pnugues/EB7 huggingface dataset:
MELISSUS, a philosopher of Samos, was the disciple of Parmenides and Heraclius; he flourished b c. 444, and was the contemporary of Zeno of Velia, and Empedocles. He did not confine himself to the abstruse questions of philosophy, but took an active part in the political affairs of his country. We find him commanding the fleet of his native island against Pericles, b c. 440, but he did not succeed in preventing the island from falling into the hands of the Athenians. (Plut. Pericl. c. 26, 27.) Melissus supposed that the universe was infinite, unchangeable, and immoveable. He denied the reality of motion, maintaining that it was merely a deception of the senses. Of the gods he maintained that we know nothing, and therefore cannot enter into a discussion respecting their power and attributes. {Diogenes Laert. 1. ix.) He was the author of a work, πe∕9i τοv ovros, on Nature, of which Eusebius has preserved a fragment in his Praeparatio Evangelii, xiv.; and another, De Animalibus, of which Fulgentius has inserted in his mythology what Melissus mentions respecting the swan. Fabricius, Biblioth. Graeca, i. p. 820.)
MELITO, a canonized bishop of Sardis in Lydia, in the second century, remarkable for the apology he presented to the emperor Aurelius, in favour of the Christians, on which Eusebius and the other ancient ecclesiastical writers bestow great praises. But that apology, and indeed all Melito’s other works are now lost.
MELITUS, a Greek orator and poet, the accuser of Socrates. The Athenians, after the death of Socrates, having discovered the iniquity of the sentence which they had passed against that great philosopher, put Mel it us to death, 400 B.c.
MELKAPOOR, a town of Hindustan in the Nizam’s territories, in the province of Berar, twenty-eight miles south-east from Boorhanpour. Long.76.39∙ E. lat.21. 4.N.
MELKSHAM, a town of the county of Wilts, in the hundred of the same name, ninety-nine miles from London, and situated on one of the great roads to Bath. It is a well [7:14:541]built town, chiefly inhabited by persons employed in making fine cloths and cassimeres. It has a cattle market, which is held on alternate Thursdays, but none for provisions is regularly held. The inhabitants were in 1801, 4030; in 1811,4110; in 1821,4765; and in 1831,4722.
MELLE, an arrondisement of the department of the two Sèvres in France, extending over 573 square miles. It contains seven cantons, divided in to ninety-eight communes, and is inhabited by 63,800 persons. The capital is the city of the same name, situated on the river Beronne. It contains 300 houses, and 1890 inhabitants.
MELOS, in Ancient Geography, an island situated between Crete and Peloponnessus, about twenty-four miles from Scyllaeum. It is about sixty miles in circumference, and of an oblong figure. It enjoyed its independence for about 700 years before the time of the Peloponnesian war. This island was originally peopled by a Lacedaemonian colony, 1116 years before the Christian era; and hence the inhabitants refused to join the rest of the islands and the Athenians against the Peloponnesians. But this refusal was severely punished. The Athenians took Melos, and pnt to the sw ord all those who were able to bear arms. The women and children were made slaves, and the island left desolate. An Athenian colony repeopled it, till Lysander reconquered the island, and re-established the original inhabitants in their possessions.
MELPOMENE, in fabulons history, one of the muses, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne, who presided over tragedy. Horace has addressed the finest of his odes to her, as to the patroness of lyric poetry. She was generally represented as a young woman with a serious countenance; her garments were splendid; she wore a buskin, and held a dagger in one hand, with a sceptre and crown in the other.
MELTON MOWBRAY, a town of the county of Leicester, in the hundred of Frankland, 104 miles from Lon don. It stands on the river Eye, is well built, and has a good free school. It is celebrated on account of the various establishments for keeping hunters belonging to noblemen and gentlemen of fortune, who repair hither to enjoy in the highest style the amusement of fox-hunting. Two packs of the best bred hounds are kept here by subscription. There is a large market on Thursday. The population was, in 1801, 1766; in 1811,2145; in 1821, 2815; and in 1831, 3356.
