MI SOS. 



MIRABEAU, COMTE DE. 



with JUDO**!, bat wer* afterward* abandoned on account of the diffi- 

 culty of loading the run. In ISil, Captain Norton, who served last 

 before bo retired in the 34th regiment, oomplet d his elongated nne- 

 parcaasioa shrll and expanding olougaUd shot, both of uhich Were 

 t**l*d with luooea* in IbM at Woolwich and elsewhere; but no 

 atucapt wa* made to introduce them into the aarrice, the Ordnance 

 fnmmiltM adhering to the old opinion that th* spherical form was 

 baas. Aa Ma*th, ia 18S*. M. Caroo, a Frtook offioar of artillery, intro- 

 duced a rifle loaded with a conical ball, and modification* and improve. 

 meat* of a similar ball were ma le by Captain Itlou, M. Tamiaier, and 

 finally by M. MinUS *h introduced effectively the principle of expan- 

 sion. The ball of the Minid" rifle U of an elon.-aU-d form, and eutors 

 UM rile fn-ely ; it has a conical point in front, and a hollow behind, 

 which throw* UM centre of gravity forward, the expansion beiug beoured 



&, metal cup or thimble, so a* completely to fill the groove*, and 

 K a night of UM utmost praoUoa and a rang* of very great exteu t 



Mr. Greener, of Aston How Town, Birmingham, in 1 636 exhibited 

 out* experiments at Newcastle with bullet* constructed on the 

 principle of expansion ; and in a letter published in the ' Time* ' 

 newspaper, December 35, 1841, be explained the principle, ha did 

 aU> before acommitUe of the Board of Ordnance i* 1842. In June 

 1S< Mr. Greener addresaed a memorial to the War department, 

 Aiming remuneration a* having been the fint to explain and recom- 

 mend tb* principle of expansion in the bullet* of rifle*, now in use 

 ia UM British army. Mr. Greener'* claim wa* referred t > an Ordnance 

 Committee, and, in accordance with their report, Lord Panmure, the 

 for the War department, on the 17th of December sent a 

 tion to Mr. Ore. nrr, informing him that he had, with the 

 i of the Lorda Commiasionera of her Majesty's Treasury, 

 the aubmiasion to parliament of an award to Mr. Greener 

 of loOOt, in UM array-ettimate* for 1857-5S, a* a public recognition of 

 hi* "priority in bringing this invention before the War department." 



MINUS, in history, appear* aa th* lawgiver of Crete. Thoae critics 

 who coosidrr all the penoDagM of mythological history as little more 

 than nani*-> to which ia attached the history of social development, 

 would view Minoa limply a* the concentration of that spirit of order 

 l.ich about bis time began to exhibit in th- i-lund of Crete the forms 

 of a regular polity. But we are not to consider, because there is much 

 odouoVdly mythological abjut the history of Minoa, that therefore 

 bo never existed. The concurrent testimony of Thucydides and Aris- 

 totle shows it to have been the general belief in their times, that Minos 

 was UM fint among the Greek* who Boe*e**ed any amount of naval 

 power. According to the latter author, he conquered and colonised 

 several ialaada, and at last peri-bed in an expedition against Sicily. 



In UM aeoood book of the ' Politic*,' Aiistotle draws a parallel 

 b*t*u UM Cretin and Spartan institution*, and he there ascribes the 

 nUoimhurat of tr.e Cretan law* to Minos. Thin comparison, aided 

 probably by the connection which existed between Crete aud Sparta, 

 owing to coloniea, a* early a* th* time of Homer, ha* no doubt 

 aogiaatod UM theory invented and supported by Muller, that Minos 

 wa* a Doric prince* theory, aa Mr. Thirl wall aseerU, utterly unknown 



* n ThirKl-ftll'a * Hi,f,,rv 



The sul.j. ct if ably diacuaaad in Thirlwall's : 

 of Greeoi/ I 135. 



Beane port Homeric autboritia* make Mmw a judge in Hades in 

 company with /Kacua, Knadawwnthua bcMg chief judge. In this 

 character be appears in a short Platonic dialogue called ' Minoa,' or 



w,' wkMfe however aome critics consider spurious. 

 Mino* to a ton of Jupiter; this being UM usual method taken by 

 UM myUtograpbar* to expreaa a panoo so ancient that they could put 

 him on a level with no mere mortal ; and from Jupiter, as hi* father, 



thoae law* which he afterward* delivers to men. 

