Part 19 (1/2)

=M'liss=, brave, arch, and loving girl of the Wild West; the heroine of one of Bret Harte's most popular sketches.

=M. M. Sketch= (_An_), a memorandum sketch.

=Mne'me= (2 _syl._), a well-spring of Bo'tia, which quickens the memory.

The other well-spring in the same vicinity, called _Le'the_, has the opposite effect, causing blank forgetfulness.--Pliny.

Dante calls this river Eu'noe. It had the power of calling to the memory all the good acts done, all the graces bestowed, all the mercies received, but no evil.--Dante, _Purgatory_, x.x.xiii. (1308).

=Mo'ath=, a well-to-do Bedouin, father of Onei'za (3 _syl._), the beloved of Thalaba. Oneiza, having married Thalaba, died on the bridal night, and Moath arrived just in time to witness the mad grief of his son-in-law.--Southey, _Thalaba, the Destroyer_, ii., viii. (1798).

=Mocca'sins=, an Indian buskin.

He laced his moccasins [_sic_] in act to go.

Campbell, _Gertrude of Wyoming_, i. 24 (1809).

=Mochingo=, an ignorant servant of the Princess Ero'ta.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Laws of Candy_ (1647).

=Mock Doctor= (_The_), a farce by H. Fielding (1733), epitomized from _Le Medecin Malgre Lui_, of Moliere (1666). Sir Jasper wants to make his daughter marry a Mr. Dapper; but she is in love with Leander and pretends to be dumb. Sir Jasper hears of a dumb doctor, and sends his two flunkies to fetch him. They ask one Dorcas to direct them to him, and she points them to her husband, Gregory, a f.a.ggot-maker; but tells them he is very eccentric, and must be well beaten, or he will deny being a physician. The f.a.ggot-maker is accordingly beaten into compliance, and taken to the patient. He soon learns the facts of the case, and employs Leander as apothecary. Leander makes the lady speak, and completes his cure with ”pills matrimoniac.” Sir Jasper takes the joke in good part, and becomes reconciled to the alliance.

=Mocking-Bird.= ”During the s.p.a.ce of a minute, I have heard it imitate the woodlark, chaffinch, blackbird, thrush, and sparrow.... Their few natural notes resemble those of the nightingale, but their song is of greater compa.s.s and more varied.”--Ashe, _Travels in America_, ii. 73.

=Moclas=, a famous Arabian robber, whose name is synonymous with ”thief.”

(See ALMANZOR, the caliph.)

=Mode= (_Sir William_), in Mrs. Centlivre's drama, _The Beaux' Duel_ (1703).

=Mode'love= (_Sir Philip_), one of the four guardians of Anne Lovely, the heiress. Sir Philip is an ”old beau, that has May in his fancy and dress, but December in his face and his heels. He admires all new fas.h.i.+ons ... loves operas, b.a.l.l.s, and masquerades” (act i. 1). Colonel Freeman personates a French fop, and obtains his consent to marry his ward, the heiress.--Mrs. Centlivre, _A Bold Stroke for a Wife_ (1717).

=Modely=, a man of the world, gay, fas.h.i.+onable, and a libertine. He had scores of ”lovers,” but never loved till he saw the little rustic la.s.s named Aura Freehold, a farmer's daughter, to whom he proposed matrimony.--John Philip Kemble, _The Farm-house_.

=Modish= (_Lady Betty_), really in love with Lord Morelove, but treats him with a.s.sumed scorn or indifference, because her pride prefers ”power to ease.” Hence she coquets with Lord Foppington (a married man), to mortify Morelove and arouse his jealousy. By the advice of Sir Charles Easy, Lord Morelove pays her out in her own coin, by flirting with Lady Graveairs, and a.s.suming an air of indifference. Ultimately, Lady Betty is reduced to common sense, and gives her heart and hand to Lord Morelove.--Colley Cibber, _The Careless Husband_ (1704).

=Modo=, the fiend that urges to murder, and one of the five that possessed ”poor Tom.”--Shakespeare, _King Lear_, act iv. sc. 1 (1605).

=Modred=, son of Lot, king of Norway, and Anne, own sister of King Arthur (pt. viii. 21; ix. 9). He is always called ”the traitor.” While King Arthur was absent, warring with the Romans, Modred was left regent, but usurped the crown, and married his aunt, the queen (pt. x. 13). When Arthur heard thereof, he returned, and attacked the usurper, who fled to Winchester (pt. xi. 1). The king followed him, and Modred drew up his army at Cambula, in Cornwall, where another battle was fought. In this engagement Modred was slain, and Arthur also received his death-wound (pt. xi. 2). The queen, called Guanhuma'ra (but better known as Guen'evere), retired to a convent in the City of Legions, and entered the order of Julius the Martyr (pt. xi. 1).--Geoffrey, _British History_ (1142).

? This is so very different from the accounts given in Arthurian romance of Mordred, that it is better to give the two names as if they were different individuals.