MIDnLETON, THOMAS FANSHAW, D.D. 



MIERI8, WILLIAM. 



ia The Old Law ; ' he also joined with Kl. t<-lf r and Jonson 

 ia Ik* rotiipofiitoo of ' The Widow,' which ie printed in Dodsley. 



Uiddleton do*, not hold th tinrt nok among the dramatist* of hfc 

 day llw two b-rt known plays, 'A Mad World, my Mastcn,' and 

 the Knrioft GUI' art chiefly marked by a bustling variety of plot, a 

 DOreaeian of incident* tone* bat extravagant, and a familiarity with 

 low Ufa, He waa however valued by bia contemporaries, aa ia proved 

 by hk Mag ehoatn to awit auch men aa Jonaon and Maaaingor. 



MlUDLETOTf. THOMAS KANSHAW, DD., the first Engliah 

 bbbop of Calcutta, waa the only aon of the Rev. Thomaa Middktou, 

 rector of Hedleston. in Oerbyabire, and waa born at that village on the 

 Mill of January. 17. In 1779 be waa admitted into Christ's 

 Hospital, London, and from them-e be proceeded to Pembroke Hall, 

 Cambridge, when he took bia drgree of B.A., with honours, in 

 January 1TM. In the following March he received ordination, and 

 entered upon th curacy of Gainsborough, in Lincolnshire. Hero he 

 edited a periodical work, entitled the ' Country Spectator,' which con- 

 tinued to appear for about seven month*, and most of the papers ,in 

 which were written by Mr. Miiidleton himself. In 1791 be became 

 tutor to the two aons of Dr. John Pretiman, archdeacon of Lincoln, 

 ud brother of the biabop. In consequence of this appointment he 

 remored, fit at to Lincoln, and afterwards to Norwich, where lie became 

 curate of St. Peter's Mancroft in 1799, having already, in 1795, been 

 presented by Dr. Pretyman to the rectory of Tansor, in Northampton- 

 shire. In 1797 he married Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of John 

 Maddison, Esq., of Gainsborough. This lady not only brought Mm 



great increase of domestic happinee*, but also assisted him iu his 

 literry labour*, by transcribing all his manuscripts fur the press. 

 In 1809 Dr. Pretyman presented him to the rectory of Bj tham, in 

 Lincolnshire. Abontthiatimehe wrote Lis chief work, ' The Doctrine 

 of the Greek Article, applied to the criticism and illustration of the 

 New Testnuient,' which be published in 1808, with a dedication to 

 Dr. Pretyman. In the same year he took his degree of D.D. at 

 Cambridge, and removed to hia living at Tunsor, where he discharged 

 bia duties in such a manner aa to gain the affection and esteem of bin 

 people. In 1809 he waa appointed by Bishop Pretyman to a stall in 

 too cathedral of Lincoln, and in 1812 to the archdeaconry of Hun- 

 tingdon. In 1811 he reigned his two livings for the vicarage of St. 

 Pancraa, Middlesex, and the rectory of Itottenbam in Hertfordshire. 

 He fixed his residence at St. Pancraa, and made the acquaintance of 

 several dignitaries of the church and other distinguished individuals. 



About this time a provision waa inserted in the Act for the renewal 

 of the Eaat India Company's Charter, enabling the crown to constitute 



bishopric in India. Calcutta was forthwith made a bishop's see, 

 and Dr. Middleton wu appointed the first bishop, and consecrated by 

 U Archbishop of Canterbury on the 8th of May 1814. After receiving 

 aa addreae from the Society for the Promotion of Christian Know- 

 ledge, of which he waa a warm supporter, requesting his aid in pro- 

 moting the object* of the society in India, and after being elected a 

 Fellow of the Rojal Society, Biabop Middleton sailed on the 8th of 

 Jane, and arrived in Calcutta on the 28th of November having 

 daring toe Toyage diligently employed himself in increasing his 

 qualifications for hia office, especially by the study of Hebrew and 

 Fenian. Aa Biabop of Calcutta he made every effort to promote the 

 Interrata of Christianity according to the tenet* of the Church of 

 England, and to aid the cause of education. He made three visitations 

 of hie immense dioorar, in two of which he directed his particular 

 Mention to the state of the Syrian Christiana in the neighbourhood 

 of Cochin, on the coast of Malabar. By hia efforts the Bishop's 

 Colltge at Calcutta waa established for the education of clergymen 

 and Diiaaionariea for the British possessions in Asia ; and he laid the 

 rat atone of its buildings on the 16th of December 1820. He instituted 



conaiatory court at Calcutta, and would have done the tame at Madras, 

 but for the opinion of the advocate-general at Madras that such a 

 rare would be illegal. 



