MEISTERSINGERS 



3724 



MELBA 



It is owned by the Metropolitan Museum of 

 New York, and the sum of $66,000 was paid for 

 it. Meissonier received unusually high prices 

 for all his work. He was born in Lyons, but 

 spent most of his life in Paris, where he died. 



MEISTERSINGERS , mi ' ster sing crz, the 

 German form of mastersingers (which see). 



MEKONG, makong', RIVER, or CAMBO'- 

 DIA RIVER, the largest stream of the Indo- 

 Chinese peninsula. Rising in the Kuenlun 

 Mountains in Thibet, it flows in a southeasterly 

 direction along a course of 2,800 miles and dis- 

 charges by several mouths into the China Sea. 

 At Pnom Ponk, in Cambodia, a branch extends 

 in a northwesterly direction to the Tonle Sap 

 (Great Lake). At various points along its mid- 

 dle course rapids and sandbanks occur; these 

 interrupt navigation, and vessels therefore use 

 it as a waterway for only a short distance above 

 its delta. 



MELANCHTHON, me langk ' thun, PHILIPP 

 (1497-1560), a German reformer, the associate 

 of Martin Luther in the Protestant Reforma- 

 tion, was born at Bretten in Baden. While his 

 fame rests upon his connection with the great 

 religious crisis 

 named, he was 

 before that "the 

 schoolmaster 

 of Germany," a 

 great educator 

 who established 

 many schools in 

 the spirit of the 

 modern normal 

 school. His fam- 

 ily belonged to 

 the middle classes, 

 bearing originally 

 the name Schwarzerde (black earth), which, ac- 

 cording to custom, he changed to its Greek 

 equivalent upon entering the University of Hei- 

 delberg. He received his bachelor's degree there 

 at the age of fourteen, and the master's degree 

 at Tubingen three years later. His knowledge 

 of Greek led to his appointment as professor at 

 the newly established University of Wittenberg 

 in 1518. There his lectures became immensely 

 popular, and criticism because of his youthful 

 appearance soon turned to admiration of his 

 unusual ability. 



Through Luther's influence he began to cham- 

 pion the cause of the Reformation, and the two 

 became closely united at the "Leipzig Disputa- 

 tion" in 1519, when they confronted their oppo- 

 nent, Dr. Eck, tand ably defended their cause. 



MELANCHTHON 



Melanchthon's literary work changed gradu- 

 ally from absorption in classical studies to the 

 more urgent interests of theology, his outlines 

 of which were published in 1521 under the title 

 of Loci Communes. He assisted Luther in 

 translating the Bible ; his insistence on accuracy 

 was an important factor, set, as it was, against 

 the forcefulness and greater beauty of Luther's 

 style. The Apology appeared in 1531 ; in it he 

 justified the Augsburg Confession of the previ- 

 ous year. In all things he was farseeing and 

 moderate. 



The last years of his life were clouded by en- 

 deavors to heal breaches between the followers 

 of Luther and of Calvin, between the "Philip- 

 pists" and the strict Lutherans, and even be- 

 tween the fiery spirit and teachings of Luther 

 and himself. His life was not dramatic, for while 

 demanding progress, he was opposed to revolu- 

 tionary changes; he was a peacemaker, a man 

 of powerful intellect. Striving constantly for 

 Christian unity, his greatest hope was that "all 

 churches might be of one mind in Christ." 



Consult Schaff's Creeds of Christendom; Rich- 

 ard's Philipp Melanchthon. 



MELANESIA, melane'shia, a name ap- 

 plied to a group of Pacific islands lying to the 

 east of Australia. Melanesia is one of the di- 

 visions of Oceania, and the islands included in 

 it are shown on the colored map accompanying 

 the article OCEANIA. 



MEL'BA, NELLIE (1865- ), an Australian 

 operatic soprano singer, classed with the fore- 

 most musical artists of her day. She was born 

 in Melbourne, where she began her musical 

 education, and later studied under the famous 

 Madame Mar- 

 chesi, in Paris. 

 Her debut was 

 made in Brussels, 

 in 1887, in the 

 opera of Rigo- 

 letto. She first ap- 

 peared in Amer- 

 ica at the Metro- 

 politan Opera 

 House, New York, 

 in 1893, where she 

 sang the leading 

 role of Lucia di 

 Lammermoor, and she has made operatic and 

 concert tours in all the leading countries of the 

 world. Madame Melba has sung with notable 

 success the soprano parts in Hamlet, Romeo 

 and Juliet and La Traviata. She appeared in 

 the latter opera during the 1915-1916 season of 



MADAME MELBA 



