MINUTEMEN 



3839 



MIRACLE 



small parts. In the course of time these phrases 

 were each shortened to one word, minutae and 

 secundae; in English these words became min- 

 ute and second. At first used only in geometry 

 and astronomy, the close relation of astronomy 

 to chronology led to their use in measuring 

 time. Thus the sixtieth part of an hour became 

 a minute, and the sixtieth part of a minute 

 became a second. See CHRONOLOGY. 



MINUTEMEN, min'it men, the name given 

 a class of volunteer militiamen who hold them- 

 selves ready for service at short notice. The 

 term was specifically applied during the early 

 period of the American Revolution, the men 

 being ready for instant service whenever sum- 

 moned. The minutemen were principally resi- 

 dents of Massachusetts who were enrolled ac- 

 cording to an act passed November 23, 1774, by 

 the Provincial Congress, and numbered about 

 16,000. Lowell, in Among My Books, said: "It 

 was the drums of Naseby and 'Dunbar that 

 gathered the minutemen on Lexington Com- 

 mon." 



MIOCENE, mi' o seen, PERIOD, a division 

 of the Cenozoic Era extending from the Eocene 

 to the Pliocene Period. The rock formations 

 of this period along the Atlantic coast of North 

 America extend from Marthas Vineyard south- 

 ward, and around the Gulf of Mexico. They 

 consist chiefly of sand, sandstone, shell marl, 

 and, in some localities, earths containing dia- 

 toms, such as Bermuda earth and Tripoli, which 

 render them valuable for polishing purposes. 

 The life along this coast indicates that the cli- 

 mate may have been cooler than at present. 

 On the Pacific coast the Miocene formations 

 are of slight importance. They occur in various 

 places in California, and consist of shales and 

 sandstones. In this period representatives of 

 the highest order of mammals (the primates) 

 made their appearance. 



Related Subjects. The reader is referred to 

 the following articles in these volumes : 



Cenozoic Era 

 Eocene Period 



Geology (for diagram) 

 Pliocene Period 



MIQUELON, me'k'lawN, ISLAND, near the 

 s6utheastern coast of Newfoundland, at the 

 entrance to Fortune Bay, has an area of ,83 

 square miles. The southern part, which was 

 formerly separate but is now connected with 

 the northern part by a sand bank, is called 

 Little Miquelon, or Lungly Island. The island 

 forms part of the French colony of Saint Pierre, 

 having been in the possession of France since 

 1763, and now the only French territory in 



MIR ABE A U 



America remaining of all its former vast pos- 

 sessions. It is governed by the commandant 

 of Saint Pierre and is occupied by a few fami- 

 lies engaged in the fisheries. The total popula- 

 tion numbers about 600. 



MIRABE AU , me ra bo ' , GABRIEL HONORE 

 RIQUETI, Count de (1749-1791), a French 

 statesman, orator and revolutionary leader, 

 often called "the tribune of the people," be- 

 cause he was bold in making demands in their 

 interest. He was 

 born at Bignon, 

 and entered a 

 military school in 

 Paris in 1767. 

 The same year 

 he joined the 

 Berry cavalry 

 regiment, was im- 

 prisoned for mis- 

 conduct on the 

 island of Re, but 

 was released on 

 condition that he would join the Corsican ex- 

 pedition in 1769; this he did and in 1771 was 

 commissioned captain of dragoons. For some 

 time later he lived in Holland and in England, 

 but returned to France in 1788 and was elected 

 by the Third Estate to represent Aix in the 

 States-General, or National Assembly. 



Although he was always in debt and lived a 

 dissolute private life, his wonderful powers of 

 oratory soon made him one of the most im- 

 portant public figures of France, He early 

 became identified with the French Revolution, 

 and he attempted to place his abilities at the 

 king's service and to work with Lafayette and 

 Necker. He was viewed with suspicion, how- 

 ever, because of his character. In 1790 he be- 

 came president of the Jacobin Club, and in 

 1791 was elected president of the National As- 

 sembly, a position which he coveted. He died 

 three months afterward, his last words, with 

 prophetic insight, being "I carry with me the 

 ruin of the monarchy." 



MIRACLE, mir'ak'l, a sign or mighty won- 

 der performed to show the power of God, but 

 only employed in a great cause or for a reli- 

 gious purpose. The miracles of the Bible were 

 confined almost exclusively to four periods, 

 which were widely separated. The first was 

 during the return of the Children of Israel to 

 Canaan under the leadership of Moses and 

 Joshua ; the second, during the struggle between 

 Christianity and heathenism under Elijah and 

 Elisha ; the third, during the Exile in Babylon ; 



