feated on 6 Feb. in Tunas Blancas. By June of the same year he was so strong again that the gov- ernment entered into negotiations with him, olfer- ing favorable conditions, but Mejia refused to treat. After the fall of Comonfort in January, 1858, Me- jia joined the Conservative government of Zuloaga and afterward that of Miramon {q. v.), and, being appointed commander of a brigade in April, 1859, was one of the chief supporters of the reactionary government. On 13 Nov., 1859, he command- ed one of the wings of Miramon 's army in the defeat of the constitutional forces under Santos Degollado near Queretaro, and in May, 1860, ac- companied Miramon in his campaign in the south of Jalisco. After the final defeat of the Church party at Calpulalpam and the flight of Mira- mon, Mejia returned to the mountains, and con- tinued his resistance against the government of Juarez. Gen. Mariano Escobedo, who was sent against him, was defeated in the mountains near Queretaro, and in February, 1861, was captured, with nearly his whole force, after a desperate re- sistance, in the town of Rio Verde, by Mejia and Leonardo Marquez. The latter wished to shoot Escobedo, but Mejia saved his life. In March of the same year he captured Arroyozarco, and in June was included in the decree of congress that offered a price for the heads of the principal reac- tionary chieftains. Although he had often but a handful of followers, their enthusiastic adherence made up for their small number, and he soon be- came one of the most dreaded opponents of the Liberal government. After the French had occu- pied the capital, and the Church party proclaimed the empire, Mejia joined their cause with enthu- siasm, and on 27 Sept., 1863, defeated, near San Luis Potosi, the Juarist general, Negrete, and, to- gether with French troops under Col. Aymard, routed Escobedo in Matehuala in May, 1864. Pie was then appointed chief of operations on the north- ern frontier, occupied Matamoras, 26 Sept., 1864, and in 1865 defeated an attack of Escobedo on the city, for which Maximilian bestowed on him the grand cross of the newly created order of the Mexican eagle. When the French troops began to evacuate Mexico, Mejia marched to the capital, where he was appointed commander of the third military division of the empire, with headquarters at San Luis Potosi. There he sustained several encounters with the Liberal forces, and was even said to contemplate an advance on Monterey, but on the advance of Escobedo's army he evacuated the city on 24 Dec, 1866, and retired to Queretaro. Mejia assisted Maximilian with never-wavering loyalty in the defence of the city, and led several brilliant charges against the besiegers, but when Queretaro fell he was taken prisoner with the em- peror, and with him and Miramon was shot on the Cerro de Campanas. Though a fanatic, he was thoroughly honorable, and never sullied his fame by unnecessary cruelty.
MELCHER, Joseph, R. C. bishop, b. in Vienna,
Austria, in 1807 ; d. at Green Bay, Wisconsin, 20
Dec, 1873. He received his preparatory education
in Vienna, and then entered the ecclesiastical col-
lege of Modena, where he studied philosophy and
theology, and obtained the degree of D. D. at the
end of his course. He was ordained priest in 1830,
and immediately afterward was appointed chaplain
to the Austrian court. Meeting Bishop Rosati, of
St. Louis, who was visiting the Austrian capital in
search of priests for his mission, he determined to
give effect to a long-felt desire of laboring in the
United States. On his arrival in 1843, he started
immediately for Arkansas, and was appointed to a
Eastorate in Little Rock. In 1844 he went to St.
louis, where he was vicar-general for several years,
and was assigned to St. Mary's church, where he
spent the rest of his missionary life. The diocese
of Green Bay, comprising the part of the state of
Wisconsin which is situated north of Fox and
Manitowoc rivers and east of Wisconsin river, was
created in 1868, and Dr. Melcher was consecrated
its first bishop on 12 July of that year. He at
once set about the task of organizing his see, and
his successful administration was shown in the
fact that at his death it contained sixty-five
churches and chapels, and a Catholic population of
60,000 ministered to by fifty-six priests.
MELGAR, Mariano (mel-gar), Peruvian poet,
b. in Arequipa in 1791 ; d. in Cuzco, 12 March,
1815. From his childhood he gave proofs of
great talent, and at eight years of age he had
mastered Latin, and became teacher of his own
schoolmates. His parents destined him for the
church, but, deciding to study law, he went to
Lima, was graduated, and began to practise. Not-
withstanding his good prospects in that city, he
returned to Arequipa, having conceived an attach-
ment for a young lady there, but, on being disap-
pointed in love, he sought consolation in poetry,
which he had cultivated since his childhood. He
related his misfortunes in his celebrated " Quejas,"
and translated Ovid's " Art of Forgetting." While
Melgar was in the country near Chuquibamba in
1814, the revolution of Cuzco began, and he imme-
diately joined the patriot forces. He left Arequipa
with the army, entered Cuzco with Gen. Puma-
cahua, and. after gathering all the revolutionary
forces, they met Gen. Juan Ramirez near Umachiri,
11 March, 1815, and were totally defeated. Melgar
fought as chief of artillery, was taken prisoner,
and shot the next day. Before his death his con-
fessor offered him pardon if he would denounce
his accomplices, but he refused indignantly, and,
after smoking a cigarette, gave the order to fire.
His poems were numerous, but the greater part have
been lost, as they were preserved only by tradition,
till they were published successively in the " Re-
publicano " of Arequipa from 1840 to 1845. In
1878 a collection of his compositions was printed
in Arequipa. The ladies of that town still sing
his plaintive " Despedidas."
MELGAREJO, Mariano (mel-gah-ray'-ho), Bolivian soldier, b. in Cochabamba, 18 April, 1818; d. in Lima, Peru, 23 Nov., 1871. With only a limited education he entered the military service in early life, and by his courage in the different revolutionary movements soon rose in rank. He was the chief adviser of Gen. Acha in the victory that the latter won on 16 Sept.. 1862, over the revolutionary chief Perez, for which service he was promoted general. But in 1864 he headed a revolutionary movement against President Acha, was proclaimed president on 28 Dec. of that year, and totally defeated Acha in February, 1865, near Potosi, obliging him to abandon the country. The ex-president. Gen. Belzu, took advantage of Melgarejo's absence to return to the country, and by a bold movement took possession of the capital and government palace ; but Melgarejo returned with only a handful of followers and entered the palace, and, the guard not daring to resist him, he killed Belzu with his own hands, 27 March, 1865, and declared himself dictator. On 24 Jan., 1866, he defeated another revolutionary movement on the plain of Viacha, and on 10 Feb. of the same year entered the defensive alliance that Peru and Chili had formed against Spain. But his tyranny soon became unbearable, and there were insurrections on
