A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature Part 33

MAYNE, JASPER (1604-1672).--Dramatist, was at Oxf., entered the Church, and became Archdeacon of Chichester. He wrote two dramas, _The City Match_ (1639), and _The Amorous War_ (1648), in neither of which did he sustain the clerical character. He had, however, some humour.

MAYNE, JOHN (1759-1836).--Poet, was _b._ in Dumfries. In 1780 he _pub._ the _Siller Gun_ in its original form in _Ruddiman's Magazine_. It is a humorous poem descriptive of an ancient custom in Dumfries of shooting for the "Siller Gun." He was continually adding to it, until it grew to 5 cantos. He also wrote a poem on _Hallowe'en_, and a version of the ballad, _Helen of Kirkconnel_. His verses were admired by Scott.

MELVILLE, HERMAN (1819-1891).--Novelist, _b._ in New York, and took to the sea, which led to strange adventures, including an imprisonment of some months in the hands of cannibals in the Marquesas Islands. His first novel, _Typee_ (1846), is based upon this experience. _Omoo_ followed in 1847, _Moby d.i.c.k, or the White Whale_, a powerful sea story, in 1852, and _Israel Potter_ in 1855. He was a very unequal writer, but occasionally showed considerable power and originality.

MELVILLE, JAMES (1556-1614).--Scottish divine and reformer, _s._ of the laird of Baldovie, in Forfars.h.i.+re, and nephew of the great reformer and scholar, Andrew M., by whom, when Princ.i.p.al of the Univ. of Glasgow, he was chosen to a.s.sist him as a regent or professor. When, in 1580, Andrew became Princ.i.p.al of St. Mary's Coll., St. Andrews, James accompanied him, and acted as Prof. of Hebrew and Oriental Languages. He wrote many poems, but his chief work was his _Diary_, an original authority for the period, written with much navete, and revealing a singularly attractive personality. M., who for his part in Church matters, had been banished to England, _d._ at Berwick on his way back to Scotland.

MELVILLE, SIR JAMES (1535-1617).--Historian, _s._ of Sir John M., of Hallhill, was a page to Mary Queen of Scots at the French Court, and afterwards one of her Privy Council. He also acted as her envoy to Queen Elizabeth and the Elector Palatine. He was the author of an autobiography which is one of the original authorities for the period. The MS., which lay for long hidden in Edin. Castle, was discovered in 1660, and _pub._ 1683. A later ed. was brought out in 1827 by the Bannatyne Club. The work is written in a lively style, but is not always to be implicitly relied upon in regard either to facts or the characters attributed to individuals.

MEREDITH, GEORGE (1828-1909).--Novelist and poet, _b._ at Portsmouth, _s._ of Augustus M., a naval outfitter, who afterwards went to Cape Town, and _ed._ at Portsmouth and Neuwied in Germany. Owing to the neglect of a trustee, what means he had inherited were lost, and he was in his early days very poor. Articled to a lawyer in London, he had no taste for law, which he soon exchanged for journalism, and at 21 he was writing poetry for magazines, his first printed work, a poem on the Battle of Chillianwallah, appearing in _Chambers's Journal_. Two years later he _pub._ _Poems_ (1851), containing _Love in the Valley_. Meantime he had been ed. a small provincial newspaper, and in 1866 he was war correspondent in Italy for the _Morning Post_, and he also acted for many years as literary adviser to Chapman and Hall. By this time, however, he had produced several of his novels. _The Shaving of s.h.a.gpat_ had appeared in 1856, _Farina_ in 1857, _The Ordeal of Richard Feverel_ in 1859, _Evan Harrington_ in 1861, _Emilia in England_ (also known as _Sandra Belloni_) in 1864, its sequel, _Vittoria_, in 1866, and _Rhoda Fleming_ in 1865. In poetry he had produced _Modern Love and Poems of the English Roadside_ (1862), generally regarded as his best poetical work. These were followed by _The Adventures of Harry Richmond_ (1871), _Beauchamp's Career_ (1875), said to be the author's favourite, _The Egoist_ (1879), which marks the beginning of a change in style characterised by an even greater fastidiousness in the choice of words, phrases, and condensation of thought than its predecessors, _The Tragic Comedians_ (1880), and _Diana of the Crossways_, the first of the author's novels to attain anything approaching general popularity. The same period yielded in poetry, _Poems and Lyrics of the Joy of Earth_ (1883), _Ballads and Poems of Tragic Life_ (1887), and _A Reading of Earth_ (1888). His later novels, _One of our Conquerors_ (1891), _Lord Ormont and his Aminta_ (1894), and _The Amazing Marriage_ (1895), exhibit a tendency to accentuate those qualities of style which denied general popularity to all of M.'s works, and they did little to add to his reputation. The contemporary poems include _The Empty Purse_ and _Jump to Glory Jane_ (1892). In 1905 he received the Order of Merit, and he _d._ on May 19, 1909. He was twice _m._, his first wife, who _d._ 1860, being a _dau._ of Thomas Love Peac.o.c.k (_q.v._). This union did not prove in all respects happy. His second wife was Miss Vulliamy, who _d._ 1885. In his earlier life he was vigorous and athletic, and a great walker; latterly he lost all power of locomotion.

