148 M E ft 
many ruins of magnificent fepulchres, and even the mar¬ 
ble coffins in which were depofited the relics of the prin¬ 
cipal inhabitants of the town. 
MER'IDA, a town of North America, and capital of 
Yucatan, in the audience of Mexico, the refidence of a 
governor, and fee of a bilhop, about forty miles from 
the fea. It is 130 miles north-eaft of Campeachy. Lat. 
20. 10. N. 
MER'IDA, a town of South America, in the govern¬ 
ment of the Caraccas, and capital of a diftribt, called 
Merida, or Grilla, fituated near the limits which divide 
it from Venezuela. The foil round this place abounds 
with fruits of all forts; and there are alfo gold-mines in 
the neighbourhood. It lies about fifty-four miles from 
the lake of Maracaybo, and 260 north-eaft from St. Fe 
de Bogota. Lat. 8. N. Ion. 70. 26. W. 
MER'IDEN, or Mi'reden, a village in Warwicklhire, 
about fix miles from Coventry. Its ancient name was 
Alfpath, or Ailejpede; but, about the beginning of the 
reign of Henry VI. becoming a great thorougdifare, it 
got the name of Myreden, from myre, dirt, and den, a bot¬ 
tom; which was a very proper diftin&ion for it before 
the eftabliffiment of turnpikes. Though ftili incumbered, 
from its fituation, during wet W'eather, with mire and 
clay, it is a pleafant village, and not ill built. It is noted 
for a beautiful and commodious inn, probably built ori¬ 
ginally for a nobleman’s manfion, as being ornamented 
with ponds, ltatues,' &c. The church Hands on an ele¬ 
vated fpot, and contains fome good monuments ; parti¬ 
cularly a handlome alabafter tomb of John Wyard, in ar¬ 
mour and mail, with fword and dagger by his fide; his 
arms a cinquefoil on his breaft. This gentleman had been 
an efquire to Thomas de Beauchamp earl of Warwick, 
and foitnder of a chantry in this church, near which he 
had his refidence: he was alfo a knight of the fliire for 
this county in the fecond year of Richard II. 
Comb Abbey, near Meriden, and only three miles from 
Coventry, was famous for a rich abbey of monks, built 
in 1150. It flourilhed in great fplendour till the general 
diffolution. The church is demolilhed; but the abbey, 
with fome modern improvements, is now the feat of earl 
Craven. 
Four miles from Meriden, and two from Coventiy, is 
Allefley, a village with a church and lpire-fteeple. This 
place was originally a member of the city of Coventry, 
bilhop Clinton having permitted a chapel to be built here 
for the ufe of the poor, referving the right of burial to 
the mother-church. In a place called the Parks Hood a 
caftle, doubly moated, probably the refidence of the Haf- 
tings’s, who poilelfed this place in the time of Edward I. 
Other villages near Meriden are Horewell, Stonely, and 
Soiihul : the latter has three fairs; April 29, May 10, 
and Oft. 10. Near this place alfo is Kenilworth, which 
fee, vol. xi. 
MERID'IAN, f. [meridien, Fr. meridics, Lat.] Noon; 
mid-day: 
He promis’d in his Eaft a glorious race ; 
Now', funk from his meridian, fets apace. Dryden. 
The particular place or Hate of any tiling.—All other 
knowledge merely ferves the concerns of this life, and is 
fitted to the meridian thereof: they are fuch as will be of 
little ufe to a feparate loul. Hale. —The higheft point of 
glory or power: 
I’ve touch’d the higheft point of all my greatnefs, 
And from that full meridian of my glory 
I halte now to my letting. Shakejp'eare’s Henry VIII. 
