defatigable in his labours, has translated nearly the whole Bible into the Bengalee tongue.

The whole number of persons baptized, from the commencement of the mission to the end of 1808, appears to be about 150, of whom a large proportion are native Indians. Among these, we perceive, with pleasure, no fewer than ten Brahmins, of whom, though several have gone back, yet two are now engaged in preaching the Gospel. Additions have been made to this list since the year 1808.

On the subject of translating the Scriptures into the oriental languages, a statement has been received from the missionaries, of which we will give the substance.

1. The Bengalee Bible is completed. A third edition of it is printing in folio, to be used in public worship.

2. In the Orissa, the New Testament is printed, and nearly the whole Book of Psalms. The edition consists of 1000 copies. A mission is about to be undertaken in Orissa.

3. In the Telinga, the New Testament is translated, and a beginning made in the Old.

4. In the Kernata, the progress is nearly the same as in the Telinga.

5. The translation and printing of the Guserattee had been suspended for the present.

6. In the Mahrattah, the four Gospels are nearly printed off. The whole of the New Testament is translated, and a part of the Old.

7. The printing of the New Testament in Hindoostanee had been suspended after half was completed, but they hoped soon to proceed with it.

8. In the Panjabee, or language of the Seiks, the translation of the New Testament is finished, and the printing begun.

9. In the Sungskrit, the whole of the New Testament is printed off, and as far as the middle of Exodus in the Old.

10. The translation of the Scriptures into the Burman language has been begun by the missionaries.

11. The Chinese translation is in a state of progress; the printing has proceeded as far as the middle of St. Matthew's Gospel.

should have tarnished its reputation by an unprincipled attack upon such men. See further, the Baptist periodical accounts, No. I to 20; and the Quarterly Review, No. 1 and 10.

The establishment of this Baptist society gave rise to another, of a yet more extensive nature, including various denominations of Christians. The first publication which stood in imImediate connection with the rise of this society was an address to professors of the Gospel, pubEined in the Evangelical Magazine, September 1794 This address gave occasion to various private conversations; at length, on November 4, 1794, the first concerted meeting with a view to this society took place. It was a small, but glowing and harmonious circle of ministers of various connections and denominations. In January, 1795, a printed address was sent to a considerable number of ministers in London and its Geighbourhood, and a meeting was appointed en December 15, 1794, at the Castle and Falcon Inn, Aldersgate-street. At the time specified they met together, and began jointly to call on Gd in reference to the salvation of the heathens, mingling their applications with the reading of portions of Scripture, and afterwards consulting together on the best expedients for the formation of a regular society; it was unanimously deterrised, that all party names and inferior distinctions should, in the prosecution of this vast de sign, be absorbed in the great Christian name and cause. And these meetings, held regularly once a fortnight, with much sacred pleasure and unanimity were resorted to with a gradual increase of numbers, of zeal, hope, and delight A committee of correspondence was opened with brethren in all parts of the country, and at length a general meeting was appointed in September 1795. A preparatory meeting was held on September 21, when the sketch of a plan prepared by the committee was read, which was approved as proper to be laid before the general meeting on the ensuing day, and subscription books were opened. On Tuesday, the 22d, and the two following days, there were successively held, in various parts of the city, six solemn assemblies for worship. The animated solemnity, unity, and zeal of these assemblies, which were very great, the spirit with which they were enlivened to the last, and the solid effects of ever-flowing liberality, for the advancement of the work in view, encouraged them to hope the design was of God. On the 25th they proceeded to choose directors and secretaries, and unanimously resolved, that the first attempt of this society should be to send missionaries to Otaheite, or some other of the islands of the South Sea. Accordingly preparations were made and completed, and 30 men, 6 women, and 3 children, approved by the directors, embarked on board the ship Duff, Capt. Wilson, on August 10, 1796, and arrived at Otahere March 5, 1797.

In addition to the above, we must mention, that the missionary ship Duff, (on a second voy. age to Otaheite) as it was entering the harbour of rio Janeiro on the coast of Spanish America, was captured by the Buonaparte, a French privateer, on the 19th of February, 1799. Not far from the spot where they were captured by the Buonaparte they were retaken by the convoy of the Brazil fleet to Lisbon, when we were again (ays the Rev. Mr. Howell in his Letter to Joseph Hardcastle, Esq. dated Lisbon. Sept. 26, 1799) pleasing ourselves with the prospect of entering

the harbour of Rio Janeiro for the purpose of procuring some necessary supplies, and where we hoped to be able to fix the plan of our future movements. Every arrangement in view was, however by this unexpected event, completely superseded; and it was now no longer a question where we should go, but where we must go, Such a peculiar providence indeed, you will readily judge, put an end to every debate on this subject, and finally determined our duty to return home re infecta. Thirty-six of the missionaries arrived at Falmouth on the morning of the 12th of October, in the Prince of Wales packet. See farther on the subject of this mission, Quarterly Rev. No. 3.

