Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/323

* MELBOURNE. 289 MELCHIZEDEK. MELBOURNE, illiam Lamb, second Vis- count ( 177',)-1S4.S). All English statosnian. He was i-cluLatfil at Kton and at Trinity College, Cam- bridge, where he graduated in 170ti, and at Glas- "ow (ITtt'J), where he studied jurisprudenee and polities under Millar. One year after his ad- mission to the bar (1804) he entered the House of Commons for Leominster and joined the Whig opposition, under the leadership of Charles James Fox. As a consequence of his favoring Catholic cnianci|)ation, he lost his scat in lsi:2, hut when he returned, a few years later, he came back a fcilinwer of Canning, and in 1S27 aeeeiUed the chief secretaryship of Ireland in Canning's Gov- ernment. This partial alienation from the Whigs was increased when he not only took oftiee under Lord Goderich, but remained for a short time in the Government of the Duke of Wellington. In 1828 the death of his father transferred him to the House of Lords. In 1830 he accepted the seals of the home office in the Government of Earl Grey, but his administration was by no means popular or successful. In July, 18."U. Earl Grey retired and William IV. sent for Melbourne. In November, however, on a slight pretext, the King, who had become entirely alienated from the Whigs and INIelbourne, invited Sir Robert Peel to form a Conservative Ministry. On Peel's arrival in England he dissolved Parlia- ment and appealed to the country, but was defeat- ed; the new Commons, resenting the interference of the King, made Peel's task an impossible one, so early in 1835 Jlelbourne again became First Lord of the Treasury and Premier. On the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837, it became the duty of Melbourne to instruct the young sovereign in the various duties of her high station. In 1841 his Government was succeeded by that of Sir Robert Peel. Henceforward Jlelbourne took little part in public afl'airs. His administrations advocated reform of Church tithes, in both England and Ireland, of municipal corpnratiijns. ta.ation, criminal law, postal rates ami education, yet he himself cared little for reform. Personally he was not interested in change of any kind. He had little of the oratorical faculty, and was in- effective as a speaker, but possessed a cheerful tenii)er and cordial frankness of manner which made him man.y friends. He married (180.5) a daughter of the Earl of Bessborough, who. under the litle of Lady Caroline Lamb, attained some celelirity as a novel-writer and a corres|)ondent of Lord Byron. For the life of Lord Mell)ourne, consult: Torrens, Memoirs of Lord Melbourne (London, 1875) ; Sanders, Lord Mrlhoiinw's Pa- pers (London, 1880) ; Hayward, "Essay on Lord Melbourne," in Celebrated Statesmen ami Writ- ers. MELCHERS, melK'ers, Paulus (1813-95). A German canlinal. He was born at Miinster, Westphalia, studied law at Bonn, and afterwards theolog;v at Munich and at the theological semi- nary of Miinster. In 1841 he was ordained priest and in 1857 was made Bishop of Osnabriick. In 1805 he was nominated Archbishoj) of (Vdogne by Pius IX. At the Vatican Council Melehers at first opposed the doctrine of infallibility, but afterwards acknowledged it, when the majority decided in favor of it, and even excommunicated professors who were against its proclamation. He took a prominent part in the Kultiirkriiiipf, and thereby frequently came into conflict with the Government authorities, and was removed from office in lS7ii. He heeame cardinal in 1885. He wrote: /vine inlcni-eisting fiir das heitiije Altarsakramcnt (1878); Die kathotische Lelire des Uerrii (1883) ; and Das Leben der allerselig- sten Jungfrau und Gottesmutter (1884). MELCHIADES, niel-kl'jl-dez. See Miltiades. MELCHITES, mel'klts (MGk. UeXxlr^, Mel- eliiles. from Syr. iiialkuye, roval, from melek, king). Originally a niekmuiie given by the Mono- physites in the tifth century to the Christians wlio remained orthodox in the patriarchates of .Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch — the name, in the sense of 'Court jiarty,' implying that they did so luider Imperial pressure. Since the thir- teenth century, however, the name has been ap- plied to the Christians of Eastern rite in .Syria and Egypt who are in communion with Rome. They have had a patriarchate of their own. tak- ing' its title from Antioch. since 1744. Besides Damascus, which the patriarch rules immediate- ly by a sufl'ragan, there arc twelve other <lioeeses subject to his authority, with between 300 and 400' priests and over 100,000 lay people. See Eastern Rite, Churches of; Uniates. IffELCHIZEDEK, or MELCHISEDEC, mel- kiz'e-dek ( lieb. J/'///. ;-m//.7,-. king of righteous- ness). A personage introduced in Gen. xiv. 18, as 'king of Salem' and "priest of the most high God.' This chapter, while probably resting on some obscure reminiscences in which Babylojiian history has been brought into artificial connec- tion with tribal quarrels in Eastern Palestine, is regarded by many scholars as a late production in the manner of the post-exilic Midrash — i.e. a half homiletical and half legendary elaboration of an historical tradition. The narrative states that after Abraham's return from the successful pur- suit of Chedorlaonier (q.v. ). King of F.lam, and his allies, which he had undertaken in order to rescue Lot, he was met by ilcMchizedek; the lat- ter oft'ered the patriarch bread and wine and blessed him; whereupon Abraham gave Mel- chizedek tithes from the spoil. The Midrashic character of the story is made evident by the names, which are symbolical. Salem — probably a disguise for Jerusalem, which, as the Tell el- Armarna tablets show, is to be interpreted as Ur-Salim ('city of Salim') — signifies 'peace' and Melchizcdek means 'king of righteousness.' It is. therefore, quite natural to find that Mclchizedek became a favorite personage for further elabora- tion, both with .Jews and Cliristians. In the Haggada he is identified with Sheni ; the refer- ence to Melchizcdek in Psalm ex. 4 is late and obscure, but points to other conceptions current about this mysterious personage. In the Epistle to the Hebrews (vi. 20; vii. 1-21) he is taken as typifying Christ. Various other views arose with regard to Melchi/cdek. So Jerome records an old notion that the royal priest was an angel. A small sect in the fourth century called after his name, ilelchizedekians. taught that he was a power or incarnati<in of God greater even than Christ. Others reganled him as the Holy Ghost. Eiiiphanius says that some in his day believed that ilelchizedek was the Son of God in human form; to this opinion ..mbrose seemed inclined, and this view harmonized with a .Jewish belief that he was the Messiah. It is of some import- ance to note, as throwing perhaps some light on the origin of the 'Melchizcdek' tradition, that in his famous code. King Hammurabi (q.v.) of