû Bekr, father of his favorite wife, Ayishah.

Flight: Hedjrah or Heg´ira, July 16, 622.

Followers: called Moslem or Mussulmans.

Grandson: Abd-el-Motalleb.

Horse: Al Borak (“the lightninglightning”), brought to him by Gabriel, to carry him to the seventh heaven. It had the wings of an eagle, the face of a man, with the cheeks of a horse, and spoke Arabic.

Journey to Heaven (The), on Al Borak, is called Isra.

Mother: Amina or Aminta, of the family of Zuhra, and tribe of Koreish. (See Zesbet).

Nickname in Boyhood: El Amin (“the safe man”).

Personal Appearance: Middle height, rather lean, broad shoulders, strongly built, abundance of black curly hair, coal-black eyes with thick lashes, nose large and slightly bent, beard long. He had between his shoulders a black mole, “the seal of prophecy.”

Poisoned by Zainab, a Jewess, who placed before him poisoned meat, in 624. He tasted it, and ever after suffered from its effects, but survived eight years.

Scripture: Al Korân (“the reading”). It is divided into 114 chapters.

Sons by Kadijah: Al Kâsim and Abd Manâf; both died in childhood. By Mariyeh (Mary) his concubine: Ibrahim, who died when 15 months old. Adopted son: Usma, the child of his freedman, Zaid. (See “Zainab”).

Standard: Bajura.

Successor, Abû Bekr, his father-in-law (father of Ayishah).

Swords: Dhu´l Fakâr (“the trenchant”); Al Batter (“the striker”); Hatel (“the deadly”); Medham (“the keen”).

Tribe: that of the Koraichites or Koraich or Koreish, on both sides.

Uncles: Abu Taleb, a prince of Mecca, but poor; he took charge of the boy between the ages of 7 and 14, and was always his friend. Abû Laheb, who called him “a fool,” and was always his bitter enemy; in the Korân, exi., “the prophet” denounces him. Hamza, a third head of Islam.

Victories: Bedr (624); Muta (629); Taïf (630); Honein (630 or 8 Hedjrah).

White Mule: Fedda.

Wives: Ten, and fifteen concubines.

(1) Kadijah, a rich widow of his own tribe. She had been twice married, and was 40 years of age (Mahomet being 15). Kadijah was his sole wife for twenty-five years, and brought him two sons and four daughters. (Fâtima was her youngest child).

(2) Souda, widow of Sokran, nurse of his daughter Fâtima. He married her in 621, soon after the death of his first wife. The following were simultaneous with Souda.

(3) Ayishah, daughter of Abû Bekr. She was only nine years old on her wedding day. This was his favorite wife, on whose lap he died. He called her one of the “three perfect women.”

(4) Hend, a widow, 28 years old. She had a son when she married. Her father was Omeya.

(5) Zainab, divorced wife of Zaid, his freed slave. Married 627 (5 Hedjrah).

(6) Barra, a captive, widow of a young Arab chief, slain in battle.

(7)(7) Rehana, a Jewish captive. Her father was Simeon.

(8) Safīya, the espoused wife of Kenāna. This wife outlived the prophet for forty years. Mahomet put Kenana to death in order to marry her.

(9) Umm Habība (mother of Habiba), widow of Abû Sofian.

(10) Maimuna, who was 51 when he married her, and a widow. She survived all his ten wives.

⁂ It will be observed that most of Mahomet’s wives were widows.

Mahomet. Voltaire wrote a drama so entitled in 1738; and James Miller, in 1740, produced an English version of the same, called Mahomet the Impostor. The scheme of the play is this: Mahomet is laying siege to Mecca, and has in his camp Zaphna and Palmira, taken captives in childhood and brought up by him. They are really the children of Alcanor, the 379chief of Mecca, but know it not, and love each other. Mahomet is in love with Palmira, and sets Zaphna to murder Alcanor, pretending that it is God’s will. Zaphna obeys the behest, is told that Alcanor is his father, and is poisoned. Mahomet asks Palmira in marriage, and she stabs herself.

Mahomet’s Coffin is said to be suspended in mid-air. The wise ones affirm that the coffin is of iron, and is suspended by the means of loadstones. The faithful assert it is held up by four angels. Burckhardt says it is not suspended at all. A marabout told Labat:

Que le tombeau de Mahomet étoit porté en l’air par le moyen de certains Anges qui se relayent d’heure en heures pour soutenir ce fardeau.—Labat, Afrique Occidentale, ii. 143 (1728).

The balance always would hang even.

Like Mah’met’s tomb ’twixt earth and heaven.

Prior, Alma, ii. 199 (1717).

Mahomet’s Dove, a dove which. Mahomet taught to pick seed placed in his ear. The bird would perch on the prophet’s shoulder and thrust its bill into his ear to find its food; but Mahomet gave out that it was the Holy Ghost, in the form of a dove, sent to impart to him the counsels of God.—Dr. Prideaux, Life of Mahomet (1697); Sir W. Raleigh, History of the World, I. i. 6 (1614).

Instance proud Mahomet ...

The sacred dove whispering into his ear,

That what his will imposed, the world must fear.

Lord Brooke, Declination of Monarchie, etc.

(1554-1628).

Was Mahomet inspirêd with a dove?

Thou with an eagle art inspirêd [Joan of Arc].

Shakespeare, I Henry VI., act i. sc. 3 (1589).

Mahomet’s Knowledge of Events. Mahomet, in his coffin, is informed by an angel of every event which occurs respecting the faithful.

Il est vivant dans son tombeau. Il fait la prière dans ce tombeau à chaque fois que le crieur en fait la proclamation, et au même tems qu’on la recite. Il y a un ange posté sur son tombeau qui a le soin de lui donner avis des prières que les fidèles font pour lui.—Gagnier, Vie de Mahomet, vii. 18 (1723).

Mahomet of the North, Odin, both legislator and supreme deity.

Mahoud, son of a rich jeweller of Delhi, who ran through a large fortune in riotous living, and then bound himself in service to Bennaskar, who proved to be a magician. Mahoud impeached Bennaskar to the cadi, who sent officers to seize him; but, lo! Mahoud had been metamorphosed into the likeness of Bennaskar, and was condemned to be burnt alive. When the pile was set on fire, Mahoud became a toad, and in this form met the Sultan Misnar, his vizier, Horam, and the Princess Hemju´nah, of Cassimir, who had been changed into toads also.—Sir C. Morell [J. Ridley], Tales of the Genii (“The Enchanter’s Tale,” vi., 1751).

Mahound or Mahoun, a name of contempt for Mahomet or any pagan god. Hence Ariosto makes Ferrau “blaspheme his Mahoun and Termagant” (Orlando Furioso, xii. 59).

Fitter for a turban for Mahound or Termagant, than the head-gear of a reasonable creature.—Sir W. Scott.

Mahu, the fiend-prince that urges to theft.

Five fiends have been in poor Tom at once; of lust, as Obidicut; Hobididance, prince of dumbness; Mahu, of stealing; Modo, of murder; and Flibbertigibbet, of mopping and mowing.—Shakespeare, King Lear, act iv. sc. 1 (1605).

Maid Ma´rian, a name assumed by Matilda, daughter of Robert, Lord Fitz-walter, 380while Robin Hood remained in a state of outlawry. She was poisoned with a poached egg at Dunmow Priory, by a messenger of King John sent for the purpose. This was because Marian was loved by the king, but rejected him. Drayton has written her legend.

He to his mistress dear, his lovëd Marian,

Was ever constant known; which wheresoe’er she came,

Was sovereign of the woods, chief lady of the game.

Her clothes tucked to the knee, and dainty braided hair,

With bow and quiver armed, she wandered here and there

Amongst the forest wild. Diana never knew

Such pleasures, nor such harts as Marian slew.

Polyolbion, xxvi. (1622).

Maid Marian, introduced into the May-day morris-dance, was a boy dressed in girl’s clothes. She was queen of the May and used to wear a tinsel crown, and carry in her left hand a flower. Her coif was purple, her surcoat blue, her cuffs white, the skirts of her robe yellow, the sleeves carnation, and the stomacher red with yellow cross bars. (See Morris-Dance.)

Maid of Athens, There´sa Macri, rendered famous by Byron’s song, “Maid of Athens, fare thee well!” Twenty-four years after this song was written, an Englishman sought out “the Athenian maid,” and found a beggar, without a single vestige of beauty. She was married and had a large family; but the struggle of her life was to find bread to keep herself and family from positive starvation. She lived to be over eighty years of age.

Maid of Bath (The), Miss Linley, who married R.B. Sheridan. Samuel Foote wrote a farce entitled The Maid of Bath, in which he gibbets Mr. Walter Long under the name of “Flint.”

Maid of Honor (The), by P. Massinger (1637). Cami´ola, a very wealthy, high-minded lady, was in love with Prince Bertoldo, brother of Roberto, king of the Two Sicilies; but Bertoldo, being a knight of Malta, could not marry without a dispensation from the pope. While matters were in this state Bertoldo led an army against Aurelia, duchess of Sienna, and was taken prisoner. Camiŏla paid his ransom, and Aurelia commanded the prisoner to be brought before her. Bertoldo came; the duchess fell in love with him and offered marriage, and Bertoldo, forgetful of Camiola, accepted the offer. The betrothed then presented themselves to the king, when Camiola exposed the conduct of Bertoldo. The king was indignant at the baseness, Aurelia rejected Bertoldo with scorn, and Camiola took the veil.

Maid of Mariendorpt (The), a drama by S. Knowles, based on Miss Porter’s novel of The Village of Mariendorpt (1838). The “maid” is Meeta, daughter of Mahldenau, minister of Mariendorpt, and betrothed to Major Rupert Roselheim. The plot is this; Mahldenau starts for Prague in search of Meeta’s sister, who fell into some soldiers’ hands in infancy during the siege of Magdeburg. On entering Prague, he is seized as a spy, and condemned toto death. Meeta, hearing of his capture, walks to Prague to plead for his life, and finds that the governor’s “daughter” is her lost sister. Rupert storms the prison and releases Mahldenau.