Bishop Middleton died of a fever on the 8th of July 1822, in tl.c 

 nfu-iuurtb year of bia age. He waa buried at Calcutta, and the 

 fiMtett rteprct wai shown to his memory both in India and at borne. 

 lie wu of tall and commanding pcnon ; animated in bis manner ; 

 sanguine, generous, and amiable in bis disposition ; and, hi hia religious 

 riMrple*. firmly attached to the Church of England. Aa aU his 

 paper* wire destroyed by a direction in bis will, none of hia works 

 have appeared braid, a the ' Doctrine of the Greek Article,' the period- 

 ical publication mentioned above, and some sermons, charge*, and 

 tneu. which have been collected into a volume, to which a memoir 

 Mbop Middleton is prefixed, by H. K. Bonney, D.D., archdeacon 

 of Bedford (Loud., 1824). 



The object of Biabop Middleton's work on the Greek article is, first, 

 toMtabluh the rule* which govern the use of the article, and then to 

 apply the** mice to tbo interpretation of various peerage* in the New 

 Tntament, many of which are of inch a nature that they furnish 

 aiRmuentt for or against the ditinity of Christ, according t,. tl.o 

 difiVrent views which are taken of the lure of the article. Owing to 

 thi* dtcaiMtane* the doctrine of the Greek article ha* become the 

 subject of warm dbcattfon among theologian* ; and tome Unitarian 

 divnv* have rtnmgly opposed the vlems of Midflleton. His chief 

 ntn hate however teen received an sound by the gr<nt majority of 

 biblical eritka. A Mooed and improved edition of Middleton's work 



waa edited by Profeseor Scholefield in 1828, and a third editiun by tbe 

 1;. .. Hugh Jarnea Koee, 1883. An abstract of the work ia prefixed 

 to Valpy's edition of the Greek Testnm 



M1KL, JAN (called GIOVANNI I'KI.I.O VITK), one of the most 

 eminent of the Flemish artiata, was born in 15U9. He studied under 

 Gerard Severs, in whose school bavin; highly distinguished himself, 

 be went to Home, where he especially studied and copied the works 

 of the Caracoi and Coinggio. On being received into the academy of 

 Andrea Sacchi, he gave such proofs of genius, that Sncchi invited lam 

 to assist him in a grand design which he had already begun, lint in 

 c.'i^eijucnce of some di.'gufct, the cause of which does not ap) car, 

 Miel abandoned the elevated subjects which had hitherto engaged !,;:. 

 attention, declined tbe friendly proposal of Sacchi, and resolved tu 

 adopt the style of Bamboccio, to whom he is nowise inferior in force 

 or brilliancy. Hi* favourite subjects were holiday parties, carnival*, 

 gipsies, beggars, and pastoral scenes and persons. We speak of \, : .- 

 easel pictures, which are hia finest performances ; but he likewise 

 painted historical pictures on a large scale, both iu fresco and oil, 

 which, though wanting in elevation of design and grace in tbe heads, 

 are superior to what might be expected from an artist wl. 

 were in general of so much lower a clats. His pictures of hunting- 

 parti. B are particularly admire- 1 ; tbe figures and auiinnls of all 

 are designed with great spirit and truth to nature : the colouring is 

 trnnspar> nt, and the tints of hia skies are extremely cli ar nd delicate. 

