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364 MEISSONIER MEKHITAR of German poetry in Bohemia, a 10th edition of his Gedichte appearing in 1867. Some of his effusions, especially Der Sohn desAtta Troll (1850), abound with the peculiar sarcasm and pathos in which Heine excelled, and he pub- lished Erinnerungen an Heine (1854). Among his novels are Zwischen Furst und VolTc (3 vols., 2d ed., 1861), illustrating the revolution of 1848; Zur Ehre Gottes (2 vols., 1861); and ScJiwarzgelb (8 vols., Berlin, 1864; popular edition, 1 vol., 1866). His other writings in- clude Charalctermaslcen (3 vols., Leipsic, 1861- '3); Novellen (2 vols., Leipsic, 1864); Die Kinder Rom's (4 vols., Berlin, 1870); and Rococo-Bilder (Gumbinnen, 1871). MEISSONIER, Jean Louis Ernest, a French painter, born in Lyons about 1813. He stud- ied his art in Paris under Leon Cogniet, exhib- ited in 1836 his " Little Messenger," and soon acquired a reputation as a painter of minia- ture subjects of exquisite finish and delicacy. Among his best known pictures are " The Chess Players," "The Reader," "A Game of Piquet," and " The Skittle Players." Among his larger pictures are " A Charge of Cavalry " (1867), which was sold for 150,000 francs, and is in a private gallery in Cincinnati, and " The Emperor at Solferino" (1864). Pie has made designs for Balzac's Comedie humaine, "Paul and Virginia," and other works. His pictures bring great prices, and there are several of them in the United States. JEAN CHARLES, his son and pupil, has attained distinction as a painter, particularly for his portraits. MEJERDA (anc. Bagradaa), a river of north- ern Africa, formed by several streams which rise in the Atlas mountains in Algeria, and run- ning N. and N. E. to the gulf of Tunis, into which it falls, 24 m. N. of the city of that name. Its whole course is about 200 m., and it is the only considerable river of Tunis. Toward the sea it enters a wide plain whose numerous lakes or ponds seem to have been formed by inundations of the river. Its waters are deep- ly colored by the soil, and the sediment which it bears down has enlarged its delta and made alterations in the coast line. Its whole lower course has changed, the ruins of Utica now standing close to its left bank. In ancient times it flowed nearer to Carthage. M i:.l 1 1. Tomas, a Mexican soldier, born about 1812, executed in Queretaro, June 19, 1867. He was of pure Indian blood and of humble origin ; but he acquired such influence among the natives of the Sierra Gorda of Guanajuato as to be styled the " king of the mountains," and for nearly 20 years he was conspicuous in the Mexican revolutions. He bore an honor- able part in the war with the United States in 1847-'8, and in 1849 was sent to suppress an insurrection in his native state, headed by Mar- qiifz. In 1855 he "pronounced" against Co- monfort, but soon submitted. The next year he headed an insurrection in the interest of the church party, and took Queretaro. In 1857 he was second in command of the revolution- ary forces in San Luis Potosi, but was defeat- ed in several actions, and obliged to capitulate. In 1858 he drove Juarez and his government successively from Queretaro and Guanajuato, and during the ensuing three years maintained the Sierra for Zuloaga and Miramon. After the triumph of Juarez in 1861, Mejia still kept up a guerilla warfare for a considerable time. He was a firm supporter of Maximilian, from whom he received high honors. Captured with him at Queretaro, May 15, 1867, he was tried, condemned, and executed. MEKHITAR, or Mechitar, the founder of a con- gregation of Armenian monks, called after him Mekhitarists, born in Sebaste (Sivas) in Asia Minor, Feb. 7, 1676, died April 29, 1749. The name Mekhitar, signifying "comforter," was given him on entering a convent of the An- tonian monks ; his original name was Manuk. He founded a new religious congregation at Constantinople in 1701 ; but their persecution by the Armenian patriarch, on account of their union with Rome, induced him to send a number of his disciples to the Morea, at that time belonging to the republic of Venice, from which the congregation received in 1703 permission to build a church and convent at Modon. In 1715, during a war between Ven- ice and Turkey, Mekhitar went with 11 dis- ciples to Venice, whither the rest of the congregation, about 70 in number, followed him in 1717, after the capture of Modon and the destruction of the buildings by the Turks. The government of Venice gave to the congregation possession of the island San Lazaro, near Venice, "for all future times," where it became very prosperous. The Me- khitarists take the usual monastic vows, and pledge themselves .to go wherever their supe- riors may send them, and to labor especially for the advancement of a Christian Armenian literature. They have furnished the best edi- tions of classic Armenian writers, and transla- ted standard European works into Armenian. Not only Catholic literature, but even works like Ranke's "History of Germany during the Reformation," are included in their publica- tions. Among the most valuable of their ori- ginal works are a " History of Armenia," by Father Tchamtchean (died 1823), in 3 vols.; and a "History of Armenian Literature," by Father Somal, abbot of San Lazaro (Venice, 1829). From San Lazaro the congregation have spread to all countries in which Arme- nians reside, in particular over Italy, Austria, Turkey, Russia, and Persia. Next to San La- zaro, their most important establishment is that of Vienna, founded in 1811, which has devoted itself to the publication of German Catholic books. It has a branch at Munich, with schools there and in Vienna. A legacy of a rich Armenian in Madras enabled them to establish a learned institution in Padua for the education of laymen, as that of San La- zaro serves mostly for clergymen. In 1846 they founded a college in Paris, which has a