pnugues/EB7 huggingface dataset:
MISENUM, or Misenus, in Ancient Geography, a promontory, port, and town in Campania, situated to the southwest of Baiae, in the Sinus Puteolanus. Here Augustus had a fleet, called Classis Misenensis, for guarding the Mare Inferum ; as he had another at Ravenna for protecting the Mare Superum.

Upon this peninsula a villa was built by Caius Marins, with a degree of elegance which gave great offence to the most austere amongst the Romans, who thought it but ill suited to the character of so rough a soldier. Upon the same foundation Lucullus, the plunderer of the eastern world, erected an edifice, in comparison of which the former house was only a cottage; but even his magnificence was eclipsed by the splendour of the palace which the emperors raised upon the same spot. To these proud abodes of heroes and of monarchs, which have long been levelled to the ground, a few fishing huts and a lonely public house have succeeded; and men resort thither to tipple perhaps on the identical site where the voluptuous masters of the world quaffed Chian and Falernian wines.
MISER, a parsimonious person who is at the same time rich; or a wretch covetous to extremity, whom avarice has divested of all the charities of human nature, and rendered an enemy even to himself.
MISERICORDIA, in Law, is an arbitrary fine imposed on any person for an offence; it is called misericodia, because the amercement ought to be but small, and less than that required by Magna Charta. If a person be outrageously amerced in a court that is not one of record, the writ called moderata misericodia lies for moderating the amercement according to the nature of the fault.
MISFEASANCE, in law-books, signifies a trespass.
MISITRA, or Mistra, a city of Greece, in the Morea, one of the largest in the peninsula. It is situated upon a wide plain, watered by two streams, and said to have been raised out of the ruins of ancient Sparta, which was two miles from the modern city. The country around was fertile, but has been neglected; and the population of the city has declined from 16,000 to 4000. It still produces some good silk, but is commonly considered as an unhealthy place.
MISNOMER, in Law, misnaming a person, or mistaking his name.
MISPRISIONS, a term derived from the old French, mespris, a neglect or contempt, are, in the acceptation of English law, generally understood to be all such high offences as are under the degree of capital, but nearly bordering thereon. It is said that a misprision is contained in every treason and felony whatsoever; and that, if the king so please, the offender may be proceeded against for the misprision only. Upon the same principle, whilst the jurisdiction of the Star Chamber subsisted, it was held that the king might remit a prosecution for treason, and cause the delinquent to be censured in that court, merely for a high misdemeanour; as happened in the case of Roger earl of Rutland, in the 43d of Elizabeth, who was concerned in the Earl of Essex’s rebellion. Misprisions are generally divided into two sorts; negative, which consist in the concealment of something which ought to be revealed; and positive, which consist in the commission of something which ought not to be done.
MISSAL, the Roman Catholic book, cóntaining the several masses which are said on particular days. It is derived from the Latin word missa, which, in the ancient Christian church, signified every part of divine service.
MISSENDEN, a town of the county of Buckingham and hundred of Aylesbury, thirty-one miles from London. It is situated on the high road to Buckingham, and near to it is a mansion called Abbey House, built upon the site of a monastery of Black Nuns. The population amounted in 1801 to 1411, in 1811 to 1576, in 1821 to 1735, and in 1831 to 1827. About two miles from this place is Little Missenden, a pleasant village, containing, in 1801, 625, in 1811, 678, in 1821, 814, and in 1831, 937 inhabitants.
MISSIO, amongst the Romans, was a full discharge given to a soldier after twenty years’ service, and it differed from the exauctoratio, which was a discharge from duty after seventeen years’ service. Every soldier had a right to claim his missio at the end of twenty years.
MISSION, in Theology, denotes a power or commission to preach the gospel. Jesus Christ gave his disciples their mission in these words, “Go and teach all nations.” The Catholics reproach the Protestants with this, that their ministers have no mission, as not being authorized in the exercise of their ministry, either by an uninterrupted succession from the apostles, or by miracles, or by an extraordinary proof of a vocation. But many amongst us deny that any other mission is necessary for the ministry than the talents necessary to discharge it.

Mission is also used for an establishment of people zealous for the glory of God and the salvation of souls, and who go and preach the gospel in remote countries and among infidels. See Religious Missions.