Maid of Norway, Margaret, daughter of Eric II. and Margaret of Norway. She was betrothed to Edward, son of Edward I., of England, but died on her passage (1290).

Maid of Orleans, Jeanne d’Arc, famous 381for having raised the siege of Orleans, held by the English. The general tradition is that she was burnt alive as a witch, but this is doubted (1412-1431).

Maid of Perth (Fair), Catharine Glover, daughter of Simon Glover, the old glover of Perth. She kisses Henry Smith while asleep on St. Valentine’s morning, and ultimately marries him.—Sir W. Scott, Fair Maid of Perth (time, Henry IV.).

Maid of Saragoza, Augustina, noted for her heroism at the siege of Saragoza, 1808-9.—See Southey’s History of the Peninsular War.

Her lover sinks—she sheds no ill-timed tear;

Her chief is slain—she fills his fatal post;

Her fellows flee—she checks their base career;

The foe retires—she heads the sallying host.

... the flying Gaul.

Foiled by a woman’s hand, before a battered wall.

Byron, Childe Harold, i. 56, (1809).

Maid of the Mill (The), an opera by Isaac Bickerstaff. Patty, the daughter of Fairfield, the miller, was brought up by Lord Aimworth’s mother. At the death of Lady Aimworth, Patty returned to the mill, and her father promised her in marriage to Farmer Giles; but Patty refused to marry him. Lord Aimworth about the same time betrothed himself to Theodosia, the daughter of Sir Harry Sycamore; but the young lady loved Mr. Mervin. When Lord Aimworth knew of this attachment, he readily yielded up his betrothed to the man of her choice, and selected for his bride, Patty, “the maid of the mill” (1765).

Maid of the Oaks (The), a two-act drama by J. Burgoyne. Maria, “the maid of the Oaks,” is brought up by Oldworth, of Oldworth Oaks, as his ward, but is informed on the eve of her marriage with Sir Harry Groveby that she is Oldworth’s daughter. The under-plot is between Sir Charles Dupely and Lady Bab Lardoon. Dupely professed to despise all women, and Lady Lardoon was “the princess of dissipation;” but after they fell in with each other, Dupely confessed that he would abjure his creed, and Lady Lardoon avowed that henceforth she renounced the world of fashion and its follies.

Maid’s Tragedy (The). The “maid” is Aspa´tia, the troth-plight wife of Amintor, who, at the king’s command, is made to marry Evad´ne (3 syl.). Her death forms the tragical event which gives name to the drama.—Beaumont and Fletcher (1610).

(The scene between Antony and Ventidius, in Dryden’s tragedy of All for Love, is copied from The Maid’s Tragedy, where “Melantius” answers to Ventidius).

Maiden (The), a kind of guillotine, introduced into Scotland by the Regent Morton, who was afterwards beheaded by it. The “maiden” resembled in form a painter’s easel about ten feet high. The victim placed his head on a cross-bar some four feet from the bottom, kept in its place by another bar. In the inner edges of the frame were grooves, in which slid a sharp axe weighted with lead and supported by a long cord. When all was ready, the cord was cut, and down fell the axe with a thud.—Pennant, Tour in Scotland, iii. 365 (1771).

The unfortunate earl [Argyll] was appointed to be beheaded by the “maiden.”—Sir W. Scott. Tales of a Grandfather, ii. 53.

The Italian instrument of execution was called the mannaïa. The apparatus was erected on a scaffold; the axe was placed between two perpendiculars. ... In Scotland the instrument of execution was an inferior variety of the mannaïa.—Memoirs of the Sansons, i. 257.

382It seems pretty clear that the “maiden” ... is merely a corruption of the Italian mannaïa.—A.G. Reid.

Maiden King (The), Malcolm IV., of Scotland (1141, 1153-1165).

Malcolm, ... son of the brave and generous Prince Henry, ... was so kind and gentle in his disposition that he was usually called Malcolm “the Maiden.”—Sir W. Scott, Tales of a Grandfather, iv.

Maiden Queen (The), Elizabeth of England (1583, 1558-1603).

Maiden of the Mist (The), Anne of Geierstein, daughter of Count Albert of Geierstein. She is the baroness of Arnheim.—Sir W. Scott, Anne of Geierstein (time, Edward IV.).

Maidens’ Castle (The), on the Severn. It was taken from a duke by seven knights, and held by them till Sir Galahad expelled them. It was called “The Maidens’ Castle,” because these knights made a vow that every maiden who passed it should be made a captive. This is an allegory.

Mailsetter (Mrs.), keeper of the Fairport post-office.

Davie Mailsetter, her son.—Sir W. Scott, The Antiquary (time, George III.).

Maimou´ne (3 syl.), a fairy, daughter of Damriat, “king of a legion of genii.” When the Princess Badoura, in her sleep, was carried to the bed of Prince Camaral´zaman, to be shown to him, Maimounê changed herself into a flea, and bit the prince’s neck to wake him. Whereupon he sees the sleeping princess by his side, falls in love with her, and afterwards marries her.—Arabian Nights (“Camaralzaman and Badoura”).

Mai´muna or Maimu´na, one of the sorceresses of Dom-Daniel, who repents and turns to Allah. Thal´aba first encounters her, disguised as an old woman spinning the finest thread. He greatly marvels at its extreme fineness, but she tells him he cannot snap it; whereupon he winds it round his two wrists, and becomes powerless. Maimuna, with her sister-sorceress, Khwala, then carry him to the island of Moha´reb, where he is held in durance; but Maimuna releases him, repents, and dies.—Southey, Thalaba, the Destroyer, ix. (1797).

Mainote (2 syl.), a pirate who infests the coast of Attica.

... boat

Of island-pirate of Mainote.

Byron, The Giaour (1813).

Mainy (Richard), out of whom the Jesuits cast the seven deadly sins, each in the form of some representative animal. As each devil came forth, Mainy indicated the special sin by some trick or gesture. Thus, for pride, he pretended to curl his hair, for gluttony, to vomit, for sloth, to gape, and so on.—Bishop Harsnett, Declaration of Popish Impostures, 279, 280.

Maitland (Thomas), the pseudonym of Robert Buchanan, in The Contemporary Review, when he attacked the “Fleshly school.”

Maitre des Forges. By Georges Ohnet. A wealthy ironmaster, Phillippe Derblay, who loves Clarie de Beaulieu. In pique at her desertion by her high-born love, Gaston de Bligny, Clarie accepts and marries Phillippe. She eventually learns to love him.

Malachi, the canting, preaching assistant of Thomas Turnbull, a smuggler and 383schoolmaster.—Sir W. Scott, Redgauntlet (time, George III.).

Malacoda, the fiend sent as an envoy to Virgil, when he conducted Dantê through hell.—Dantè, Hell, xxi. (1300).

Malade Imaginaire (Le), Mons. Argan, who took seven mixtures and twelve lavements in one month instead of twelve mixtures with twenty lavements, as he had hitherto done. “No wonder,” he says, “he is not so well.” He fancies his wife loves him dearly, and that his daughter is undutiful, because she declines to marry a young medical prig instead of Cléante (2 syl.) whom she loves. His brother persuades “the malade” to counterfeit death, in order to test the sincerity of his wife and daughter. The wife rejoices greatly at his death, and proceeds to filch his property, when Argan starts up and puts an end to her pillage. Next comes the daughter’s turn. When she hears of her father’s death, she bewails him with great grief, says she has lost her best friend, and that she will devote her whole life in prayer for the repose of his soul. Argan is delighted, starts up in a frenzy of joy, declares she is a darling, and shall marry the man of her choice freely, and receive a father’s blessing.—Molière, Le Malade Imaginaire (1673).

Malagi´gi, son of Buovo, brother of Aldĭger and Vivian (of Clarmont’s race), one of Charlemagne’s paladins, and cousin of Rinaldo. Being brought up by the fairy Orianda, he became a great enchanter.—Oriosto, Orlando Furioso (1516).

Malagri´da (Gabriel), an Italian Jesuit and missionary to Brazil, who was accused of conspiring against the king of Portugal (1689-1761).(1689-1761).

Lord Shelburne was nicknamed “Malagrida.” He was a zealous oppositionist during Lord North’s administration (1737-1805).

Malagrowther (Sir Mungo), a crabbed old courtier, soured by misfortune, and peevish from infirmities. He tries to make every one as sour and discontented as himself.—Sir W. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel (time, James I.).

Malagrowther (Malachi), Sir W. Scott, “On the proposed change of currency, etc.” (1826).

Lockhart says that these “diatribes produced in Scotland a sensation not inferior to that of the Drapier’s letters in Ireland.” They came out in the Edinburgh Weekly Journal.

Malambru´no, a giant, first cousin to Queen Maguncia, of Candaya. “Exclusive of his natural barbaritybarbarity, Malambruno was also a wizard,” who enchanted Don Calvijo and the Princess Antonomasia—the former into a crocodile of some unknown metal, and the latter into a monkey of brass. The giant sent Don Quixote the wooden horse, and was appeased “by the simple attempt of the knight to disenchant the victims of his displeasure.”—Cervantes, Don Quixote, II. iii. 4, 5, (1615).

Malaprop (Mrs.), aunt and guardian to Lydia Languish, the heiress. Mrs. Malaprop sets her cap at Sir Lucius O’Trigger, “a tall Irish baronet,” and corresponds with him under the name of Delia. Sir Lucius fancies it is the niece, and, when he discovers his mistake, declines the honor of marriage with the aunt. Mrs. Malaprop is a synonym for those who misapply words without mispronouncing them. Thus Mrs. Malaprop talks of a Darbyshire putrefaction, an allegory 384on the banks of the Nile, a barbarous Vandyke, she requests that no delusions to the past be made, and talks of flying with the utmost felicity.—Sheridan, The Rivals (1775).

(Mrs. Malaprop’s name is itself a clever invention; by no means mal à propos.)

