Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/341

* MENAM. 307 MENCIUS. MENAM, manUm'. Tlie chief river of Siam. It rises in the northwestern part of that country, and ttows southward, emptying by several arms into the Gulf of Siam, after a course of about 700 miles, or UUO miles if its len.yth is measured from the source of its large tributary, the Mei Ping (Map: Siam, D 4). The Menam is nav- igable for large steamers to Bangkok, 15 miles from its mouth, and for small vessels for about 250 miles. The river divides itself several times by arms rejoining farther down, and from June to November it overflows a large part of the sur- rounding country, leaving an alluvial deposit of extraordinary fertility. MENAN'DER (Lat., from Gk, MimvUpog, Uciiiiiulios) ( B.C. 342-c.2!ll ). One of the greatest poets of the Attic New Comedy, bom at Athens of a, distinguished family. By his uncle, Alexis, the eminent poet of the Middle Comedy, he wa^ initiated into the dramatist's art; 'his philosoph- ical education he received from association with Theophrastus and Epicurus. He was handsome and fond of luxury. The greater part of his time he spent at his villa in the Peirseus with his beloved Glycera. When Ptolemy Soter gave him a nattering invitation to his Court, Jlenander declined, preferring his native city and easy in- dependence to royal favor. Aliout B.C. 201 he was drowned while swimming in tlie harbor of the Peirseus. Menander is said to have won a vic- tory on the comic stage at the age of twenty-one. Yet during his lifetime he was less a favorite than his contemporary Philemon (q.v.). Of his 105 or 108 plays but eight won the highest place. After his death, however, he became the favorite above all other comic poets of his time, and was nmch read and quoted far into the Christian Era. We are unfortunately obliged to form our opin- ions of his comedies chiefly from the adaptations of them by Plautus and Terence. According to ancient critics he was distinguished for his wit, the refinement and perfection of his language, and his ingenious plots. Over a thousand frag- ments of his plays remain and a considerable col- lection of gnomes attributed to him. The latter collection has, however, sufl'ered greatly from additions. The fragments are best published by Kock, Vomicnrum Atticum Firtrjmrnld, vol. iii. (Leipzig, 1888). Two leaves of paj)yrus contain- ing new fragments were published by Nicole, Le liibonitciir dc Meiiutidre (Basle, 1898), by Gren- fell and Hunt (Oxford, 1898). MENANDER. A powerful Groeco-Bactrian King, who ruled at the beginning of the second centurj- B.C. Strabo refers to some of his eon- quests and Plutarch records that on his death, B.C. 115, varidus towns contended for the honor of cherishing his ashes. The large nunilier of coins that bear his name and the wide- extended territory over which they are found seem to point to a long reign and to a domain of considerable influence. He appears in Buddhistic literature as ililinda (q.v.). MENANT, me-niiN', Joachim (1S20-1899). A French Orientalist, born at Cherbourg. He showed great skill in deciphering the cuneiform inscriptions, and on account of his valuable con- tributions to Assyrian literature he was made a mcnibcr of the Acadi'mie des Inscriptions. His numerous writings include: Expotf^ dns i^lt^ments de la rirnmtnnire <iss;/rieiine (1808) ; Inxcriptinns assi/riciutcs des hriques< de Babi/lonc (18G0) ; Les (critures cuneiformcs (1860-G4); and Lemons dVpigraphie assyriennc profcssies atix libres de la Harbonne (1873). He also published a collec- tion of texts translated by Assyriologists: An- nciles desi rois d'Assyrie (1874), and liabylone et la ChakUe (1875). MEN'APHON, or Camilla'.s Alarm to Slumbering Eupiiues in His Melanciioi.ie Cell AT Silexedra. a story by Robert (irecne pub- lished under the title Arcadia in 1589, the year before the publication of Sidney's Arcadia. It contains some of the author's finest poems. MENARD, mA'niii-', Michel BRANAMorK (1805-50). A pioneer, born of French parentage at Laprairie, Lower Canada. At an early age he entered the service of a fur-trading company at Detroit, and afterwards went to Jlissouri as an Indian trader for his uncle. He became a chief of the Shawnee Indians, and gained much influence over other tribes. About the year 1833 he went to Texas, and engaged in trading with the Mexicans and Indians. Owing to his influ- ence over the Indians, he was able, upon the re- volt of the Texans, to prevent the Indians from assisting the Mexicans. He was a member of the convention that declared Texas inde7K-ndpnt. and afterwards served in the Congress of that State. In 1836 he bought a square league of land that included most of the site of the present city of Galveston, and became in effect the founder of that city. MENASH'A. A city in Winnebago County, Wis., 88 miles north by west of Milwaukee; on Lake Winnebago, at the mouth of Fox River, on the L'nited States Government Canal of the Fox and Wisconsin River Improvement, and on the Chicago and Northwestern, the Chicago, Mil- waukee and Saint Paul, and the Wisconsin Cen- tral railroads (Map: Wisconsin, E 4). It has a public library, and there are paper mills, a woodenware factory, flour, saw, and woolen mills, machine shops, brick yards, and manufactories of various lumber |iriiducts. Lake Winnel>ago is popular as a place of summer resort. Settled in 1847, Menasha was incorporated first in 1874. The present government is administered under a charter of 1892, which provides for a m.iyor. an- nually elected, and a unicameral council. Popu- lation, in 1890, 4581; in 1900, 5589. MENCIUS, men'shiis (Latinized form of Chinese Mf:NG-TSE or Mijng-t.se) (c. 371-287 B.C.). A Chinese sage, ranking next after Confucius in the estimation of the Chinese. He was born about B.C. 371 ( 108 years after the death of Confucius) , in the small Principality of Tsow in the Province, of Shan-tung, at no great distance from the birth- place of Confucius. As a youth he was known as Meng K'o. His father died when the future philosopher was only three years old. The widow gave the fatherless boy every attention, and in due course he went to school, but does not seem at first to have been specially diligent or enthu- siastic in his studies. It is said that he stuilied later with the disciples of Tszu-tse — the grand- son of Confucius — and from (hem learned the doc- trines of the Master, of whom he liecame an enthusiastic admirer. When he was forty he ap- peared as a public teacher w'ith a large following of disciples. Like Confucius, he moved about from State to State, inculcating, expounding, and amplifying the Confucian teaching. He was more courageous and outspoken than Confucius, and