Part 293 (2/2)
LYON COURT, the Herald's College of Scotland, consisting of three heralds and three pursuivants.
LYON KING OF ARMS, the legal heraldic officer of Scotland, who presides over the Lyon Court.
LYONS (398), the second city of France, at the junction of the Rhone and Saone, 250 m. S. of Paris; has a Roman Catholic university, and valuable museum, library, and art collections, many old churches and buildings, and schools of art and industries; the staple industry is silk, weaving, dyeing, and printing; there are also chemical, machinery, and fancy ware manufactures, and it is an emporium of commerce between Central and Southern Europe; of late years Lyons has been a hot-bed of ultra-republicanism.
LYRIC POETRY, poetry originally accompanied by the lyre, in which the poet sings his own pa.s.sions, sure of a sympathetic response from others in like circ.u.mstances with himself.
LYSANDER, a Spartan general and admiral who put an end to the Peloponnesian War by defeat of the Athenian fleet off aegospotami, and of whom Plutarch says in characterisation of him, he knew how to sew the skin of the fox on that of the lion; fell in battle in 395 B.C.
LYSIMACHUS, one of the generals of Alexander the Great, who became king of Thrace and afterwards of Macedonia; _d_. 281 B.C.
LYTTON, EDWARD ROBERT, EARL OF, statesman and novelist, under the _nom de plume_ of Owen Meredith; entered the diplomatic service at an early age, became viceroy of India in 1876, and amba.s.sador at Paris in 1892.
LYTTON, GEORGE EDWARD BULWER, LORD, statesman and novelist, born in London; entered Parliament at the age of 26, began his parliamentary career as a Whig, but became a Conservative and ranked in that party for the greater part of his life; ”Pelham,” published in 1828, was his first novel, and this was followed by a long list of others of endless variety, all indicative of the conspicuous ability of the author, and to the last giving no sign of decay in power; he was the author of plays as well as novels (1803-1873).
M
MAB, QUEEN, the fairies' midwife that brings dreams to the birth, to be distinguished from t.i.tania, the Queen.
MABILLON, JEAN, a French Benedictine and eminent scholar; wrote a history of his order and edited St. Bernard's works (1632-1707).
MABLY, GABRIEL BONNET DE, French author, was born at Gren.o.ble, brother of Condillac; educated at Lyons, and became secretary to Cardinal Tencin, but most of his life was spent in study, and he died in Paris; his ”Romans and the French” is not complimentary to his countrymen; he was a great admirer of the ancients (1709-1785).
MABUSA, JAN, real name Gossaert, Flemish artist, born at Mabuse, lived and died at Antwerp; his work is not great but careful, his figures catch the stiffness of his favourite architectural backgrounds; his early period is strongly national, but a visit to Italy with Philip of Burgundy brought him under southern influences and contributed to intensify his colour (1470-1532).
MACADAM, JOHN LOUDON, Scottish engineer, born at Ayr; inventor of the system of road-making which bears his name; he made his fortune as a merchant in New York, but spent it in road-making (1756-1836).
MACAIRE, ROBERT, a noted criminal and a.s.sa.s.sin that figures in French plays; was convicted of a murder in trial by combat with a witness in the shape of the dog of the murdered man.
MACAO, small island at the mouth of the Canton River, 100 m. S. of Canton, forming with Colovane and Taipa since 1557 a Portuguese station (50, mostly Chinese); is a very healthy port, though very hot; formerly it was a centre of the Coolie trade, abolished in 1873, but its anchorage is bad, and since the rise of Hong-Kong its commerce has suffered severely; chief import opium, export tea; it is the head-quarters of French missions in China.
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