Meridian, in aftronomy and geography, a great circle 
of the fphere, paffing through the zenith, nadir, and 
poles, of the world, crofting the equinoctial at right an¬ 
gles, and dividing the fphere into two hemifpheres, the 
one eaftern, and the other weftern. It is called meridian, 
from the Latin meridies, noon, or mid-day, becaufe, when 
the 1’un is in this circle, it is noon in thole places lituated 
M E R 
under it. Hence, 1. As the meridian inverts the whole 
earth, there are feveral places fituated under the fame 
meridian. 2. As it is noon 'whenever the centre of 
the fun is in the meridian of the heavens; and as the 
meridian of the earth is in the plane of the former; it 
follows, that it is noon at the farrie time in all places 
fituate under the fame meridian. 3. There are as many 
meridians on the earth as there are points conceived in 
the equator. In efteft, the meridians always change, as 
you change the longitude of the place ; and may be faid 
to be infinite, each fefpeftive place from eaft to weft 
having its refpeftive meridian. 
The firft meridian is that from which the reft are ac¬ 
counted, reckoning from weft to eaft. The firft meridian 
is the beginning of longitude. The fixing of the firft 
meridian is a matter merely arbitrary; and hence difte- 
rent perfons, nations, and ages, have fixed it differently; 
whence fome confufion has arifen in geography. The 
rule among the ancients was, to make it pals through 
the place fartheft to the weft that was known. But, the 
moderns knowing that there is no fuch place in the earth 
as can be efteemed the molt w'efterly, the way of comput¬ 
ing the longitudes of places from one fixed point is much 
laid afide. Ptolemy affumed the meridian that paffes 
through the fartheft of the Canary illands as his firft me¬ 
ridian ; that being the moll weftern place of the -world then 
known. After him, as more countries were difcovered 
in that quarter, the firft meridian was removed farther 
off. The Arabian geographers chofe to fix the firft meri¬ 
dian upon the utmoll lhore of the Weftern Ocean. Some 
fixed it to the ifiand of St. Nicholas, near CapeVerd; 
Hondius to the ille of St. James; others to the illand 
Del Corvo, one of the Azores; becaufe on that illand the 
magnetic needle, at that time, pointed dire&ly north, 
without any variation; and it was not then known that 
the'variation of the needle is itfelf lubjeCt to variation. 
The lateft geographers, particularly the Dutch, have 
pitched on the Peak of Teneriffe; others on the ille of 
Palm, another of the Canaries ; and, laftly, the French, 
by command of their king, on the illand of Ferro, ano¬ 
ther of the Canaries. But, without much regard to any 
of thefe rules, our geographers and map-makers fre¬ 
quently affume the meridian of the place where they live, 
or the capital of their country, for a firft meridian ; and 
thence reckon the longitudes of their places. 
Aftronomers in their calculations ufually choofe the 
meridian of the place where their obfervations are made, 
for their firft meridian : as Ptolemy, at Alexandria; Ty¬ 
cho Brahe, at Uranibourg; Riccioli, at Bologna; Mr. 
Flamfteed, at the Royal Obfervatory at Greenwich ; and 
the French, at the Obfervatory at Paris. 
MERID'IAN, adj. Being at the point of noon : 
Sometimes tow’rds Eden, which now in his view 
Lay pleafant, his griev’d look he fixes fad; 
Sometimes tow’rds heav’n, and the full blazing fun, 
Which now fat high in his meridian tow’r. Milton. 
Extended from north to fouth.—Compare the meridian 
line afforded by magnetic needles with one mathemati¬ 
cally drawn ; obferve the variation of the needle, or its 
declination from the true meridian line. Boyle. —Railed 
to the higheft point. 
Meridian Line, an arc, or part of the meridian of the 
place, terminated each way by the horizon. Or, a meri¬ 
dian line is the interfeftion of the plane of the meridian 
of the place with the plane of the horizon, vulgarly called 
a nortli-and-fouth line, becaufe its dire&ion is from one 
pole towards the other. The ufe of a meridian line in 
aftronomy, geography, dialling, &c. is very great, and on 
its exaCtnefs all depends; whence infinite pains have been 
taken by divers aftronomers to fix it to the utmoft preci- 
fion. M. Caffini has diltinguilhed himlelf by a meridian 
line drawn on the pavement of the church of S. Petronio, 
at Bologna, the largeft and molt accurate in the world; 
being 120 feet in length. In the roof of this church, a 
tlioufand 
