MES
Th
the Ladies and. Beau-Monde of the Place attend alio call'd the perfumed Mafs.
Common Mafs, or Mafs of the Community in a Monaftery, is that celebrated at certain Hours, whereat the whole Bodyaffifts.
Mafs of the Holy Gboji, is that celebrated at the beginning of any Solemnity or Church-Aflembly, commencing with an lnvocationof the Holy Gboit. '
Holyday-Mafs, is that wherein certain Prayers or Lectures arc read fuitable to the Day.
Mafs of Judgment, was that wherein a Perfon clcar'd himfelf of any Calumny by fome Proof agreed upon.
Mafs for the Death of our Enemies, was a Form of Mafs that obtained along time in Spam, but was at length abo- lished as inconiiMent with Chrittian Chanity.
Mif of the Dead, or Requiem, is that performed at the Requeitof the Deceafed: The Introit whereof begins with Requiem. In the 13th Century, it was the Cuitome'erCri- minals were carried out to Execution, to make them at- tend at a Ms/} of the Dead, rehearfed for the Repofe of their Souls.
Turijh Mfs t or Great Mafs, is that which the Parfon is obliged to rehearfe to his Parifhioners on Sundays and Holy- days. Little Mafs is that faid at private Altars with lefs Ceremony. The firft Mafs is that laid at Break of Day.
Mafs of a Saint, is that wherein God is invoked by the Interceflion of fome Saint. Thus thereare alfo M-iffes of Apoftles, Martyrs, Pontiffs, Virgins, fiefo
Mafs of Scrutiny, was formerly rehearfed at the Exa- mination of Catechumens, when Enquiry was made as to their Difpofition for Baptifm.
Dry Mafs, is that where there is no Confecration 5 as thofe, according to Durandus, where the Prieft cannot confecrate, by reafon of his having faid Mafs before on the fame day > or thatufed by the Candidates of the Prieft- hood, in order to rheir becoming acquainted with the Ce- remonies ; as Eck'tus will have it.
Votive Mafs, is an extraordinary Mafsbefides that of the Day, rehearfed on fome extraordinary Occafion.
MESSENGERS, in the EngUfo Polity, are Officers chieflyunder the Direction of the Secretaries of State 5 be- ing always ready to be fent with all manner of Difpatches, Foreign and Domeftic.
They are alfo employ'd, with the Secretaries Warrants, to take up Perfons for High Treafon, or other Offences egaintt the State, which do not fo properly fall under the Cognizance of the Common Law, and, perhaps, are not proper to be divulged in the ordinary Courfe of Juftice.
The Prifoners they apprehend are ufually kept at their own Houfes, for which they are allow'd by the Govern- ment 6 s. 8 d. per day. When they are difpatch'd abroad, they have an Allowance for their Journey, as Hated, visa to Paris, 30 /. to Holland, 1 5 /. to Edinburgh, 30 U to Ire- land, 30 1, and fo to other Places in proportion. Part of Which Money is advanced to them for their Journey.
They wait twenty at a time, monthly, distributed as follows, viz. four at Court, five at one Secretary's Office, five at the other, and two at the third Office for North Bri- tain, three at the Council-Office, and one at the Lord Chamberlain's of the Houmold. Their Pofts, if purchafed, are efteemed worth 300/. Their Salary is 45 I. pet Annum each.
Messengers of the Exchequer ; The four Purfuivants in that Court are called by this iN'ame, Their Duty and Office is to attend the Lord Treafurer, and to carry his Letters, Precepts, £j?a See Pursuivant,
( $& j MET
anointed King of Kings from all Ages, idly, As Chiefof the Prophets, jdly, As High.Prieft of the Law of Grace or Priett for ever according to the Order of Mdcbifedech.
The Son of God is varioufly denominated according to his various dualities and Attributes. He is call'd the Word, as being the Eternal Son of the Father, and Con- fubflanrial with him. thrift, Xetr©-; a Greek Term, fig- nifying Anointed, of the fame import with the Hebrew Mepah ; Jefus, i. e. Saviour, of the Hebrew, Sebbfrn, by reafon he faves his People from their Sins. He is called Word, as being the Son of God ; Jefus, as Man; drift, as being Anointed ; and Mcfiah, as being both God and Man.
MESSIEURS, a French Title of Honour or Civility, lately introduced into our Language. The Word is the Plural of Monjieur, and is equivalent to the Englilh, Sirs, See Monsieur and Sir.
The Lawyers always begin their Pleadings attd Ha- rangues with Mefienrsj which Word is alfo frequently rci peated in the Courfe of the Speech ; on which occafion it anfwers to our Engliflj Word Gentlemen.
The French fay, Mefeurs dn Farlemem ; du Qrnfeil ; des Compter, die.
MESSUAGE in Law, a Dwclling-Houfe with fome Land afligned tor its ufe, l£c.
