The length of the Meuse is nearly 560 m., of which 360 are navigable, and probably its traffic is only exceeded by that of the Rhine. Near Bazeilles it disappears under ground for a distance of over 3 m. The Chiers, the Semois, the Lesse, the Sambre, the Ourthe and the Roer are its most important tributaries. In Belgium it is canalized between Liége and Vise, and the Dutch are engaged on the same operation below Maestricht. The principal towns on the Meuse are: in France, Verdun, Sédan, Mézières and Givet; in Belgium, Dinant, Namur, Huy, Liége and Maeseyck; in Holland, Maestricht, Roermond, Venlo, Dordrecht and Rotterdam.
MEUSE, a department of north-eastern France, formed out of
a part of Lorraine (portions of the Three Bishoprics, and the
Barrois and Clermontais) and Champagne. Pop. (1906), 280,220.
Area, 2409 sq. m. It is bounded N. by Belgium and the department
of Ardennes, E. by that of Meurthe-et-Moselle, S. by those
of Vosges and Haute-Marne, and W. by those of Marne and
Ardennes. About one-half belongs to the basin of the river
Meuse, which is enclosed on the west by the wooded region
of Argonne, on the east by the hills known as the Côtes de
Meuse. On the north-east it is watered by the Orne, a tributary
of the Moselle, and the Chiers, which runs by Montmédy to
join the Meuse. The other, half sends its waters to the Seine
by the Aire, a tributary of the Aisne, both of which take their
rise here, and by the Ornain, an affluent of the Saulx, the two
last being tributary to the Marne. The highest elevation
(1388 ft.) occurs to the south-west, on the line of the ridge
which separates the basin of the Meuse from that of the Seine.
The heights gradually sink from south to north, but seldom fall
below 1000 ft. The hills of the Argonne similarly sink rapidly
down to the valley of the Saulx, where the lowest level of the
department (377 ft.) is reached. Its winters are less severe
than those of the Vosges, but it is not so temperate as the Seine
region. The average annual rainfall is about 30 in. The
chief crops of the department are wheat, oats, rye, barley,
clover, potatoes and mangel-wurzels. The vine is cultivated
to some extent, the best growths being those of Bar. The
forests, occupying more than a quarter of the area, are principally
of oak, and are rich in game, as are the rivers in fish. Basketmaking
is prosecuted in the Argonne. The mineral wealth
of the department includes good freestone (Euville, Lérouville).
It has iron and steel works, wire-works, and manufactories
of files, hardware and edge tools. Ligny-en-Barrois (pop. 4879)
manufactures scientific instruments. There are cotton-spinning,
wool-weaving, and hemp, flax and jute factories, saw-mills,
carriage works, leather manufactures, glassworks, paper-mills,
distilleries and flour-mills. The department is served
by the Eastern railway, the principal lines being that from
Paris to Strassburg through Bar-le-Duc and Commercy, that
from Paris to Metz through Verdun, and the branch line of the
Meuse valley. The chief waterways are the canal connecting
the Marne with the Rhine and the Eastern canal along the
Meuse valley; the two together have a length of 145 miles.
Ecclesiastically the department forms the diocese of Verdun;
it has its court of appeal at Nancy, and constitutes part of the
district of the army corps of Châlons-sur-Marne, and of the
educational division of Nancy. There are 4 arrondissements—Bar-le-Duc,
Commercy, Montmédy and Verdun—28 cantons
and 586 communes. The principal places in the department
are Bar-le-Duc, the capital, Commercy, Verdun and St Mihiel,
which receive separate treatment. Other places of interest
are Avioth, which has a church of the 14th and 15th centuries
with a beautiful chapel of the 15th century adjoining it, and
Rembercourt-aux-Pots with a fine church of the 15th century.
