593 



MAB -MACAO. 



same was Lite case with the Greek p ; ./*, 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 numis- 

 matics, M stands for a great number of words ; for 

 Macedonia, as LEG. M. XX. Legio Macedonian 

 f'icesinta ; Malea, Massilia, Manmrtini, ami many 

 other places or countries ; for Marcus, Manlitis, 

 Marcellus, and other names ; for magnus. ntilitaris, 

 menses, mater, magister, &c. ; EQ. M. for equitum 

 magister. M. 1). signifies medicince doctor (doctor 

 of medicine) ; A. M . artium magister (master of 

 arts) ; MS. manu snriptvm (manuscript) ; MSS. 

 (manuscripts). D. O. M. signifies Deo optimo 

 inaj'hno (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 me*idies. Hence P. M. post meridiem (after- 

 noon). A.M. ante meridiem (forenoon). In medicine, 

 it signifies misce or misceatur (mix) ; also manipulus 

 (a handful). 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 lor the Italian words meno (less), mano 

 (hand), mezzo and moderate (moderate). M' stands, 

 in Scotch and Irish names, for Mac. M is 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 

 tin's dimension is used in determining the amount of 

 printed matter in a given space, as a page for in- 

 stance, and is termed an m. 



MAB ; the queen of the fairies, so fancifully de- 

 scribed by the sportive imagination of Shakspeare, 

 in Romeo and Juliet. Chaucer speaks of a king 

 and queen of Faerie, 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 Par- 

 nassus (1657), thus describes the Fairy court : Obe- 

 ron, 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 honour; Nym- 

 phidia, mother of the maids. Puck is the emperor's 

 jester. Drayton's Nymphidia,and the Midsummer 

 Night's Dream, are delightful illustrations of the an- 

 tiquities of queen Mab's empire. 



MABILLON, JOHN, a learned French Benedic- 

 tine of the congregation of St Maur, a writer on 

 ecclesiastical antiquities and diplomatics, was born 

 in 16o2, iii 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, pub- 

 lished the first volume of the dcta Sanctorum Or- 

 dinis S. Benedicts, of which the ninth and last volume 

 appeared in 1702. One of his most important pro- 

 ductions is his treatise De Re Diplomatica, Lib. vi. 

 (1681, folio). This procured him the patronage of the 

 French ministry. He was sent to Italy, with a com- 

 ' mission 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 Museeum 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. Bene- 

 dict!, four volumes of which appeared previously to 

 his death, in 1707. Father Mabillon was the author 

 of many oilier works of research, distinguished for 



liberality of sentiment and freedom of opinion, as 

 well as for profound learning. 



MABLY, GABRIEL BONNOT DE, a French politico! 

 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 abbe now went to Paris, where he was favour- 

 ably received by madame De Tencin, sister of the 

 cardinal, to whom he was related, arid soon after 

 published his Parallels des Rmnains et des Francois 

 (1740), which was received with applause, and ob- 

 tained 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 pre- 

 pared his Droit public de I Europe fonde stir le 

 Traifes. He was appointed, in 1743, to carry on 

 the secret negotiations with the Prussian ambassa- 

 dor 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 suc- 

 cess 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 Parallele, 

 Among them are Observations sur VHistoire de la 

 Grece ; Observations sur les Romains (1751); En- 

 tretiens 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 I'Histoire de France (of which an 

 edition has lately been published by Guizot, with 

 notes) ; Entretiens sur I' 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. Ano- 

 ther descent from the cross, by him, is still at Middle- 

 burg. His irregularity occasioned his imprisonment 

 in this place ; and, during his confinement, he painted 

 several fine pieces, which are lost. He afterwards 

 came to England, and painted several pieces for Henry 

 VIII. Several excellent works of his are at Middle- 

 burg ; the best of which is the altar-piece, represent- 

 ing 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. 



MAC ABER ; 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 person- 

 ages belonging to various ranks of society. Others 

 suppose the word merely a corruption of the A rabic 

 magbarah, a cemetery. (See Death, Dance of.) An 

 English translation of these dialogues was published 

 by Dugdale and Dodsworth, in the third volume of 

 the Monasticon Anglicanum ; and French and Latin 

 versions have been repeatedly printed. 



MACAO, China, in Quang-tong; Ion. 113 35' 

 E. ; lat. 22 13' N. This town is built on a penin- 