Though the writings of M. never were and probably never will be generally popular, his genius was, from the very first, recognised by the best judges. All through he wrote for the reader who brought something of mind, thought, and attention, not for him who read merely to be amused without trouble; and it is therefore futile to attribute failure to him because he did not achieve what he did not aim at. Nevertheless, the long delay in receiving even the kind of recognition which he sought was a disappointment to him. Few writers have striven to charge sentences and even words so heavily with meaning, or to attain so great a degree of condensation, with the result that links in the chain of thought are not seldom omitted and left for the careful reader to supply. There is also a tendency to adopt unusual words and forms of expression where plainness and simplicity would have served as well, and these features taken together give reason for the charges of obscurity and affectation so often made. Moreover, the discussion of motive and feeling is often out of proportion to the narrative of the events and circ.u.mstances to which they stand related. But to compensate us for these defects he offers humour, often, indeed, whimsical, but keen and sparkling, close observation of and exquisite feeling for nature, a marvellous power of word-painting, the most delicate and penetrating a.n.a.lysis of character, and an invincible optimism which, while not blind to the darker aspects of life, triumphs over the depression which they might induce in a weaker nature. In matters of faith and dogma his standpoint was distinctly negative.

MERES, FRANCIS (1565-1647).--Miscellaneous author, was of a Lincolns.h.i.+re family, studied at Camb. and Oxf., and became Rector of Wing in Rutland.

He _pub._ in 1598 _Palladis Tamia: Wit's Treasury_, containing a comparison of English poets with Greek, Latin, and Italian.

MERIVALE, CHARLES (1808-1893).--Historian, _s._ of John Herman M., a translator and minor poet, _b._ in London, _ed._ at Harrow, Haileybury, and Camb., he took orders, and among other preferments held those of chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons, 1863-69, and Dean of Ely. From his college days he was a keen student of Roman history, and between 1850 and 1864 he _pub._ his _History of the Romans under the Empire_, an able and scholarly work, though considered by some critics to be too favourable to the Emperors, and the imperial idea. An earlier work was _The Fall of the Roman Republic_ (1853).

MERRIMAN, H. SETON, (_see_ SCOTT, H.S.).

MESTON, WILLIAM (1688?-1745).--_S._ of a blacksmith, was _ed._ at Marischal Coll., Aberdeen, took part in the '15, and had to go into hiding. His _Knight of the Kirk_ (1723) is an imitation of _Hudibras_. It has little merit.

MICKLE, WILLIAM JULIUS (1735-1788).--Poet, _s._ of the minister of Langholm, Dumfriess.h.i.+re, was for some time a brewer in Edin., but failed.

He went to Oxf., where he was corrector for the Clarendon Press. After various literary failures and minor successes he produced his translation of the _Lusiad_, from the Portuguese of Camoens, which brought him both fame and money. In 1777 he went to Portugal, where he was received with distinction. In 1784 he _pub._ the ballad of _c.u.mnor Hall_, which suggested to Scott the writing of _Kenilworth_. He is perhaps best remembered, however, by the beautiful lyric, _There's nae luck aboot the Hoose_, which, although claimed by others, is almost certainly his.

