M; the 13th letter and the 10th consonant in the English alphabet, a labial, produced by a slight expiration with a compression of the lips. It is one of the liquids or semi-vowels, and was not therefore considered by the Romans a consonant; but was very faintly pronounced,rather as a rest between two syllables, than as an articulate letter (Quint. ix. 4), which explains why it was subject to elision. 1. It is one of the first letters which children learn to pronounce, in connexion with the easy vowel a. (See A.) 2. It passes easily into other letters, losing itself in the preceding or succeeding letters-a circumstance which the etymologist must bear in mind, in seeking the derivation or connexion of words having an m in their root; thus, for instance, the German Wange (cheek) is the ancient Mangon, and the middle Latin gives hombarius as well as hobarius. The Italians use o for the Latin um, at the end of words. We even find the m suppressed at the end of words, on some ancient medals and inscriptions; thus, on the medals of the Emilian and Plautian families, we find PREIVERNV. CAPTV.; on others, AVGVSTORV. If the m is fully pronounced, the sound passes partly through the nose, as is also the case with n. Hence, in French, it is nasal at the end of a word, as in parfum, faim, some foreign words excepted, as Abraham, Jerusalem. The mem of the Hebrews, as a numeral, signified 40; the same was the case with the Greek ;, however (characterized by the stroke before it) signified 40,000. In Latin, it signified 1000: the original designation of this number was double D or (CIO), which gradually became an M. MM denotes 2000, and M 1,000,000, or a thousand thousand. In numismatics, M stands for a great number of words; for Macedonia, as LEG. M. XX. Legio Macedonica Vicesima; Malea, Massilia, Mamertini, and many other places or countries; for Marcus, Manlius, Marcellus, and other names; for magnus, mili15

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taris, menses, mater, magister, &c.; EQ. M. for equitum magister. M. D. signifies medicina doctor (doctor of medicine); A. M. artium magister (master of arts); MS. manu scriptum (manuscript); MSS. (manuscripts). D. O. M. signifies Deo optimo maximo (To the best and greatest God, or, To the Most High). On tombs, D. M. S. means Diis Manibus Sacrum. M stands for noon, from the Latin meridies. Hence P. M. post meridiem (afternoon); A. M. ante meridiem (forenoon). In medicine, it signifies misce or misceatur ; also manipulus (a hand full). On modern coins, it signifies-1. the mint of Toulouse; 2 with a small o over it, Mexico; 3. with a crown, Madrid. M, in French, often stands for Monsieur; MM. for Messieurs. In music, it is used for the Italian words meno (less), mano (hand), mezzo and moderato (moderate). M'c stands, in Scotch and Irish names, for Mac (q. v.). likewise used by printers for the unit of measure of printed matter. Types of the same fount have bodies of equal thickness in one direction, and the square of this dimension is used in determining the amount of printed matter in a given space, as a page for instance, and is termed an m.

Mis

MAB; the queen of the fairies, so fancifully described by the sportive imagination of Shakspeare, in Romeo and Juliet. Chaucer speaks of a king and queen of Fayrie, but seems to attribute the royal dignity to Proserpine and Pluto. The origin of the more amiable Oberon and Titania or Mab (if they are not the same) is uncertain. Poole, in his Parnassus (1657), thus describes the Fairy court: Oberon, the emperor; Mab (amabilis), the empress; Perriwiggin, Puck, Hobgoblin, Tom Thumb, &c., courtiers; Hop, Mop, Drop, Tib, Tit, Tin, Tick, Pip, Trip, Skip, &c. &c., maids of honor; Nymphidia, mother of the maids. Puck is the emperor's jester. Drayton's Nymphidia, and the Midsummer Night's Dream, are delightful illustrations of the antiquities of queen Mab's empire.

