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Warwick, Lincoln, Nottingham, &c. But as .it was in the begin-ning of Christianity , so it was now, they were every where spokenagainst, and in many places persecuted w ithout any mixture ofniercy, or distinction of sex or circumstances; many of the mem-bers having their houses beset, their bodies maimed, and their pro-perty destroyed ; some of their ministers impressed and sent off♦or soldiers, to the disgrace of magistracy, and of many of thetdergy of the established church, who were often the chief insti-gators of the mob. Some irregularities have arisen in differentparts of the connection, but these have been discountenanced,and opposed to the utmost bounds of prudence. Perhaps in no-thing is this body so deficient, as in some parts of its government;hut this is not of choice, but necessity', its extent being so great,and the genius and education of the different countries so contraryto each other, that no regular rules can hu established to governthe whole body, the want of which occasions different modes°f regulations among them, as that which is approved by onecircuit or county is exploded by another; for instance, in somePlaces the people wish to have the holy sacrament administeredhy their own ministers in their own chapels; for which purposea number of the preachers have been ordained by tlie impositionP* hands, both in Britain and America : but in many places bothhi England and Ireland the people incline to receive the sacra-ments in the established church. Both parties are indniged, as thebody wishes to become all things to all men, so far as is consistent"ith a good conscience. Their ministers, in general, do not puthutch stress on literary knowledge, believing that only a divine call®hd qualification are sufficient; but they do not despise human'earning: on the contrary they esteem it as serviceable to the con-fitegations of the Lord; and several individuals among them havehiade very great proficiency therein. Their ministers are, ingeneral, men of deep piety, and exemplary conduct. Their la-bours are unequalled by those of any other sect; many of themtravelling a number of miles every day, besides preaching ten ortwelve times every week. They love the Calvinists as members

Christ, though they do not love their doctrine of absolute im-c °nditiomil reprobation. Their charily embraces the whole hu-man race; but especially those whom they believe of the house-bold of faith of every denomination. The members, in general,art* very temperate, both in food and clothing; in their dress theybhitate the Quakers inform, though not in quality. They alsoav oid all places of public amusement, such as theatres, race-bourses, ball-rooms, Ac. Their deportment to cadi other is veryAffectionate, being ready to sympathise over the distressed, andAdminister to their wants*. This has subjected them to the imposi-bon of designing persons, as it is only needful to adopt the namej a Methodist to insure relief from that generous body. In the■ la, 'ge societies, in London,Bristol,Leeds,Manrhester, &c. they havec t'rtain persons appointed, whom thev judge the best qualified, toand instruct the sick and pray with them: not only ofbeir own but of other societies, where they can obtain admission;And l la ve different funds instituted for supplying their wants,beir unwearied exertions for the public good have a just claimApon our commendation, while their number and deportment en-b'i‘s them to respect. The members are very numerous, and thegreater part of litem have been reclaimed from the most viciousJ-ourse of life, but now', in general, adorn the gospel of Christ.- 1 hose who wish to be more'fully informed of their history andc ustqms, may consult Mr. Wesley’s Journals and other writings;? r ids Life by Dr. Coke and H. More. Their doctrines will hei'?. Ul 'd impartially handled in the works of the late Rev. John

» tc her, vicar of Madeh-v,

METHUSELAH , [rfcwn©, Heb. i- e. the weapons of death,]K„MATHusALA,orM ATmisiiKi.AH.tiieson of Enoch , was born A.M.of*]’ k e 8 at Lantech in 874, and died in 1656, being the very yearm i ‘bduge, at the age of 909, which is the greatest age upon re-

I, that has been attained to by any man (Gen. v. SI, 351, ike.)bud " bblWOLD, a town of Norfolk , 15 miles N. W. of Tliet-

0 j.^.b'TlUS, James, the inventor of telescopes with glasses, one

Au 'ich he presented to the Slates General in 1009, was born in' Tubes, extended, by uniting them, to a great length,

6'axsoR ° WH t° 'be ancients; but Metius was the first who added

of TTNG, a town of Austria, iu Carniola , 40 miles S. E.Daubach.

Vot " ui —NO. 143.