 MUM* i* otiiefly remarkable aa belonging to a period when history 

 aad mythology interlace, and aa uniting in hia own person the chief 

 *aa*t*rltiBi of both. He is a KID of Jupiter and yet the first 

 lannnr of a navy ; judge ia Hade*, but not the lea* for that a 

 Uaff of Crete. It i* vry cmriooa, ti.at Cret*, so f ,mou* at this age, 

 both for M naval power aad for being the birthplace of the I ilympian 

 roda, should MTrraftorward* have attained anything like that cele- 

 brity whiefa iu position aeemed to promi*-. lu oftVu ein to uave 

 been that of lead ing the way in naval supremacy. Too inaulated for 

 of a durable nature, it waa loot in th* confederate or opposing 

 of Athena- aad Sparta; but while they were yet in their 

 r. iu iMular form (tofrth*r'perhaps with some Asiatic refinement) 

 J which in an early sgo i* irresistible. 



lorir. 

 rave to l 



(Homer, //., ii. 85 ; xni. 45; iiv. 321 ; Odyssey, xix. 175; Thuoy- 



' 



b. u. aatl vii. ; /'WefepcaJ Ifawwa, On th* Name* of some of the 

 Aau-llrllrmc Inhabitanta of Greece.') 



M I .tRT KLLIOT, aaxxmo EARL OF, tl.e eldtat son of 



the int earl (who was nico saively Brituh envoy at Vienna, president 

 of Uw Board of Control, and go'emor-general of Bengal), wa* born in 

 178S, aad was brought op for tb* diplomatic service. In 180 he wa* 

 beted mambor of parliament for Aahborton, and raprraented the 

 count; of Roxburgh in 111 8, but in the following year hi* father'* 

 death remove I him to the Upper House. Lord Mmto took little put 

 la poUtiaal affair* until 18*2, when he wa* sent a* ambassador to 

 B rim. Hrtaiaaag tbaao* in 1836, be wa* appointed first lord of the 

 Adauralty under the adminis'ra'ion of Lord Melbourne, but retired 



with hi* party in 1841. He held the office of Lord Privy Seal iu the 

 oduiiuiu-Aliou of Lord John liuns-ll from 1846 to 1852. During this 

 time hu wa* sent on a special tuiasiou to Switzerland and Uotuc, where 

 it ia affirmed by Roman Cnholiu authorities he wa* lounded ait to the 

 view* of her Majesty's government reapeotiog the intention of tiie pope 

 to create ICuuian Catholic bishoprics in England. Lord Miuto hai not 

 undertaken any public einplovment since that time. 



-MINU'CIUS, FELIX, a Latin ChrUtiau writer of the 3rd century, 

 waa a native of Africa, but went to live at Home, where he exercised 

 the profession of advocate, and wa* much admired, according to the 

 report of Lactantius aud Jerome, for hi* eloquence. We have a urk 

 by iiiui. entitle 1 ' OcUvius,' which U a dialogue between a I 'In 

 called Uctavius and a heathen called Cacilius, concerning thu merits 

 of the two rehnious which were then striving for supremacy. Iu this 

 dialogue, Octaviui repel* the absurd imputations of the heathen* 

 against the early Christiana, whom they accused of all sorts of im- 

 purities aud oriiuei in their religious meeting*. Through fear of 

 persecution these meeting* took place mostly at night aud iu concealed 

 place*, which circumstance* exposed them to the obloquy of vulgar 

 ignorance. At the same time Outaviu* rctorU upon hia co-disputant 

 by exposing the notoriously licentious practice* of the heatueu*. 

 The style of this work ia argumentative and sufficiently pure; the 

 language is animated, and the mode of treating the subject attractive, 

 beiug mixed up with mythological learning and much information 

 concerning the customs and opinions of that IN:--I . tin/ period. As 

 an apology of Christianity, the work of Mmucius Ke ix is a com- 

 panion to thoae of Clemens Alexaudriuua, Atheuagorfu, Theophilua 

 of Antiocb, Juatiuus, Tertullianug, and otner early advocate* of the 

 Christiau faith in it* time* of trial aud depreeaiou, and forma a link 

 between them and thoae of Aruobius, Lactaiitius, Kusebius, Ambrose, 

 and the other father* of the 4th century. The dialogue of ' Oci u-ms ' 