Malbecco, “a cankered, crabbed carl,” very wealthy and very miserly, husband of a young wife named Hel´inore (3 syl.), of whom he is very jealous, and not without cause. Helinore, falling in love with Sir Paridel, her guest, sets fire to the closet where her husband keeps his treasures, and elopes with Paridel, while Malbecco stops to put out the flames. This done, Malbecco starts in pursuit, and finds that Paridel has tired of the dame, who has become the satyr’s dairy-maid. He soon finds her out, but she declines to return with him; and he, in desperation, throws himself from a rock, but receives no injury. Malbecco then creeps into a cave, feeds on toads and frogs, and lives in terror lest the rock should crush him or the sea overwhelm him. “Dying, he lives on, and can never die,” for he is no longer Malbecco, “but Jealousy is hight.”—Spenser, Faëry Queen, iii. 9, 10 (1590).

Malbrough´, corrupted in English into Malbrook, the hero of a popular French song. Generally thought to refer to John Churchill, duke of Marlborough, so famous for his victories over the French in the reign of Louis XIV.; but no incident of the one corresponds with the life of the other. The Malbrough of the song was evidently a crusader or ancient baron, who died in battle; and his lady, climbing the castle tower and looking out for her lord, reminds one of the mother of Sisera, who “looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the wheels of his chariots? ... Have they not sped? Have they not divided the spoil?’” (Judges, v. 28-30). The following are the words of the song:—

“Malbrough is gone to the wars. Ah! when will he return?” “He will come back by Easter, lady, or at latest by Trinity.” “No, no! Easter is past, and Trinity is past; but Malbrough has not returned.” Then did she climb the castle tower, to look out for his coming. She saw his page, but he was clad in black. “My page, my bonnie page,” cried the lady, “what tidings bring you—what tidings of my lord?” “The news I bring,” said the page, “is very sad, and will make you weep. Lay aside your gay attire, lady, your ornaments of gold and silver, for my lord is dead. He is dead, lady, and laid in earth. I saw him borne to his last home by four officers; one carried his cuirass, one his shield, one his sword, and the fourth walked beside the bier, but bore nothing. They laid him in earth. I saw his spirit rise through the laurels. They planted his grave with rosemary. The nightingale sang his dirge. The mourners fell to the earth; and when they rose up again, they chanted his victories. Then retired they all to rest.”

This song used to be sung as a lullaby to the infant son of Louis XVI.; and Napoleon I. never mounted his charger for battle without humming the air of Malbrough s’en va-t-en guerre. Mon. de Las Casas says he heard him hum the same air a little before his death.

Malbrouk, of Basque legend, is a child brought up by his godfather of the same name. At the age of seven he is a tall, full-grown man, and, like Proteus, can assume any form by simply naming the form he wishes to assume. Thus, by saying “Jesus, ant,” he becomes an ant; and “Jesus, pigeon,” he becomes a pigeon. After performing most wonderful prodigies, and releasing the king’s three daughters who had been stolen by his godfather, he marries the youngest of the princesses, and succeeds the king on his throne.

385⁂ The name Malbrouk occurs in the Chanson de Gestes, and in the Basque Pastorales. (See above Malbrough.)

Malcolm, surnamed “Can More” (“great head”), eldest son of Duncan, “the Meek,” king of Scotland. He, with his father and younger brother, was a guest of Macbeth at Inverness Castle, when Duncan was murdered. The two young princes fled—Malcolm to the English court, and his brother Donalbain to Ireland. When Macduff slew Macbeth in the battle of Dunsin´ane, the son of Duncan was set on the throne of Scotland, under the name and title of Malcolm III.—Shakespeare, Macbeth (1606).

Mal´ecasta, the mistress of Castle Joyous, and the impersonation of lust. Britomart (the heroine of chastity) entered her bower, after overthrowing four of the six knights that guarded it; and Malecasta sought to win the stranger to wantonness, not knowing her sex. Of course, Britomart resisted all her wiles, and left the castle next morning.—Spenser, Faëry Queen, iii. 1 (1590).

Maledisaunt, a damsel who threw discredit on her knightly lover to prevent his encountering the danger of the battlefield. Sir Launcelot condoned her offense, and gave her the name of Bienpensaunt.

The Cape of Good Hope was called the “Cape of Storms” (Cabo Tormentoso) by Bartholomew Diaz, when discovered in 1493; but the king of Portugal (John II.) changed the name to “Good Hope.”

So the Euxine (that is, “the hospitable”) Sea was originally called “The Axine” (or “the inhospitable”) Sea.

Maleffort, seneschal of Lady Bria´na; a man of “mickle might,” slain by Sir Calidore.—Spenser, Faëry Queen, vi. 1 (1596).

Male´ger, (3 syl.), captain of the host which besieged Body Castle, of which Alma was queen. Prince Arthur found that his sword was powerless to wound him, so he took him up in his arms and tried to crush him, but without effect. At length the prince remembered that the earth was the carl’s mother, and supplied him with new strength and vigor as often as he went to her for it; so he carried the body, and flung it into a lake. (See Antæos.)—Spenser, Faëry Queen, ii. 11 (1590).

Malen´gin, Guile personified. When attacked by Talus, he changed himself into a fox, a bush, a bird, a hedgehog, and a snake; but Talus, with his iron flail, beat him to powder, and so “deceit did the deceiver fail.” On his back Malengin carried a net “to catch fools” with.—Spenser, Faëry Queen, v. 9 (1596).

Malepardus, the castle of Master Reynard, the fox, in the beast epic of Reynard the Fox (1498).

Males and Females. The proportion in England is 104.5 males to 100 females; in Russia it is 108.9; and the Jews in Livonia give the ratio of 120 males born to every 100 females. The mortality of males in infancy exceeds that of females, and war greatly disturbs the balance.

Mal-Fet (The chevalier), the name assumed by Sir Launcelot in Joyous Isle, during his fit of madness, which lasted two years.—Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur, iii. (1470).

Malfort (Mr.), a young man who has ruined himself by speculation.

Mrs. Malfort, the wife of the speculator, “houseless, friendless, defenceless, and 386forlorn.” The wants of Malfort are temporarily relieved by the bounty of Frank Heartall and the kindness of Mrs. Cheerly “the soldier’s daughter.” The return of Malfort, senior, from India, restores his son to ease and affluence.—Cherry, The Soldier’s Daughter (1804).

Malfy (Duchess of), twin-sister of Ferdinand, duke of Calabria. She fell in love with Antonio, her steward, and gave thereby mortal offense to her twin-brother, Ferdinand, and to her brother, the cardinal, who employed Bosola to strangle her.—John Webster, Duchess of Malfy (1618).

Malgo, a mythical king of Britain, noted for his beauty and his vices, his munificence and his strength. Malgo added Ireland, Iceland, Gothland, the Orkneys, Norway, and Dacia to his dominions. Geoffrey, British History, xi. 7 (1142).

Next Malgo ... first Orkney overran.

Proud Denmark then subdued, and spacious Norway wan.

Seized Iceland for his own, and Gothland to each shore.

Drayton, Polyolbion, xix. (1622).

Malesherbes (2 syl.). If anyone asked Malesherbes his opinion about any French words, he always sent him to the street porters at the Port au Foin, saying that they were his “masters in language.”—Racan, Vie de Malesherbes (1830).

It is said that Shakespeare read his plays to an oyster-woman when he wished to know if they would suit the popular taste.

Mal´inal, brother of Yuhid´thiton. When the Aztecas declared war against Madoc and his colony, Malinal cast in his lot with the white strangers. He was a noble youth, who received two arrow-wounds in his leg while defending the white women; and being unable to stand, fought in their defense on his knees. When Malinal was disabled, Amal´ahta caught up the princess, and ran off with her; but Mervyn the “young page” (in fact a girl) struck him on the hamstrings with a bill-hook, and Malinal, crawling to the spot, thrust his sword in the villain’s groin and killed him.—Southey, Madoc, ii. 16 (1805).

Mal´iom. Mahomet is so called in some of the old romances.

“Send five, send six against me! By Maliom! I swear I’ll take them all.”—Fierabras.

Malkin. The maid Marian of the morris-dance is so called by Beaumont and Fletcher:

Put on the shape of order and humanity,

Or you must marry Malkin, the May-Lady.

Monsieur Thomas (1619).

Mall Cutpurse, Mary Frith, a thief and receiver of stolen goods. John Day, in 1610, wrote “a booke called The Madde Prancks of Merry Mall of the Bankside, with her Walks in Man’s Apparel, and to what Purpose.” It is said that she was an androgyne (1584-1659).

Malluch, merchant of Antioch, who befriends Ben-Hur when he most needs substantial aid.—Lew Wallace, Ben-Hur; A Tale of the Christ (1880).

Mal-Orchol, king of Fuär´fed (an island of Scandinavia). Being asked by Ton-Thormod to give him his daughter in marriage, he refused, and the rejected suitor made war on him. Fingal sent his son Ossian to assist Mal-Orchol, and on the very day of his arrival he took Ton-Thormod prisoner. Mal-Orchol, in gratitude, now offered Ossian his daughter in marriage; but Ossian pleaded for Ton-Thormod, and the marriage of the lady 387with her original suitor was duly solemnized. (The daughter’s name was Oina-Moral).—Ossian, Oina-Morul.

Malony (Kitty), a much maltreated cook, to whom her mistress introduced a “hay-thun Chineser” as an assistant. His imitation, in good faith, of her practice of taking toll of groceries brought into the kitchen awakens her employer’s suspicions.

“She give me such sass as I cudn’t take from no lady, an’ I give her warnin’, an’ left that instant, an’ she a-pointin’ to the door.”—Mary Mapes Dodge, Thophilus and Others (1876).

Maltworm, a tippler. Similarly, bookworm means a student.

Mal´venu, Lucif´ĕra’s porter.—Spenser, Faëry Queen, i. 4 (1590).

Malvina, daughter of Toscar. She was betrothed to Oscar, son of Ossian; but he was slain in Ulster by Cairbar, before the day of marriage arrived.—Temora, i.