By this Name may a Garden, Shop, Mill, Chamber^ or Cellar be called.
In Scotland, M-Jfuage is what we call the Matior-Houfej viz. Principal Dwelling^Houfe within any Barony. See Manor.
MESY MN1CUM, a Name the Antients gave to a cer- tain part of their Tragedy ; or to certain Verfes in theii Tragedies. See Tragedy.
The M'fymnicum was a kind of Butden, as ft Tan ; O Vithyrambe ; Hymen, Hymenxe, or the like ; which when placed at the end of a Strophe, was called Efhymnium ; and when inferted in the middle of a Strofbe, Mefymnicum. See Strophe and Chorus.
METACARPUS, or Metacarpium, in Anatomy,, that part of the Hand between the Wrift and the Fingers. See Hand.
The Metacarpus confifts of four Bones;which anfwer to the four Fingers ; whereof that which fuftainsthe Fore-finger is the biggeft and longeft. They are all round and long, a little convex towards the back of the Hand, and concave and plain towards the Palm : They are hollow in the middle, and full of Marrow ; they touch one ano- ther only at their Extremities, leaving Spaces in their middle, in which lie the Mufculi Interojfcii See Inter- ossei.
In their upper end there is a Sinus, which receives the Bones of the Wrift ; their lower Extremity is round, and is received into the Sinus of the firft Bones of the Fin- gers. See Finger.
The inner parr of rhe Metac arpus is called the Palm and the outer the back of the Hand. See Palm^ Sjc.
The Word comes from the Greek ^th, fofi 5 and ,y.ap&@-, Manns. See Carpus.
METACISMj in Grammar, a Defect in the Pronurt- ciation of the Letter M.
Jfidore fays it's a final m, followed by a Vowel, as bfc nam aurum, 5cc.
METACHRONISM, in Chronology, an Error in Com- putation of Time, either on the fide of Defect, or Excefs. See Chronology and Time.
METACONDILI, is ufed by fome Authors for the Messenger of the Prejs, a Perfon who by order of out-moll Bones of the Fingers. See Finger and Con- the Court fearches Printing-Houlcs, Bookfellers Shops, £J?c. dylus.
in order to find out, or difcover feditious Books, &c. METAL, in Natural Hiflory, a ffmple, foflil Body, 'that
MESSIAH, a Term fignifying Attainted, or Sacred ; and fufes, and becomes fluid, by Fire, and by Cold coagulates in that Senfe applied to Kings and Priefts : But, by way of and hardens into a folid Mafs, capable of diftending under Eminence to Jefus Chrifr, the Saviour promis'd by the the Hammer. See Fossil.
Metal is faid to be Simple, as it may be affirm'd of every the minuteft Particle of a Metal, e. gr. a Grain ofGold that it is Gold, or has all the Properties of Gold. See Gold.
Fufible by Fire, that is, when expofed to a great Fire, it diflblves into parts which are eafily moveable among them- felves, or arein actual motion. See Fusion.
Fixed, i. e. bearing the Fire without flying off in Va-> pours. Tho' it is only to a certain degree that Metals are fixed ; for by the large Burning-Glafles of Mefl". Tfcbirn- baufen and ViUette, all Metals readily evaporate. See Fixity.
Such is the proper Idea of Metals, which is no' ways ap- plicable to any other Body in Nature : For a Diamond, or other Stone, tho' a fimple Body, is not fufible in the Fire, nor capable of being ftretched under the Hammer; See Diamond. And Salt, tho' diffblvable by Firej is not malleable, but breaks under the Hammer; See Salt, &c.
There are indeed certain Woods which yield in fome'
mcafuf*
Prophets of the Old L aw. See Ciir ist.
The Jews ftill wait for the coming of the Meffab ; being infatuated with the Notion of a temporal MeJJiah that is to be a mighty Conqueror, and to fubdue all the World. See Prophecy, %5c.
Jefus Chrill aliens himfelf the MeJJSab. In St. 'John iv. 25. the Samaritan Woman fays to Jefus, 1 know that when the Mefiiah comes (who is called the Chrill) he will tell us all things, yefiit anfwered her, I that [peak to thee, am be.
There are feveral Impoltors that have endeavour'd to pals for Mcffiahs. J. Lent, a Dutchman, has written a Hiilory of falfe MeJJubs, De Ffeudome/Jiis. The firft he mentions was one ttarcochal, who appeared under the Empire of Adrian. The lall is Rabbi Mardochai, who be- gan to be talk'd of in itfS-. A little before him, -viz. in 1666, appear 'd Sabbethai Scbi, who was taken by the Turks, and turned Mahometan.
The Word comes from the Hebrew, Mafchuach, Anointed, of the Verb Mafchach,to anoint : whence Jefus Chrift claims the Title on a manifold Account} ift, as having been