Besides the above mentioned Missionary Societies, others, having the same object in view, have lately been formed in Scotland, at Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Stirling, Kelso, Paisley, Greenock, Perth, Dundee, &c. Some of these have generously contributed to the society of Particular Baptists in England for propagating the Gospel, to be applied towards defraying the expence of printing a translation of the Bible into the Bengalee language, in which their missionaries in the East Indies have already made considerable progress They have also sent Lind benefactions to the Missionary Society of London, by which they have expressed, in the strongest terms, their willingness to co-operate in the grand undertaking.

We must not omit noticing the Moravian missions. The United Brethren (commonly called Moravians) have particularly distinguished themselves for many years, in endeavouring to send the Gospel of Christ among heathen nations. From the writings of Count Zinzendorf, and from the sentiments and practices of others among the United Brethren, at certain periods of their his tory, many have formed unfavourable opinions of the whole denomination, and very harsh accounts have been given of them in some publications of respectability. It may therefore be proper to obthat the United Brethren do not take the writings of any man as their standard of doctrine; the Bible alone is their standard of truth; and they agree with the Augsburg confession, as being conformable to it, that they acknowledge errors among some of their society at former periods: in particular, that they disclaim many of the extravagancies which are contained in the writings ascribed to Count Zinzendorf; and that from their works of a more recent date they seem now to teach the leading doctrines of the Gospel in great purity, and with much scriptural simplicity.

serve,

The most flourishing missions at present are those in Greenland, Antigua, St. Kitt's, the Danish West India islands, and the Cape of Good Hope. A new awakening has appeared of late among the Arawacks and Free Negroes in South America, the Esquimaux of the coast of Labrador, and in Barbadoes. And the latest accounts give us the most pleasing hopes of success in those parts. The inhabitants of the earth amount to about seven hundred and thirty-one millions: four hundred and twenty millions of whom are still in pagan darkness: an hundred and thirty millions the followers of Mohammed; an hundred millions Catholics; forty millions Protestants, thirty millions of the Greek and Armenian churches; and, perhaps, seven millions of Jews. It must undoubtedly strike every considerate mind what a vast proportion of the sons of Adam there

are who yet remain in the most deplorable state of heathen stupidity, without any means of knowing the true God, except what are afforded them by the works of nature, and utterly destitute of the gospel of Christ, or of any means of obtaining it. This lamentable picture is the most cogent argument that can be used against those who oppose missions; and this must furnish our apology for having devoted a few pages to the subject.

MISSIONARY. MISSIONER. s. (mis sionaire, French.) One seat to propagate re ligion (Swift. Dryden).

MISSISIPPI, a river of North America, which is said to rise about the 47th degree of north latitude, and between the 95th and 96th degrees of longitude west from Greenwich. It receives a great number of rivers in its course, and some of them very large: the direction is, with considerable winding, southerly to the Gulf of Mexico, where it empties itself betwen the 89th and 90th degrees of lougitude west from London, and the 29th and 30th of north latitude.

MISSIVE. a. (missive, French.) 1. Such as is sent (Ayliffe). 2. Used at distance (Dryden).

MISSIVE. s. (French.) 1. A letter sent (Bacon). 2. A messenger: both obsolete (Shakspeare).

MISSON (Francis Maximilian), whose pleadings before the Parliament of Paris in favour of the reformers bear genuine marks of eloquence and ability, retired into England after the revocation of the edict of Nantz, and became a strenuous assertor of the Protestant religion. In the year 1687 and 1683 he tra velled to Italy as governor to an English nobleinan: in consequence of which he published at the Hague A new Voyage to Italy, 3 vols. 12mo.; which has been translated into English with many additions. He published also, the Sacred Theatre at Cevennes, òr an Account of Prophecies and Miracles performed in that Part of Languedoc. London, 1707 Observations and Remarks of a Traveller, 12mo. Hague. He died at London in 1721. To MISSPEAK. v. a. (mis and speak.) To speak wrong (Donne).