MISTERBIANCO, a town of the island of Sicily, in the kingdom of Naples and the province of Demone, 118 miles from Palermo. It stands upon Mount Aetna, and is the Monasterium Album of Pirro. The situation is healthy, and the inhabitants are 3500. It is surrounded with basaltic rocks and warm baths.
MISTRETTA, a parliamentary city of the island of Sicily, in the kingdom of Naples and province of Demone, seventy-eight miles from Palermo. It stands on the north shore, near the mouth of the river Nebroden, on an elevated and healthy situation. It contains 8000 inhabitants.
MITCHAM, a village of the county of Surrey, in the hundred of Wallington, seven miles from London. It is pleasantly situated on the river Wandle, a stream remarkable lor its trouts, and for the number of mills turned by it within a short distance. The population amounted in 1801 to 3466, in 1811 to 4175, in 1821 to 4453, and in 1831 to 4387.
MITCHELSTOWN, a post-town of Ireland, in the county of Cork, 132 miles south-west from Dublin. It is built on the site of an ancient town called Brighgobban, said to have been founded by a saint of whom a relic was long preserved. Lord Baron Kingston here founded an establishment called the College, where a number of decayed gentlemen and gentlewomen are comfortably provided for. Long. 8. 21. W. Lat. 52. 54. N.
MITE, a small piece of money mentioned in St Luke’s Gospel (xii. 59, and xxi. 2). In the Greek it is χοδgαντης, quadrans, or a quarter of the Roman denarius ; so that the mite was worth about seven farthings, or nearly twopence of our money.
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MITHRAS, Feasts of, in Antiquity, were celebrated amongst the Romans in honour of Mithras or the Sun. The most ancient instance of this amongst the Romans occurs in an inscription dated in the third consulate of Trajan, or about the year of our era 101. This is the dedication of an altar to the Sun under the name of Mithras, and inscribed Deo Soli Mithrae. But the worship of Mithras was not known in Egypt and Syria in the time of Origen, who died about the year of Christ 263; although it was common at Rome for more than a century before this time. The worship of Mithras was proscribed at Rome in the year 378, by order of Gracchus, prefect of the praetorium. According to Fróret, the feasts of Mithras were derived from Chaldaea, where they had been instituted for celebrating the entrance of the Sun into the sign Taurus.
MITHRAS, or Mithra, a god of Persia and Chaldaea, supposed to be the Sun, and whose worship was introduced at Rome. He is generally represented as a young man, whose head is covered with a turban after the manner of the Persians; and he supports his knee upon a bull lying on the ground, one of the horns of which he holds in one hand, whilst with the other he plunges a dagger in his neck.
MITRA was a cap or covering for the head, worn by the Roman ladies, and sometimes by the men; but it was looked upon as a mark of effeminacy in the latter, especially when it was tied upon their heads.
MITRE, a sacerdotal ornament worn on the head by bishops and certain abbots upon solemn occasions, being a sort of high cap, pointed and cleft at top. The high priest amongst the Jews wore a mitre or bonnet upon his head; and the inferior priests of the same nation had likewise their mitres, but in what respect they differed from that of the high priest is uncertain. Some writers contend that the ancient bishops wore mitres; but this is by no means a settled point.
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Mitre Island, a small uninhabited island in the South Pacific Ocean, with two remarkable promontories. Long. 169. 55. E. Lat. 11. 49. S.
MITTAU, a city of the province of Courland, in European Russia, and the capital of a circle of the same name. It is in a marshy situation, at the junction of the river Drive with the Aa. It was once fortified, but the walls have gone to decay. The ancient palace of the dukes of Courland has been repaired for an imperial residence, but never so occupied. It contains seven churches, and, including the suburbs, 740 houses, with 12,420 inhabitants. There is here a college, with nine professors, and a library of 16,000 volumes. It has little trade except at a great fair, which continues four weeks. Long. 23. 20. E. Lat. 56. 45. N.
MITTIMUS, as generally used, has two significations. First, it signifies a writ for removing or transferring of records from one court to another. Secondly, it signifies a precept or command in writing, under the hand and seal of a justice of the peace, directed to the gaoler or keeper of some prison, for the receiving and safe keeping of an offender charged with any crime, until he be delivered by due course of law.