MIDDLETON, CONYERS (1683-1750).--Divine and scholar, _b._ at Richmond, Yorks.h.i.+re, and _ed._ at Camb. He was the author of several lat.i.tudinarian treatises on miracles, etc., which brought him into controversy with Waterland (_q.v._) and others, and of a _Life of Cicero_ (1741), largely plagiarised from William b.e.l.l.e.n.den, a Scottish writer of the 17th century. Another of his controversies was with Bentley on college administration. He was master of a very fine literary style.

MIDDLETON, THOMAS (1570-1627).--Dramatist, was a Londoner and city chronologer, in which capacity he composed a chronicle of the city, now lost. He wrote over 20 plays, chiefly comedies, besides masques and pageants, and collaborated with Dekker, Webster, and other playwrights.

His best plays are _The Changeling_, _The Spanish Gipsy_ (both with Rowley), and _Women beware Women_. Another, _The Game of Chess_ (1624), got the author and the players alike into trouble on account of its having brought the King of Spain and other public characters upon the stage. They, however, got off with a severe reprimand. M. was a keen observer of London life, and shone most in scenes of strong pa.s.sion. He is, however, unequal and repeats himself. Other plays are: _The Phoenix_, _Michaelmas Term_ (1607), _A Trick to Catch the old One_ (1608), _The Familie of Love_ (1608), _A Mad World, My Masters_ (1608), _The Roaring Girl_ (1611) (with Dekker), _The Old Law_ (1656) (with Ma.s.singer and Rowley), _A Faire Quarrel_ (1617); and among his pageants and masques are _The Triumphs of Truth_ (1613), _The Triumphs of Honour and Industry_ (1617), _The Inner Temple Masque_ (1619), etc.

MILL, JAMES (1773-1836).--Philosopher and historian, _s._ of a shoemaker, was _b._ at Montrose, and showing signs of superior ability, was sent to the Univ. of Edin. with a view to the ministry. He was licensed as a preacher in 1798, but gave up the idea of the Church, and going to London in 1802 engaged in literary work, ed. the _St. James's Chronicle_, and wrote for the _Edinburgh Review_. In 1806 he began his _History of British India_ (1817-18), and in 1819 received the appointment of a.s.sistant Examiner to the India Office, and in 1834 became head of the department. M. had meanwhile become the intimate friend of Jeremy Bentham, was perhaps the chief exponent of the utilitarian philosophy, and was also one of the founders of the London Univ. His philosophical writings include _Elements of Political Economy_ (1821), and _a.n.a.lysis of the Human Mind_ (1824). M.'s intellect was powerful, though rigid and somewhat narrow; his style was clear and precise, and his conversational powers very remarkable, and influential in moulding the opinions of those who came into contact with him, especially his distinguished son, John Stuart (_q.v._).

MILL, JOHN STUART (1806-1873).--Philosopher, _s._ of the above, _b._ in London, was _ed._ by his _f._ with the view of making him the successor of Bentham and himself, as the exponent of the Utilitarian philosophy. In all respects he proved an apt pupil, and by his 15th year had studied cla.s.sical literature, logic, political economy, and mathematics. In that year he went to France, where he was under the charge of Sir S. Bentham, a brother of Jeremy. His studies had led him to the adoption of the utilitarian philosophy, and after his return he became acquainted with Grote, the Austins, and other Benthamites. In 1823 he entered the India House as a clerk, and, like his _f._, rose to be examiner of Indian correspondence; and, on the dissolution of the Company, retired on a liberal pension. In 1825 he ed. Bentham's _Rationale of Judicial Evidence_. During the following years he was a frequent contributor to Radical journals, and ed. the _London Review_. His _Logic_ appeared in 1843, and produced a profound impression; and in 1848 he _pub._ _Principles of Political Economy_. The years between 1858 and 1865 were very productive, his treatises on _Liberty_, _Utilitarianism_, _Representative Government_, and his _Examination of Sir W. Hamilton's Philosophy_ being _pub._ during this period. In 1865 he entered the House of Commons as one of the members for Westminster, where, though highly respected, he made no great mark. After this political parenthesis he returned to his literary pursuits, and wrote _The Subjection of Women_ (1869), _The Irish Land Question_ (1870), and an _Autobiography_. M. had _m._ in 1851 Mrs. Taylor, for whom he showed an extraordinary devotion, and whom he survived for 15 years. He _d._ at Avignon. His _Autobiography_ gives a singular, and in some respects painful account of the methods and views of his _f._ in his education. Though remaining all his life an adherent of the utilitarian philosophy, M. did not transmit it to his disciples altogether unmodified, but, finding it too narrow and rigid for his own intellectual and moral requirements, devoted himself to widening it, and infusing into it a certain element of idealism.

