MEADE 



3708 



MEADVILLE 



in Italy and in other countries. It seemed to 

 him that the Carbonari were not accomplishing 

 their purpose, and he organized a new society, 

 Young Italy, of which the object was the over- 

 throw of all the monarchical governments in the 

 peninsula, and the union of the various states 

 under a republic. 



In 1848, when revolutions occurred in so 

 many European countries, Mazzini returned to 

 Italy, and helped to organize a republic at 

 Rome. The new government was short-lived, 

 however, and Mazzini again went into exile, at 

 first to Switzerland and later to London. He 

 helped to stir up insurrections in Milan and in 

 Genoa, and was of great assistance to Garibaldi 

 in organizing his expeditions in 1860, 1862 and 

 1867. When Italy was finally unified under 

 Victor Emmanuel, only one-half of Mazzini's 

 dream had been realized; he had striven for a 

 republic, not for a monarchy, and he refused 

 to enter the Italian parliament, though repeat- 

 edly elected. In 1870 he attempted to organize 

 a republican rising in Palermo, but was par- 

 doned by reason of his efforts for a united Italy. 



Mazzini was a man of the loftiest personal 

 character, and his work on behalf of his coun- 

 try was free from any suspicion of self-seeking. 

 The wisdom of his opposition to Cavour and 

 the Sardinian monarchy is open to question, 

 but concerning his motives there can be put 

 one opinion. 



MEADE, meed, GEORGE GORDON (1815-1872), 

 an American general, famous as the leader 

 of the victorious Federal army at the Battle of 

 Gettysburg, the turning point of the War 

 of Secession. He was born at Cadiz, Spain, of 

 American parent- 

 age, and was edu- 

 cated in the Unit- 

 ed States. After 

 his graduation 

 from West Point, 

 in 1835, he saw ac- 

 tive service in the 

 Seminole War, 

 then resigned 

 from the army 

 and was employed 

 as civil engineer 

 in government 

 surveys. In 1842 he reentered the army, and 

 during the Mexican War served with distinc- 

 tion under General Taylor. In the War of Se- 

 cession, first as brigadier-general of volunteers, 

 he took an active part in the conflicts at Me- 



chanicsville, Gaines's Mill, Frazier's Farm and 

 i 



GEORGE G. MEADE 



the second Battle of Bull Run, and for his gal- 

 lantry at the Battle of Antietam he was com- 

 missioned major-general of volunteers. Gen- 

 eral Meade covered the retreat of the Federal 

 army at Chancellorsville, and succeeded Hooker 

 in June, 1863, as commander of the Army of 

 the Potomac. On July 1 he compelled Lee to 

 give battle at Gettysburg, where he won a nota- 

 ble victory (see GETTYSBURG, BATTLE OF). In 

 Grant's Virginia campaign of 1864-1865 Meade 

 commanded the Army of the Potomac. After 

 the war he had charge of various military de- 

 partments, including one of the Southern dis- 

 tricts during the days of Reconstruction. 



MEADOW LARK, med' o lark, an American 

 bird, commonly found in grassy fields, meadows 

 and marshes. It is not a true lark, but belongs 

 to the family of blackbirds and orioles, and is 

 about the size of a robin. Its back and wings 

 are of a brown- 

 ish color, and its 

 throat and under- 

 parts are of a 

 bright yellow, 

 c o nspicuously 

 marked with a 

 black crescent on 

 the breast. Its 

 song is a clear, 

 melodious whis- 

 tle, and is one of 

 the first to be heard in the spring. Its sum- 

 mer range is from the Gulf of Mexico north- 

 ward into Canada, and it winters in the South- 

 ern United States and Mexico. The meadow 

 lark builds its nest on the ground, frequently 

 arching it over with grasses. The eggs are four 

 to six in number, white in color, speckled with 

 cinnamon and reddish-brown. This bird lives 

 for about ten years. 



Consult Chapman's Handbook of Birds of 

 Eastern North America. 



MEADVILLE, meed'vil, PA., the county seat 

 of Crawford County, and an important manu- 

 facturing center, is situated in the northwest- 

 ern part of the state, on French Creek, ninety 

 miles north of Pittsburgh and thirty miles south 

 of Erie. The Erie, the Northwestern Penn- 

 sylvania and the Bessemer & Lake Erie rail- 

 roads enter the city, and interurban lines ex- 

 tend to towns north and west. The place was 

 settled as early as 1788 and was named in honor 

 of David Mead, one of the first residents. In 

 1823 it became a borough, in 1866 it was char- 

 tered as a city, and in 1913 it adopted the com- 

 mission form of government, providing for a 



MEADOW LARK 