MITWEIDA, a city of the kingdom of Saxony, in the circle of Leipsig, and bailiwick of Rochlitz. It stands on the river Ztchopau, and is one of the most considerable places in Germany for the manufacturing of cotton goods. It contains 508 houses, and 3860 inhabitants.
MITYLENE, or Mvtelene, in Ancient Geography, a celebrated, powerful, and affluent city, the capital of the island of Lesbos. It received its name from Mitylene, the daughter of Macareus, a king of the country. It is greatly commended by the ancients for the stateliness of its buildings and the fertility of its soil; but more especially for the great men it produced, particularly Pittacus, Alcaeus, Sappho, Terpander, Theophanes, Hellanicus, and others. It was long a seat of learning; and, with Rhodes and Athens, it had the honour of educating many of the great men of Rome and Greece. In the Peloponnesian war, the Mitylenians suffered greatly for their revolt against Athens; and in the Mithridatic wars they had the boldness not only to resist the Romans, but to disdain the treaties which had been concluded between Mithridates and Sylla.
MIXTURE, a compound or assemblage of several different bodies in the same mass. Chemical mixture is attended with many phenomena which are never observed in simple mixtures; such as heat, effervescence, &c. To chemical mixture belong the union of acids and alkalies, the amalgamation of metals, the solution of gums, &c.; and upon it depend many of the principal operations of chemistry.
MIZEN, or Mizzen, in nautical language, is a particular mast or sail. The mizen-mast stands in the sternmost part of the ship. In some great ships there are two of these, in which case that next the main-mast is called the main-mizen, and that next the poop the bonaventure mizen.
MIZRAIM, or Misraim, the dual name of Egypt, employed in Scripture to denote the upper and lower divisions of that country. It sometimes occurs in the singular, Mazor (2 Kings, xix. Isaiah, xix. Micah, vii.).
MNEMOSYNE, in fabulous history, a daughter of Coelus and Terra, who married Jupiter, by whom she had the nine Muses. The word mnemosyne signifies memory ; and therefore the poets have rightly called Memory the mother of the Muses, because it is to that mental endowment that mankind are indebted for their progress in science.
MOA Isle, in the Eastern Seas, is situated off the eastern extremity of Timor, and intersected by the 128th degree of east longitude. Lat. 8. 20. S.
MOAB, in Ancient Geography, a country of Arabia Petraea, so called from Moab the son of Lot, to whose posterity this country had been allotted by divine appointment (Deut. xi. 9). It was originally occupied by the Emim, [7:15:310]a race of giants extirpated by the Moabites. Moab anciently lay to the south of Ammon, before Sihon the Amo· rite stripped both nations of a part of their territory, which was afterwards occupied by the Israelites (Numb, xxi.); and then Moab was bounded by the river Arnon to the north, the Lacus Asphaltites to the west, the brook Zared to the south, and the mountains Abarim to the east.
MOAT, Ditch, or Fosse, in Fortification, a deep trench dug round the rampart of a fortified place, to prevent surprises. See Fortification.
MOATAZALITES, or Separatists, a religious sect amongst the Turks, who deny all forms and qualities in the Divine Being, and divest God of his attributes.

Amongst the Turkish divines two opinions are entertained concerning God. The first admits metaphysical forms or attributes, as, that God has wisdom, by which he is wise; power, by which he is powerful; eternity, by which he is eternal; and so of the rest. The second allows God to be wise, powerful, eternal; but does not admit any form or quality in God, for fear of admitting a multiplicity. Those who hold the latter opinion are called Moatazalites ; they who adopt the former, are denominated Sephalites. This sect is said to have first invented the scholastic divinity: it is subdivided into no less than twenty inferior sects, which mutually brand one another with infidelity.