Bain's _Criticism with Personal Recollections_ (1882), L. Courtney's _John Stuart Mill_ (1889), _Autobiography_, Stephens's _Utilitarians_, J.

Grote's _Examination of the Utilitarian Philosophy of Mill_, etc.

MILLER, HUGH (1802-1856).--Geologist, and man of letters, _b._ at Cromarty, had the ordinary parish school education, and early showed a remarkable love of reading and power of story-telling. At 17 he was apprenticed to a stonemason, and his work in quarries, together with rambles among the rocks of his native sh.o.r.e, led him to the study of geology. In 1829 he _pub._ a vol. of poems, and soon afterwards threw himself as an ardent and effective combatant into the controversies, first of the Reform Bill, and thereafter of the Scottish Church question.

In 1834 he became accountant in one of the local banks, and in the next year brought out his _Scenes and Legends in the North of Scotland_. In 1840 the popular party in the Church, with which he had been a.s.sociated, started a newspaper, _The Witness_, and M. was called to be ed., a position which he retained till the end of his life, and in which he showed conspicuous ability. Among his geological works are _The Old Red Sandstone_ (1841), _Footprints of the Creator_ (1850), _The Testimony of the Rocks_ (1856), and _Sketch-book of Popular Geology_. Other books are: _My Schools and Schoolmasters_, an autobiography of remarkable interest, _First Impressions of England and its People_ (1847), and _The Cruise of the Betsy_. Of the geological books, perhaps that on the old red sandstone, a department in which M. was a discoverer, is the best: but all his writings are distinguished by great literary excellence, and especially by a marvellous power of vivid description. The end of his life was most tragic. He had for long been overworking his brain, which at last gave way, and in a temporary loss of reason, he shot himself during the night.

_Life and Letters_, P. Bayne (1871), etc.

MILLER, THOMAS (1807-1874).--Poet and novelist, of humble parentage, worked in early life as a basket-maker. He _pub._ _Songs of the Sea Nymphs_ (1832). Going to London he was befriended by Lady Blessington (_q.v._) and S. Rogers (_q.v._), and for a time engaged in business as a bookseller, but was unsuccessful and devoted himself exclusively to literature, producing over 40 vols., including several novels, _e.g._, _Royston Gower_ (1838), _Gideon Giles the Roper_, and _Rural Sketches_.

In his stories he successfully delineated rural characters and scenes.

MILMAN, HENRY HART (1791-1868).--Poet and historian, _s._ of Sir Francis M., a distinguished physician, _ed._ at Eton and Oxf. Taking orders he became in 1835 Rector of St. Margaret's, Westminster, and in 1849 Dean of St. Paul's. He also held the professors.h.i.+p of Poetry at Oxf. 1821-31.

Among his poetical works may be mentioned _Fazio_ (drama) (1815), _Samor_ (epic) (1818), _The Fall of Jerusalem_ (1820), _The Martyr of Antioch_ (1822), and _Anne Boleyn_ (1826). It is, however, on his work as an historian that his literary fame chiefly rests, his chief works in this department being his _History of the Jews_ (1830), _History of Christianity_ (1840), and especially _The History of Latin Christianity_ (6 vols. 1854-56), which is one of the most important historical works of the century, characterised alike by literary distinction and by learning and research. M. also brought out a valuable ed. of Gibbon's _Decline and Fall_, and wrote a _History of St. Paul's Cathedral_.