I was a lovely tree in thy presence, Oscar, with all my branches round me; but thy death came like a blast from the desert, and laid my green head low. The spring returned with its showers; no leaf of mine arose.... The tear was on the cheek of Malvina.—Ossian, Croma.

Malvoisin (Sir Albert de), a preceptor of the Knights Templars.

Sir Philip de Malvoisin, one of the knights challengers at the tournament.—Sir W. Scott, Ivanhoe (time, Richard I.).

Malvo´lio, Olivia’s steward. When he reproves Sir Toby Belch for riotous living, the knight says to him, “Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?” Sir Toby and Sir Andrew Ague-cheek join Maria in a trick against the steward. Maria forges a letter in the handwriting of Olivia, leading Malvolio to suppose that his mistress is in love with him, telling him to dress in yellow stockings, and to smile on the lady. Malvolio falls into the trap; and when Olivia shows astonishment at his absurd conduct, he keeps quoting parts of the letter he has received, and is shut up in a dark room as a lunatic.—Shakespeare, Twelfth Night (1614).

Mamamouchi, an imaginary order of knighthood. M. Jourdain, the parvenu, is persuaded that the grand seignior of the order has made him a member, and he submits to the ceremony of a mock installation.—Molière, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (1670).

All the women most devoutly swear,

Each would be rather a poor actress here

Than to be made a Mamamouchi there.

Dryden.

Mambrino’s Helmet, a helmet of pure gold, which rendered the wearer invisible. It was taken possession of by Rinaldo, and stolen by Scaripantê.

Cervantes tells us of a barber who was caught in a shower of rain, and who, to protect his hat, clapped his brazen basin on his head. Don Quixote insisted that this basin was the helmet of the Moorish king; and, taking possession of it, wore it as such.

⁂ When the knight set the galley-slaves free, the rascals “snatched the basin from his head, and broke it to pieces” (pt. I. iii. 8); but we find it sound and complete in the next book (ch. 15), when the gentlemen at the inn sit in judgment on it, to decide whether it is really a “helmet or a basin.” The judges, of course, humor the don, and declare the basin to be an undoubted helmet.—Cervantes, Don Quixote (1605).

388“I will lead the life I have mentioned, till, by the force and terror of my arm, I take a helmet from the head of some other knight.” ... The same thing happened about Mambrino’s helmet, which cost Scaripante so dear.—Cervantes, Don Quixote, I. ii. 2 (1605).

Mamillius, a young prince of Sicilia.—Shakespeare, Winter’s Tale (1604).

Mammon, the personification of earthly ambition, be it wealth, honors, sensuality, or what not. “Ye cannot serve God and Mammon” (Matt. vi. 24). Milton makes Mammon one of the rebellious angels:

Mammon, the least-erected spirit that fell

From heaven; for e’en in heaven his looks and thoughts

Were always downward bent, admiring more

The riches of heaven’s pavement, trodden gold,

Than aught, divine or holy, else enjoyed.

Paradise Lost, i. 679, etc. (1665).

Mammon tells Sir Guyon, if he will serve him, he shall be the richest man in the world; but the knight replies that money has no charm in his sight. The god then takes him into his smithy, and tells him to give any order he likes; but Sir Gruyon declines the invitation. Mammon next offers to give the knight Philotine to wife; but Sir Gruyon still declines. Lastly, the knight is led to Proserpine’s bower, and told to pluck some of the golden fruit, and to rest him awhile on the silver stool; but Sir Gruyon resists the temptation. After three day’s sojourn in the infernal regions, the knight is led back to earth, and swoons.—Spenser, Faëry Queen, ii. 7 (1590).

Mammon (Sir Epicure), the rich dupe who supplies Subtle, “the alchemist,” with money to carry on his artifices, under pretence of transmuting base metals into gold. Sir Epicure believes in the possibility, and glories in the mighty things he will do when the secret is discovered.—Ben Jonson, The Alchemist (1610).

Mammoth (The), or big buffalo, is an emblem of terror and destruction among the American Indians. Hence, when Brandt, at the head of a party of Mohawks and other savages, was laying waste Pennsylvania, and approached Wyo´ming, Outalissi exclaims:

The mammoth comes—the foe—the monster Brandt,

With all his howling, desolating band ...

Red is the cup they drink, but not of wine!

Campbell, Gertrude of Wyoming, iii. 16 (1809).

Mammoun, eldest of the four sons of Corcud. One day he showed kindness to a mutilated serpent, which proved to be the fairy Gialout, who gave him for his humanity the power of joining and mending whatever was broken. He mended a pie’s egg which was smashed into twenty pieces, and so perfectly that the egg was hatched. He also mended in a moment a ship which had been wrecked and broken in a violent storm.—T.S. Gueulette, Chinese Tales (“Corcud and His four Sons,” 1723).

Man. His descent according to the Darwinian theory: (1) The larvæ of ascidians, a marine mollusc; (2) fish lowly organized, as the lancelet; (3) ganoids, lepidosiren, and other fish; (4) amphibians; (5) birds and reptiles; (6) from reptiles we get the monotremata, which connects reptiles with the mammalia; (7) the marsupials; (8) placental mammals; (9) lemurĭdæ; (10) simiădæ; (11) the New World monkeys called platyrhines, and the Old World monkeys called catarrhines; (12) between the catarrhines and the race of men the “missing link” is placed by some; but others think between the highest organized ape and the lowest organized man the gradation is simple and easy.

Man (Races of). According to the Bible, 389the whole human race sprang from one individual, Adam. Virey affirms there were two original pairs. Jacquinot and Latham divide the race into three primordial stocks; Kent into four; Blumenbach into five; Buff on into six; Hunter into seven; Agassiz into eight; Pickering into eleven; Bory St. Vincent into fourteen; Desmoulins into sixteen; Morton into twenty-two; Crawfurd into sixty; and Burke into sixty-three.

Man in Black (The), said to be meant for Goldsmith’s father. A true oddity, with the tongue of a Timon and the heart of an Uncle Toby. He declaims against beggars, but relieves every one he meets; he ridicules generosity, but would share his last cloak with the needy.—Goldsmith, Citizen of the World (1759).

⁂ Washington Irving has a tale called The Man in Black.

Man in the Moon (The). Some say it is the man who picked up a bundle of sticks on the Sabbath day (Numb. xv. 32-36). Dantê says it is Cain, and that the “bush of thorns” is an emblem of the curse pronounced on the earth: “Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee” (Gen. iii. 18). Some say it is Endymion, taken there by Diana.

The curse pronounced on the “man” was this: “As you regarded not ‘Sunday’ on earth, you shall keep a perpetual ‘Moon-day’ in heaven.” This, of course, is a Teutonic tradition.

The bush of thorns, in the Schaumburglippê version, is to indicate that the man strewed thorns in the church path, to hinder people from attending mass on Sundays.

Now doth Cain with fork of thorns confine

On either hemisphere, touching the wave

Beneath the towers of Seville. Yesternight

The moon was round.

Dantê, Inferno, xx (1300).

Her gite was gray and full of spottis black.

And on her brest a chorle painted ful even,

Bering a bush of thornis on his back,

Which for his theft might clime so ner the heven.

Chaucer.

A North Frisian version gives cabbages instead of a faggot of wood.

⁂ There are other traditions, among which may be mentioned “The Story of the Hare and the Elephant.” In this story “the man in the moon” is a hare.—Pantschatantra (a collection of Sanskrit fables).

Man in the Moon, a man who visits the “inland parts of Africa.”—W. Thomson, Mammuth or Human Nature Displayed on a Grand Scale (1789).

Man in the Moon, the man who, by the aid of a magical glass, shows Charles Fox (the man of the people), various eminent contemporaries.—W. Thomson, The Man in the Moon or Travels into the Lunar Regions (1783).

Man of Blood. Charles I. was so called by the puritans, because he made war on his parliament. The allusion is to 2 Sam. xvi. 7.

Man of Brass, Talos, the work of Hephæstos (Vulcan). He traversed the Isle of Crete thrice a year. Apollo´nius (Argonautica, iv.) says he threw rocks at the Argonauts, to prevent their landing. It is also said that when a stranger was discovered on the island, Talos made himself red-hot, and embraced the intruder to death.

That portentous Man of Brass

Hephæstus made in days of yore,

390Who stalked about the Cretan shore,

And saw the ships appear and pass,

And threw stones at the Argonauts.

Longfellow, The Wayside Inn (1863).

Man of December. Napoleon III. So called because he was made president December 11, 1848; made the coup d’état, December 2, 1851; and was made emperor December 2, 1852.

(Born in the Rue Lafitte, Paris (not in the Tuileries), April 20, 1808; reigned 1852-1870; died at Chiselhurst, Kent, January 9, 1873).

Man of Destiny, Napoleon I., who always looked upon himself as an instrument in the hands of destiny, and that all his acts were predestined.

The Man of Destiny ... had power for a time “to bind kings with chains, and nobles with fetters of iron.”—Sir W. Scott.

Man of Feeling (The), Harley, a sensitive, bashful, kind-hearted, sentimental sort of a hero.—H. Mackenzie, The Man of Feeling (1771).

⁂ Sometimes Henry Mackenzie is himself called “The Man of Feeling.”

Man of Ross, John Kyrle, of Ross, in Herefordshire, distinguished for his benevolence and public spirit. “Richer than miser, nobler than king or king-polluted lord.”—Pope, Epistle, iii. (“On the Use of Riches,” 1709).

Man of Salt (A). Tears are called salt, hence a man of salt is one who weeps on slight provocation.

This would make a man, a man of salt,

To use his eyes for garden water-pots.

Shakespeare, King Lear, act iv. sc. 6 (1605).

Man of Sedan, Napoleon III. So called because he surrendered his sword to William, king of Prussia, after the battle of Sedan in September, 1870.

(Born in the Rue Lafitte, 1808; reigned 1852-1870; died at Chiselhurst, 1873).

Man of Sin (The), mentioned in 2 Thess. ii. 3.