MELUN, an arrondisement of the department of the Seine and the Marne, in France. It extends over 442 square miles, is divided into six cantons, and they into 107 communes, containing 54,500 inhabitants. The capital is a city of the same name, situated on the Seine; it contains 820 houses, and 6400 inhabitants, who make cotton goods, some glass, and carry on tanneries. Lat. 48. 59∙ 40. N. Long. 21. 31.25.E.
MELVILLE BAY, a harbour on the north coast of New Holland, at the west entrance into the Gulf of Carpentaria, visited by Captain Flinders, and found to be the best harbour in the gulf. Long, of Point Dundas, at the entrance of the bay, 136. 41. 40. E. Lat. 12.13. 0. S. There is an island of the same name at the entrance into this gulf, on the west side, and about five miles long. Long. 136.52. E. Lat. 12. 8. S.
MEMEL, a city of the province of East Prussia, in the government of Königsberg. It is the capital of a circle of the same name, which extends over 621 square miles, and contains, besides the city, five parishes, with 33,600 inhabitants. The city is situated on a peninsula at the mouth of the Curish Haff, on the river Dange, which empties itself into the Baltic Sea. The harbour is partly in the river and partly in an extensive basin, and both are capable of receiving more than 700 large ships, such as are required for the timber trade, which is the principal commerce of the [7:14:556]place, and for which it is advantageously situated. The city is strongly fortified, and forms the chief defence of the frontier towards Russia. It is divided into the old city, the , Fredrick’s city, and the suburbs. It has a citadel, two Lutheran churches, one reformed, and one Catholic, an hospital and school of industry, and 680 houses, mostly large, with about 10,000 inhabitants. Besides the trade in timber already noticed, much com, flax, hemp, and potash is exported. There are some linen and several leather manufactories, several breweries and distilleries, and many mills for sawing timber. The chief exports are to England and Holland, whence are derived the supplies of sugar and other colonial articles. Lat. 55.42.15. N. Long. 21.1. 0. E.
MEMMINGEN, a city of Bavaria, in the circle of the Upper Danube, and the capital of the courts of law of the several bailiwicks. It is situated in a pleasant district, on the river Ach, and contains three Lutheran and three Catholic churches, 1150 houses, and 6640 inhabitants. It is an old town, surrounded with walls, and some large antique public buildings. It has become a place of considerable manufacturing industry in linen and cotton goods, and has some trade in corn, hops, wool, wine, and ironmongery. Lat. 47. 59∙ 40. N. Long. 10. 5. 2. E.
MEMNON, a name given by the Greeks to various personages; as to a fabulous king of Ethiopia, who is said to have gone to the assistance of King Priam, during the Troian war, with a body of ten thousand men; and also to several kings of Egypt, whose era and dynasty are involved in impenetrable obscurity. The word, in fact, seems to be a distinctive or qualifying epithet, rather than a proper name; an abbreviated form of Mei-amun, “ beloved of Ammon” which the Greeks, who were unacquainted with the Egyptian language, naturally enough converted into Memnon ; and hence it may have been applied to any or every king who was conceived to be, in an especial manner, favoured or protected by Ammon, the supreme head of the Egyptian Pantheon. But there is one Pharaoh, in particular, called Memnon by the Greek writers, in honour of whom the Egyptians are supposed to have erected that celebrated statue, which is alleged to have possessed the wonderful property of uttering a sound every morning at sιmrise, resembling that which is produced by the sudden breaking of the string of a harp from excessive tension. This subject is discussed at length in the article Egypt, (vol. viij, p. 536), to which, accordingly, the reader is referred. It is sufficient to observe here that the idea of a colossal statue of hard reddish sandstone being in any way affected by the morning rays of the sun, is too absurd to deserve serious refutation. But as the ancient Greek writers, and the numerous inscriptions upon the legs and feet of the vocal colossus, all bear testimony to the fact, that some sound of the kind or description mentioned was given out by the statue; and as Strabo the geographer distinctly states that he had himself heard it, though he could not say with certainty whence the sound proceeded; the most probable hypothesis is, that it was produced by artificial means, as by striking a smart blow on some sonorous material concealed within the colossus.

