Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 15.djvu/863

Rh M E H M E I 831 May to the end of September, are resorted to by over j a thousand visitors. The town of Mehadia has about 2200 inhabitants, principally Roumanians and Germans. Already in the times of the Romans famous for their healing efficacy, the Thermae Hcrculis (Fontcs Hcrculis, Aquae Hcrculis} were the resort of emperors, generals, and senators, whose sojourn there is attested by various inscriptions and relics. The town is the site of the ancient Roman colony of Ad Medium, near which the Roman road from the Danube to Dacia passed in its course through the valley of the Cserna. Subsequent to the destruction of the Roman empire the baths fell into disuse until 1735 ; great improvements have been effected in them during the present cen tury, and recently a spacious kursaal lias been built at the expense of the Hungarian Government. The fortress of Mehadia was often stormed during the wars with the Turks, and notably in 1716, 1738, and 1789. MEHEMET ALT, or MOIIAMMED Aii. See EGYPT, vol. vii, p. 760 sq. ME~HUL, ETIEXNE HENRI (1763-1817), one of the most remarkable composers of France, was born at Givet, in Ardennes, on the 24th of June 1763. His father being too poor to give him a regular musical education, his first ideas of art were derived from a poor blind organist of Givet ; yet such was his aptitude that, whan ten yeirs old, he was appointed organist of the convent of the Recollets. In 1775 an able German musician and organist, Wilhelrn Hauser, was engaged for the monastery of Lavaldieu, a few miles from Giyet, and Mehul became his occasional pupil. In his sixteenth year he was taken to Paris by a military officer, and placed himself under Edelmann, a good musician and harpsichord player. His first attempts at instrumental composition in 1781 did not succeed, and he therefore turned his attention to sacred and dramatic music. The grext composer Gluck received him kindly, and gave him advice in his studies. After various delays and disappointments during his eflorts for six years to obtain, at the Grand Opera, a representation of his Cora et Alonzo, he offered to the Opera Comiquehis Euphrosine et Coradin, which, being accepted and performed in 1790, at once fixed his reputation. The critics acknowledged in it great energy of dramatic expression, and much brilliant instrumentation, but objected to a general want of graceful melody, a strange complaint, since his style is far more refine! than that of either Herold or Auber. His opera of Stratonice had great success. After several other operas which did not succeed, his Adrieii appeared, and added much to his fame, which was still further increased by his three best works, Le jeune Henri, Uthal, and Joseph, the finest of the series. He had been appointed one of the four inspectors of the Paris Conservatory, but that office made him feel continually the insufficiency of his early studies, a want which he endeavoured to remedy by incessant application. Timoleon, Ariodant, and Bion fallowed Stratonice, with various success. Uthal can scarcely be expected to live, since, by desire of Napoleon Bonaparte, it was written for an orchestra without violins. Epicure was composed by Me&quot;hul and Cherubim jointly ; but the superiority of the latter was evident. Me liul s next opera, LTrato, failed. After writing forty-two operas, besides a number of songs for the festivals of the republic, cantatas, and orchestral pieces of various kinds, his health gave way, from an affection of the chest, which terminated his life on the 18th of October 1817. MEIBOM, HEINRICH (1555-1625), was born at Lemgo on December 4, 1555, and died on September 20, 1625, at Helmstadt, where he had held the chair of history and poetry from 1583. He was a writer of Latin verses (Parodiarum Horatianarum Lilri III. et Si/lvarum Libri If., 1588), and his talents in this direction were recognized by the emperor Rudolph II., who ennobled him and made him poet la-ireate in 1590, but his claim to be remembered rests entirely on his services in elucidating the mediaeval history of Germany. His Opuscida Historica ad res Germaaicas spectantia were edited and published in 1660 by his grandson, Heinrich Meibom (1638-1700), who also was professor of history and poetry at Helmstiidt, and incorporated the grandfather s work with his own Jtentm Germanicarum Scriptores (1688). MEININGEN, the capital of the little duchy of Saxe- Meiningen, in central Germany, and the seat of the pro vincial courts for Saxe-Meiningen, Saxe-Coburg, and the Prussian districts of Schmalkaldeu and Schleusingen, is situated on the right bank of the Werra, about 40 miles to the south of Eisenach. It consists of an old town and several handsome suburbs, but much of the former has been rebuilt in a modern style since a destructive fire in 1874. The chief buildings are the Elisabethenburg, or old ducal palace, dating chiefly from 1682, and containing several collections ; the new palace ; the new town-house ; the post-office; the barracks; and the old town church, with its two towers, erected in 1003. The theatre has- lately attained a European reputation for its admirably drilled actors and unexcelled scenic effects. The English Garden, a beautiful public park, contains the ducal mortuary chapel and several monuments. The industries, consisting of brewing and the weaving of woollen and cotton cloth, are insignificant. The population in 1880 was 11,227. Meiningen, which was subject to the bishops of &quot;Viirzhurg for up wards of 500 years (1000-1542), came into the possession of the dukes of Saxony in 1583. At the partition of 1660 it fell to the share of Saxe-Altenburg, and in 1680 it became the capital of Saxe-Meiningen. MEISSEN, an ancient and important industrial town of Saxony is situated on the left bank of the Elbe, between the streams Meisse and Triebisch, in the district and about 9 miles to the north-west of the town of Dresden. Its irregular hilly site and numerous fine old buildings give it a quaint and picturesque appearance, and most of the streets are narrow and uneven. The cathedral, one of the finest Early Gothic edifices in Germany, is con spicuously situated on the Schlossberg, 160 feet above the town. It is said to have been originally founded by the emperor Otho I., but the present building was begun in the 13th century, and completed soon after 1400. The lofty tower dates from the 15th century. Within tbe cathedral are the tombs of several Saxon princes of the 15th and 16th centuries, including those of Albert and Ernest, the founders of the present reigning lines. Ad joining the cathedral stands the castle, dating originally from 1473-81, but restored and named Albrechtsburg in 1676. Another thorough restoration was undertaken in ! 1863, when a series of historical frescos by celebrated modern artists was begun upon its walls. An old stone bridge of the 13th century connects the Schlossberg with ! the Afraberg, which owes its name to the old convent of I in 1543, and converted into the &quot;Fiirstenschule,&quot; one of the most renowned schools in Germany, counting Lessing 1 and Gellert among its former pupils. The other chief ! buildings are the town-house, built in 1479, and restored in ! 1875; the fine old town church, also called the Frauen- kirche or Marienkirche ; and the churches of St Francis. 1 St Nicholas (coeval with the town), and St Afra, Since 1710, immediately after Bottcher s great discovery, Meissen has been the seat of the manufacture of the so- called Dresden china. Till 1863 the porcelain factory was in the Albrechtsburg, but in that year it was transferred to a large new building in the Triebisch- thal, close to the town, where about six_ hundred and seventy hands are now employed. Meissen also contains iron foundries, manufactories of earthenware stoves and pottery, a jute-mill, sugar refineries, breweries,
 * St Afra. The convent was suppressed by Duke Maurice