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The natural hiftory of the Meteora rocks Is as intereft- 
ing to the mineralogifl as their picturefque fcenery to the 
painter. They are compofed entirely of a conglomerate, 
the included fragments of which are, for the molt part, of 
I'm all fize, and appear to belong almoft: exclufively to the 
dal’s of primitive rocks. In fome of the perpendicular 
cliffs, the ftratification of the conglomerate is very dif- 
tinctly and beautifully feen in their horizontal layers ; 
the belt fpecimen of which ftratification i probably that 
in the great precipice behind Kalabac- Dr. Holland 
(Travels into Albania, Thefialy, &c. 1813.) obferves, 
that the conglomerate of Meteora is extremely liable to 
decay; but that, neverthelefs, it is difficult to conceive 
how, without the agency of earthquakes, it Ihould have 
taken forms fo Angularly abrupt and precipitous. The 
horizontal and undifturbed pofition of the ftrata which 
he obferved in thofe rocks, feems unfavourable to this 
fuppofition; and their exiftence in the form of {lender 
pillars, and overhanging rhomboids, makes it evident 
that earthquakes have not afted on them, fora long time 
at lead, with any confiderable force. The particular con- 
Ititution of the rock, and the general agency of decay, 
till the queftion is further examined, mult be regarded as 
the only caufes to which we are entitled to have recourfe. 
It is highly interefting in the hiftory of thefe claffical 
Countries, to find any confirmation of the defcriptions 
given of them by the writers of antiquity. Dr. Holland 
remarks, that there is not any abfolute proof that the 
rocks of Meteora were known to the ancients by any pe¬ 
culiarity of form fimilar to the prefent; and it is indeed 
certain, that the progrefs of time muff have made great 
changes in tlreir.appearance. There are, however, lome 
alluiions to a character not altogether foreign from that 
which they at prefent poflefs. Homer, in his Second 
Book, after mentioning Trica, which is the modem 
Tricola, a town only twelve miles farther down the val- 
Tey, joins with it in the fame line Ithome, which he calls 
EAwf4dK0E0-iTa, that is, “ rugged, or full of cliffs;” an ex- 
preffion very applicable to the country in its prefent ftate. 
Strabo alfo delcribes Ithome as a place fortified by nature 
with rocks and precipices ; and he mentions it as not far 
diftant from Trica. 
On the fummits of thefe infulated rocks, the fanftity 
or fanaticifm of the Greek monks had anciently placed 
twenty-four monafteries, which, by their own decay, or 
• that of the rocks on which they flood, are now reduced to 
ten. Dr. Holland, with his friend, viiited one of them, 
which was elevated more than 180 feet above the plane. 
. The vifitors were drawn up in a net, at the end of a rope 
which was let down to them over a pulley. The view of 
the country and the rocks from the fummit was extenfive, 
and Angular in the extreme. The monks received them 
with civility ; but their converlation did not imprefs 
them with any favourable idea of the advantages, either 
fpiritual or temporal, to be gained from dwelling in their 
lofty and infulated fituation. The plate which Dr. Hol¬ 
land has given conveys a very ftriking idea of thefe ex¬ 
traordinary habitations. 
METZU' (Gabriei), one of the mofl ingenious painters 
of the Flemifh fchool. He was born at Leyden in 1615. 
It is not exactly known with whom he learned the rudi¬ 
ments of the art; nor does it much concern us to be in¬ 
formed of it, as his flyle is entirely his own, having great 
completion in the finifhing, with breadth and freedom 
quite unlike the tedious minute exadlnefs of Gerard 
Dow, or ffill more that of Mieris. Metzu generally paint¬ 
ed fmall pictures of fubjecls taken from ordinary occur¬ 
rences happening among the more polifhed clal’s of his 
countrymen. A morning vifit at a lady’s toilette ; acon- 
verfation or concert among the people drefled in the befl 
Ityle of the time in Flanders; a gentleman flopping to 
■drink at an inn, &c. fuch are the objects which generally 
■compofe his pictures, in the execution of which one is at 
a lofs to know whether moft to admire, the beauty of ar¬ 
rangement in the forms, the clearness and harmony of 
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the tones, or the extreme delicacy, breadth, and Tilth i* 
the execution. His works are by no means lcarce in this 
country, and are eagerly bought at high prices. He was 
feverely afllibted with the Hone, the effect of, and which 
was probably increafed by, his unremitting affiduity. 