MOBILE, a city, port of entry, and capital of Mobile county, in Alabama, one of the United States of North America. It is situated on the west side of Mobile River, at its entrance into the bay, thirty miles north of Mobile Point, which is upon the east side of the mouth of the bay, fifty-miles west by north from Pensacola, and 160 miles east from New Orleans. Although its site is dry and pleasant, in rear of it there are swampy lands and stagnant waters, and near it is a sterile country of pine woods. It possesses a considerable trade in cotton, and in this respect ranks next to New Orleans and Charleston. The value of the exports of domestic produce from Alabama in 1829 amounted to 1,679,385 dollars, and nearly the whole of this must have been shipped at Mobile. The exports have since considerably increased. This city has a regular steam-boat communication with New Orleans through Lake Ponchartrain. During most of the year steam-boats are constantly plying between this place and the towns on the river, and many vessels are continually loading at the wharfs for distant ports. In January 1836, the Mobile and Tennessee Railway Company was incorporated. This work is to extend from the city or bay of Mobile to some point on the Tennessee River, and thence north to the Tennessee line. Mobile has a bank, and issues two daily papers. The population is estimated at between 4000 and 5000. Long. 88. 21. W. Lat. 30. 40. N.

Mobile, Moveable, any thing susceptible of motion, or that is capable of being moved either by itself or by some other prior mover.

Primum Mobile, in the ancient astronomy, was a ninth heaven or sphere, imagined to exist above those of the planets and fixed stars. This was supposed to be the first mover, and to carry round all the lower spheres along with it; communicating to them a motion by which they revolved in twenty-four hours. But the diurnal revolution of the planets is now accounted for without the assistance of any such primum mobile. Perpetuum MOBILE. See Perpetual Motion.
MOCKWANPORE, a district of Hindustan, situated principally between the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth degrees of north latitude, and bounded on the south by Bettiah and Tirhoot in Bahar. It is a fertile valley, and produces abundance of rice. The capital is of the same name; it is situated on a hill, surrounded by a stone wail, and forms a hill-fort of considerable strength. Long. 85. 18. E. Lat. 27. 28. N.
MODAIN, Ul, a village of Irak Arabi, which occupies the site of Seleucia and Ctesiphon, on the eastern bank of the Euphrates. Little else remains excepting ruins of those once magnificent cities. It is twenty miles south-east of Bagdad.
MODANIA, a town of Asia Minor, situated on a gulf of the same name, on the Sea of Marmora. It was anciently called Myrlea and Apamea, the ruins of which are still visible. It is fifteen miles north-west of Bursa.
MODBURY, a town in the county of Devon and hundred of Ermington, 210 miles from London. It has some few cloth manufactories, and a good market on Thursday. It is celebrated for its white ale. The population amounted in 1801 to 1813, in 1811 to 1890, in 1821 to 2194, and in 1831 to 2116.
MODE, a word of the same general import with manner, is used as a technical term in grammar, metaphysics, and music. See the articles on these subjects.
MODERATOR, in the schools, the person who presides at a dispute, or in a public assembly. Thus the president of the annual assembly of the church of Scotland is styled moderator. Modern, or Modor, a city of the circle of Presburg, in the Austrian kingdom of Hungary. It stands at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains, and has a Catholic and a Lutheran church, and a lyceum for the latter sect. It contains 592 houses, and 4573 inhabitants, who make some good woollen cloths. It is situated in longitude 17. 11. 57. E. and latitude 48. 20. 14. N.
MODESTY, in Ethics, is sometimes used to denote humility, and sometimes to express chastity or purity of sentiments and manners. The idea of modesty is not a chimera, a popular prejudice, or an illusion arising from laws and education. Nature, which speaks the same language to all men, has, with the unanimous consent of nations, annexed contempt to female incontinence. To resist and to attack are laws of her appointment; and whilst she bestows desires on both parties, they are in the one accompanied with boldness, in the other with shame. To individuals she has allotted long spaces of time for the purposes of self-preservation, and but moments for the propagation of their species. What arm more gentle than modesty could she have put into the hands of that sex which she designed to make resistance?

If it were the custom for both sexes to make and receive advances indiscriminately, vain importunity would not be prevented. The fire of passion would never be stirred up, but languish in tedious liberty; the most amiable of all feelings would scarcely warm the human breast, and its object would with difficulty be attained. That obstacle which seems to remove this object to a distance, in fact brings it nearer. The veil of shame only makes the desires more attractive. Modesty kindles that flame which it endeavours to suppress; its fears, its evasions, its caution, its timid avowals, its pleasing and affecting finesses, speak more plainly what it wishes to conceal than passion could ever do without it.