MILNES, R. MONCKTON, (_see_ HOUGHTON).

MILTON, JOHN (1608-1674).--Poet, was _b._ 9th December 1608 in Bread Street, London. His _f._, also John, was the _s._ of a yeoman of Oxfords.h.i.+re, who cast him off on his becoming a Protestant. He had then become a scrivener in London, and grew to be a man of good estate. From him his ill.u.s.trious _s._ inherited his lofty integrity, and his love of, and proficiency in, music. M. received his first education from a Scotch friend of his father's, Thomas Young, a Puritan of some note, one of the writers of _Smectymnuus_. Thereafter he was at St. Paul's School, and in 1625 went to Christ's Coll., Camb., where for his beauty and his delicacy of mind he was nicknamed "the lady." His sister Anne had _m._ Edward Phillips, and the death of her first child in infancy gave to him the subject of his earliest poem, _On the death of a Fair Infant_ (1626). It was followed during his 7 years' life at the Univ., along with others, by the poems, _On the Morning of Christ's Nativity_ (1629), _On the Circ.u.mcision_, _The Pa.s.sion_, _Time_, _At a Solemn Music_, _On May Morning_, and _On Shakespeare_, all in 1630; and two sonnets, _To the Nightingale_ and _On arriving at the Age of Twenty-three_, in 1631. In 1632, having given up the idea of entering the Church, for which his _f._ had intended him, he lived for 6 years at Horton, near Windsor, to which the latter had retired, devoted to further study. Here he wrote _L'Allegro_ and _Il Penseroso_ in 1632, _Arcades_ (1633), _Comus_ in 1634, and _Lycidas_ in 1637. The first celebrates the pleasures of a life of cheerful innocence, and the second of contemplative, though not gloomy, retirement, and the last is a lament for a lost friend, Edward King, who perished at sea. _Arcades_ and _Comus_ are masques set to music by Henry Lawes, having for their motives respectively family affection and maiden purity. Had he written nothing else these would have given him a place among the immortals. In 1638 he completed his education by a period of travel in France and Italy, where he visited Grotius at Paris, and Galileo at Florence. The news of impending troubles in Church and State brought him home the following year, and with his return may be said to close the first of three well-marked divisions into which his life falls. These may be called (1) the period of preparation and of the early poems; (2) the period of controversy, and of the prose writings; and (3) the period of retirement and of the later poems. Soon after his return M. settled in London, and employed himself in teaching his nephews, Edward and John Phillips, turning over in his mind at the same time various subjects as the possible theme for the great poem which, as the chief object of his life, he looked forward to writing. But he was soon to be called away to far other matters, and to be plunged into the controversies and practical business which were to absorb his energies for the next 20 years. The works of this period fall into three cla.s.ses--(1) those directed against Episcopacy, including _Reformation of Church Discipline in England_ (1641), and his answers to the writings of Bishop Hall (_q.v._), and in defence of _Smectymnuus_ (_see_ under Calamy); (2) those relating to divorce, including _The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce_ (1643), and _The Four Chief Places of Scripture which treat of Marriage_ (1645); and (3) those on political and miscellaneous questions, including the _Tractate on Education_ (1644), _Areopagitica_ (1644), _A Speech for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing_ (his greatest prose work), _Eikonoklastes_, an answer to the _Eikon Basilike_ of Dr. Gauden (_q.v._), _The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates_ (1649), in defence of the execution of Charles I., which led to the furious controversy with Salmasius, the writing of _Pro Populo Anglicano Defensio_ (1650), the second _Defensio_ (1654), which carried his name over Europe, and _The Ready and Easy Way to establish a Free Commonwealth_, written on the eve of the Restoration. In 1643 M. had _m._ Mary Powell, the _dau._ of an Oxfords.h.i.+re cavalier, a girl of 17, who soon found her new life as the companion of an austere poet, absorbed in severe study, too abrupt a change from the gay society to which she had been accustomed, and in a month returned to her father's house on a visit. When the time fixed for rejoining her husband arrived, she showed no disposition to do so, upon which he began to aim at a divorce, and to advocate in the works above mentioned "unfitness and contrariety of mind"

