published by Paccius in 1517 at Rome; and the Greek text by H. Stephanus at Paris, 1557. Heinsius' edition, with a new Latin version and notes, was a great advance upon the preceding. It first appeared in 1607 at Leyden. Davis' second edition was published after his death by Markland in 1740, and reprinted by Reiske, with corrections and additional notes, Leipsic, 2 vols., 1774-75. Maximus Tyrius was addicted to Platonism. He is a very loose writer, and must have been hasty and careless, else he would not have fallen into so many errors. Why Markland should praise his acuteness, ability, and learning it is not easy to see; for his style of writing is far beneath the subjects treated of. It is an improbable conjecture of Markland's that Maximus published two editions of his work, in the second of which he corrected the errors in argument of the first, but left uncorrected the historical mistakes.—S. D.
MAXWELL, William Hamilton, a popular novelist, was born in 1795, the only son of a merchant at Newry in Ireland. He entered Trinity college, Dublin, before he was fifteen. His desire for a military life was opposed by his family, and he spent several years in idleness and amusement. At length, in deference to relatives from whom he had expectations, he entered holy orders, and in 1820 he was collated to the rectory and prebend of Ballagh in Connaught, where he found plenty of shooting. His first story, "O'Hara," written after the disappointment of his expectations, was not successful; but for the next work, "The Stories of Waterloo," he was paid £100 a volume. His publications are very numerous. He was a frequent contributor to Bentley's Miscellany and to the Dublin University Magazine. He died in distress on the 29th December, 1850.—R. H.
MAY, Thomas, the historian and poet, was born in 1595 of an ancient family in Sussex. He studied at Cambridge, and afterwards adopted the law as his profession, and became a member of Gray's inn. Turning his attention to literature, he produced several plays, some of which were acted before the court, and are said to have received the approbation of Charles I. He also translated Virgil's Georgics into English verse, and in 1629 he brought out a version of some epigrams of Martial. He rendered into English verse the Pharsalia of Lucan, with a metrical supplement of his own in seven books, continuing the subject to the death of Julius Cæsar. He also executed a Latin version of his own supplement to Lucan, which has been highly praised by Mr. Hallam. In the civil war May took part with the commons, and was appointed secretary to parliament—an office which gave him excellent opportunities for acquiring information, which he has embodied in his valuable "History of the Parliament," the work by which he is now best remembered. It contains much valuable matter, conveyed in a plain, terse, and vigorous style, and is considered one of the best contemporary histories on the popular side of the question. To all appearance it is written with great impartiality. It was first published in Latin in 1647. The English version of it, also by May himself, appeared in 1650. Unhappily the history contains only a period of less than three years, viz., from the first meeting of the Long parliament in November, 1640, to September, 1643. A brief history of the civil war down to the execution of the king, written by May, was published in 1650. It is entitled a "Breviary of the History of the Parliament of England," and is not a continuation of the previous history, but a distinct work. The dramatic works of May, of which three tragedies and two comedies are mentioned, are now lost, as well as most of his other poems. He died in November, 1650. He was a man of moderate views, and seems to have strongly disapproved the excesses of parliament during his later years.—G.
MAYCOCK, James Dottin, a British botanist and medical man, died at Barbadoes in 1840. As a doctor of medicine he practised for many years in that island, and he published a flora of Barbadoes. He notices the indigenous and introduced plants, and calls attention to their economical uses. He describes the aloe vulgaris as the source of Barbadoes aloes.—J. H. B.
