Titmarsh=, one of the pseudonyms under which Thackeray
contributed to _Frazer's Magazine_ (1811-1863).
=Michael Armstrong=, "the factory boy." The hero and title of a novel by
Mrs. Trollope (1839). The object of this novel is to expose what the
authoress considered to be the evils of the factory system.
=Michael Perez=, the copper captain. (See PEREZ.)
=Michael, the Stammerer=, born at Armorium, in Phrygia, mounted the throne
as emperor of Greece in A.D. 820. He used all his efforts to introduce
the Jewish Sabbath and sacrifice.
I think I have proved ...
The error of all those doctrines so vicious ...
That are making such terrible work in the Churches
By Michael the Stammerer.
Longfellow, _The Golden Legend_ (1851).
=Michal=, in the satire of _Absalom and Achitophel_, by Dryden and Tate,
is meant for Catharine, the wife of Charles II.--Pt. ii. (1682).
=Michelot=, an unprincipled, cowardly, greedy man, who tries to discover
the secret of "the gold-mine." Being procurator of the president of
Lyons, his office was "to capture and arrest" those charged with civil
or criminal offences.--E. Stirling, _The Gold-Mine, or Miller of
Grenoble_ (1854).
=Micomico'na=, the pretended queen of Micomicon. Don Quixote's adventure
to Micomiconnia came to nothing, for he was taken home in a cage, almost
as soon as he was told of the wonderful enchantments.--Cervantes, _Don
Quixote_, I. iv. 2 (1605.)
=Mi'das= (_Justice_), appointed to adjudge a musical contest between Pol
and Pan. He decides in favor of Pan, whereupon Pol throws off his
disguise, appears as the god Apollo, and, being indignant at the
decision, gives Midas "the ears of an ass."--Kane O'Hara, _Midas_
(1764).
Edward Shuter (1728-1776) was pronounced by Garrick "the greatest comic
actor;" and C. Dibdin says: "Nothing on earth could have been superior
to his 'Midas.'"
_Midas's Ears._ The servant who used to cut the king's hair, discovering
the deformity, was afraid to whisper the secret to any one, but, being
unable to contain himself, he dug a hole in the earth, and, putting his
mouth into it, cried out, "King Midas has ass's ears!" He then filled up
the hole and felt relieved.
Tennyson makes the barber a woman:
No livelier than the dame
That whispered "Asses' ears" among the sedge.
Tennyson, _The Princess_.
=Middleburgh= (_Mr. James_), an Edinburgh magistrate.--Sir W. Scott,
_Heart
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