MEUSE-LINE, the chain of French forts closing the passages
of the Meuse between Verdun and Toul. The total length of
the line is 31 m., and the forts d’arrêt are disposed along
the right bank. The forts are: between Verdun and St Mihiel,
Génicourt and Troyon; near St Mihiel, Les Paroches (left bank)
and Camp des Romains; and near Commercy—Liouville St
Agnant, Gironville and Jouy-sous-les-Côtes. Above the circle
of the Toul defences there are barrier forts on the Upper Meuse
at Pagny (la-Blanche-Côte) and near Neufchâteau; but these
last are practically in second line, and between Toul and Épinal
the frontier districts are designedly left open. At Épinal
the “Moselle-Line” begins. These lines form part of the
defensive scheme adopted by France in 1873–1875. Their
general design is that of the French fort illustrated in Fortification and Siegecraft,
fig. 43, though they are varied in
accordance with the site.
MEVANIA (mod. Bevagna), an ancient town of Umbria,
on the river Clitumnus and on the Via Flaminia, 8 m. W.S.W.
of Forum Flaminii, and 5 m. W. of Fulginium (Foligno), 738 ft.
above sea-level. There are remains of a temple near the north
gate, and of an amphitheatre built into the modern houses.
The walls, which have disappeared, were, according to Pliny
(Hist. Nat. xxxv. 173), built of unbaked bricks. In 310 B.C.
the consul Fabius broke the Umbrian forces here; but otherwise
it is not mentioned until the 1st century A.D. In 69 the
army of Vitellius awaited here the advance of Vespasian. Its
pastures near the river and its white oxen are mentioned by
Propertius, whose family belonged to Asisium (mod. Assisi)
and after him by Silius Italicus, Lucan and Statius. The town
was a municipium. The churches of S. Michele Arcangelo
and S. Nicolo are Romanesque buildings of the 12th century.
MEW. (1) An imitative word, also spelled miaou, representing the cry of a cat or of sea-birds. The name mew, usually sea-mew, as applied to the Larus canus, or common sea-gull, is, according to Skeat, also imitative. As the name of the sea-bird it appears in Du. meeuw, Ger. Möwe, and other languages. (2) (Through Fr. muer, from Lat. mutare, to change), a term originally applied in French to the moulting of a hawk or falcon, and then to the caging of the bird during that period; thus “to mew up” has come to mean to confine. The English word chiefly survives in the plural form mews, applied to a stable-yard, coach-houses, stalls for horses, and living accommodation, found in narrow streets in large towns. This use was due to the Royal Mews at Charing Cross, where the royal hawks were kept from 1377 to 1537, when the building became the royal stables.
MEWS, PETER (1619–1706), English royalist and divine, was born at Caundle Purse in Dorset on the 25th of March 1619, and was educated at the Merchant Taylors’ school, and at St John’s College, Oxford, of which he was scholar and fellow. When the Civil War broke out in 1642 he joined the Royalist army, and, having been made a captain, was taken prisoner at Naseby; but he was soon released and in 1648 sought refuge in Holland. He became friendly with Charles I.’s secretary, Sir Edward Nicholas, and being skilful at disguising himself was very useful to the Royalists during the rule of Oliver Cromwell, undertaking two, journeys to Scotland in 1653. Before this Mews had been ordained. Taking the degree of D.C.L. and regaining his fellowship at Oxford after the Restoration, he became archdeacon of Huntingdon, vicar of St Mary’s, Reading, and chaplain to the king; then, having obtained two other livings, he was made canon of Windsor, canon of St David’s, and archdeacon of Berkshire. In 1667, when at Breda arranging peace between England and Holland, he was chosen president of St John’s College, Oxford, in succession to his father-in-law, Dr Richard Baylie, afterwards becoming vice-chancellor of the university and dean of Rochester. Appointed bishop of Bath and Wells in 1672, Mews resigned his presidency in 1673, and in 1684 he was elected bishop of Winchester, a position which this “old, honest cavalier,” as Thomas Hearne calls him, filled until his death on the 9th of November 1706. The bishop is buried in Winchester cathedral. Mews lent his carriage horses to pull the cannon at a critical moment during the battle of Sedgemoor, where he was wounded whilst accompanying the royal army. He was, however, in sympathy with the seven bishops, and was only prevented by illness from attending their meeting; and as visitor of Magdalen College, Oxford, he supported the fellows in their resistance to James II., admitted their nominee, John Hough, to the presidency, and restored the ejected fellows in October 1688.