MISSOURI, a river of North America, whose source is unknown. I joins the Missisippi in lat. 39° E. but is a longer, broader, and deeper river, and is, in fact, the principal stream. It has been ascended by the French traders upwards of 1200 miles, and from its depth and breadth at that distance appeared to be navigable much higher.

MISSUS, in the Circeusian games, were the matches in horse or chariot races. The

usual number of missus or matches in one day was 24; though the emperor Domitian presented the people with 100. The last match was generally made at the expence of the people, who made a collection for the purpose; hence it was called missus ærarius, a subscription plate.

MIST. 3. (mire, Saxon.) 1. A low thin cloud; a small thin rain not perceived in drops.

(See FOG.). Any thing that dims or darkens (Dryden).

To MIST. v. a. (from the noun.) To cloud; to cover with a vapour or steam (Shakspeare). take for mistaken (Shakspeare). MISTA EN. pret. and part. pass. of mis

MISTA'KABLE. a. (from mistake.) Liable to be conceived wrong (Brown).

To MISTAKE. v. a. (mis and take.) To which it is not (Stilling fleet). conceive wrong; to take something for that

To MISTAKE. v. n. To err; not to judge right (Raleigh).

To be MISTAKEN. To err (Waller). MISTAKE. s. (from the verb.) Misconception; errour (Tillotson). MISTA'KINGLY. ad. (from mistaking.) Erroneously; falsely (Boyle).

To MISTATE. v. a. (mis and state.) To state wrong (Sanderson).

To teach wrong (Sanderson).
To MISTEACH. v. a. (mis and teach.)

To MISTE'MPER. v. a. (mis and temper.) To temper ill; to disorder (Shakspeare).

MISTER. a. (from mestier, trade, French.) What mister, what kind of: obsolete (Spens.). To MISTE RM. v. a. (mis and term.) To term erroneously (Shakspeare).

To MISTHINK. v. a. (mis and think.) To think ill; to think wrong (Milton).

To MISTIME. v. a. (mis and time.) Not to time right; not to adapt properly with regard to time.

MI'STINESS. s. (from misty.) Cloudiness; state of being overcast (Bacon).

MI'STION. s. (from mistus, Latin.) The state of being mingled (Boyle).

MISTLETOE. s. (my2rlezan, Sax.) See

VISCUM.

MISTLIKE. a. (mist and like.) Resembling a mist (Shakspeare).

MISTRESS. s. (maitresse. French.) 1. A woman who governs: correlative to subject has something in possession (Sidney). 3. A or to servant (Arbuthnot). 2. A woman who woman skilled in any thing (Addison). 4. loved and courted (Clarendon). A woman teacher (Swift). 5. A woman be6. A term A whore; a concubine. of contemptuous address (Shakspeare).

7.

MISTRUST. s. (mis and trust.) Diffidence; suspicion; want of confidence (Milton).

To MISTRUST. v. a. To suspect; to doubt; to regard with diffidence (Cowley).

MISTRUSTFUL. a. (mistrust and full.) Diffident; doubting (Waller).

MISTRUSTFULLY. ad. With suspi

ant preparation of camphire, for delicate stomachs and those who cannot bear it in substance as an antispasmodic and nervine. There is a great loss of camphire in making it as directed by the pharmacopoeia. Water can only make up a certain quantity.

MISTURA CRETE. A very useful and pleasant form of administering chalk as an astringent and antacid. It is particularly calculated for children, in whom it allays the many deranged actions of the prime viæ, which are produced by acidities. The new Pharmacopia of the London college contains six other forms.

MISTURA

MOSCHI. A diaphoretic and antispasmodic musk julep. It is by far the best way of administering musk, when boluses cannot be swallowed. MISTY. a. (from mist.) 1. Clouded; overspread with mists (Wotton). 2. Obscure; dark, not plain.

To MISUNDERSTAʼND. v. a. (mis and understand.) To misconceive; to mistake(Add.). MISUNDERSTAʼNDING. s. 1. Difference; disagreement (Swift). 2. Errour; misconception (Bacon).

MISU SAGE. s. (from misuse.) 1. Abuse; ill use. 2. Bad treatment.

To MISUSE. v. a. (mis and use.) To treat or use improperly; to abuse (South).

MISUSE. s. (from the verb.) 1. Evil or cruel treatment (Shakspeare). 2. Wrong or erroneous use (Locke). 3. Misapplication; abuse (Atterbury).

