<50 M. E L 
the univerfe he did not mean the material principle of 
which all things are compofed, but that one Simple prin¬ 
ciple, whence all things had their origin, that is, the 
Deity, whom he fpeaks of as incorporeal, and unlimited 
with refpeCt to power or perfection. Thofe of our readers 
who wish to See thefe points profoundly difcuiled, we re¬ 
fer to Cudworth’s Intellectual Syfiem, chap. iv. Enfield's 
Jhfl. Phil, book ii. 
MELISTAU'RUM, f. in botany, [fo called by Foriter 
from pili, honey, and ratios, a Stake, or row of Sharp 
pales, the nectary bearing a refemblance to a circular fence 
of that kind.] This author confiders it as a genus be¬ 
longing to the clafs polygamia, order dioecia, and pro- 
fefles to defcribe a male flower only, having never Seen 
the hermaphrodite ones. How he afcertained the exist¬ 
ence of Such, without having feen them, in a plant known 
to himfelf alone, does not appear. He ranged it among 
the oblcure plants, of which he had Seen imperfect Speci¬ 
mens only, by the name of Melijtaurum djlichum. The 
defcription and figure are Sufficient to jultify juffieu, who 
refers ForSter’s plant to his own Anavinga, which is the 
Cafearia of Schreber, and the Samyda of Linnaeus. See 
Samyda polyandra. 
MELI'TA, in ancient geography, an island in the Me¬ 
diterranean, concerning which geographers have enter¬ 
tained different opinions. Ptolemy places it very near 
to Africa. Silius Italicus gives it the epithet of Lanigera, 
on account of its wool. Cicero fpeaks of a temple of 
Juno, which was in this island, Situated near a town of 
the Same name. As it was upon an island of this name 
that St. Paul was Shipwrecked, in his voyage to Rome, af¬ 
ter his appeal to Caefar, (fee ACts, chap.xxvii. and xxviii.) 
the Situation of this island has been the fubjeCt of curious 
and diligent investigation. But no perfon has employed 
more labour and more learning in the refearch than Mr. 
Bryant. In the hiflory we find, that, having been tolled 
for fome time in the Adria, they were at laSt call upon 
the island called Melita. The only queltion is, which is 
the lea called Adria, or Adriatic; and what island can be 
found in that fea under this name. The Adriatic Sea is 
that large gulf which lies between Italy and the ancient 
Illyria, and retains its name to this day. And, as to the 
ifland we are Seeking, there was one in that fea called 
Melita, which is mentioned under that name by the beSt 
geographical writers. It appears from ancient authori¬ 
ties, that Melita was an Illyrian ifiand in the Adriatic 
Sea; and that it lay between Corcyra Nigra and the main 
land, very near the river I\aro and the ilthmus above it. 
It was called by the ancients Melite, Melitene, and Me- 
litaffa; at this day it is denominated Meleda, and by the 
Sclavonians Mlect, and is in the jurisdiction of Ragiifa. 
Nevertheless it has been the common opinion, that the 
Melita now called Malta was the true place of the 
apoltle’s Shipwreck; and the natives have a tradition of 
long Standing to fupport this notion. Mr. Bryant, how¬ 
ever, undertakes to prove, that this could not be the 
ifland mentioned by the writer of the ACts. But in 
doing this he contends with a hoft of learning and cri¬ 
ticism; Grotius, Cluverius, Beza, Bochart, and Bentley. 
In order to Support this opinion, it is neceffary for them 
to prove that Malta is an Adriatic ifland. This Bochart 
has much laboured to do; depending upon the authority 
of the poets, and a few of the later historians, who have 
extended the Adriatic to the coaft of Africa. Polybius, 
Diodorus, Strabo, and Pliny, give a very dilferent account 
of this matter. Mr. Bryant, after having fairly and fully 
Hated the arguments of Bochart in favour of Malta, in 
his own words, undertakes to produce inconteflible proof 
that Malta was not the place mentioned by the facred 
hiStorian, and that Melita Illyriea was. It mult be allowed 
that, by the aid of the molt approved geographers and 
historians, he has produced very Strong evidence, that the 
Adriatic Sea was comprehended within the great Illyrian 
gulf, and never reached farther. Strabo exprefsiy deter¬ 
mines its extent by two fixed boundaries that cannot be 
MEL 
mistaken; it was included between Italy and the oppofite 
continent. “ Where then,” fays our author, “ was St. Paul 
Shipwrecked ? Certainly between Italy and Illyria, that 
is, the oppofite continent. Is Malta to be found in this 
Situation? It is far off, in a fea that has no affinity, no 
connection, with thofe coafts. But the other Melita, taken 
notice of by Scylax, Agathemerus, and Pliny, is fituated in 
the Adria, agreeable to the apoitle’s account; therefore, 
Melita Iliyrica is certainly the island there mentioned.” 