 has gone through uiauy editions, among which tuote by Jumo* Qrouo- 

 viua, Leydeu, 1709; by Uavis, Cambridge, 1712, and by Orelli, Tune., 

 1 S30, deserve uotioe. The latter U acoouipaiiiad by uumorom note* 

 by Dr. Davkaud others, and a diseeitaliou or voiniueutary by iiildu- 

 iuus. The 'Uctavius' hai beau translated into French by thu Abbo 

 de Gouray, and into Ceriuau by Uusiwurui (1'urio., HUti), uud Lubkert 

 (.Leipz., 1831}). 



Another work, entitle 1 ' Da Fata,' against astrologers, ia mentioned 

 by Jerome aa being ascribed to Minuciu>, although Jerome expresses 

 doubt* concerning its authorship. This work is lust. 



The 'Uctavius' was at one time attributed to Arnobius, aud waa 

 inserted a* the eighth book of his Disputatious ' Adversus IJente*.' 

 Uouchard baa published a ' Disaertatiou on Miuucius,' Iviel, Ii5s5. 



MINZU'NI, UNU'KRIO, more di>tiut;iiished for the quality than 

 the quantity of his poetry, in which last respect he is ouly one 

 of the minor bard* of Italy, waa born at Kerrar* ia 1734. He wo* 

 educated by the Jesuit*, and applied himself with great diligence to 

 the study of theology and mathematics ; but it is as a poet that hi* 

 name is handed down to posterity. Imbued with the study of U.iute 

 and Arioato, he had caught much of their vigour of thought and 

 energy of expression ; aud waa comparatively careless of thoae 

 mechanical beauties of versification which, in his lime, were too gene- 

 rally accepted as equivalent to genuine poetry. Freshness of thought, 

 distinctness of imagery, ami nobleness of language are the character- 

 istics of his poems, which co.isist chiefly of sonnets. He likewise 

 distinguished himself by hia eloquence in the pulpit so highly, that 

 the citiaens of Ferrara struck a medal iu honour of him iu 1733. 

 In 1780 he wo* mode canon penitentiary of tint, i i y, whicu oQioe he 

 discharged with the most exemplary zeal. 



MIItABAUl), JKAN B.UT13TK DE, waa born at Paris in 1675; 

 first embraced the military profession, but left it soon after to devote 

 himself to literature. He made himself known by a French translation 

 of Tsaso's 'Jerusalem,' which he published in 1724. He wan aftur- 

 wards mode a member of the French Academy, of which he becamo 

 secretary ia 1742. He died at Paris iu 1760. Uesida* the above- 

 mentioned translation, and a very inferior 0:10 of Ario-to's poein, he 

 wrot- 1, ' Le Monde, aou Urigiue et sou Antiqfeite' ; ' 1', ' Upiuions do* 

 Anciens bur ! Juifs;' 3, 'Seutirneui d>H l'..iiowphe sur U Nature 

 d 1'Aine;' aud other uiiuor works. The atheistical woik called 

 'Sytme do li Nadu ,' which mode much noise- at the time of its 

 publication, was attributed to Mirabaud, but is known to have been 

 writt n by the Baron d'Holbacb, with the aoiiataucu of some of hid 

 friend*. [HOLBAIH.] 



MIRABKAU, JIUNUHf: GABRIEL DE RIQUETI', CUMTE D8, 

 wa* born nt Biguon, near Ne'mours, in 1749, of a family which had 

 emigrated from Florence in the 13th century, the name of which, 

 Arrighetti, had become Frenchified into that of Kiqueti. He was the 

 son of the Marquis de Miraueuu, a man of some literary note, the 

 author of L'Ami dea Hommes ' and other works, and oue of the leader* 

 of the school of the ' I'-cononiiatea,' The marquis, though a great 

 advocate of liberty and philanthropy in hia writings, was a" harsh 

 despot in his own family ; and his harshness probably contributed to 

 sour the temper of hi* POII, and to drive him into the excesses which 

 stained his earlier career. Young Mirabeau had viol nt p:fMu, an 

 ardent imagination, aud great abilities. He was fond of pleasure, of 

 love intrigue*, and of spending money ; and his father knew no better 

 means of checking hii inegularitiea than by obtaining ' lettrus-du - 



