his restless spirit, but reaping an experience which enriched his writings; “Confessions d’un Enfant du Siecle” appeared in 1836, and is a significant confession of his life at this time; two years later he was appointed librarian at the Home Office, and in 1847 his charming comedy, “Un Caprice,” was received with enthusiasm; in 1852 he was elected to the Academy, but his work was done, and already an ill-controlled indulgence in alcohol had fatally undermined his never robust strength; his writings, besides possessing the charm of an exquisite style, heightened by an undertone of true tenderness, are chiefly remarkable for the intense sincerity of feeling, albeit of a limited range, which animates them, and which finds its highest expression in his four great lyrical pieces, “Les Nuits”; his fine instinct for dramatic situation and gift of witty dialogue are manifest in the dramas already mentioned, as also in many others; of his prose works, “Le Fils du Titien,” “Mademoiselle Mimi Pinson,” and the “Confessions” are his best; he was a handsome man, with fascinating manners (1810-1857).

MUTSU HITO, the Mikado of Japan, ascended the throne in 1867, married in 1869; has one son, Prince Yoshihito, and three daughters; his reign has been marked by great reforms, and especially the abolition of the feudal system which till then prevailed, to the great and increasing prosperity of the country, and the opening of it to the ideas and arts of Western civilisation; b. 1852.

MUZAFFER-ED-DIN, Shah of Persia, second son of Nasr-ed-Din, who nominated him to succeed him; succeeded his father on his death by assassination in 1896, on the 1st of May; b. 1853.

MYCENAE, capital of Agamemnon’s kingdom, in the NE. of the Peloponnesus, was in very ancient days a great city, but never recovered the invasion of the people of Argos in 468 B.C.; excavations point to its civilisation being more akin to Phoenician than Greek.

MYRMIDONS, “ant-men,” so-called because Zeus was said to have peopled Thessaly, from which originally they came, by transforming ants into men; they were the people of AEgina, whose warriors followed Achilles to the siege of Troy.

MYSORE (4,900), a native State, half the size of England, embedded in the Madras Presidency, occupies a lofty, broken, but fertile tableland; the upper waters of the Kistna and Kaveri are used for irrigation purposes; betel-nut, coffee, cotton, rice, and silk are exported; cloth, wheat, and precious metals are imported; the climate is healthy and pleasant; under British government from 1831, it was restored to its prince in 1881, under British protection; the capital is MYSORE (74), a prosperous, well-built town.

MYSTAGOGUE, in Greece, was the priest who instructed candidates and prepared them for initiation into the various religious mysteries; in the Christian Church it denoted the catechist who prepared catechumens previous to their admission to the sacraments.