M E A U X 
coaft is principally a (helving ftrand with (hallow water, 
fo that little advantage is derived from it. The land ad- 
joiningisa light foil, refeinbling fea-fand, without much 
vegetative power, and well adapted for rabbits. The 
towns in Meath are numerous, but generally fmall and ill 
built. Trim is the county-town ; but Navan is more 
thriving, from its ealy communication with Drogheda k 
Tarah hill, on which there is now an infignificant village, 
is faid to have been formerly the royal relidence, not only 
of the kings of Meath, but alfo of the monarchs of Ireland. 
Before the union there were in this county' feveral bo¬ 
roughs which returned members to parliament, which are 
all disfranchifed ; only two are fent by the county. Meath 
is a bithopric, and the bifliop takes precedence of all 
other Irifh ones. Several fmall bilhoprics gradually co- 
alefced into one fee, which received the name of Meath 
at the end of the twelfth century, being the only one not 
taking its name from a city or town. In 1568 the bi- 
fhopric of Clonmacnoife was incorporated with it by aft 
«tf parliament. The diocefe extends from the fea to the 
Shannon, over part of (ix counties, and contains 663,600 
Irifh acres. The parilhes are 224, but the churches are 
little more than a third part of the number. There is no 
cathedral in this diocefe ; neither is there a chapter, nor 
even a dean of Meath ; the only dignities are the deanery 
of Clonmacnoife and the archdeaconry of Meath. The 
revenue of this fee is dated by Mr. Wakefield to be 6000I. 
per annum. The epifcopal refidence is at Ardbraccan, 
near Navan. Beaufort. Tkotnpfon. Wakefield. 
MEATH (Weft.) See Westmeath. 
ME'ATHE,/". imedd, Wellh.] Drink, properly of ho¬ 
ney. Mead: 
For <jrink, the grape 
She crufhes, inoffenfive muff, and meathes 
From many a berry. Milton's Paradifie Lojl. 
MEAVAC'CA, a town of Italy, in the county of Bor- 
rnio : five miles north-eaft of Bormio. 
MEAUDE'E, a town of Birmah, on the left bank of 
tlie Ava : ten miles north of Prone. 
MEAU'LNE, a town of France, in the department of 
the Allier : nine miles weft of Cerilly. 
ME AU'X, [in Latin, Meld a; ; Iatinum-, Civitas Meld or um ; 
Urbs iatinea .2 A town of France, the principal place of a 
diftrief, in the department of the Seine and Marne ; and 
a biftiop’s fee. It is fituated upon the river Marne 5 and 
is a country fo agreeable and fertile, that the celebrated 
geographer Ptolemy calls it Latium Meldorujn ; in aliufion 
to the banks of the Tiber and the delightful valleys 
through which the river Marne “ promene lentementfes ondes 
indolentes ; (lowly winds the courfe of her indolent wa¬ 
ters.” This dream divides the town in two parts ; the 
northern is called the City, the fouthern the Market. 
Whether the rural beauties with which nature has fur- 
rounded this place, the (low motion of the river, or the 
very pleafing afpeft of the hills fereening it from the 
northern blaft, have contributed to (lamp the charafter 
of the inhabitants with a fort of liftleflnefs peculiar to 
themfelves, the fa 61 is however that the indolence of the 
Meldefe is become nearly proverbial; it is alluded to 
in the above-quoted line, which is particularly remarkable 
for its imitative harmony,arifing from a curious aflemblage 
and repetition of the letters E and N. 
The town is fmall, and the (fleets narrow, but in 
general well built, feveral ufeful and elegant alterations 
having taken place fince the revolution. Seven parifhes 
were formerly diftinguiftned here : St. Nicholas, St. Remi, 
St. Thibaut, St. Martin, St. Saintin, St. Chriftonhe, and 
Chaage. St. Remi and St. Chriftophe were within the 
walls of the city; St. Martin and St. Saintin, in the Mar¬ 
ket; the three others in the fuburbs. Itappears that the 
word Chaage was derived from the Latin Cavea , for in an¬ 
cient deeds this parifh is denominated SEla Maria a Cavea, 
from which circumftance Meldean antiquaries are of opi¬ 
nion that this church is the mod ancient, and was in a 
607 
hollow place foon after the Meldi were converted to the 
faith of Chrift, by the preaching and martyrdom of St. 