MABILLON, John, a learned French Benedictine of the congregation of St. Maur, a writer on ecclesiastical antiquities and diplomatics, was born in 1632, in Champagne, and studied at the college of Rheims. He took the monastic vows in 1654, and, in 1660, was ordained a priest. After having assisted father D'Acheri, in his Spicilegium, he edited the works of St. Bernard; and, in 1668, published the first volume of the Acta Sanctorum Ordinis S. Benedicti, of which the ninth and last volume appeared in 1702. One of his most important productions is his treatise De Re Diplomatica, Lib. vi (1681, folio). He was sent to Italy, with a commission from the king, to make a literary collection; and, returning to France with books and MSS. for the royal library, he published an account of his journey, &c., under the title of Museum Italicum (1687, 2 vols., 4to.). In 1701, he was chosen a member of the academy of inscriptions, and, in that year, began to publish his Annales Ordinis S. Benedicti, four volumes of which appeared previously to his death, in 1707. Father Mabillon was the author of many other works of research, distinguished for liberality of sentiment and freedom of opinion, as well as for profound learning.

MABLY, Gabriel Bonnot de, a French political and historical writer, was born at Grenoble, 1709, and died at Paris, 1785. He was educated by the Jesuits at Lyons, but as soon as he was at liberty to follow his inclination, he abandoned theological studies for Thucydides, Plutarch and Livy. The young abbé now went to Paris, where he was favorably received by madame De Tencin, sister of the cardinal, to whom he was related, and soon after published his Parallèle des Romains et des Français (1740), which was received with applause, and obtained him the patronage of cardinal Tencin. That minister employed Mably to write his memorials and reports; and it was from minutes drawn up by himself, for the use of the cardinal, that Mably prepared his Droit public de l'Europe fondé sur les Traités. He was appointed, in 1743, to carry on the secret negotiations with the Prussian ambassador at Paris, with whom he concluded a treaty against Austria. The instructions of the French minister at the congress of Breda (1746) were drawn up by him. Notwithstanding this prospect of success in politics, a misunderstanding with the cardinal induced him to retire from affairs, and devote himself to study. The tone of his subsequent publications

is somewhat different from that of his Parallèle. Among them are Observations sur l'Histoire de la Grèce; Observations sur les Romains (1751); Entretiens de Phocion (in which he gives his ideas of virtue, patriotism, and the mutual obligations of the state and the citizens towards each other); Observations sur l'Histoire de France (of which an edition has lately been published by Guizot, with notes); Entretiens sur l'Histoire. His complete works appeared at Paris, in 1794, 15 vols. His style is easy, pure, often elegant, but tame; his views often partake of the asperity of his temper.

MABUSE, or MAUBEUZE, John de, an able artist, was born at Maubeuze, a village of Hainault, in 1492, and studied the works of the great masters in Italy. His habits were so dissipated, that the patience, fidelity and beauty with which his pieces were executed, were doubly remarkable. He painted a great altar-piece, representing the descent from the cross, for a church in Middleburg; but the church and the picture were destroyed by lightning. Another descent from the cross, by him, is still at Middleburg. His irregularity occasioned his imprisonment in this place; and, during his confinement, he painted several fine pieces, which are lost. He afterwards went to England, and painted several pieces for Henry VIII. Several excellent works of his are at Middleburg; the best of which is the altarpiece, representing the descent from the cross. Having received a piece of rich brocade, in order to appear before the emperor Charles V, he sold it at a tavern, and painted a paper suit so exceedingly like it, that the emperor could not be convinced of the deception, until he examined it with his own hands. He died in 1562.

MACABER; according to some, an early German poet, author of a work entitled the Dance of Death, or, the Dance of Macaber, consisting of a series of dialogues between Death and a number of personages belonging to various ranks of society. Others suppose the word merely a corruption of the Arabic magbarah, a cemetery. (See Death, Dance of.) An English translation of these dialogues was published by Dugdale and Dodsworth, in the 3d volume of the Monasticon Anglicanum; and French and Latin versions have been repeatedly printed.