There were other persons of the name of Memnon, besides the Egyptian king; as, first, a general of Darius, who, when Alexander invaded Asia, distinguished himself alike by his sagacity in council and his gallant bearing in the field; secondly, a governor of Thrace appointed by Alexander, on account of his tried fidelity and experience; and, thirdly, the author of a history of Heraclea in Pontus, written in the age of Augustus. (a.)
MEMOIRS, in literature, a species of history, written by persons who bad some share in the transactions they relate, and answering to what the Romans called Commentarii. The journals of the proceedings of a literary society, or a collection of the matters therein transacted, are likewise called Memoirs.
MEMORY, a faculty of the mind, which presents to us ideas or notions of what is past, accompanied with a persuasion that the things themselves were formerly real and present. What we distinctly remember to have perceived, we believe as firmly to have happened, as that which is now present to our senses. See Metaphysics.
MEMPHIS, the second capital of Egypt, situated on the western bank of the Nile, above the Delta, was scarcely inferior to Thebes in the extent and magnificence of its sacred edifices, and even in the time of Strabo was second only to Alexandria in point of size and population. The site and name of this ancient city were well known in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, as appears from the account of it given by El-Idrisi. By the Arabian geographer it is mentioned under the name of Menph or Memph, which is merely an abbreviation of the Egyptian name of Memphi or Memphe; the hieroglyphic name,being Ma-m-pntha, the sacred place, or temple of Phtha or Vulcan. Before the time of the Ptolemies, the place had apparently assumed the synonymous appellation of Panoupn or Panouphis, the Noph of the Hebrews, which signifies the temple of the good god. One of the most remarkable structures in Memphis was the temple dedicated to Phtha, the patron divinity of the place; of this, however, nothing but the débris remains. The same fate has overtaken the temple of Osiris, in which the sacred bull Apis was kept; another consecrated to Hsthor, or Venus; and a third dedicated to Serapis, all adjoining to the great temple of Phtha. Of the wonderful Labyrinth, which, according to Herodotus, exceeded all description, not so much as a vestige or trace remains. Indeed, so rapidly has the work of destruction proceeded, especially since the fourteenth century, that few points have been more debated in modern times than the site of this celebrated city; and, excepting its pyramids, and the great plain of mummies which attest the vicinity of the spot whereon stood the second capital of Egypt, it might almost be said of it, Etiam periere ruinae. But its distance from the pyramids and the apex of the Delta, two fixed points, having been clearly pointed out by Strabo, Pococke and Bruce were thereby led to fix upon the neighbourhood of Mokhnan and Monyet-Rahinch, two villages on the left or western bank of the Nile, as the ground upon which Memphis had once stood; and the opinion of these travellers was completely confirmed by the French during their military occupation of Egypt. In fact, after "the successive generations of Greeks, Romans, and Arabians had plundered Memphis, in the wantonness of victory, or for the purpose of transferring its monuments to Alexandria or Cairo, we may well wonder that, exclusively of those eternal structures the pyramids, enough should still remain to enable us to fix the probable site of the second capital of the Pharaohs. (See the article Egypt, vol. viij. p.'546.) (a )
MENANCABOW. This state or empire is situated in the centre of the island of Sumatra, immediately under the equinoctial line. Its dominion was formerly very extensive, comprehending the whole island. When the island of Sumatra was first visited by Europeans, this state was on the decline. In more modern times it was included between the river Palemburg and that of Siak, on the eastern side of the island; and on the western side, between those of Manjuta (now Indrapur) and Singkel, where it borders on the independent country of the Battas. The present seat of the government is inland of the settlement of Padang, at the back of a mountainous district. The country is described as a large plain, surrounded with hills producing much gold, and as clear of wood and comparatively well cultivated; the people being far more advanced in the arts than any of the other natives in Sumatra. They manufacture gold and silver filagree, and have manufactured from the earliest times arms for their own use, and for exportation to the northern parts of the island. They have other weapons, [7:14:557]namely, swords and spears, a stiletto, chiefly used for assassination, and the fatal kris, a well known species of dagger in eastern countries. The government is founded upon feudal principles, like that of most other eastern states. The sultan is despotic, though he is controled by the aristocracy; and the people are slaves.
