136 
M E R 
reigned near thirty years. He was' of a mod furious and 
turbulent temper, breaking at different times with almoft 
all his neighbours, calling in the Britons to his afliftance, 
and fhedding more Saxon blood than had been hitherto 
fpilled in all their inteftine quarrels, fie killed two kings 
of Northumberland, three of the Eaft Angles, and com¬ 
pelled Kenwall king of the Weft Saxons to quit his domi¬ 
nions. He was at length flain, with mod of the princes 
of his family, and a multitude of his fubfecls, in a battle 
fought not far from Leeds, by Ofwy king of Northum¬ 
berland. 
His fon Penda, who had married the daughter of that 
conqueror, became a Chriftian, and was not long after 
murdered, as is faid, by the malice of his mother. His 
brother Wolfher, becoming king of Mercia, embraced in 
proc'efs of time the faith of the Gofpel, and proved a very 
victorious and potent monarch ; and is, with no fewer 
than feven of his immediate fucceffors, commonly ftyled 
King of the Anglo-Saxons, though none of them are owned 
in that quality by the Saxon Chronicle. But, though 
poflibly none of them might enjoy this honour, they were 
undoubtedly very puiflant princes', maintaining great 
wars, and obtaining many advantages over the fovereigns 
of other Saxon ftates, and elpecially the Eaft Angles, 
whom they reduced. The extent of the Mercian territo¬ 
ries was fo ample as to admit, and fo fituated as to require, 
the conftituting fubordinate rulers in feveral provinces ; 
to whom, elpecially if they were of the royal line, they 
gave the title of kings; which occaiions fome confufion 
in their hiitory. Befuies the eftablifliing epifcopal fees and 
convents, the Saxon monarchs took othermethods for im¬ 
proving and adorning their dominions ; and, as Mercia 
was the largeft, fo thefe methods were rnoft confpicuous 
therein. Coventry, as being fituated in the centre, was 
ufually, but not always, the royal refidence. Penda, who 
was almoft continually in a ftate of war, lived as his mili¬ 
tary operations direfted, in fome great town on the fron¬ 
tiers. Wolfher built a caftle or fortified palace for his 
own refidence, which bore his name. Olfa kept his court 
at Sutton Walls, near Hereford. 
At length, the crown devolving fometimes on minors 
and fometimes o* weak princes, inteftine factions alfo 
prevailing, the force of this hitherto-mighty kingdom 
began lenfibly to decline. This falling out in the days of 
Egbert, the moft prudent as well as the moft potent mo¬ 
narch of the Weft Saxons, he took advantage of thefe cir- 
cumftances ; and, having encouraged the Eaft Angles to 
make an attempt for the recovery of their independence, 
he, in a conjuncture every-way favourable to his defign, 
broke with the Mercians, and after a fliort war obliged 
them to fubmit. But this was not an abfolute conqueft, 
the kings of Mercia being allowed by him and his luccef- 
fors to retain their titles and dominions, till the invafion 
of the Danes put an end to their rule, when this kingdom 
had fubfifted above 250 years; and, when the Danes were 
afterwards expelled by the Weft Saxons, it funk into a 
province, or rather was divided into many. See the article 
England, vol. vi. p. 547, 548. 
MER'CIABLE, aclj. [from mercy.'] Merciful. Not 
ufed: 
Nought but well mought him betight: 
He is fo meek, wife, merciahlc, 
And with his word his work is convenable. Spenfer. 
MER'CIAMENT, f. An amerciament; a penalty; a 
fine. Chaucer. 
MER'CIAN, adj. [from Mercia.] Belonging to the 
kingdom of Mercia. 
MER'CIAN, f. Afubjeft of the kingdom of Mercia. 
