rium, i. 47; Willis's Cathedrals, iii. 381; Cooper's Athenæ Cantabr. i. 207, 553; Wood's Athenæ
Oxon.; Fuller's Church Hist. iii. 160, iv. 27, and Hist, of the University of Cambridge; Bass Mullinger's Hist. of Univ. of Cambridge, pp. 110, 151, 174, 176; Willis and Clark's Architectural Hist. of Univ. of Cambridge, ii. 3-6, iii. 336; Le Neve's Fasti, ed. Hardy, i. 356, iii. 314, 446, iii. 114; Milman's Annals of St. Paul's, passim; K. W. Dixon's Church Hist. ii. 493; Wright's Elizabeth, i. 39; Clutterbuck's Hertfordshire, ii. 363; Blomefield's Norfolk, v. 391; Lingard's Hist. of England, v. 309; Notes and Queries, 4th ser. viii. 67, 133; Cardwell's Two Books of Common Prayer; Gasquet and Bishop's Edward VI and Book of Common Prayer; Luckock's Studies in Hist. of the Common Prayer, pp. 13, 24, 122.]
MAYART, Sir SAMUEL (d. 1660?), Irish judge, was in 1624 a counsellor-at-law in Dublin. After the death, on 18 Oct. 1624, of Sir Gerald Lother or Lowther, second justice of the Irish common pleas (who must not be confused with Sir Gerard Lowther, chief justice in Ireland [see under Lowther, Sir Richard]), Mayart offered 300l. 'to him that shall procure him the said place modo et forma as the other held it.' He is described as 'a gentleman not to be excepted against, and of general good repute' (Cal. State Papers, Ireland, 1615-25, p. 546). He accordingly received a patent for the office dated 19 Jan. 1625 (Liber Mun. Hib. i. ii. 37). In this capacity he is frequently mentioned in the 'Journals of the Irish House of Lords' (1634-48 passim). He was knighted on 5 Nov. 1631 (Metcalfe, Book of Knights). In 1643 a pamphlet entitled 'A Declaration how and by what means the Laws and Statutes of England . . . came to be of force in Ireland,' and attributed without ground to Sir Richard Bolton, attracted the notice of the Irish Houses of Parliament. Mayart was employed as an intermediary between the lords and commons (Journal of the House of Lords, 1643, pp. 200-10), and soon after published an 'Answer to A Declaration, &c.,' printed in Harris's 'Hibernia,' pt. ii. 1778, from a manuscript in the possession of John Sterne, bishop of Clogher, subsequently presented to Trinity College, Dublin (Harris, Hibernia, vol. ii. Preface). A Colonel Mayart is mentioned by Gilbert as taking part against the Irish rebels, but this is more probably the Colonel John Mayart referred to in the 'Cal. State Papers' (Dom. Ser. 1651-2, p. 331, and 1652-3, p. 473). Samuel Mayart is said to have died in 1660.
[Authorities quoted; Smyth's Law Officers of Ireland, pp. 127, 219; Brit. Mus. Cat.; Gilbert's Irish Confederation, iii. 119, iv. 327, v. 123, and Hist. of Affairs in Ireland, ii. 462.]
MAYDESTONE, RICHARD (d. 1396), Carmelite. [See Maidstone.]
MAYER, JOHN (1583–1664), biblical commentator, was born in 1583, at Long Melford in Suffolk. He was admitted to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, as a sizar on 2 March 1597, graduated B.A. in 1602, M.A. in 1605, B.D. in 1612, and D.D. 1627. From 1609 to 1631 he was rector of Little Wrattingin Suffolk, and from 1631 till his death rector of Raydon, near Hadleigh.
Mayer's life was spent in digesting the work of former commentators on the Bible and adding notes of his own. The publication of his work as it was prepared was hindered 'by the Hierarchicall Government that then was,' and it only began to appear in 1627. The commentary of the whole Bible was published in seven volumes: i., on the Pentateuch, in 1653; ii., on the Historical Books, in 1647; iii., on Job, the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Solomon's Song, in 1653 and again in 1659; iv., on the Prophets, in 1652; v., on the Evangelists and the Acts, in 1631; vi., on the Epistles of St. Paul, in 1631; vii., on the Seven Small Epistles, called Catholic, and the Revelation, in 1627 and 1631. The last named was originally issued, under the title of 'Ecclesiastica Interpretatio,' in 1627. The complete work is difficult to obtain, the first volume being especially scarce. But for the delay in publication it would have preceded the commentaries of Diodati and Jackson.
Mayer always suffered from delicate health. He died on 5 March 1663-4, and was buried at Raydon on the 8th. In the chancel of the church is a monument with a long inscription to his memory.
Besides the 'Commentary' he published: 1. ' A Fourfold Resolution,' London, 1609. 2. ' A Patterne for Women,' on Mrs. Lucy Thornton, 'whereunto is annexed a most pithy and persuasive Discourse of the . . . Father Jerome,' London, 1619. 3. 'The English Catechisme, or a Commentarie on the Short Catechisme,' London, 1621; 4th edit. 1630; 5th edit. 1635. An abridged edition, consisting of the questions only, was published in 1630, under the title of 'The English Teacher, or the A, B, C enlarged,' and several times subsequently with slightly varying titles; the 7th edit, appeared in 1639. 4. 'A Treasury of Ecclesiastical Expositions upon the difficult and doubtful Passages of the Scriptures,' London, 1623. 5. 'An Antidote against Popery,' London, 1625, 1627, 1630. 6. 'Praxis Theologica, or the Epistle of the Apostle St. James resolved,' London, 1629. 7. 'Christian Liberty vindicated from grave