METO, a famous mathematician of Athens, who, B. C.432, published his Enneadecatoride, or Cycle of Nineteen Years,hy which he endeavoured to adjust the course of the sun to thatof the moon, and to make the solar and lunar years begin at tnesame point of time.

METG.'X’i, a name given hy the Athenians to such as hadtheir fixed habitations in Attica, (hough foreigners by birth.

METO NIC CYCLE, in chronology, the same with the cy-cle of the moon. See Chronology.

METONYMY ', [>.«?w*ufua,] a rhetorical figure, by which oneword is put for another., as the matter for the material; as, e.g.he died l;v steel, that is, by a sword. See Oratory.

METOPE, in architecture, the interval or square space be-tween the triglyphs of (he Doric freeze, which, among the an-cients used to be painted, or adorned with carved work, represent-ing the heads of oxen or utensils used in sacrifices.

METOPOSCOPY, [fziTujTior and o-xorsu;,] the pretended art ofknowing a person’s dispositions and manners by the traces andlines in the face. Giro Sponloni, who has written on metopos-copy, says, that seven lines are examined in the forehead, andthat each line is considered as having its particular planet; thefirst is the line of Saturn, the second of Jupiter , the third ofMars , &e.

METRE , ['iirjsv,] in poetry, a system of feet of a just length.'The different metres in poetry, are {he different manners of or-dering and combining the quantities, or the long and short sylla-bles: thus hexameter, pentameter, iambic, sapphic, verses, ike,consist of different metres or measures. See Hexameter , Ac.In the English verses, the metres are extremely various and arbi-trary, every poet being at liberty to introduce any new form thathe pleases. The most usual are the heroic, generally consistingof five long and five short syllables, and verses of four feet, andof three feet, and a caesura or single syllable. The ancients, byvariously combining and transposing their quantities, made a'vast variety of different measures. See Poetry.

Metre, in the new'French measures. See Measure.

METRETES, a Grecian measure, containing something morethan nine English gallons. See Measure.

Metrical Verses consist of a determinate number of longand short syllables; as those ofthe Greek and Latin poets.

METROCOMIA, [from mother, and xw/mi, tow n or vil-lage,] a term in ancient church-history, signifying a borough orvillage that had other villages under its jurisdiction.

METRONOMH, the name given by the Athenians to five of-ficers in the city and ten in the pirams, whose duty it was to in-spect all sorts of’ measures, except those of corn.

METROPOLIS, [ metropolis , Lat. and the mo-

ther-city; the chief city of any-country or district.

Metropolis is also applied to archiepiscopal churches, andsometimes to the principal or mother-church ot a city. The Ro-man empire having been divided into 13 dioceses and 120 pro-vinces, each diocese and each province had its metropolis, wherethe proconsul resided. To this civil division the ecclesiasticalwas afterwards adapted, and the bishop of the capital city had thedirection of affairs, and the pre-eminence over ail the bishops ofthe province, iiis residence in the metropolis ghve him the titleof Metropolitan. This erection of metropolitans is referred to tlieend of the third century, and was confirmed hy the council ofNice.

METROPOLITAN, a bishop of the mother-church; anarchbishop. A metropolitan has the privilege of ordaining hissuffragans; ami appeals from sentences passed by the suffragansare preferred to the metropolitan.

METROSIDEKOS, in botany, .a genus of the icosandria mo-nogynia class and order; natural order, Myrti, Calyx five-cleft,half superior; petals five ; stamina very long, standing out: stig-ma simple; capsule three-celled, i here are thirteen species.

METZ, a city of France, capita! of the department of the Mo-selle . Lon. 6. 16. E. Lat. 49.7. N.

MEULAN, a town of Fiance, in the department of the Seine and Oise, and late province of the Isle of France ; 20 miles,NW. of Paris . Lon. 1. 57. E. Lat. 49. 1. N.

MEURS, MG-’.URS, or MORS, a late principality of Ger-many , about: eight miles square, surrounded by those of Jullers,Cloves , Berg, Cologn, and Gueldres, now included in the de-partment ot the Roof*

0 U

Meuas,