Mayence (German, Mainz), a fortified town of W. Germany, cap. prov. Rhenish Hessen on left bank of the Rhine; lat. 50.0 N., long. 8.13 E.; taken in 1797 by the French; it was ceded to the Grand Duchy of Hesse in 1815.
Meaux, a town of France on the river Marne, dep. Seine-et-Marne, 25 m. E.N.E. Paris.
Mein (le), in German Main, a German river which joins the right bank of the Rhine, opposite Mayence (Mainz).
Mercier, surnamed "La Vendée," a Royalist chief; fought in the Vendée war at the head of the Chouans (see Cottereau); died in 1800.
Meuse (Dutch Maas, ancient Mosa), a river which rises in France at the village of Meuse, dep. Haute-Marne; in the dep. Vosges it disappears underground for a distance of 4 m., it passes Sedan, Namur, Liége, Maestricht, &c., and enters the North Sea by three principal mouths.
Miranda (Don Francisco), born in Venezuela, South America; had at heart the emancipation of the Spanish American Colonies; came to France; served as General under Dumouriez; took refuge in England in 1793; went back to Venezuela and tried to rouse the inhabitants; died in the dungeons of the Inquisition at Cadiz, 1816.
Monck, or more correctly Monk (George), Duke of Albemarle; a distinguished military commander, and the great promoter of the restoration of Charles II.; died in 1670.
Montabauer or Montabaur, a town of W. Prussia, prov. Nassau, Government of Wiesbaden, 8 m. N. Nassau.
Morbihan, a maritime dep. in the W. of France, part of old prov. Brittany,
Moreau (Jean Victor), a celebrated French General; fought in Holland; made the memorable retreat of 1796; helped Bonaparte on the "18 brumaire an VIII.; " commanded the armies of the Danube and of the Rhine; was implicated in the Royalist plot of Pichegru and G. Cadoudal, and exiled; took arms against France with the Allies, and was killed at the battle of Dresden in 1813. Mortagne-sur-Sèvre, a town, dep. Vendée, prov. Poitou.
Moselle, a river which rises in the dep. Vosges, France; passes Metz, Trèves, and Coblenz in Rhenish Prussia, where it joins the Rhine on the left.
, Nantes, a town in France, cap. dep. Loire-Inférieure, prov. Brittany; resisted the army of the Vendéens (Royalists) in 1793.
Naples (in Italian Napoli), a city of South Italy; the French General Championnet took it in 1799; Joseph Bonaparte and Murat were made Kings of Naples; the latter was driven from it by the Austrians in 1814.
Nerwinde or Neerwinden, a village in Belgium, prov. Liége; memorable by the victory of the Allies, under the Prince of Coburg, over Dumouriez, March 18, 1793.
Neuwied, a town in Rhenish Prussia, 8 m. N.N.W. Coblenz.
Ney (Michel, Duc d'Elchingen, Prince de la Moskowa), Peer and
Marshal, one of the greatest military heroes of France; was sur-
named " "l'Infatigable " and the "Brave des Braves;" was con-
demned to death and shot during the Restoration, December 7,
1815.
Nice (Italian, Nizza), a town and seaport of France, dep. Alpes-
Maritimes on the Mediterranean.
Nidda (la), a German river which joins the Main at Hochst, 6 m. W.
Frankfort.
Normandie, an old prov. of France, N.W.; its cap. was Rouen.
Oneille (in Italian Oneglia), a city of North Italy, 31 m. E.N.E. Nice.
Ouessant (Latin, Uxantis; English, Ushant), the most westerly of the
French islands off the coast of Brittany, opposite the dep.
Finistère.
Paul-Emile (Emilius Paulus, surnamed Macedonicus), a Roman
General of noble and blameless character.
Penthièvre (the fort of), a stronghold in the Peninsula Quiberon
(which see).
Perche (le), an old division of France, now distributed among the
deps. Eure, Orne, and Eure-et-Loir.
Phocion, a celebrated Athenian general and statesman, a disciple of
Plato; died B.C. 317.
Pichegru (Charles), a celebrated French General; conquered Hol-
land 1794-95; entered into negotiations with the Prince of Condé
for the restoration of the Bourbons; was suspected and trans-
ported; escaped to England; plotted with Georges Cadoudal
against Bonaparte; the plot was discovered in Paris, and both
were apprehended; Pichegru was found strangled in his prison,
April 6, 1804.
Pirmasens, a town in Rhenish Bavaria, Germany, 13 m. E.S.E. Zwei-
brücken.