MACAO, China, in Quang-tong; lon. 113° 35′ E.; lat. 22° 13′ N. This town is built on a peninsula, or rather on a small island, which has an area of 106

square miles, and contains 33,800 inhabitants. It is the only European settlement in China, and was ceded to the Portuguese in 1580. (See India, Portuguese.) The Portuguese fortified the place, and surrounded it with strong walls. Macao has a Portuguese governor, and a Chinese mandarin; and the English and other nations have factories here. The houses are of stone, built after the European manner; but they are low, and make little show. The city is defended by three forts, built upon eminences; its works are good, and well planted with artillery. It was formerly a place of the greatest importance, being the centre of the trade of the Portuguese in the eastern part of Asia. Since the decline of the Portuguese trade, the town has sunk into a place of comparatively little importance. In the garden of the English factory is shown a cave, called the grotto of Camoens (q. v.), in which he is said to have composed the Lusiad.

MACARTHY, Sir Charles; an Irish officer, who commanded at Cape Coast, in 1821. Whilst making preparations to repel the Ashantees, the king sent his compliments to him, and said he hoped to have his head, as an ornament to his great wardrum. In 1823, sir Charles marched against the Ashantees, with a mixed force of Europeans and blacks, the latter of whom ran away, and, the whites being defeated, their commander was captured by the victor, who ferociously realized his menace, January 21, 1824. In a subsequent battle, the Ashantees were entirely defeated, and this barbarous trophy was recovered and conveyed to the relations of sir Charles.

MACARTNEY, George (earl Macartney), the son of a gentleman of Scottish descent, was born in Ireland, in 1737, and educated at Trinity college, Dublin; after which he became a student of the Temple. In 1764, he was appointed envoy extraordinary to Russia, afterwards became secretary to the lord-lieutenant of Ireland, and was created knight of the Bath. In 1775, he was made captain-general and governor of the Caribbee islands, Grenada, the Grenadines and Tobago. Grenada was invaded and taken by the French, and the governor was sent a prisoner to France. On his return to England, he was appointed to the presidency of Madras, having previously received an Irish peerage. On his embassy to China, in 1792, he conducted with great address, and succeeded in the chief object of his mission. His only subsequent public sit

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uation was that of governor of the cape of Good Hope, whence he returned, on account of ill health, in 1797. He died March 31, 1806. His English earldom was bestowed on him for his services in China. Lord Macartney was the author of a Journal of his Chinese embassy, and other publications. (See Staunton's Embassy to China, and Barrow's Life of Lord Macartney.)

MACASSAR; a city of Celebes, on the south-west coast, capital of a kingdom called Macassar or Bony; lon. 119° 50′ E.; lat. 5° 10′ S.; population, according to Hassel, 100,000. This town is the chief settlement of the Dutch on the island, and called by them Fort Rotterdam. The town is built on a neck, or point of land, at the mouth of a river which forms a harbor, with water enough for a ship to come within cannon shot of the walls. The town is large; the houses are of wood, built on piles, to guard against inundations. The country round about is level and beautiful, abounding with plantations and groves of cocoa-nut trees. At a distance inland, the country rises into hills of great height, and becomes rude and mountainous. (See East India Company, Dutch.)

MACASSAR, STRAITS OF; the channel or narrow sea between Celebes and Borneo, about 350 miles long, and from 110 to 140 wide, except at the north entrance, where it is contracted to 50 miles.

MACAULEY, Catherine, or GRAHAM, the name of her second husband, was born in Kent, at the seat of her father, John Sawbridge. She was well educated, and became early attached to the perusal of history. In 1760, she married doctor George Macauley, a physician, and, in 1763, published the first volume (4to.) of her History of England from the Accession of James I to that of the Brunswick Line. This was continued, in successive volumes, to the eighth, which completed the work, in 1783. The spirit of this history is almost purely republican. The other works of Mrs. Macauley are, Loose Remarks on some of Mr. Hobbes' Positions; an Address to the People of England on the present Important Crisis (1775); a Treatise on the Immutability of Moral Truth, afterwards republished, with additional matter, under the title of Letters on Education (1790). Her last publication was a Letter to Earl Stanhope, in reply to the opinions of Burke on the French Revolution (1791). In 1785, Mrs. Macauley married a young man of the name of Graham, and the disparity of their ages sub

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jected her to much ridicule. She paid a visit to general Washington, in America, in 1785, and died in 1791.