MENANDRIANS, the most ancient branch of the Gnostics, who were so called from Menander their chief, said by some, though without sufficient foundation, to have been a disciple of Simon Magus, and himself a reputed magician. He taught, that no person could be saved, unless he were baptised in his name; and that he conferred a peculiar sort -of baptism, which would render those who received it immortal in the next world; exhibiting himself to the world with the frenzy of a lunatic rather than as the founder of a sect, or as a promised saviour. It appears by the testimonies of Irenaeus, Justin, and Tertullian, that he pretended to be one of the aeons sent from the pleroma, or ecclesiastical regions, to succour the souls which lay groaning under bodily oppression and servitude, and to maintain them against the violence and stratagems of the daemons who hold the reins of empire in this sublunary world. As this doctrine was placed upon the same foundation with that of Simon Magus, the ancient writers looked upon that personage as the instructor of Menander.
MENASSEH, Ben Israce, a celebrated rabbi,was born in Portugal about the year 1604. He was the son of Joseph Ben Israel, and followed his father into Holland, where he was educated by Rabbi Isaac Uziel, under whom he in a short time made so great progress in the Hebrew tongue, that at eighteen years of age he succeeded his instructor in the synagogue of Amsterdam. In this posthe continued several years, and married Rachel, of the family of the Abarbanels, whom the Jews believe to be descended from King David. He afterwards went to his brother Ephraim, a rich merchant, who had settled at Basil, and by whose advice he entered into trade. Some time afterwards, the hopes of a more agreeable settlement induced him to visit England, then under the protectorship of Cromwell, who gave him a very favourable reception, and one day entertained him at his table with several other learned divines. However, he soon afterwards passed into Zealand, and died at Middleburg about the year 1657. The Jews of Amsterdam obtained ,his body, and interred it at their own expense. He was of the sect of the Pharisees, and possessed lively wit, solid judgment, and great learning, with all the virtues which adorn private life. He wrote many works in Hebrew, Latin, Spanish, and English. The principal of those published in Latin are, 1. His Conciliator, a learned and curious work, in which he endeavours to reconcile those passages of Scripture which seem to contradict each other; 2. De Resurrectione Mortuorum ; 3. De Termino Vitee; ⅛. Dissertatio de Fragilitate Humana ex lapsu Adami, deque Divino in bono opere Auxilio; and, 5. Spes Israel. Dr. Thomas Pococke has written his life in English.
MENDE, an ∙arrondisement of the department of the Lozère in France, 731 square miles in extent. It contains seven cantons, divided into sixty-two communes, containing 48,250 inhabitants. The chief city of the same name is situated on a hill on the left bank of the Lot It is ill-built, with narrow and crooked streets, and poor old houses. There is a cathedral with two towers, one of great singularity of architecture. It contains 910 houses, 5100 inhabitants, who make some few coarse cloths. Lat. 44. 20 47. N. Long. 3. 24. 27. E.
MENDELI, a considerable town of Irak Arabia, on the [7:14:558]Persian side, near the Turkish frontier. There is a mountain of Naphtha about thirty miles NE. of Bagdad.