as a valid ground for it, views which incurred for him much notoriety and unpopularity. A reconciliation, however, followed in 1645, and three _dau._ were born of the marriage. In 1649 the reputation of M. as a Latinist led to his appointment as Latin or Foreign Sec. to the Council of State, in the duties of which he was, after his sight began to fail, a.s.sisted by A. Marvell (_q.v._) and others, and which he retained until the Restoration. In 1652 his wife _d._, and four years later he entered into a second marriage with Katharine Woodc.o.c.k, who _d._ in child-birth in the following year. To her memory he dedicated one of the most touching of his sonnets. At the Restoration he was, of course, deprived of his office, and had to go into hiding; but on the intercession of Marvell (_q.v._), and perhaps Davenant (_q.v._), his name was included in the amnesty. In 1663, being now totally blind and somewhat helpless, he asked his friend Dr. Paget to recommend a wife for him. The lady chosen was Elizabeth Minshull, aged 25, who appears to have given him domestic happiness in his last years. She survived him for 53 years. The Restoration closed his second, and introduced his third, and for his fame, most productive period. He was now free to devote his whole powers to the great work which he had so long contemplated. For some time he had been in doubt as to the subject, had considered the Arthurian legends, but had decided upon the Fall of Man. The result was _Paradise Lost_, which was begun in 1658, finished in 1664, and _pub._ in 1667. A remark of his friend, Thomas Ellwood (_q.v._), suggested to him the writing of _Paradise Regained_, which, along with _Samson Agonistes_, was _pub._ in 1671. Two years before he had printed a _History of Britain_, written long before, which, however, is of little value. The work of M. was now done. In addition to his blindness he suffered from gout, to which it was partly attributable, and, his strength gradually failing, but with mind unimpaired and serene, he _d._ peacefully on November 8, 1674. In M. the influences of the Renaissance and of Puritanism met. To the former he owed his wide culture and his profound love of everything n.o.ble and beautiful, to the latter his lofty and austere character, and both these elements meet in his writings. Leaving Shakespeare out of account, he holds an indisputable place at the head of English poets. For strength of imagination, delicate accuracy and suggestiveness of language, and harmony of versification, he is unrivalled, and almost unapproached; and when the difficulties inherent in the subject of his great masterpiece are considered, the power he shows in dealing with them appears almost miraculous, and we feel that in those parts where he has failed, success was impossible for a mortal. In his use of blank verse he has, for majesty, variety, and music, never been approached by any of his successors. He had no dramatic power and no humour. In everything he wrote, a proud and commanding genius manifests itself, and he is one of those writers who inspire reverence rather than affection. His personal appearance in early life has been thus described, "He was a little under middle height, slender, but erect, vigorous, and agile, with light brown hair cl.u.s.tering about his fair and oval face, with dark grey eyes."

SUMMARY.--_B._ 1608, _ed._ at St. Paul's School and Camb., and while at the latter wrote earlier poems including _The Nativity_ and Sonnets, lived for 6 years at Horton and wrote _L'Allegro_, _Il Penseroso_, _Arcades_, _Comus_, and _Lycidas_, travelled in France and Italy 1638, settled in London, entered on his political and controversial labours, and wrote _inter alia_ on _Reform of Discipline_ 1641, _Divorce_ 1643-45, _Education_ 1644, _Areopagitica_ 1644, and the two _Defences_ 1650 and 1654, appointed Latin Sec. 1649, this period closed by Restoration 1660, _Paradise Lost_ written 1658-64, _pub._ 1667, _Paradise Regained_ and _Samson Agonistes_ 1671, _d._ 1674, _m._ first 1643 Mary Powell, second 1652 Katharine Woodc.o.c.k, third 1663 Eliz. Minshull, who survived till 1727.