Whitby says the “Man of sin” means the Jews as a people.

Grotius says it means Caius Cæsar or else Caligula.

Wetstein says it is Titus.

Olshausen thinks it is typical of some one yet to come.

Roman Catholics say it means Anti-christ.

Protestants think it refers to the pope.

The Fifth-Monarchy men applied it to Cromwell.

Man of the Hill, a tedious “hermit of the vale,” introduced by Fielding in his novel of Tom Jones (1749).

Man of the Mountain (Old). (See Koppenburg.)

Man of the People, Charles James Fox (1749-1806).

Man of the Sea (The Old), the man who got upon the shoulders of Sindbad, the sailor, and would not get off again, but clung there with obstinate pertinacity till Sindbad made him drunk, when he was easily shaken off. Sindbad then crushed him to death with a large stone.

“You had fallen,” said they, “into the hands of the Old Man of the Sea, and you are the first whom he has not strangled.”—Arabian Nights (“Sindbad,” fifth voyage).

Man of the World (The), Sir Pertinax McSycophant, who acquires a fortune by “booing” and fawning on the great and rich. He wants his son Egerton 391to marry the daughter of Lord Lumbercourt, but Egerton, to the disgust of his father, marries Constantia, the protégée of Lady McSycophant. Sir Pertinax had promised his lordship a good round sum of money if the marriage was effected; and when this contretemps occurs, his lordship laments the loss of money, “which will prove his ruin.” Sir Pertinax tells Lord Lumbercourt that his younger son Sandy will prove more pliable, and it is agreed that the bargainbargain shall stand good if Sandy will marry the young lady.—C. Macklin, The Man of the World (1764).

⁂ This comedy is based on Voltaire’s Nanine (1749).

Man without a Skin. Richard Cumberland, the dramatist, was so called by Garrick, because he was so extremely sensitive that he could not bear “to be touched” by the finger of criticism (1732-1811).

Managarm, the most gigantic and formidable of the race of hags. He dwells in the Iron-wood, Jamvid. Managarm will first fill himself with the blood of man, and then will he swallow up the moon. This gigantic hag symbolizes War, and the “Iron-wood” in which he dwells is the wood of spears.—Prose Edda.

Manchester Poet (The), Charles Swain, born 1803.

Manciple’s Tale. Phœbus had a crow which he taught to speak; it was white as down, and as big as a swan. He had also a wife, whom he dearly loved. One day, when he came home, the crow cried, “Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo!” and Phœbus asked the bird what it meant; whereupon it told the god that his wife was unfaithful to him. Phœbus, in his wrath, seized his bow, and shot his wife through the heart; but to the bird he said, “Curse on thy tell-tale tongue! never more shall it brew mischief.” So he deprived it of the power of speech, and changed its plumage from white to black. Moral—Be no tale-bearer, but keep well thy tongue, and think upon the crow.

My sone, bewar, and be noon auctour newe,

Of tydyings, whether they ben fals or trewe;

Wherso thou comest, amongst high or lowe,

Kep wel thy tonge, and think upon the crowe.

Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, 17, 291-4 (1388).

⁂ This is Ovid’s tale of “Coronis” in the Metamorphoses, ii. 543, etc.

Manda´ne (3 syl.), wife of Zamti, the Chinese mandarin, and mother of Hamet. Hamet was sent to Corea to be brought up by Morat, while Mandanê brought up Zaphimri (under the name of Etan), the orphan prince and only surviving representative of the royal race of China. Hamet led a party of insurgents against Ti´murkan´, was seized, and ordered to be put to death as the supposed prince. Mandanê tried to save him, confessed he was not the prince; and Etan came forward as the real “orphan of China.” Timurkan, unable to solve the mystery, ordered both to death, and Mandanê with her husband to the torture; but Mandanê stabbed herself.—Murphy, The Orphan of China (1759).

Mandane (2 syl.), the heroine of Mdlle. Scud´eri’s romance called Cyrus the Great (1650).

Manda´ne and Stati´ra, stock names of melodramatic romance. When a romance writer hangs the world on the caprice of a woman, he chooses Mandanê or Statira for his heroine. Mandanê of classic story was the daughter of King Astyăgês, wife of Cambysês, and mother of 392Cyrus the Great. Statīra was daughter of Darius, the Persian, and wife of Alexander the Great.

Man´dans, an Indian tribe of Dakota, in the United States, noted for their skill in horsemanship.

Marks not the buffalo’s track, nor the Mandans’ dexterous horse-race.

Longfellow, Evangeline (1849).

Mandeville, any one who draws the long-bow; a flam. Sir John Mandeville [Man’.de.vil], an English traveller, published a narrative of his voyages, which abounds in the most extravagant fictions (1300-1372).

Oh! he is a modern Mandeville. At Oxford he was always distinguished by the facetious appellation of “The Bouncer.”—Samuel Foote, The Liar, ii. 1 (1761).

Mandeville (Bernard de), a licentious, deistical writer, author of The Virgin Unmasked (1709), Free Thoughts on Religion (1712), Fable of the Bees (1714), etc. (1670-1733).

Man´drabul’s Offering, one that decreases at every repetition. Mandrabul, of Samos, having discovered a gold-mine, offered a golden ram to Juno for the discovery. Next year he offered a silver one, the third year a brazen one, and the fourth year nothing.

Mandricardo, king of Tartary, son of Agrican. Mandricardo wore Hector’s cuirass, married Derălis, and was slain by Roge´ro in single combat.—Bojardo, Orlando Innamorato (1495); Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516).

Mandriccardo, a knight whose adventures are recorded by Barahona (Mandriccardo, etc., i. 70, 71).

Mandel (Mrs.), salaried society “coach” of the Dryfoos family after their removal to New York.—W.D. Howells, A Hazard of New Fortunes (1889).

Manduce (2 syl.), the idol Gluttony, venerated by the Grastrol´aters, a people whose god was their belly.

Maiiette (Dr.), of Beauvais. He had been imprisoned eighteen years, and had gradually lost his memory. After his release he somewhat recovered it, but any train of thought connected with his prison life produced a relapse. While in prison, the doctor made shoes, and, whenever the relapse occurred, his desire for cobbling returned.

Lucie Manette, the loving, golden-haired, blue-eyed daughter of Dr. Manette. She marries Charles Darnay.

Lucie Manette had a forehead with the singular capacity of lifting and knitting itself into an expression that was not quite one of perplexity, or wonder, or alarm, or merely of bright, fixed attention, though it included all the four expressions.—C. Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, i. 4 (1859).

Maney or Manny (Sir Walter), a native of Belgium, who came to England as page to Philippa, queen of Edward III. When he first began his career of arms, he and some young companions of his own age put a black patch over their left eye, and vowed never to remove it till they had performed some memorable act in the French wars (died 1372).

With whom our Maney here deservedly doth stand,

Which first inventor was of that courageous band

Who closed their left eyes up, as never to be freed,

Till there they had achieved some high adventurous deed.

Drayton, Polyolbion, xviii. (1613).

393Man´fred (Count), son of Sig´ismund. He sells himself to the prince of darkness, and received from him seven spirits to do his bidding. They were the spirits of “earth, ocean, air, night, mountains, winds, and the star of his own destiny.” Wholly without human sympathies, the count dwelt in splendid solitude among the Alpine Mountains. He once loved the beautiful As´tarte (2 syl.), and, after her murder, went to the hall of Arima´nês to see her. The spirit of Astarte informed him that he would die the following day; and when asked if she loved him, she sighed “Manfred,” and vanished.—Byron, Manfred (1817).

⁂ Byron sometimes makes Astarte two syllables, and sometimes three. The usual pronunciation is As.tar-te.

Mangerton (The laird of), John Armstrong, an old warrior who witnesses the national combat in Liddesdale valley between his own son (the Scotch champion), and Foster (the English champion). The laird’s son is vanquished.—Sir W. Scott, The Laird’s Jock (time, Elizabeth).

Maniche´an (4 syl.), a disciple of Manês or Manichee, the Persian heresiarch. The Manicheans believe in two opposing principles—one of good, and the other of evil. Theodora, wishing to extirpate these heretics, put 100,000 of them to the sword.

Yet would she make full many a Manichean.

Byron, Don Juan, vi. 3 (1824).

Man´ito or Mani´tou, the Great Spirit of the North American Indians. These Indians acknowledge two supreme spirits—a spirit of good and a spirit of evil. The former they call Gitchê-Manĭto, and the latter Mitchê-Manito. The good spirit is symbolized by an egg, and the evil one by a serpent.—Longfellow, Hiawatha, xiv.

As when the evil Manitou that dries

Th’ Ohio woods, consumes them in his ire.

Campbell, Gertrude of Wyoming, i. 17 (1809).

Manlius, surnamed Torquātus, the Roman consul. In the Latin war, he gave orders that no Roman, on pain of death, should engage in single combat. One of the Latins having provoked young Manlius by repeated insults, he slew him; but when the young man took the spoils to his father, Manlius ordered him to be put to death for violating the commands of his superior officer.—Roman Story.

Man´lius Capitoli´nus, consul of Rome, B.C. 392, then military tribune. After the battle of Allia (390), seeing Rome in the power of the Gauls, he threw himself into the capitol with 1000 men, surprised the Gauls, and put them to the sword. It was for this achievement he was called Capitolinus. Subsequently he was charged with aiming at sovereignty, and was hurled to death from the Tarpeian Rock.

⁂ Lafosse (1698) has a tragedy called Manlius Capitolinus, and “Manlius” was one of the favorite characters of Talma, the French actor. Lafosse’s drama is an imitation of Otway’s tragedy of Venice Preserved (1682).

Manly, the lover of Lady Grace Townly, sister-in-law of Lord Townly. Manly is the cousin of Sir Francis Wronghead, whom he saves from utter ruin. He is noble, judicious, upright, and sets all things right that are going wrong.—Vanbrugh and Cibber, The Provoked Husband (1728).

The address and manner of Dennis Delane [1700-1753] were easy and polite; and he excelled in the well-bred man, such as “Manly.”—T. Davies.

