195 



MELI, GIOVANNI. 



MELLAN, CLAUDE. 



166 



of Alcaldes" at Madrid; and his first appearance was as the accuser 

 in the case of the murder of Castillo, one of the most celebrated causes 

 in the history of Spanish jurisprudence, and which was then attracting 

 the attention of all Spain. On the 27th of August, in the same year, 

 Melendez received an order to leave Madrid in four-and-twenty hours. 

 The fall of Jovellanos, whom Godoy had just overpowered in the 

 ministry, drew with it that of his friend. Banished from the capital 

 without a word of explanation or accusation, and afterwards, just as 

 be thought himself on the point of reinstatement, again plunged m 

 disgrace, it was not till 1802 that Melendez obtained permission to 

 settle in Salamanca, nor till 1808 that, on the fall of Godoy by the 

 revolution of Araujuez, he was recalled to the capital. The outrages 

 offered to his country in that year by the French called forth two 

 poems under the title of ' Alarmas Espanolas,' but these were quite 

 unworthy of the fame of Meleudez, and only made remarkable by his 

 subsequent career. The idea took possession of him, probably 

 fostered by the wrongs he had himself suffered, that' the old order of 

 things in Spain had come to an end, and he had the weakness to pass 

 over to the French party, and to allow himself to be sent by Murat on a 

 mission to Asturias, in company with the Count del Pinar, to appease 

 the excitement of the people. 



Never, says Quintana, was a weakness more terribly expiated. 

 As they entered Oviedo the delegates were met by an exasperated 

 mob, who tore them from their carriage, and to protect their lives 

 they were lodged by the authorities in the prison. The mob soon 

 repented of its clemency in allowing them to escape its hands, burst 

 open the prison door*, and dragged out the captives for instant 

 execution. Melendez endeavoured to assuage their fury by reciting 

 one of his recent patriotic odes, but this had no effect, and it was only 

 as a great favour that the intended victims were allowed a confessor. 

 Melendez had the presence of mind to make his confession as long as 

 they would allow, but at last even that was ended, and he was tied 

 to a tree, while a body of the men planted themselves in front with 

 th ir loaded guns ready to fire. Fortunately for him it struck them 

 tbat to be shot in the breast was too honourable a death for a traitor, 

 and they untied him and tied him again in a position to be shot in the 

 back. Tuia delay saved him. The 'Cabildo,' or town-council, made 

 its appearance at the moment with some ecclesiastics, bearing the 

 Host, and succeeded in carrying off the prisoners in a procession to 

 the cathedral. A few days after, Melendez and his companion were 

 dismissed, and they made their way in safety back to Madrid. The 

 warning he had received would, it might have been imagined, have 

 been found sufficient, but it proved otherwise. A name BO distin- 

 guished WHS of value to the French party, and the persuasions of 

 Joseph Bonaparte, and it has been said, a few blandishments from 

 Napoleon in person, were sufficient to induce Melendez to accept the 

 offices of counsellor of state and minister of public instruction under 

 the government, of which his beet friends Jovellanoa, Quiutana, and 

 Cienfuegos, wtre either the antagonists or the victims. 



In the general ruin of the French cause he was of course involved, 

 and he shared the retreat of the French army from the capital to the 

 frontier. As he arrived on the banks of the Bidassoa he went on his 

 knees to kiss the soil of Spain, which he was then, in his sixtieth year, 

 about to leave for the first time, and he exclaimed with a sad presenti- 

 ment, " I shall never tread thee more." The prophecy proved true. 

 After four years of poverty and obscurity, alleviated by n slight 

 pension from the French restored government and the tender atten- 

 tions of some of his countrymen, Meleudez, who had been previously 

 struck with paralysis, died at Montpelier on the 21st of May 1817, in 

 the arms of his wife and nephew, lie had no children. 



The early poems of Melendez, especially the 'Anacreontics,' still 

 retain their fame. In his later years he made alterations in them 

 which he considered improvements, but as in the case of several other 

 poets, the tirst reading has had the abiding favour of the public. The 

 standard edition of bis works is one in four volumes, published in 

 Madrid in 1S20 at the expense of the Spauish government, with the 

 life by Quiutana, to which reference has previously been made. A 

 small volume was publinhed at Madrid in 1S21 of his ' Discutsos 

 Forenaes ' or ' Legal Discourses,' including among others one in which 

 he contends in favour of a legislative measure to forbid the street 

 ballads in which the deeds of smugglers and robbers are held up for 

 approbation, and to substitute for them compositions on the great histo- 

 rical deeds of Spaniards and the discovery of America, &c., for which 

 he was of opinion that prizes should be offered by the government. 



MELI, GIOVANNI, was born at Palermo, in Sicily, about 1740. 

 He studied medicine, in which science he took the degree of doctor, 

 and afterwards became professor of chemistry in the university of bis 

 native city. But he is best known for his poetical compositions in 

 the vernacular dialect of Sicily, which have earned him the name of 

 the modern Theocritus. HU pastoral poems are equal to any compo- 

 sitions of the came kind which Italy has ever produced. The luxuriant 

 beauty and variety of Sicilian scenery inspired the author, who has 

 faithfully portrayed in his eclogues the various appearances of the 

 teasonn in tbat fine climate, as well as the rich tints of the sky, the 

 bold features of the mountains and coatU, the occupations of the 

 shepherd and the husbandman ; and he has enlivened his description 

 with love-songs, which have become popular in Sicily, and have been 

 set to music for the favourite native instrument, the guitar. Meli 



has excelled particularly in his ' Ecloghe Peaeatorie,' or fishermen's 

 dialogues, in which he has borrowed the peculiar language and 

 humour of that class of people. Unlike Guarini, Tasso, and other 

 courtly writers of pastoral poetry, Meli makes his shepherds, husband- 

 meu, and fishermen speak their own homely and unpretendbg 

 language, which is nevertheless susceptible of poetical imagery. The 

 seventh idyll describing the lamentation and the miserable end of 

 Polemuni, a man persecuted by fate, and forsaken by his fellow- 

 creatures, is in a loftier key. 