_Life_ by Prof. Ma.s.son (_6_ vols. 1859-80), also short Lives by M.

Patteson (1880), Garnett (1889). Ed. of _Works_ by Boydell, Sir E.

Brydges, and Prof. Ma.s.son.

MINOT, LAURENCE (1300?-1352?).--Poet. Nothing is certainly known of him.

He may have been a soldier. He celebrates in northern English and with a somewhat ferocious patriotism the victories of Edward III. over the Scots and the French.

MINTO, WILLIAM (1845-1893).--Critic and biographer, _b._ at Alford, Aberdeens.h.i.+re, and _ed._ at Aberdeen and Oxf., went to London, and became ed. of the _Examiner_, and also wrote for the _Daily News_ and the _Pall Mall Gazette_. In 1880 he was appointed Prof. of Logic and Literature at Aberdeen. He wrote a _Manual of English Prose Literature_ (1873), _Characteristics of the English Poets_ (1874), and a _Life of Defoe_ for the Men of Letters Series.

MITCh.e.l.l, JOHN (1815-1875).--Journalist and political writer, _s._ of a Presbyterian minister, was _b._ in Ulster. For some time he practised as a solicitor, but becoming acquainted with Thomas Davis (_q.v._), he a.s.sociated himself with the Young Ireland party, and was a leading contributor to the _Nation_ newspaper. His political sympathies and acts were carried so far as to bring about in 1848 his trial for treason-felony, and his transportation for 14 years. After his release he resided chiefly at New York, and ed. various papers, and opposed the abolition of slavery; but in 1874 he was elected M.P. for Tipperary, for which, however, he was declared incapable of sitting. On a new election he was again returned, but _d._ before the resulting pet.i.tion could be heard. He wrote a _Jail Journal_, a work of great power, _The Last Conquest of Ireland_ (_perhaps_) (1860), and a _History of Ireland_ of little value.

MITFORD, MARY RUSSELL (1787-1855).--Poetess and novelist, _b._ at Alresford, Hants, _dau._ of a physician, without practice, selfish and extravagant, who ran through three fortunes, his own, his wife's, and his daughter's, and then lived on the industry of the last. After a vol. of poems which attracted little notice, she produced her powerful tragedy, _Julian_. In 1812, what ultimately became the first vol. of _Our Village_ appeared in the _Lady's Magazine_. To this four additional vols. were added, the last in 1832. In this work Miss M. may be said to have created a new branch of literature. Her novel, _Belford Regis_ (1835), is somewhat on the same lines. She added two dramas, _Rienzi_ (1828), and _Foscari_, _Atherton and other Tales_ (1852), and _Recollections of a Literary Life_, and _d._ at her cottage at Swallowfield, much beloved for her benevolent and simple character, as well as valued for her intellectual powers.

MITFORD, WILLIAM (1744-1827).--Historian, _e.s._ of John M. of Exbury, Hants, descended from an old Northumbrian family, was _b._ in London, and _ed._ at Cheam School and Oxf. He studied law, but on succeeding to the family estates devoted himself to study and literature, and to his duties as an officer of the militia. His first _pub._ was an _Essay on the Harmony of Language_ (1774). His great work, _The History of Greece_, is said to have been undertaken at the suggestion of Gibbon, who was a fellow-officer in the South Hants Militia. This work, the successive vols. of which appeared at considerable intervals between 1784 and 1810, was long a standard one, though it is now largely superseded by the histories of Thirwall and Grote. M. wrote with strong prejudices against democracy, and in defence of tyrants, but his style is forcible and agreeable, and he brought learning and research to bear on his subject.

He sat for many years in Parliament.

MOIR, DAVID MACBETH (1798-1851).--Poet and miscellaneous writer, was a doctor at Musselburgh, near Edin., and a frequent contributor, under the signature of [Greek: D], to _Blackwood's Magazine_ in which appeared _Mansie Waugh_, a humorous Scottish tale. He also wrote _The Legend of Genevieve_ (1824), _Domestic Verses_ (1843), and sketches of the poetry of the earlier half of the 19th century. His poetry was generally grave and tender, but occasionally humorous.