MODICA, a city of the island of Sicily, in the kingdom of Naples, in the province of Noto, 120 miles from Palermo. It is the capital of a district of the same name, which extends over 120,000 square miles, and contains 80,000 inhabitants, who are said to be the most active and wealthy of any of the inhabitants of Sicily, and produce the most abundant supplies of corn, tobacco, oil, wine, soda, hemp, wool, canary seed, cheese, and butter, which is chiefly exported to Malta. The city is built amongst straggling craggy rocks, but contains several beautiful edifices, especially a fine Franciscan convent and two hospitals. Although situated in a humid atmosphere, it contains 21,000 inhabitants.
MODILLIONS, in Architecture, ornaments in the corniche of the Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite columns.
MODIUS, a Roman dry measure for all sorts of grain, containing thirty-two heminae, or sixteen sextarii, or one third of the amphora, amounting to an English peck. See Measure.
MODULATION, the art of forming any thing to a certain proportion.

Modulation, in Music, derived from the Latin modulari. This word, in our language, is susceptible of several different significations. It frequently means no more than an air, or a number of musical sounds properly connected and arranged. Thus it answers to what is sometimes understood by the word tune, and likewise expresses the French word chant. But the precise and technical acceptation to which it ought to be confined, is the art of composing melody or harmony agreeably to the laws prescribed by any particular key, rather than of changing the key, or of regularly and legitimately passing from one key to another.
MODULE, in Architecture, a certain measure, or dimension, taken at pleasure, for regulating the proportions of columns, and the symmetry or disposition of the whole building. Architects generally choose the semidiameter of the bottom of the column for their module, and this they subdivide into parts or minutes.
MOEN, or Moenhoe, an island in the Baltic Sea, part of the kingdom of Denmark. It is separated by a narrow strait on the north from Zealand, and by one still narrower on the west from Falster. It extends over ninety-five square miles, or about 61,000 acres, and contains one town and three villages, with 2500 inhabitants. The soil is generally good, producing excellent corn, especially barley and fruit, culinary vegetables, and flax in abundance. The annual surplus of corn is commonly 10,000 quarters. Agriculture and the fisheries are the chief employments of the inhabitants. The capital, Stege, is situated on a small bay, in longitude 11.3.4. E. and latitude 55. N., and contains a population of about 1000 persons.
MOFFAT, a small well-built town, and a celebrated watering-place, of Scotland, in the county of Dumfries. It is situated on a beautiful eminence near the junction of the Annan and Moffat waters, and is on all sides except the south encompassed by hills of various elevation. In the neighbourhood, especially to the north and west of the town, are sheltering plantations, which impart considerable beauty to the environs, as well as an air of comfort to the place itself. It consists principally of one main street, looking from the gentle declivity on which Moffat stands towards the south; and a fine prospect of the vale beneath is thus afforded. This street is judiciously laid out, spacious, and well calculated to form an agreeable promenade for both inhabitants and strangers. The church, which is a substantial stone edifice, was built towards the close of the last century. Besides this place of worship, the town is provided with a meeting-house for the United Associate Synod. Much of the town is new; and amongst the buildings are two good inns, various minor houses of entertainment, and many private ones in which comfortable lodgings may be obtained. The medicinal springs, which give celebrity to the place, and render it a favourite resort for invalids, are three in number; one of them is sulphureous, and the other two are chalybeate. The first is useful in cutaneous diseases, and the other two in affections of the stomach, and other complaints. The population of the town and parish was, in 1821, 2218, and in 1831, 2221.
MOGNANO, a town of the kingdom of Naples, in the province Terra di Lavoro, containing 5766 inhabitants.
MOGOO, a seaport of Laristan, in Persia, which has one of the most secure roadsteads in the Persian Gulf. It is formed by Cape Bostana to the eastward, and by Point Certes to the west. It is capable of containing the largest fleets, and the entrances are about ten miles asunder. It is eighty miles south of Lar.
MOHAIR, in commerce, the hair of a particular kind of goat frequent about Angora, in Turkey, the inhabitants of which are all employed in the manufacture of carablets made of this material.

Some give the name of mohair to the camblets or stuffs made of this hair, and of which there are two kinds; the one smooth and plain, and the other watered like tabbies. The difference between the two consists only in this, that the latter kind is calendered, and the other not. There are also mohairs both plain and watered, the woof of which consists of wool, cotton, or thread.