MACAW. These magnificent birds belong to the parrot tribe, and are distinguished by having their cheeks destitute of feathers, and the feathers of the tail long. They form the sub-genus ara. They are only found in the tropical regions of South America. They prefer moist situations, from the palm growing in such spots, of the fruit of which they are very fond. They usually go in pairs; sometimes, however, they assemble, in the morning and evening, in great numbers. Although they fly well, they seldom wander far, except in quest of food, and regularly return in the evening. They build their nests in the hollow of rotten trees, and lay twice in the year, generally two eggs at a time. The male and female share alternately in the labor of incubation and rearing the young. When young, they are easily tamed, and soon grow familiar with persons whom they frequently see. But, like all the parrot tribe, they have an aversion to strangers, and particularly to children. In a domesticated state, they will feed on almost every article, but are especially fond of sugar, bread and fruits. They do not masticate the latter, but suck them by pressing their tongue against the upper mandible. Like the other parrots, these birds use their claws with great dexterity, though, in climbing, they always begin by taking hold with their bill in the first instance, using their feet only as a second point of their motion. When they were first carried to Europe, their great beauty and size caused them to be in much request, and they were considered as valuable presents between sovereign princes. This bird was spoken of, by Aldrovandus, as early as 1572.

MACBETH lived about the middle of the eleventh century. He served against the Danes as general of his relation Duncan I or Donald VII, king of Scotland. The Danes were completely defeated, and Macbeth now conceived the idea of obtaining possession of the Scottish throne. He appears, like most men in his time, to have believed in the predictions of the pretenders to supernatural knowledge. On his return from his victory over the Danes, three old women met him with the insignia of the witches of that period, and saluted him—the first, as thane of Glamis; the second, as thane of Cawdor; the third, as about to be king of Scotland. The two first predictions being almost

immediately fulfilled, Macbeth was led to hope for the accomplishment of the last, and, after brooding over the subject for a time, determined to assassinate the king; and perpetrated the crime when the king was visiting him at his castle of Inverness. The king's sons were obliged to save themselves by flight; and Macbeth brought the nation to favor his cause, by liberality to the nobility, and by strict justice in his administration. For 10 years, he reigned with moderation; but, after this period, he suddenly became a tyrant. His first victim was Banquo, who had been privy to the murder of the king. Feeling insecure, he erected a castle on Dunsinane, from which he could overlook the whole country. This is the legend, which has been adopted by poetry. But history shows no such person as Banquo; Duncan was slain near Elgin, and not in Macbeth's own castle; and Macbeth, though he ascended the throne by violence, had in fact a better claim to it than Duncan, and was a firm, just and equitable prince. Macduff, thane of Fife, fled to England, and urged Malcolm, the son of the murdered Duncan, to take vengeance. Assisted by Siward, earl of Northumberland, they returned to their country. Macbeth was defeated, fled to his castle, and was slain in the 17th year of his reign, A. D. 1057.

MACCABEES; two apocryphal books of the Old Testament, which contain the history of Judas surnamed Maccabeus, and his brothers, and the wars which they sustained against the kings of Syria, in defence of their religion, and the independence of their country. (See Jews.) The author and the age of these books are uncertain. The council of Trent placed them among the canonical books, but the Protestants have rejected them as apocryphal.

MACCARONI, MACARONI Or MACCHERONI; a preparation of fine flour, which forms a favorite article of food among the Italians. It is eaten in various ways, generally simply boiled, and served up with grated cheese. Maccaroni is generally made in pieces resembling a long pipe handle, of small diameter; sometimes, however, in other shapes, as flat, square, &c. It is a wholesome food, and a national dish of the Italians, particularly of the Neapolitans. It is made best in the neighborhood of Naples, whole villages living almost solely by the manufacture; and, in Naples, it is continually sold in the streets, cooked for the lower classes, particularly for the lazzaroni. The pieces being very long, and being held in