Having at the age of 4.3 confented to undergo the ope¬ 
ration of cutting for extraction, his' conftitution was 
found too weak to fupport the trial, and he did not fur- 
vive it. 
ME'VA, or Gniev, a town of Pruffia, in Pomeralia, on 
the Viffiula : twenty-two miles fouth of Dantzic. 
MEVAGIS'SEY, a townfhip of England, in Cornwall, 
with 2052 inhabitants. It is fix miles from St. Auffle, 
feven from Tregony and Grampound, thirteen from 
Fowey, fifteen from Truro, fixteen from St. Mawe’s, and 
eighteen from St. Columb’s. 
MEVANGFANG', a town of Upper Siam : 115 miles 
north of Porfeloue. 
MEVA'NIA, in ancient geography, a town of the Ci- 
fapennine Umbria; leated at the confluence of the Tina 
and Clitumnus, on the ViaFlaminia, famous for its herds 
of white cattle, brought up there for facrifice ; the white 
colour laid to be owing to the waters of the Clitumnus. 
Mevania was the country of Propertius. Now faid to be 
Bevagna, in the territory of the pope. 
MEU'DON, a village of France, where was a magnifi¬ 
cent royal palace, on the Seine : fix miles below Paris. 
MEVEL'EVITES, f A fort of dervifes, or religious, 
among the Turks, fo called from Meveleva, their founder. 
They affeft to be very patient, humble, model!, and cha¬ 
ritable ; but in reality are very debauched and difhoneft. 
ME'VES, a town of France, in the department of the 
Nyevre: four miles north of La Charite, and ten fouth 
of Cofne. 
ME'VIUM, f. A name mentioned by Fallopius and 
others, as given by fome medical writers to the venereal 
dileafe. 
ME'VIUS (David), a learned jurift, privy-counfeJlor to 
the king of Sweden, and prefident of the fovereign coun¬ 
cil of Wifmar, was employed in various negocialions 
with the imperial court and the German princes by 
Charles XI. and drew up the regulations by which the 
German provinces occupied by Sweden were to be go¬ 
verned. He died in 1681. He wrote, 1. Commentaries 
on the Law of Lubeck ; much effeemed, and fever.il times 
reprinted. 2. Various treatifes on different branches of 
the law. 3. Counfels or Deliberations. 4. Univerfal Ju- 
rifprudence ; reprinted with augmentations by his lon-in- 
law M. d’Engelbrechten, counlellor of ftate to the king 
of Sweden. Moreri. 
MEU'LAN, a town and fort of France, in the depart¬ 
ment of the Seine and Oife. In 1419, a conference was 
held here between the king of France and Henry V. of 
England ; which not ending in peace, the town was foon 
after taken by the Englifh. It is two pofts eaftof Mantes, 
and five weft of Paris. 
MEU'LEBECHE, a town of France, in the department 
of the Lys, and chief place of a canton, in the diftribt of 
Courtray. The place contains 6660, and the canton 
12,506, inhabitants, in four communes. 
MEU'LEN (Anthony Francis Vander), was born at 
Bruffels in 1634. He was a difciple of Peter Snayers a 
battle-painter of confiderable note, and his early progrefs 
gave ftrong promife of his future eminence. His pic¬ 
tures foon attracted the attention of Colbert, the minifler 
of Louis XIV. who induced Vander Meulen to leave Bruf¬ 
fels, and fettle in Paris; and foon afterwards introduced 
him to the king, who appointed him to attend and paint 
the fcenes of his military campaigns, gave him a penfion 
of 2000 livres, and paid him befides for his performances. 
He made fketches of almoft all the remarkable events that 
occurred in thefe expeditions of Louis ; defigning upon 
the fpot the encampments, marches, fieges, &c. of the 
armies; the huntings of the king ; the affembling of the 
officers, &c. Frois^ thefe he compofed his pictures, which 
are 