To MISWEEN. v. n. (mis and ween.) To misjudge; to distrust obsolete (Spenser). To MISWEND. v. n. (mis and pendan, Saxon.) To go wrong: obsolete (Fairfax). MISY. In mineralogy. See CHALCANTHA. MITCHELA, in botany, a genus of the class tetrandria, order monogynia. Corols onepetalled, superior, two on each germ; stigmas four; berry bifid, four-seeded. One species only, M. repens, a North American plant with stem decumbent; leaves opposite, roundish, entire; flowers double, terminal.

MITCHELL (Joseph), a dramatic writer, was born in Scotland in 1684. He was patronized by sir Robert Walpole, but died poor, owing to his extravagance, in 1738. His works are, 1. The Fatal Extravagance, a tragray; 2. The Highland Fair, a ballad opera, vo.; 3. Poems, 2 vols. 8vo.

MITCHELSTOWN, a post town of Ireland, in the county of Cork and province of Munster, 102 miles from Dublin. Here is a college for the support of 12 decayed gentlemen and decayed gentlewomen, who have 401. yearly, and handsome apartments, and a chaplain at 100l. a year, with a house: divine service is daily performed in a neat chapel belonging to the college: the whole was found ed by the late earl of Kingston. Here is also a most magnificent seat of Lord Kingsborough. -Fairs are held at this town 30th July and 12th of November.

MITE, a small piece of money mentioned Luke xii. 59. and xxi. 2. In the Greek it is

xogans, i. e. quadrans, or a quarter of the Roman denarius; so that the mite was worth about seven farthings or two-pence of our money. MITE, in zoology. See ACARUS. MITE also denotes any thing proverbially small.

MITELLA. Bastard American sanicle. Inb otany, a genus of the class decandria, orde digynia. Calyx five-cleft; corol five-petalled, inserted into the calyx; the petals pinnatified; capsule one-celled, two-valved; the valves equal. Three species, one of Asia, and two of America, with annual herbaceous stalks, from five or six to eight or nine inches high, with small whitish flowers, the petals fringed at their edges.

MITHRADATES, a herdsman of Astyages, ordered to put young Cyrus to death. He refused, and educated him at home as his own son, &c.-Herodot. Justin.

MITHRAS, a god of Persia, supposed to be the sun. His worship was intro duced at Rome, and the Romans raised him altars, on which was this inscription, Deo Soli Mithra, or Soli Deo invicto Mithra. He is generally represented as a young man, whose head is covered with a turban, after the manner of the Persian

MITHRIDATE, MITHRIDATIUM, in pharmacy, an antidote, or composition, in form of an electary; serving either as a remedy or a preservative against poisons. Mithridate is one of the capital medicines in the apothecaries shops, being composed of a vast number of drugs; among which are opium, myrrh, agaric, saffron, ginger, cinnamon, spikenard, frankincense, castor, pepper, gentian, &c.

It is accounted a cordial, opiate, sudorific, and alexipharmic. Matthiolus says, it is more effectual against poison than Venice treacle, and much easier to be made.

It takes its name from its inventor Mithridates, king of Pontus, who is reported to have so fortified his body against poisons, with antidotes and preservatives, that when he had a mind to dispatch himself, he could not find any poison that would take effect.

MITHRIDATE MUSTARD. See THLASPI CAMPESTRE.

MITHRIDATEA, in botany, a genus of the class monandria, order digynia. Receptacle many-flowered, four-cleft, calyxless, corolless, sceds solitary, immersed in the fleshy receptacle. One species only, M. quadrifida, a Madagascar tree, with opposite tranches; leaves ever-green, opposite, elliptic, entire, vemned; flowers solitary, peduncled, four-cleft lateral; fruit fleshy, the size of an ordinary apple.

MITHRIDATES. This name was comon to seven kings of Pontus: the most conspicuous and celebrated of them is the last, sirnamed Eupator, and the Great, who succeeded his father Mithridates VI. though only at the age of 11 years. The beginning of his reign was marked by cruelty and artifice. He murdered his own mother, who had been left