Denis at Paris. 
The only remain of the parifh called St. Chriftopher, 
exhibits foine curious fpecimen of French-gothic architec¬ 
ture. The old caftle, which is now a prifon, five a large 
room where the magistrates are night and day bufy in taking 
depofitions againft accufed perfons, like manufafturers 
who work for the ltore-room below, is very ancient; and 
one of the turrets, which devoutly boafts of having poflef- 
fed incarcerated the good bithop St. Saintin in the 6th 
century, is really worth attention. 
Seven gates alfo were anciently the boaft of this well- 
fortified town. It has vvithftood many fieges; one of 
them Mr. Pye, the late poet laureat, chofe for the fubject 
of a drama, which enjoyed but an ephemeral exiftence, 
about fifteen years ago. The gates were, on the foutli, Cor¬ 
nillon, and Vieux Moulins; on the eaft, St. Nicholas; 
on the weft, St. Remi; on the north, Poitevine and 
Notre Dame; and the Foftern-gate on the north of the 
Market. All thefe gates were flanked by a couple of 
towers, and furnifhed with a drawbridge -and portcullis. 
The gates are now only two ; the Porte St. Nicholas, 
which is modern, and that of Cornillon ; each of which 
deferves a particular notice. The former, as it (lands 
now, is of modern ftru6ture and was built on the place 
where a long (tone archway flood before the fortifications 
on the eaftward of the city. It is elegant, and adorned with 
two columns of the Doric order, all in freeftone; and leads 
to the fuburb of the fame name, towards Champagne and 
Germany. Over the gate was the following diftich : 
Henricum prima agnovi regemque recepi: 
Eft mihi nunc eadem, quaefuit ante, tides. 
Alluding to the town of Meaux having been the firft 
which declared for Henry IV. of France after the battle of 
Ivry. The meaning is ; “I firft received Henry, and ac¬ 
knowledged him as king : the fame faith, to my kings, (till 
remains.” This obnoxious motto was of courfe effaced 
by the republicans in 1793 ; and the flab remained without; 
infeription till the reftoration of monarchy in *814., when 
the diftich was put up again. And it was in contem¬ 
plation to add on the other fide of the gate looking to¬ 
wards the city the following couplet: 
Credere ne timeas prifea, Lodoice,fidci. 
Ad nos Henricus, te redeunte , redic. 
Fear nor, dear Louis, our faith to believe. 
In you once more our Henry we receive. 
It is well known that the French have preferved to this 
moment a great aftedfion for their Henry IV. 
Next to this gate is a hnndfome platform fet with a 
quincunx of trees called the “ Plateau,” which leads to the 
convent of the Cordeliers, now the mufeum belonging to 
the municipality and citizens. This mufeum contains 
feveral fpecies of animals fluffed and well preferved in 
glazed cafes ; and around the room where the truftees 
hold their fittings, there are feveral fpecies of birds painted 
after ftature in oil upon date, by one of the profeftors of 
the college ; who, when the pen dropped from his hand, 
leized upon the pencil, or the lyre, to keep away that 
arch-fiend, the word of blue devils, which the French 
call ennui. The library, which conftitutes the molt inte- 
refting part of this miniature mufeum, is compofed of the 
confluence of feveral bibliotheques belonging to the fup- 
preifed convents. The library of St. Faron contributed the. 
main part, and contains feveral very interefting lpecimens 
of ancient manuferipts, miflals, early editions, See. See. See. 
The fecond (now exifting) gate is that of “ Cornillon,”' 
as mentioned above. The upper part of the annexed 
Plate will give the reader an idea of the manner of build¬ 
ing ftrong avenues to towns likely to be attacked; and 
he will obferve that, at that time, the fame fyftem and 
military architecture prevailed both in England and in 
France. This is the more interefting,.on account of its 
having- 