 Hia great merit procured him the favour of Charles Emanuel, duke 

 of Savoy, who appointed him his principal painter, conferred mi him 

 the order of St. Mauritius, and presented him with a cross *ct with 

 diamonds of great value. He died in 1604. There are many capital 

 pictures by thi artist in the in. penal gallery at Vienna: and in a 

 grand saloou in the hunting seat at Turin is a series of his noblest 

 production*, representing the choce of various kinds of animals. 



.Mil J(i:VELT, MICU1EL JAN7.KN, a celebrated Dutch portrait 

 painter, was born at Delft in 1567. His father waa a goldsmith. 

 Mierevelt was a very precocious boy ; at eight years of ago he could 

 write bett< r than any schoolmaster at Delft; at twelve he could 

 engrave, and at fourteen he was a good painter, having studied for 

 about two years under Anthony Bloklandt at Utrecht 



Mierevelt painted almost exclusively portrait', and chiefly heads, 

 but he attained great celebrity, even beyond the limits of hia own 

 country, and he could not be persuaded to leave it. The Duke Albert 

 of Nassau, in consideration of bis abilities, granted him the privilege 

 of carrying on hia Meunonite worship without molestation ; and 

 Charles I. of England invited him in 1625 to visit England, an 

 invitation which Mierevelt declined because the plague was at that 

 time in London. He died at Delft in 1611. 



Mierevelt's portraits, though extremely numerous Houbraken 

 computes them at 5000 are generally well drawn and very elaborately 

 finished. Many of them ore engraved by various masters, and there 

 are a few etchings by bis own hand. He bad two sons, who were 

 likewise excellent portrait painters, Pieter Michielsz and Jan Michielsz; 

 the elder waa born in 1695, and died aged only twenty-eight in 1623 : 

 the younger also died young. 



(Van Wander, /Yd Linn i!tr Schilders, <tc., ed. 1764 ; Houbraken, 

 Grootc Schovbury der Nederlanttche Konttschildert, <kc.) 



M1ERIS, FRANCIS (called the Elder), was born. at Leyden in 

 1635. This admirable artist was at first placed under the care of 

 Abraham Toorne Vliet, one of the best designers in the Low Countries; 

 and after having made considerable progress under him, he became a 

 pupil of Gerard Douw. He soon so far surpass, d all 1m fellow- 

 students, that Gerard Douw called him the prince of his disciples. He 

 excelled Douw in. elegance, in correctness and brilliancy of colouring, 

 and in the art of painting silk, velvet, satin, and other rich stuffs, and 

 was nearly equal to him in finish. Hia works are r.n-' ly to !> seen, 

 and more rarely to be sold, and their prices ore very high. Besides 

 portraits, he painted conversations, persons performing on musical 

 instruments, patients attended by their physician, &c. His own price 

 for his pictures was calculated according to the time he spent upon 

 them, at the rate of a ducat an hour. His fimst portrait ia that of 

 the wife of M. Cornelius Plaats, in whose family it was carefully pre- 

 served, according to Pilkingtcn, though very large sums had been 

 offered for it Some of hia picture* are in the Florence Gallery. He 

 died in 1681, aged forty-six. 



M1KIUS, FRANCIS (called the Young Francis), was the son of 

 William, but much inferior to him. He made numerous copies of the 

 works of bis father and grandfather, and it is probable that such copies 

 are put off at public sales as their performances. He is more distin- 

 guished BS an historian, by bia ' Historic der Nederlandpche Voreten,' 

 3 volt., fol., the Hsgue, 1732-5 : and ' G'root Charterbock der Graven 

 von Holland, Zeeland, en Vriesland,' 4 vols., Leipzig, 1753 56. Tho 

 history of his native town Leyden was left unfinished, one volume, 

 only having In MI puMiahed. He died in 1763, aged seventy-six. N 



MI Kills. WILLIAM (called the Younger), the son and disciple of 

 Francis Mieris the elder, waa born at Leyden in 1662. H<; lind mode 

 considerable progress during the life of bin father ; but having lost 

 him when only nineteen years of age, he devoted himself to tin; study 

 of nature. His first subjects were taken from private life, like those 

 of his father, in which every port waa copied minutely aftir nature. 

 He afterwards attempted historical com] a-itim v, and his earliest 