MAYENNE, Charles de Lorraine, Duke of, one of the leading personages in the wars of the French league, was born on the 20th March, 1554, being the second son of Francis of Lorraine, duke of Guise. At the age of fifteen he accompanied his brother, the duke of Guise and the head of the catholic party, to war against the Huguenots under Coligny. In 1571 he engaged in the service of Venice, and joined the fleet under Don John of Austria. Two years later he was in Poland with the duke of Anjou, who had been elected king of that country, and welcomed him back to France, when called to reign there as Henry III. When in 1588 the king basely sought to free himself from the domination of a powerful family by causing the duke of Guise to be assassinated, the leadership of the catholic party and the league fell to Mayenne. He made himself master of Paris in February, 1589, where he was besieged by the king, and by his heir, the king of Navarre. Henry III. was assassinated the night before the intended assault, and Henry IV. raised the siege. In the confusion which ensued as to the succession to the throne, Mayenne might have seized the supreme power; but however able he might be for ordinary undertakings in peaceful times, he was not made of the stern stuff which fits men to lead revolutions. He was a sincere catholic, and therefore an ally of Spain; but he was too patriotic to go to great extremities with his opponents, and thereby leave France at the mercy of the Spaniards. He did not entirely break with the Spanish party till 1596, when a treaty was signed, by which the league was dissolved and the civil war ended. He was received kindly by the king, and remained faithful to him and to his widow, the regent. He died at Soissons, 3rd October, 1611.—R. H.
MAYER, Johann Ernst, a celebrated German sculptor was born at Ludwigsburg in 1776. He studied in the Munich academy, and afterwards at Rome under Thorwaldsen. On his return to Munich he was elected into the Academy, and afterwards nominated professor of sculpture. He was greatly esteemed in Munich, and found constant employment in executing the sculptural decorations of the royal palace, the glyptothek, the library, and other of the many new churches and public buildings in that city. He died January 22, 1844.—J. T—e.
MAYER, Simone, a celebrated musician, was born at Mendorf in Bavaria, June 14, 1763. At an early age he was sent to Bergamo in Italy, to study music under Carlo Lanzi. He afterwards went to Venice and completed his education under Bertoni. In 1791 he composed his oratorio, "Jacob and Laban," for the conservatory of Venice. It was so well received that he followed it by the composition of four others, viz:—"David," "Tobias," "Sisira," and "Jephtha's Vow." He afterwards turned his attention to dramatic music, and produced at Venice in 1794 his first opera of "Saffo." In 1799 he produced "Il fanatico per la Musica," and in 1800 appeared his "Lodoviska." The latter, together with "I Misteri Elusini," both written in the German style, paved the way for the reception of Mozart's operas in Italy. In 1803 he brought out at Venice "L'Equivoci," and in the same year he produced his "Ginevra in Scozia." In 1812 "La Rosa bianca e la Rosa rossa," on the subject of the wars between the houses of York and Lancaster, was brought forth with vast success in Italy; but when introduced at the opera house in London some years later, it failed entirely. The pen of Mayer was very active. He has produced altogether more than fifty operas, usually giving from two to three a year, and always with more or less success. The greater part of these works were produced at Venice, and the critics have remarked that though some of them were produced at very short intervals one from the other, they are all marked by a distinctive character, and display a surprising variety of original matter. For instance, two of his compositions of the most opposite character were produced in the same season, the "Medea" and the "Elisa"—the latter remarkable for the grave and gentle pathos that breathes throughout, and the former for its display of the grander and more terrible passions. Mayer's greatest work undoubtedly is his "Medea," which was produced in London in 1826 by Madame Pasta, who gave an effect to it which carried it triumphantly through more than one season. Mayer resided for many years at Bergamo, where he held the situation of maestro di capella, to which he was appointed in 1802, esteemed by all who knew him, and admired not less for his talents than for the rare modesty by which they were accompanied. He died about 1840, but the exact date we have been unable to ascertain.—E. F. R.
MAYER, Tobias, one of the greatest of modern astronomers, was born at Marbach in Würtemberg, on the 17th of February, 1723, and died at Göttingen on the 20th of February, 1762. He was the son of a skilful hydraulic engineer, who carefully cultivated his mathematical talents. In 1750 he published a remarkable memoir on the libration of the moon, which is considered to contain the first example of the use of "equations of condition", to determine the most probable result of a number of observations—one of the most important improvements in practical astronomy. In 1751 he was appointed to the charge of