MENDELSOHN, Moses, a Jew of Berlin, and one of the most celebrated writers of Germany, who died in that city in the year 1785, at the age of fifty-seven. His first attempt as an author was soon after 1767, when he published a work entitled Jerusalem, in which, besides other bold and unjustifiable opinions, he maintains, that the Jews have a revealed law but not a revealed religion; that opinions are not subjects of revelation; and that the only religion of the Jewish nation is that of nature. He acquired great reputation by his Phaedon, or Discourses on the Immateriality and Immortality of the Soul, (translated into French 1773,8vo.), in which he unfolds this important truth, which is the great foundation . of all morality, with the wisdom of an enlightened philosopher united to the attractions of an elegant writer. In consequence of this excellent work, he was styled, by some of the periodical writers, the Jewish Socrates; but he wanted the firmness and the courage of the Grecian philosopher. His timidity, and even pusillanimity, defects too common in speculative men, prevented him from being of any essential service to his nation, of which he might have become the benefactor by being the reformer; whilst the pliancy of his character, and his modest, obliging disposition, gained him the esteem alike of the superstitious and the incredulous. After all, he could never procure admission into Berlin society, or access to the conversation of the king of Prussia. At his death he received from his nation those honours which are commonly paid to their most eminent rabbin. Though Mendelsohn was descended from a respectable family, he was very poor. In early life he entered into a countinghouse of his own nation, in which he greatly recommended himself by his capacity and integrity in business; but philosophy and literature soon became his principal occupation; and to the famous Lessing he was indebted for counsels which, without diverting his attention from those pursuits that were necessary to his subsistence, accelerated his progress in liis literary career. Even after the death of his benefactor, Mendelsohn retained for him the most sincere regard and the most lively gratitude. But notwithstanding the very strict regimen which he observed, he survived him only a few years, his feeble frame and weak constitution having been gradually undermined by intense application to study.
MENDEZ Pinto, Ferdinand, was born at Monte-mor - o-velbo in Portugal, and was at first servant to a Portuguese gentleman. In expectation of making a fortune, he embarked for India in the year 1537. But his vessel being taken by the Turks on his passage out, he was carried to Mokkha, and sold to a Greek renegado, and afterwards to a Jew, in whose possession he continued till he was redeemed by the governor of Ormus, who procured him an opportunity of proceeding out to India, agreeably to his original design. During a residence of twenty-one years in that country, he was an eyewitness of many important transactions, and experienced many singular adventures. He returned in 1558, to Portugal, where he enjoyed the reward of his labours, after having been thirteen times a slave and sixteen times sold. A very curious account of his travels was written by himself, and published at Lisbon, in 1614, folio. This work was translated into French by Bernard Figuier, a Portuguese gentleman, and printed at Paris, in 1654,4to. It is written in a very interesting manner and in a style more elegant than might have been expected from a man whose whole life had been spent in the camp and in slavery. It elucidates a great variety of particulars relating to the geography, history, and manners of the inhabitants of China, Japan, Pegu, Siam, Achem, Java, and other countries. But his name, like that of Munchausen, has unfortunately become the synonym of an imaginative romancer who sacrifices to a love of the marvellous or the incredible not only truth but probability.
MENDICITY. This subject will be treated of in connection with the general subject of Pauperism. See Poor Laws.
MENDRISIO, a town of Switzerland, the capital of a district of the same name, in the canton of Tesino. It. contains 1550 inhabitants,who are active and intelligent, and carry on much silk spinning. Being situated on the southern declivity of the Alps, the climate and productions resemble more those of Italy than the rest of Switzerland. It is only three miles from Lugamo, and nine from the lake of Como, and yields excellent wheat, wine, tobacco, and silk. It consists chiefly of one long street, with a collegiate church, a Capuchin convent, and a nunnery of Ursulines.
MENDYGHAUT, a town of Hindustan, in the province of Agra, situated on the west side of the Ganges, sixty miles W. by N. from Lucknow; it is enclosed by a mud wall, and two small rivulets. Long. 79∙ 57. E. Lat. 27. 3. N.
MENE, a Chaldaic word, which signifies “he has numbered or counted,” being one of the three words which were written upon the wall by the hand that appeared to Belshazzar, the last king of Babylon, the night on which he was put to death. See Belshazzar.
MENECRATES, a physician of Syracuse, who flourished about 3β0 before Christ, was famous for his skill in his profession, but much more for his vanity. He was always attended by some of the patients he had cured, and with whom he previously stipulated that they should follow him whithersoever he went. One appeared with the attributes of Hercules, another with those of Apollo, and others again with those of Mercury or Aesculapius; whilst he, clad in a purple robe, with a golden crown on his head, and a sceptre in his hand, presented himself, to the admiration of the public, under the name of Jupiter, and travelled through different countries escorted by these counterfeit deitiest