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 MIDDLE THIBET MIDDLETON 525 pop. in 1871, 2,538,882. It is the smallest county in the kingdom except Kutland, but the greatest in population, wealth, and impor- tance, as it comprises the greater part of Lon- don, which occupies 51 sq. m. of the county. Much of the land is devoted to market garden- ing, though more of it is in meadow and pas- ture. The chief towns, besides London, are Brentford, the capital, Hounslow, and Uxbridge. MIDDLE THIBET. See LADAKH. MIDDLETON, the name of a family noted in the history of South Carolina. I. Edward, its founder, was a native of Twickenham, Eng- land, where he inherited a large property. He removed to South Carolina, and was a member of the council under the lords proprietors in 1680, 10 years after its settlement. He evinced decided republican tendencies, and maintained popular rights in opposition to the govern- ment. II. Arthur, son of the preceding, was a member of the council in 1712. His influence was exerted in favor of popular claims, op- posing the close borough system of the lords proprietors, and finally he headed the revolu- tion which threw off the proprietary govern- ment and placed the colony under the imme- diate protection of the crown (1719). He was governor of the colony from 1725 to 1731, after which he remained in the royal council. III. Henry, son of the preceding, was an aged man at the outbreak of the revolution, but was sent as a delegate from South Carolina to con- gress, of which body he was president in 1775. IV. Arthur, son of the preceding, born at the family seat on Ashley river in 1743, died Jan. 1, 1787. He was educated at Harrow and Westminster schools, and the university of Cambridge, and became a revolutionary leader. He was one of the most efficient members of the first council of safety. In 1776 he was sent as a delegate of the state to congress, and as such affixed his signature to the Declaration of Independence. He held his seat in con- gress till 1777, declined the governorship of South Carolina in 1778, took the field for the defence of Charleston in 1779, saw his planta- tion devastated by the British, was made a pris- oner after the fall of Charleston in 1780, and was one of the leading citizens who were con- fined as hostages. His estate was sequestered, and he was confined in the castle of St. Ap- gustine, and afterward in the Jersey prison ship. Exchanged in the latter part of 1780, he served till the close of the war as a delegate in congress, and was afterward elected to the state senate. He was a stenographer, and took down many of the debates in which he par- ticipated. He wrote effective political essays under the signature of "Andrew Marvell." V. Henry, son of the preceding, born in 1771, died in Charleston, June 14, 1846. He was a member of the state legislature from 1801 to 1810; was governor of the state in 1810-'12 ; a representative in congress from 1815 to 1819 ; and in 1820 was appointed minister to Russia, which post he held till 1831. MIDDLETON, onyers, an English clergyman, born in Richmond, Yorkshire, Dec. 27, 1683, died at Hildersham, Cambridgeshire, July 28, 1750. He graduated at Trinity college, Cam- bridge, in 1702, was ordained deacon, was elected a fellow of his college in 1706, and in 1708 signed the petition against Bentley, the master. This was the beginning of a contro- versy between them, long continued in the university and in the courts, Middleton being twice convicted of libel. The office of prin- cipal librarian of the university was created for him. In 1726 Middleton published an at- tack upon the medical profession, entitled De Medicorum apud Veteres Romanes degen- tium Conditione Dissertatio. In 1729 ap- peared his "Letter from Rome" (which he had visited in 1724), in which he attempted to show that " the religion of the present Romans was derived from their heathen ancestors." He also attacked the miracles of the Roman Catholic church in a way which awakened a suspicion of his disbelief in the miracles of the New Testament. A letter to Dr. Water- land published in 1731 gave still more serious offence to the clergy, and Middleton found it necessary to publicly avow his belief in Christianity. In 1735 he published "A Dis- sertation concerning the Origin of Printing in England," and in 1741 his most popular work, " The History of the Life of M. Tullius Cicero" (2 vols., London), from the profits of which he purchased a small estate at Hil- dersham, 6 m. from Cambridge, where he passed the rest of his days. The "History" was followed by a translation of the corre- spondence of Cicero and Brutus, together with a defence of its authenticity (1743), and a " Free Inquiry into the Miraculous Powers which are supposed to have subsisted in the Christian Church from the Earliest Ages" (1749), which exposed him again to the charge of infidelity. In 1750 appeared his " Examination of the Bishop of London's [Dr. Sherlock's] Discourses concerning the Use and Intent of Prophecy." His works, with the exception of the " Life of Cicero," were collected and published in 1752, in 4 vols. 4to, and subsequently in 5 vols. 8vo. MIDDLETON, Thomas, an English dramatist, born in the latter part of the 16th century, died in July, 1627. In 1620 he was appointed chronologer or city poet of London. He was associated with Jonson, Fletcher, Massinger, and Rowley in the composition of several plays. "A Mad World, my Masters," "The Mayor of Queenborough," and "The Roaring Girl," are in Dodsley's collection. His " Game at Chess," performed in 1624, gave umbrage to the court on account of its allusions to the king and ambassador of Spain, and Middleton and the players were brought before the privy council and censured for their audacity in "bringing modern Christian kings upon the stage." From his play called " the Witch " Shakespeare has been supposed to have bor- rowed the witch incantations in " Macbeth."