Pitt (William), Prime Minister of England; after the execution of
Louis XVI. he dismissed the French Ambassador, and manifested
till his death the greatest hostility against France; from 1793 to
1800 he waged war against her; he died January 23, 1806.
Plutarque (Plutarch), the celebrated Greek biographer and moralist;
he died at the beginning of the second century A.D.
Poitou, an old prov. of W. France, the cap. of which was Poitiers;
forms now the departments Vendée, Deux-Sèvres, Vienne.
Portsmouth, an English fortified seaport, S.W. extremity of Portsea
Island, lat. 50.48 N., long. 1.5 W.
Provence (le Comte de), grandson of Louis XV. and eldest brother
of Louis XVI.; he reigned under the name of Louis XVIII.
from 1814 to 1824.
Puisaye (Count Joseph de), a French Royalist chief; organised a
formidable body of Chouans (see Cottereau) in Brittany, and
obtained help from England; died in 1827.
Pythagore, the celebrated Greek philosopher Pythagoras, who taught
the doctrine of metempsychosis; he was born in Samos about
B.C. 580.
Queich, a river in Rhenish Bavaria, Germany; flows through
Landau.
Quesnoy (see Le Quesnoy).
Quiberon, a peninsula and a town in the dep. Morbihan (old prov.
Brittany), lat 47.28 N., long. 3.4 W.
Quimper or Quimper-Corentin, a French town, cap. dep. Finistère
(prov. Brittany).
Reischoffen (German, Reichshofen), a town in Eslass-Lothringen, 14
m. S. W. Weissenburg.
Rennes, a French town, cap. dep. Ille-et-Vilaine (prov. Brittany).
Richepanse (Antoine), a French General; distinguished himself in
several of the battles of the Republic, and particularly at Ho-
henlinden, 1800; died in 1802.
Rivoli, a town in North Italy, 8 m. W. Turin; Bonaparte defeated the
Austrians there, January 14, 1797.
Robespierre, born at Arras, cap. dep. Pas-de-Calais, 1759; one of the
most violent of the French Revolutionists; after the fall of the
Girondists (see Vergniaud), he had virtually the power of a
dictator, for he was supreme in the Convention, in the Commune
of Paris, in the Committee of Public Safety, and in the Jacobin
Club; he tried to establish a species of deism; decreed the exis-
tence of the "Supreme Being; " tried in vain to obtain a kind of
consecration for his autocracy in the "Feast of the Supreme
Being;"
was accused by Tallien and others, and was guillotined,
July 28, 1794 (10 thermidor an II.).
Rocroi, a French fortified town, dep. Ardennes, 15 m. N.W. Mézières.
Roland (Madame), wife of Roland de la Platière, a statesman of the
French Revolution; she had great influence over the moderate
Republican Party, the Girondists (see Vergniaud); after their
fall she favoured the flight of her husband, was put into prison,
where she wrote her celebrated "Memoirs," and guillotined in
1793.
Rouget de l'Isle, a French Republican officer, who composed at
Strasburg a patriotic song, which he called "Chant de guerre,"
and which became famous under the name of "La Marseillaise;
he died in 1836.
Rousseau (Jean-Jacques), the celebrated French writer and philo-
sopher, born at Geneva in 1712; his writings exercised a great
influence over the opinions of his time; he died in 1778, the same
year as Voltaire. The following are some of his principal
works:-"Emile ou de l'Education," "Le Contrat Social," "La
Nouvelle Héloïse," &c.
Saint-Brieuc, a French town, cap. dep. Côtes-du-Nord (prov.
Brittany).
Saint-Germain en Laye, a town of the dep. Seine-et-Oise, 10 m.
W.N.W. Paris. Laye (Lat. Ledia) is the old name of the forest
now called Forêt de Saint-Germain and comprising 8900 acres.
James II. of England died in the "château," 1701.
Saint-Ildephonse, San Ildefonso, or La Granja, a town of Spain, 6
m. S.E. Segovia, prov. Old Castile; La Granja is a celebrated
palace; in 1796 a Treaty was signed there between Spain and
France.
Saint-Just formed with Couthon and Robespierre the Triumvirate of
the Terror, and was guillotined, like his associates, July, 1794.
Saint-Malo, a French fortified seaport town, dep. Ille-et-Vilaine (prov.
Brittany).
Saint-Mesmin le Vieux, a French village in the dep. Vendée, 25 m.
N. Fontenay.
Saint-Siége (Le), the Holy See; the dominions belonging to it were
called Etats de l'Eglise, or du Pape, Etats Romains or Ponti-
ficaux, States of the Church, Pontfical States.
Sambre, a river which rises in France, dep. Aisne, and joins the Maas
(Meuse) at Namur, in Belgium.