Manly, “the plain dealer.” An honest, 394surly sea-captain, who thinks every one a rascal, and believes himself no better. Manly forms a good contrast to Olivia, who is a consummate hypocrite of most unblushing effrontery.

“Counterfeit honors,” says Manly, “will not be current with me. I weigh the man, not his titles. ’Tis not the king’s stamp can make the metal better or heavier.”—Wycherly, The Plain DealerDealer i. 1 (1677).

⁂ Manly, the plain dealer, is a copy of Molière’s “Misanthrope,” the prototype of which was the duc de Montausier.

Manly (Captain), the fiancé of Arabella, ward of Justice Day, and an heiress.

Arabella. I like him much—he seems plain and honest.

Ruth. Plain enough, in all conscience.

T. Knight, The Honest Thieves.

Manly (Colonel), a bluff, honest soldier, to whom honor is dearer than life. The hero of the drama.—Mrs. Centlivre, The Beaux’ Duel (1703).

Mann (Mrs.), a dishonest, grasping woman, who kept a branch workhouse, where children were farmed. Oliver Twist was sent to her child-farm. Mrs. Mann systematically starved the children placed under her charge.—C. Dickens, Oliver Twist (1837).

Mannaia, goddess of retribution. The word in Italian means “an axe.”

All in a terrible moment came the blow

That beat down Paolo’s ’fence, ended the play

O’ the foil, and brought Mannaia on the stage.

R. Browning, The Ring and the Book, iii. (date of the story, 1487).

Mannering (Guy) or Colonel Mannering.

Mrs. Mannering (née Sophia Wellwood), wife of Guy Mannering.

Julia Mannering, daughter of Guy. She marries Captain Bertram. “Rather a hare-brained girl, but well deserving the kindest regards” (act i. 2 of the dramatized version).

Sir Paul Mannering, uncle to Guy Mannering.—Sir. W. Scott, Guy Mannering (time, George II.).

⁂ Scott’s tale of Guy Mannering has been dramatized by Daniel Terry.

Manon l’Escaut, the heroine of a French novel, entitled Histoire de Chevalier Desgrieux et de Manon Lescot, by A. F. Prévost (1733). Manon is the “fair mischief” of the story. Her charms seduce and ruin the Chevalier des Grieux, who clings to her through all her career with an unconquered passion, forgiving and forgetting to the tragic end when she dies as a convict in the wilds of Louisiana.

Manri´co, the supposed son of Azuce´na, the gypsy, but in reality the son of Garzia (brother of the conte di Luna). Leono´ra is in love with him, but the count entertains a base passion for her, and, getting Manrico into his power, condemns him to death. Leonora promises the count to give herself to him if he will spare the life of Manrico. He consents, but while he goes to release his “nephew,” Leonora sucks poison from a ring and dies. Manrico, on perceiving this, dies also.—Verdi, Il Trovato´rê (an opera, 1853).

Mans (The Count of), Roland, nephew of Charlemagne. He is also called the “knight of Blaives.”

Mansel (Sir Edward), lieutenant of the Tower of London.

Lady Mansel, wife of Sir Edward.—Sir W. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, (time, James I).

395Mansfield (The Miller of), a humorous, good-natured countryman, who offered Henry VIII. hospitality when he had lost himself in a hunting expedition. The miller gave the king half a bed with his son Richard. Next morning, the courtiers were brought to the cottage by under-keepers, and Henry, in merry pin, knighted his host, who thus became Sir John Cockle. He then made him “overseer of Sherwood Forest,” with a salary of 1000 marks a year.—R. Dodsley, The King and the Miller of Mansfield (1737).

⁂ In the ballad called The King and the Miller of Mansfield, the king is Henry II., and there are several other points of difference between the ballad and the play. In the play, Cockle hears a gun fired, and goes out to look for poachers, when he lays hold of the king, but, being satisfied that he is no poacher, he takes him home. In the ballad, the king out-rides his lords, gets lost, and, meeting the miller, asks of him a night’s lodging. When the miller feels satisfied with the face and bearing of the stranger, he entertains him right hospitably. He gives him for supper a venison pasty, but tells him on no account to tell the king “that they made free with his deer.” Another point of difference is this: In the play, the courtiers are seized by the under-keepers, and brought to Cockle’s house; but in the ballad they track the king and appear before him next morning. In the play, the king settles on Sir John Cockle 1000 marks; in the ballad, £300 a year.—Percy, Reliques, III. ii. 20.

(Of course, as Dodsley introduced the “firing of a gun,” he was obliged to bring down his date to more modern times, and none of the Henrys between Henry II. and Henry VIII. would be the least likely to indulge in such a prank.)

Mansur (Elijah), a warrior, prophet, and priest, who taught a more tolerant form of Islâm, but not being an orthodoxorthodox Moslem, he was condemned to imprisonment in the bowels of a mountain. Mansur is to re-appear and wave his conquering sword, to the terror of the Muscovite.—Milner, Gallery of Geography, 781. (See Barbarossa.)

Mantacci´ni, a charlatan, who professed to restore the dead to life.

Mantali´ni (Madame), a fashionable milliner, near Cavendish Square, London. She dotes upon her husband, and supports him in idleness.

Mr. Mantalini, the husband of madame; he is a man-doll and cockney fop, noted for his white teeth, his minced oaths, and his gorgeous morning gown. This “exquisite” lives on his wife’s earnings, and thinks he confers a favor on her by lavishing her money on his selfish indulgences.—C. Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby (1838).

Mantle (The Boy and the). One day, a little boy presented himself before King Arthur, and showed him a curious mantle “which would become no wife that was not leal” to her true lord. The queen tried it on, but it changed its color and fell into shreds; Sir Kay’s lady tried it on, but with no better success; others followed, but only Sir Cradock’s wife could wear it.—Percy, Reliques.

Mantuan (The) that is, Baptista Spagn´olus, surnamed Mantua´nus, from the place of his birth. He wrote poems and eclogues in Latin. His works were translated into English by George Tuberville in 1567. He lived 1443-1516.

Ah, good old Mantuan! I may speak of thee

as the traveller doth of Venice:

396Vinegia, Vinegia,

Chi non te vede, ei non te pregia.

Shakespeare, Love’s Labor’s Lost, act iv. sc. 2 (1594).

Mantuan Swan (The), Virgil, a native of Mantua (B. C. 70-19).

Mantua me genuit; Calabri rapuere; tenet nunc

Pathenopè; cecini pascua, rura, duces.

Virgil’s Epitaph (composed by himself).

Ages elapsed ere Homer’s lamp appeared;

And ages ere the Mantua Swan was heard.

Cowper.

Ma´nucodia´ta, a bird resembling a swallow, found in the Molucca Islands. “It has no feet, and though the body is not bigger than that of a swallow, the span of its wings is equal to that of an eagle. These birds never approach the earth, but the female lays her eggs on the back of the male, and hatches them in her own breast. They live on the dew of heaven, and eat neither animal nor vegetable food.”—Cardan, De Rerum Varietate (1557).

Less pure the footless fowl of heaven, that never

Rest upon earth, but on the wing forever,

Hovering o’er flowers, their fragrant food inhale,

Drink the descending dew upon the way,

And sleep aloft while floating on the gale.

Southey, Curse of Kehama, xxi. 6 (1809).

Manuel du Sosa, governor of Lisbon, and brother of Guiomar (mother of the vainglorious Duarte),Duarte), (3 syl.).—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Custom of the Country (1647).

Mapp (Mrs.), bone-setter. She was born at Epsom, and at one time was very rich, but she died in great poverty at her lodgings in Seven Dials, 1737.

⁂ Hogarth has introduced her in his heraldic picture, “The Undertakers’ Arms.” She is the middle of the three figures at the top, the other two being Dr. Ward, on the right hand of the spectator, and Dr. Taylor on the left.

Maqueda, the queen of the South, who visited Solomon, and had by him a son named Melech.—Zaga Zabo, Ap. Damian a Goes.

⁂ Maqueda is generally called Balkîs, queen of Saba or Zaba.

Mara Lincoln, orphaned grandchild of Captain and Mrs. Fennell; betrothed to Moses Fennell. She dies young, and is long and sincerely mourned.—Harriet Beecher Stowe, The Pearl of Orr’s Island.

Marcassin (Prince). This nursery tale is from the Nights, of Straparola, an Italian (sixteenth century). Translated into French in 1585.

Marce´lia, the “Desdemona” of Massinger’s Duke of Milan. Sforza, “the More,” doted on his young bride, and Marcelia returned his love. During Sforza’s absence at the camp, Francesco, “the lord protector,” tried to seduce the young bride from her fidelity, and, failing in his purpose, accused her to the duke of wishing to play the wanton. “I labored to divert her ... urged your much love ... but hourly she pursued me.” The duke, in a paroxysm of jealousy, flew on Marcelia and slew her.—Massinger, The Duke of Milan (1622).

Marcella, daughter of William, a farmer. Her father and mother died while she was young, leaving her in charge of an uncle. She was “the most beautiful creature ever sent into the world,” and every bachelor who saw her fell madly in love with her, but she declined their suits. One of her lovers was Chrysostom, the favorite of the village, 397who died of disappointed hope, and the shepherds wrote on his tombstone: “From Chrysostom’s fate, learn to abhor Marcella, that common enemy of man, whose beauty and cruelty are both in the extreme.”—Cervantes, Don Quixote, I. ii. 4, 5 (1605).

Marcellin de Peyras. The chevalier to whom the Baron de Peyras gave up his estates when he retired to Grenoble. De Peyras eloped with Lady Ernestine, but soon tired of her, and fell in love with his cousin Margaret, the baron’s daughter.—E. Stirling, The Gold-Mine or The Miller of Grenoble (1854).

Marcelli´na, daughter of Rocco, jailer of the State prison of Seville. She fell in love with Fidelio, her father’s servant; but this Fidelio turned out to be Leonora, wife of the State prisoner Fernando Florestan.—Beethoven, Fidelio (an opera, 1791).