Meli's odes, which fill the second volume of his works, are mostly 

 amorous, though not indecent. Some of them are exquisitely finished, 

 such as ' Lu Labbru ' (the lip), and ' Lu Pettu ' (the breast). An 

 Italian version of them has been published by Professor Kosini of 

 Pisa, which however is inferior in gracefulness to the original. 



Meli has written a mock heroic poem, under the title of 'Don 

 Chisciotti ' (Don Quixote), in twelve cantos, which is a sort of imita- 

 tion of Cervante's celebrated novel. It abounds with beauties of 

 detail, but the ludicrous prevails throughout, and often becomes mere 

 farce. He also wrote a volume of fables, besides satires, some of 

 which reflect on peculiar features of Sicilian life and manners, and 

 other minor poems. His works were collected and published at 

 Palermo, under his own revision, in 1814, in seven volumes. King 

 Ferdinand granted the author a copyright for ten years, and gave him 

 also a small pension, for which the author expresses his gratitude 

 in one of his compositions. Meli died, not long after, at an 

 advanced age. 



The Sicilian dialect has assumed, under his pen, a delicacy of 

 refinement which places it foremost among the written languages of 

 Italy. Some remarks on the Sicilian and other Italian dialects, with 

 specimens of their poetical capabilities, are given in an article ' On 

 the Study of the Italian Language and Literature,' in No. X. of the 

 ' Quarterly Journal of Education ; ' see also an article ' On the 

 Dialects and Literature of Southern Italy,' in No. IX. of the 'Foreign 

 Quarterly Review," November 1S29. 



ME'LITO, SAINT, was bishop of the church at Sardis, in Lydia, in 

 the 2nd century. He is supposed by some to have been the angel of 

 the church at Sardis, to whom St. John addressed the epistle in Rev. 

 iii. 1-6 ; but this conjecture is not supported by any aucient writer, 

 and it is also improbable on account of the length it assigns to the 

 episcopate of Melito. 



By Polycrates, bishop of Ephesus, in the 2nd century, he is called 

 *' Melito the Eunuch," probably because he lived in celibacy, in order 

 the better to discharge the duties of his office : the same writer adds, 

 that he was guided in all his conduct by the influence of the Holy 

 Spirit. (Euseb., ' Hist. Ecc.,' v. 24.) Tertullian, as quoted by Jerome, 

 praises his eloquent and oratorical genius, and says that he was 

 thought by many to be a prophet. Yet he has been charged with 

 heterodoxy ; but upon uo better ground than the titles, or perhaps a 

 misunderstanding of the titles, of one or two of his works. During 

 the persecution of the Christians iu "the reign of Marcus Antoninus, 

 Melito wrote an apology for them. It is addressed to the emperor, 

 but we are not told whether it ever reached his hands. Eusebius, who 

 has preserved au extract from this apology, places it iu A.D. 170; 

 Tillemont assigns to it the date of 175 ; Basuage au 1 Larduer, that of 

 177. Melito died and was buried at Sardis before the end of the 2nd 

 century. 



Eusebius and Jerome have given lists of Melito's works, of which the 

 most important is a ' Catalogue of all the Books of the Old Testament 

 which are universally acknowledged.' This is the earliest catalogue 

 of the Old Testament Scriptures found in any Christian writer. It 

 was obtained, as Melito himself informs us, iu Palestine, whither he 

 had travelled on purpose to procure it. It contains all the books at 

 present received as canonical, except Nehemiah and Esther, of which 

 the former is probably included under 'Esdras' (Ezra). The ' Proverbs 

 of Solomon' are also called ' Wisdom.' Melito wrote a book on Easter, 

 a fragment of which is preserved by Eusebius, on the occasion of a 

 controversy which arose iu Laodicea concerning the time of keeping 

 that feast. All hia other words are lost ; but from the title of one of 

 them, ' Concerning the Devil and the Revelation of John,' Larduer 

 thinks it probable that he received the Apocalypse as cauouical, and 

 ascribed it to the apostle John. All the remaining fragments of 

 Melito's writings have been collected by Routh, ' Reliquiae Sacne,' 

 vol. i. 



(Eusebius, Uitt, Ecc., iv. 26 ; Hieronymus, I>e Vir. Ill-v.it. ; Du Pin, 

 Ecc. Hiit. t cent. 2; Cave, Linos of tli<e Fathers, vol. i., p. 179; Lardner, 

 Credibility, part ii., c. 15.) 



MELLAN, CLAUDE, a distinguished French engraver, was born 

 at Abbeville in 1601. He studied painting in Rome under the then 

 celebrated Vouet ; but he soon gave up painting for engraving, which 

 from that time became his chief business. He remained some years 

 in Rome, and engraved many plates there, executed in the ordinary 

 method of line-engravers. He did not altogether adopt his own 

 peculiar method of engraving by a single Hue until his return to 

 France. He latterly executed all his plates by single lines, that is, 

 instead of crossing one set of lines by a second or even a third set, 

 where great depth was required, lie accomplished a similar effect by 

 merely thickening the single set of lines ; the varieties of light and 

 f hade he produced wholly by varying the thickness of the line. Mellau 