Sarre (German, Saar), a river which rises in the Vosges Mountains,
France, and joins the Moselle 5 m. S. W. Trèves (Trier).
Sarzeau, a French town, dep. Morbihan, 9 m. S. Vannes (prov.
Brittany).
Savenay, a French town, dep. Loire-Inférieure, 20 m. N.W. Nantes.
Saverne (la; in English, Severn), one of the principal rivers of
England and Wales; rises in Montgomeryshire, and flows into
the Bristol Channel.
Saverne (German, Zabern), a town of Elsass-Lothringen (Alsace-
Lorraine), Germany, 20 m. N.W. Strassburg.
Scarpe, a French river; rises in the dep. Pas-de-Calais, and joins the
Scheldt (l'Escaut) in the dep. Nord.
Sedan, a fortified town on the Meuse, dep. Ardennes, 11 m. E.S.E.
Mézières; in its vicinity was fought the battle which resulted in
the defeat and capture of Napoleon III., September 4, 1870.
Sèvre-Nantaise, a French river which flows into the Loire on the
left, opposite Nantes (dep. Loire-Inférieure); it rises in the dep.
Deux-Sèvres.
Sèvre Niortaise, a French river which passes Niort, dep. Deux-
Sèvres, and flows into the Atlantic; it is from these two rivers
that the above dep. takes its name.
Sieg (la), a German river which joins the Rhine 2 m. N. Bonn.
Siéyès (Emmanuel Joseph," Abbé," afterwards Count), the celebrated
deputy of 1789, who wrote the famous pamphlet "Qu'est-ce
que le Tiers-Etat?-Tout.-Qu'a-t-il été jusqu'à présent dans
l'ordre politique?-Rien.-Que demande-t-il ?-A devenir quelque
chose." He was subsequently member of the "Comité de Salut
Public," "Conseil des Cinq-Cents," "Directoire," and one of the
three Consuls after the 18 brumaire (see Calendar).
Socrate (Socrates), the great Athenian philosopher, born B.C. 469;
condemned to death as the enemy of religion; he drank the
hemlock cup with great composure, B.C. 399.
Stofflet (Nicolas) was the son of a miller and a Vendean (Royalist)
General; fought under d'Elbée, and was shot by the Republicans
in 1796.
Soult (Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu), Duke of Dalmatia and Marshal of
France; fought at Kaiserlautern, at Fleurus, in Switzerland, in
Italy, at Austerlitz, at Jena, in Poland, in Spain, in Portugal,
and at Waterloo; he died in 1852.
Suffren (Saint-Tropez, Bailli de), one of the greatest French seamen,
born in 1726; served under Admiral d'Estaing; emigrated after
1789.
Sully (Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of), a celebrated French states-
man and Minister of Henry IV.; died in 1641.
Tacite; Caius Cornelius Tacitus, the celebrated Roman historian,
born about A.D. 54.
Tallien (Jean Lambert) was at first an extreme Republican; one of
the promoters of the September Massacres and upholder of Marat,
but became more moderate after his marriage with Madame de
Fontenay (which see); had the courage to accuse Robespierre,
and caused his ruin; went to Egypt with Bonaparte; was taken
prisoner by the English, and died in 1820.
Tallien (Madame); see Madame de Fontenay.
Théroigne de Méricourt was born in Belgium of obscure parents;
she came to Paris, and led there a dissolute life; during the
Revolution she went about dressed and armed as an Amazone,
much applauded by the mob; once, however, in the Tuilleries
Gardens she was whipped publicly; she died in a madhouse in
Thionville (German, Diedenhofen), a town in Elsass-Lothringen, on
the Moselle, N. of Metz.
Toulon, a French town and seaport on the Mediterranean, dep. Var;
was given up to the English by the Royalists; taken by the
Republicans December 18, 1793, during a memorable siege, in
which Bonaparte greatly distinguished himself.
Toulouse, cap. dep. Haute-Garonne, France, on the river Garonne.
Travot (the Baron Jean-Pierre), a Republican General; served under
Hoche in Vendée in 1796; made the Vendean chief Charette
prisoner at La Chabottière; died in 1836.
Truguet (Jean François), a French Admiral; fought under d'Estaing
and de Grasse; arranged with the General Hoche an expedition
against Ireland; served in the Dutch Navy; died in 1839.
Ukerath or Uckerath, a small locality in Rhenish Prussia, Govern-
ment of Cologne (Köln).
Valenciennes, a fortified city, dep. Nord, France, on the Scheldt
(Escaut); taken by the English and Austrians after a siege of six
weeks; returned to France in 1818.
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