Marcello, in Meyerbeer’s opera of Les Huguenots, unites in marriage Valenti´na and Raoul (1836).

Marcellus (M. Claudius), called “The Sword of Rome.” Fabius “Cunctator” was “The Shield of Rome.”

Marcellus, an officer of Denmark, to whom the ghost of the murdered king appeared before it presented itself to Prince Hamlet.—Shakespeare, Hamlet (1596).

Marchioness (The), the half-starved girl-of-all-work, in the service of Sampson Brass and his sister Sally. She was so lonesome and dull that it afforded her relief to peep at Mr. Swiveller, even through the keyhole of his door. Though so dirty and ill-cared for, “the marchioness” was sharp-witted and cunning. It was Mr. Swiveller who called her the “marchioness,” when she played cards with him, “because it seemed more real and pleasant” to play with a marchioness than with a domestic slavey (ch. lvii.) When Dick Swiveller was turned away and fell sick, the “marchioness” nursed him carefully, and he afterwards married her.—C. Dickens, The Old Curiosity Shop (1840).

Marchmont (Miss Matilda), the confidante of Julia Mannering.—Sir W. Scott, Guy Mannering (time, George II.).

Marcian, armorer to Count Robert of Paris.—Sir W. Scott, Count Robert of Paris (time, Rufus).

Marck (William de la), a French nobleman, called “The Wild Boar of Ardennes” (Sanglier des Ardennes).—Sir W. Scott, Quentin Durward (time, Edward IV.).

Marcliffe (Theophilus), pseudonym of William Godwin (author of Caleb Williams, 1756-1836).

Marco Bozzaris. Leader of the Suliotes in the successful rebellion against the Turks. A night-attack upon the Turkish camp results in the victory of the Greeks. Bozzaris is killed as the cry of triumph is raised by his command.

“His few surviving comrades saw

His smile when rang their proud hurrah,

And the red field was won;

Then saw in death his eyelids close

Calmly, as to a night’s repose

Like flowers at set of sun.”

Fitz-Green Halleck, Marco Bozzaris.

Marcomanic War, a war carried on by the Marcomanni, under the leader-ship of Maroboduus, who made himself master of Bohemia, etc. Maroboduus was defeated 398by Arminius, and his confederation broken up (A.D. 20). In the second Christian century a new war broke out between the Marcomanni and the Romans, which lasted thirteen years. In A.D. 180 peace was purchased by the Romans, and the war for a time ceased.

Marcos de Obregon, the hero of a Spanish romance, from which Lesage has borrowed very freely in his Gil Blas.—Vicente Espinel, Vida del Escudero Marcos de Obregon (1618).

Marculf, in the comic poem of Salomon and Marculf, a fool who outwits the sage of Israel by knavery and cunning. The earliest version of the poem extant is a German one of the twelfth century.

Marcus, son of Cato of Utĭca, a warm-hearted, impulsive young man, passionately in love with Lucia, daughter of Lucius; but Lucia loved the more temperate brother, Portius. Marcus was slain by Cæsar’s soldiers when they invaded Utica.

Marcus is furious, wild in his complaints;

I hear with a secret kind of dread,

And tremble at his vehemence of temper.

Addison, Cato, i. 1 (1713).

Mardonius (Captain), in Beaumont and Fletcher’s drama called A King or No King (1619).

Mareschal of Mareschal Wells (Young), one of the Jacobite conspirators, under the leadership of Mr. Richard Vere, laird of Ellieslaw.—Sir W. Scott, The Black Dwarf (time, Anne).

Marfi´sa, an Indian queen.—Bojardo, Orlando Innamorato (1495), and Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516).

Marforio’s Statue. This statue lies on the ground in Rome, and was at one time used for libels, lampoons, and jests, but was never so much used as Pasquin’s.

Margar´elon (4 syl.), a Trojan hero of modern fable, who performed deeds of marvellous bravery. Lydgate, in his Boke of Troy (1513), calls him a son of Priam. According to this authority, Margarelon attacked Achillês, and fell by his hand.

Margaret, only child and heiress of Sir Giles Overreach. Her father set his heart on her marrying Lord Lovel, for the summit of his ambition was to see her a peeress. But Margaret was modest, and could see no happiness in ill-assorted marriages; so she remained faithful to Tom Allworth, the man of her choice.—Massinger, A New Way to Pay Old Debts (1628).

Margaret, wife of Vandunke (2 syl.), the drunken burgomaster of Bruges.—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Beggars’ Bush (1622).

Margaret (Ladye), “the flower of Teviot,” daughter of the Duchess Margaret and Lord Walter Scott, of Branksome Hall. The Ladye Margaret was beloved by Henry of Cranstown, whose family had a deadly feud with that of Scott. One day the elfin page of Lord Cranstown inveigled the heir of Branksome Hall (then a lad) into the woods, where the boy fell into the hands of the Southerners. The captors then marched with 3000 men against the castle of the widowed duchess, but being told by a spy that Douglass, with 10,000 men, was coming to the rescue, an arrangement was made to decide by single combat whether the boy should become King Edward’s page, or be delivered up into the 399hands of his mother. The English champion (Sir Richard Musgrave) fell by the hand of Sir William Deloraine, and the boy was delivered to his mother. It was then discovered that Sir William was in reality Lord Cranstown, who claimed and received the hand of the fair Margaret as his reward.—Sir W. Scott, Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805).

Margaret, the heroine of Goethe’s Faust. Faust first encounters her on her return from church, falls in love with her, and seduces her. Overcome with shame, she destroys the infant to which she gives birth, and is condemned to death. Faust attempts to save her, and, gaining admission to her cell, finds her huddled up on a bed of straw, singing, like Ophelia, wild snatches of ancient ballads, her reason faded, and her death at hand. Faust tries to persuade the mad girl to flee with him, but in vain. At last the day of execution arrives, and with it Mephistoph´elês, passionless and grim. Faust is hurried off, and Margaret is left to her fate. Margaret is often called by the pet diminutive “Gretchen,” and in the opera “Margheri´ta” (q.v.).—Goethe, Faust (1790).

Shakespeare has drawn no such portrait as that of MargaretMargaret; no such peculiar union of passion, simplicity, homeliness, and witchery. The poverty and inferior social position of Margaret are never lost sight of—she never becomes an abstraction. It is love alone which exalts her above her station.—Lewes.

Margaret Catchpole, a Suffolk celebrity, born at Nacton, in that county, in 1773; the title and heroine of a tale by the Rev. R. Cobbold. She falls in love with a smuggler named Will Laud, and in 1797, in order to reach him, steals a horse from Mr. J. Cobbold, brewer, of Ipswich, in whose service she had lived much respected. She dresses herself in the groom’s clothes, and makes her way to London, where she is detected while selling the horse, and is put in prison. She is sentenced to death at the Suffolk assizes—a sentence afterwards commuted to one of seven years’ transportation. Owing to a difficulty in sending prisoners to New South Wales, she is confined in Ipswich jail; but from here she makes her escape, joins Laud, who is shot in her defence. Margaret is recaptured, and again sentenced to death, which is for the second time commuted to transportation, this time for life, and she arrivesarrives at Port Jackson in 1801. Here, by her good behavior, she obtains a free pardon, and ultimately marries a former lover named John Barry, who had emigrated and risen to a high position in the colony. She died, much respected, in the year 1841.

Margaret Debree. Young girl of noble and beautiful nature whose latent ambition is aroused by her marriage to the successful speculator, Rodney Henderson. She becomes a society leader and woman of fashion, and dies at the height of her popularity.—Charles Dudley Warner, A Little Journey in the World (1889).

Margaret Finch, queen of the gypsies. She was born at Sutton, in Kent (1631), and finally settled in Norway. From a constant habit of sitting on the ground, with her chin on her knees, she was unable to stand, and when dead was buried in a square box; 1740, aged 109 years.

Margaret. Bright-faced, sweet-hearted heroine of The Stillwater Tragedy, by T. B. Aldrich (1886).

Margaret Gibson, afterwards called 400Patten, a famous Scotch cook, who was employed in the palace of James I. She was born in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and died June 26, 1739, either 136 or 141 years of age.

Margaret Kent (See Kent).

Margaret Lamburn, one of the servants of Mary, queen of Scots, who undertook to avenge the death of her royal mistress. For this end, she dressed in man’s clothes and carried two pistols—one to shoot Queen Elizabeth and the other herself. She had reached the garden where the queen was walking, when she accidentally dropped one of the pistols, was seizedseized, carried before the queen, and frantically told her tale. When the queen asked how she expected to be treated, MargaretMargaret replied, “A judge would condemn me to death, but it would be more royal to grant me pardon.” The queen did so, and we hear no more of this fanatic.

Margaret Simon, daughter of Martin Simon, the miller of Grenoble; a brave, beautiful, and noble girl.—E. Stirling, The Gold-Mine or Miller of Grenoble (1854.)

Margaret of Anjou, widow of king Henry VI. of England. She presents herself, disguised as a mendicant, in Strasburg Cathedral, to Philipson (i.e. the earl of Oxford).—Sir W. Scott, Anne of Geierstein (time, Edward IV.).

Margaret’s Ghost, a ballad by David Mallet (1724). William courted the fair Margaret, but jilted her; he promised love, but broke his promise; said her face was fair, her lips sweet, and her eyes bright, but left the face to pale, the eyes to weep and the maid to languish and die. Her ghost appeared to him at night to rebuke his heartlessness; and next morning William left his bed raving mad, hied him to Margaret’s grave, thrice called her by name, “and never word spake more.”

We shall have ballads made of it within two months, setting forth how a young squire became a serving-man of low degree, and it will be stuck up with Margaret’s Ghost against the walls of every cottage in the country.—I. Bickerstaff, Love in a Village (1763).

Margaret Regis. American girl of decided views and strong, sweet nature, brought up by a step-mother whom she is slow to appreciate, but in the end loves truly. Margaret outgrows an early fancy, and, when released from the letter of her engagement, bestows her hand with her heart upon General Paul Rushleigh.—A. D. T. Whitney, Sights and Insights (1875).