by his father coheiress of the kingdom, and he fortified his constitution by drinking antidotes against the poison with which his enemies at court attempted to destroy him. Naturally ambitious and cruel, he spared no pains to acquire himself power and dominion. He murdered the two sons whom his sister Laodice had had by Ariarathes, king of Cappadocia, and placed one of his own children, only eight years old, on the vacant throne. The Romans became the arbiters in the appointment of the true successor, and having discovered dissimulation and fraud both on the side of Nicomedes, king of Bithynia, and Mithridates, they took away the kingdom of Cappadocia from Mithridates, and Paphlagonia from Nicomedes. This was the first ground of enmity beween Rome and the king of Pontus. (See MITHRIDATICUM BELLUM.) Mithridates then meditated retaliation, and, the more effectually to destroy their power in Asia, he ordered all the Romans that were in his dominions to be massacred. This was done in one night, and no less than 150,000, according to Plutarch, or 80,000 Romans, as Appian mentions, were made, at one blow, the victims of his eruelty. This universal massacre called loud for revenge. Aquilius, and soon after Sylla, marched against Mithridates with a large army. The former was made prisoner, but Sylla obtained a victory over the king's generals, and another decisive engagement rendered him master of all Greece, Macedonia, Ionia, and Asia Minor, which had submitted to the victorious arms of the monarch of Pontus. Mithridates, weakened by repeated ill success by sea and land, then sued for peace, which he obtained, on condition of defraying the expences which the Romans had incurred by the war, and of remaining satisfied with the possessions which he had received from his ancestors. While these negociations of peace were carried on, Mithridates was not unmindful of his real interest. His poverty, and not his inclinations, obliged him to wish for peace. He, however, shortly after took the field with an army of 140,000 infantry, and 16,000 horse; and Lucullus, the consul, marched into Asia, and without delay blocked up the camp of Mithridates, who was then besieging Cyzicus. The Asiatic monarch escaped from him, and fled into the heart of his kingdom. The appointment of Glabrio to the command of the Roman forces instead of Lucullus was favourable to Mithridates, and he recovered the greatest part of his dominions. The sudden arrival of Pompey, however, soon put an end to his victories. A battle, in the night, was fought near the Euphrates, in which an universal overthrow ensued, and Mithridates, bold in his misfortunes, rushed through the thick ranks of the enemy, at the head of 800 horsemen, 500 of which perished in the attempt to follow him. He fled to Tigranes, but that monarch refused an asylum to his father-in-law, whom he had before supported with all the collected forces of his kingdom. Mithridates, however, found a safe retreat among the Scythians.

His subjects, at last, refused to follow him any longer, and they revolted from him, and made his son Pharnaces king. The son showed himself ungrateful to his father. This broke the heart of Mithridates; he obliged his wife Monime to poison herself, and attempted to do the same himself; but the frequent antidotes he had taken in the early part of his life strengthened his constitution against the poison, and, when this was unavailing, he attempted to stab himself. The blow was not mortal, and a Gaul, who was then present, at his own request, gave him the fatal stroke, about 63 years B. C. in the 72d year of his age. Such were the misfortunes, abilities, and miserable end of a man, who supported himself so long against the power of Rome. Mithridates has been commended for his eminent virtues, and censured for his vices. He was the greatest monarch that ever sat on a throne, according to the opinion of Cicero. His skill in physic is well known, and even now there is a celebrated antidote which bears his name, and is called Mithridate. The conduct of Mithridates to his wife has given birth to a fine tragedy, that of Monimia, in the earl of Carysfort's dramatic and narrative poems, recently published. This name is common also to other kings in Armenia, Pergamus, Pontus and Parthia.

MITHRIDATICUM BELLUM, begun 89 years B. C. was one of the longest and most celebrated wars ever carried on by the Romans against a foreign power. The ambition of Mithridates VII. king of Pontus, from whom it receives its name, may be called the cause and origin of it. His views upon the kingdom of Cappadocia, of which he was stripped by the Romans, first engaged him to take up arms against the republic. (Vid. MITHRIDATES.) According to Justin, Orosius, Florus, and Eutropius, it lasted for 40 years; but the opinion of others, who fix its duration to 30 years, is far more credible; and upon proper calculation, there elapsed no more than 26 years from the time that Mithridates first entered the field against the Romans till the time of his death.

MITIGANT. a. (mitigans, Lat.) Lenient; lenitive.

4.

To MITIGATE. v. a. (mitigo, Latin.) 1. To soften; to make less rigorous (Hooker). 2. To alleviate; to make mild (Hooker). 3. To mollify; to make less severe (Milton). To cool; to moderate (Addison.) MITIGATION. s. (mitigatio, Lat.) Abatement of any thing penal, harsh, or painful (Bacon).

MITRA, a cap or cover worn by the Roman ladies.

MITRAL VALVES. Valvula mitrales. In anatomy, the valves of the left ventricle of the heart are so called from their resemblance to a mitre.

MITRE, in helminthology. See VOLUTA. MITRE, MITRA, from μέτρα, which signifies the same; a pontifical ornament, worn on the head by bishops, and certain abbots, on solemn occasions.