Mr. Bryant Strengthens his other arguments by adverting 
to the character of the natives, who are defcribed as /? ccg- 
fixgoi, barbarians. This character could not confidently 
be applied to the inhabitants of Melita Africana (Malta), 
which was firlt colonized by Phoenicians, and afterwards 
inhabited lucceffively by Carthaginians, Greeks, and Ro¬ 
mans. “ Who will be fo hardy as to denominate any of 
thefe nations barbarous ? They were each of them re¬ 
nowned for arts, of great power and wealth, and of parti¬ 
cular elegance and refinement. As the anceitry was good, 
the posterity did not fall off. The testimony of Diodorus 
Siculus will fufficiently vindicate them from the charge of 
being barbarous. We have an account of l'ome remains 
of antiquity in this island that will ferve to guide our 
judgment concerning this people. The temples of Juno 
and Hercules appear to have been very magnificent, and 
of great extent: and the coins that were originally Struck 
there are faid to be of no ordinary caSt. But, if we take 
a view of Melita Iliyrica, the fcene wiil be changed, and 
the appellation will be found to be more applicable. The 
character of the Illyrians, near whom this island was fitu¬ 
ated, is reprefented as barbarous beyond meafure.” 
Eryant's Objerrations and Inquiries, 1767, 4.10. 
MELIT'EMA, J'. [Greek.] A medicine in which fe- 
veral ingredients are wrought up with honey into a kind 
of cake. 
MELITE'NE, or Meled'ni, a country of Afia, in 
Armenia Minor, which extended to the right of the Eu¬ 
phrates, and was traverled by the river Meles.—A town 
of Cappadocia, to the fouth-eaft, upon a Stream which 
difcharged itfelf into the river Meles.—A country of Afia, 
in Cappadocia, occupying the fouth-eaft part of it. 
MELITI'A, a town of European Turkey, in Thefi’aly: 
thirty miles north-weft of Zeiton, and twenty-four fouth 
of Larifia. 
MELI'TO, a town of Naples, in Principato Ultra: nine 
miles eaft of Benevento. 
MELI'TO, an ancient Christian father, who flourished 
in the Second century, and was bishop of Sardis in Lydia. 
Some moderns have luppofed that he was the angel of the 
church of Sardis, to whom the epiftle in the book of Re¬ 
velation was direCled; but this hypothefis affigns to him 
an earlier date, and a longer life, than are reconciieable 
either with probability or the testimony of antiquity. Ke 
travelled into Palestine for the purpole of ascertaining the 
number of the books of the Old Teflament; and it is de- 
ferving of remark, that he is the firft Christian writer who 
has given us a catalogue of thofe books, which is preserved 
by Eufebius, and agrees with that of the Jews, excepting 
that it does not contain the book of Either. Melito was 
in the number of thofe fathers who wrote in defence of 
the Christian faith, and he prefented, or at leaft addrefl’ed, 
an Apology to the emperor Marcus Antoninus in behalf 
of the persecuted Chriitians, of which a fragment is pre- 
ferved by Eulebius. In that piece he humbly befought 
the emperor, “ to examine the accufations which were pre¬ 
ferred againSt the Christians, and to put an end to the per¬ 
secutions under which they were then buffering, by revok¬ 
ing the ediCt that he had published againSt them.” He re¬ 
presented to him, that “ fo far was the Roman empire from 
having been injured or weakened by Christianity, that it 
was the more firmly established, and its boundaries confi- 
derably extended, Since the introduction of that religion 
into it.” He took the freedom of Stating, that “ the 
Christian religion had been perfecuted only by wicked 
emperors. Such as Nero and Domitian; and that, there- 