Margaretta, a maiden attached to Robin. Her father wanted her to marry “a stupid old man, because he was rich;” so she ran away from home and lived as a ballad-singer. Robin emigrated for three years, and made his fortune. He was wrecked on the coast of Cornwall, on his return, and met Margaretta at the house of Farmer Crop, his brother-in-law, when the acquaintance was renewed. (See No Song, etc.)—Hoare, No Song No Supper (1754-1834).

Margarit´ta (Donna), a Spanish heiress, “fair, young, and wealthy,” who resolves to marry that she may the more freely indulge her wantonness. She selects Leon for her husband, because she thinks him a milksop, whom she can twist round her thumb at pleasure; but no sooner is Leon married than he shows himself the master. By ruling with great firmness and affection, he wins the esteem of every 401one, and the wanton coquette becomes a modest, devoted, and obedient wife.—Beaumont and Fletcher, Rule a Wife and Have a Wife (1640).

Margery (Dame), the old nurse of Lady Eveline Berenger “the betrothed.”—Sir W. Scott, The Betrothed (time, Henry II.).

Margheri´ta, a simple, uncultured girl, of great fascination, seduced by Faust. Margherita killed the infant of her shame, and was sent to jail for so doing. In jail she lost her reason, and was condemned to death. When Faust visited her in prison, and tried to persuade her to flee with him, she refused. Faust was carried off by demons, and Margherita was borne by angels up to heaven; the intended moral being, that the repentant sinner is triumphant.—Gounod, Faust e Margherita (1859).

Margheri´ta di Valois, daughter of Catherine de Medicis and Henri II. of France. She marries Henri le Bearnais (afterwards Henri IV. of France). It was during the wedding solemnities of Margherita and Henri that Catherine de Medicis carried out the massacre of the French Huguenots. The bride was at a ball during this horrible slaughter.—Meyerbeer, Les Huguenots or Gli Ugonotti (1836).

⁂ François I. used to call her La Marguerite des Marguerites (“The Pearl of Pearls”).

Margia´na (Queen), a Mussulman, and mortal enemy of the fire-worshippers. Prince Assad became her slave, but, being stolen by the crew of Behram, was carried off. The queen gave chase to the ship; Assad was thrown overboard, and swam to shore. The queen with an army demanded back her slave, discovered that Assad was a prince, and that his half-brother was king of the city to which she had come, whereupon she married him, and carried him home to her own dominions.—Arabian Nights (“Amgiad and Assad”).

Marjorie (Pet), child of singular promise, a great pet with Sir Walter Scott. She died under the age of ten. Her story is written by Dr. John Brown, author of Rab and His Friends.

Margutte (3 syl.), a low-minded, vulgar giant, ten feet high, with enormous appetite and of the grossest sensuality. He died of laughter on seeing a monkey pulling on his boots.—Pulci, Morgantê Maggiorê (1488).

Chalchas, the Homeric soothsayer, died of laughter. (See Laughter.)

Marguerite, French exile and maid-servant lies dying, nursed by a hard, cold mistress. The son of the house steals into the room and avows his love for the alien.

“He called back the soul that was passing,

‘Marguerite! do you hear,’”

* * * * *

“With his heart on his lips he kissed her,

But never her cheek grew red,

And the words the living long for

He spake in the ear of the dead.”

John Greenleaf Whittier, Marguerite.

Marhaus (Sir), a knight of the Round Table, a king’s son, and brother of the queen of Ireland. When Sir Mark, king of Cornwall, refused to pay truage to Anguish, king of Ireland, Sir Marhaus was sent to defy Sir Mark and all his knights to single combat. No one durst go against him; but Tristram said, if Mark would knight him, he would defend his cause. In the combat, Sir Tristram was victorious. 402With his sword he cut through his adversary’s helmet and brain-pan, and his sword stuck so fast in the bone that he had to pull thrice before he could extricate it. Sir Marhaus contrived to get back to Ireland, but soon died.—Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur, ii. 7, 8 (1470).

⁂ Sir Marhaus carried a white shield; but as he hated women, twelve damsels spat thereon, to show how they dishonored him.—Ditto, pt. i. 75.

Maria, a lady in attendance on the princess of France. Mongaville, a young lord in the suite of Ferdinand, king of Navarre, asks her to marry him, but she defers her answer for twelve months. To this Longaville replies, “I’ll stay with patience, but the time is long;” and Maria makes answer, “The liker you; few taller are so young.”—Shakespeare, Love’s Labor’s Lost (1594).

Maria, the waiting-woman of the Countess Olivia.—Shakespeare, Twelfth Night (1614).

Maria, wife of Frederick, the unnatural and licentious brother of Alphonso, king of Naples. She is a virtuous lady, and appears in strong contrast to her infamous husband.—Beaumont and Fletcher, A Wife for a Month (1624).

Maria, daughter and only child of Thorowgood, a wealthy London merchant. She is in love with George Barnwell, her father’s apprentice; but George is executed for robbery and murder.—George Lillo, George Barnwell (1732).

A dying man sent for David Ross, the actor [1728-1790], and addressed him thus: “Some forty years ago, like ‘George Barnwell’ I wronged my master to supply the unbounded extravagance of a ‘Millwood.’ I took her to see your performance, which so shocked me that I vowed to break the connection and return to the path of virtue. I kept my resolution, replaced the money I had stolen, and found a ‘Maria’ in my master’s daughter.... I have now left £1000 affixed to your name in my will and testament.”—Pelham, Chronicles of Crime.

Maria, the ward of Sir Peter Teazle. She is in love with Charles Surface, whom she ultimately marries.—Sheridan, School for Scandal (1777).

Maria, “The maid of the Oaks,” brought up as the ward of Oldworth, of Oldworth Oaks, but is in reality his daughter and heiress. Maria is engaged to Sir Harry Groveby, and Harry says, “She is the most charmingest, sweetest, delightfulest, mildest, beautifulest, modestest, genteelest young creature in the world.”—J. Burgoyne, The Maid of the Oaks.

Maria, a maiden whose banns were forbidden, “by the curate of the parish who published them;” in consequence of which, Maria lost her wits, and used to sit on the roadside near Moulines (2 syl.), playing on a pipe vesper hymns to the Virgin. She led by a ribbon a little dog named Silvio, of which she was very jealous, for at one time she had a favorite goat that forsook her.—Sterne, Sentimental Journey (1768).

Maria, a foundling, discovered by Sulpizio, a sergeant of the 11th regiment of Napoleon’s Grand Army, and adopted by the regiment as their daughter. Tonio, a Tyrolese, saved her life and fell in love with her. But just as they were about to be married the marchioness of Birkenfield claimed the foundling as her own daughter, and the sutler girl had to quit the regiment for the castle. After a time, the castle was taken by the French, and although the marchioness had promised Maria in marriage to another, she consented 403to her union with Tonio, who had risen to the rank of a field-officer.—Donizetti, La Figlia del Reggimento (an opera, 1840).

Maria [Delaval], daughter of colonel Delaval. Plighted to Mr. Versatile, but just previous to the marriage Mr. Versatile, by the death of his father, came into a large fortune and baronetcy. The marriage was deferred; Mr. (now Sir George) Versatile went abroad, and became a man of fashion. They met, the attachment was renewed, and the marriage consummated.

Maria [Latham.] “An elderly woman with a plain, honest face, as kindly in expression as she can be perfectly sure she feels, and no more;” aunt to Lydia Blood. When she hears that the stewardess on the Aroostook is a boy, and the cook not a woman, she is slightly confounded, but rallies under the conviction that “Lyddy’ll know how to conduct herself wherever she is.”—W. D. Howells, The Lady of the Aroostook (1879).

Maria [Wilding], daughter of Sir Jasper Wilding. She is in love with Beaufort; and, being promised in marriage against her will to George Philpot, disgusts him purposely by her silliness. George refuses to marry her, and she gives her hand to Beaufort.—Murphy, The Citizen (1757).

Maria Theresa Panza, wife of Sancho Panza. She is sometimes called Maria, and sometimes Theresa.—Cervantes, Don Quixote (1605).

Mariage Forcé (Le). Sganarelle, a rich man of 64, promises marriage to Dorimène (3 syl.), a girl under 20, but, having scruples about the matter, consults his friend, two philosophers, and the gypsies, from none of whom can he obtain any practical advice. At length, he overhears Dorimène telling a young lover that she only marries the old man for his money, and that he cannot live above a few months; so the old man goes to the father and declines the alliance. On this, the father sends his son to Sganarelle. The young man takes with him two swords, and with the utmost politeness and sang-froid requests Mons. to choose one. When the old man declines to do so, the young man gives him a thorough drubbing, and again with the utmost politeness requests the old man to make his choice. On his again declining to do so, he is again beaten, and at last consents to ratify the marriage.—Molière, Le Mariage Forcé (1664).

Mariamne, (4 syl.), a Jewish princess, daughter of Alexander and wife of Herod, “the Great.” Mariamnê was the mother of Alexander and Aristobu´lus, both of whom Herod put to death in a fit of jealousy, and then fell into a state of morbid madness, in which he fancied he saw Mariamnê and heard her asking for her sons.

⁂ This has been made the subject of several tragedies: e.g. A. Harley, Mariamne (1622); Pierre Tristan l’Ermite, Mariamne (1640); Voltaire, Mariamne (1724).

Marian, “the Muses’ only darling,” is Margaret, countess of Cumberland, sister of Anne, countess of Warwick.

Fair Marian, the Muses’ only darling,

Whose beauty shineth as the morning clear,

With silver dew upon the roses pearling.

Spenser, Colin Clout’s Come Home Again (1595).

Marian, “the parson’s maid,” in love 404with Colin Clout, who loves Cicely. Marian sings a ditty of dole, in which she laments for Colin, and says how he gave her once a knife, but “Woe is me! for knives, they tell me, always sever love.”—Gay, Pastorals, ii. (1714).