MERCl'ER (John le), a very learned French profeifor 
qf Hebrew in the lixteenth century, was defcended from 
a, relpe&able family, and born at Ufez in Languedoc, but 
ip what year we are not informed. Being defigned by his 
parents for fome public employment, they took care to 
M E R 
give him the advantage of an excellent education, and fent 
him to ftudy the law, firft at the univerfity of Touloufe, 
and afterwards at Avignon. In this faculty he made re- 
fpedfable progrefs ; and, while he was at the laft-mentioned 
univerfity, tranflated from the French into Latin the 
Promptaarium Juris civiUs of Harmenopulus. Philology, 
however, and biblical literature, had ftronger charms for 
him than legal ftudies ; and he foon relinquiihed the latter, 
that he might devote himfelf entirely to the favourite ob¬ 
jects of his purfuit. He accordingly made an aftonifhing 
proficiency in the belles lettres, and in the Latin, Greek, 
Hebrew, and Chaldee, languages. In the two latter, ef- 
pecially, he was fo profoundly fkilled, that, upon the death 
of Francis Vatable in 1546, who had defervedly acquired 
the title of “ Reftorer of the Hebrew tongue,” Mercier 
was confidered to be the beft-quaiified perfon to become 
his fucceiTor in the Hebrew chair at the Royal College at 
Paris. In this department he acquitted himfelf with the 
higheft reputation ; and “ his lectures were fo famous,” 
lays Dupin, “ that the royal auditory was always full when 
he read. The Jews went to hear him, and owned that lie 
underftood Hebrew belt of any man of that age. From his 
fchool came out all thofe who underftood any thing of 
Hebrew in Franbe at that time. Befides his great Ikiil in 
languages,, he had an admirable judgment, abundance 
of erudition, great candour and fimplicity ; and his con- 
verfation was without reproach.” Mercier was brought 
up in the catholic religion ; but, in conlequence of his 
maturer enquiries, he was led to renounce it, and to em¬ 
brace the proteftant faith. Owing to this change of fen- 
timent, when the civil wars broke out he found it necel- 
fary to confult his fafety by retiring from France ; and he 
removed to Venice, where he had an afylum afforded him 
by Arnoul de Ferrier, the French ambaffador, who was 
his particular friend. In this city he remained for fome 
time, and had frequent conferences with the Jews on fub- 
jefts of Hebrew literature. At length, the protelfants 
having obtained peace in France, and the royal promile 
of the undilturbed exercife of their religion, Mercier re¬ 
turned home with the ambaffador. Being deiirous, how¬ 
ever, to viiit his native place before he refumed the duties 
of his profefforlhip, he went to his father’s houfe at Ulez, 
where he was attacked by a fatal illnefs, and died in the 
year 1570. This event was a moft deplorable lofs to the 
republic of letters, and to the interefts of biblical litera¬ 
ture. When fpeaking of his merit as a commentator on 
the facred books, father Simon oblerves, that he is “ one 
of the moft learned and judicious interpreters of the fcrip- 
tures among thofe of the reformed religion ; and he would 
have been entitled to higher commendation, had he not 
forlaken the religion of bis fathers to follow Calvin’s no¬ 
velties. He perfectly underftood both Greek and Hebrew, 
and could read well the books of the rabbis. Hence his 
method of expounding the Bible is more exafit and critical 
than the method adopted by other authors before him. 
He endeavoured folely to find out the literal fenfe of his 
text, and the proper fignification of the Hebrew words. 
With this view he ufually gives the different explanations 
of the rabbis, which he fometimes correbts ; be has not 
neglefted the Septuagint, or other ancient verfions of the 
Bible ; and he has alfo confulted the Hebrew MS. copies 
of the Bible in the king’s library. In a word he had all 
the qualities requillte for a learned interpreter of the 
leriptures, and his belt commentaries (of which he pub- 
lilhed a vaft number, and left many behind him in MS.) 
are thofe on the Book of Job, Ecclefiaftes, Proverbs, and 
Canticles.” Siinon's Crit. Hijt. Old Tejl. b. iii. ch. 14. Co- 
lomcjii Gallia Orientcilis, in which the reader may find a 
crowd of very honourable teftimonies, both from Catho¬ 
lics and Proteftants, to our author’s extraordinary learn¬ 
ing and merits. 
MERCl'ER (Jofias le), fon of the preceding, a learned 
critic, made himfelf known by an edition of Nonius Mar- 
cellus; and by notes on Ariftaenetus, Tacitus, Didlyj 
1 Cretenlis, 
