Memu'can (Heb. Memukan', 'S^^?, of unknown but prob, Persian origin ; Sept. MonxnTof, Vulg, Mamu- chan), the last named of the seven satraps or royal coun- sellors at the court of Xerxes, and the one at whose suggestion Vashti was divorced (Esth. i, 14, IG, 21), B,C. 483, "They were 'wise men who knew the times' (skilled in the planets, according to Aben-Ezra), and appear to have formed a council of state ; Josephus says that one of their oflices was that of uiterpreting the laws
MEN
V6
aiENAHEM
QAnt. xi,6, 1). This may also be inferred from the man- ner in which the royal question is put to them when assembled in council; ' A ccoi-diiifj to law what is to be done with the queen A'ashti ?' Memucan was either the president of tlie council on this occasion, or gave his opinion first in consequence of his acknowledged wis- dom, or from the respect allowed to his advanced age. Whatever may have been the cause of this priority, his sentence for Vashti's disgrace was approved by the king and princes, and at once put into execution. The Tar- gum of Esther identifies him with ' Ilaman, the grand- son of Agag.' The reading of the Kethib, or written text, in ver. IG, is "='01^" (Smith).
Men, Thk, are a^ class of persons who occupy a somewhat conspicuous place in the religious communi- ties of Northern Scotland, chiefly in those parts of it where the (Jaelic language prevails, as in Ross, Suther- land, and the upland districts of Inverness and Argyle. Large and undivided parishes, a scanty supply of the means of grace, patronage, and other causes peculiar to such localities, seem to have developed this abnormal class of self-appointed instructors and spiritual over- seers, who sustain in the Church of Scotland a relation very similar to that of our lay-preachers. They are designated "Men" by way of eminence, and as a title of respect, in recognition of their superior natural abili- ties, and their attainments in religious knowledge and personal piety. There is no formal manner in which they pass into the rank or order of Men, further than the general estimation in which they are held by the people among whom they live, on account of their known superior gifts and religious experience. If they are considered to excel their neighbors in the exercises of prayer and exhortation, for which they have abun- dant opportunities at the lyke-ioakes, which are still common in the far Highlands, and at the meetings for prayer and Christian fellowship, and if they continue to frequent such meetings, and take part in these relig- ious services, so as to meet with general approbation, they thus gradually gain a repute for gotlliness, and naturally glide into the order of "The 3Ien."
There are oftentimes three or four " jMen" in a par- ish ; and as, on communion occasions, Friday is spe- cially set apart for prayer and mutual exhortation, these lay-workers liave then a public opportunity of exercis- ing their gifts by engaging in prayer, and speaking on questions Ijearing on religious experience. This, in many parts of the Highlands, is considered as the great day of the communion season, and is popularly called the " Men's day ;" and, as there maj' be present twenty or thirty of these "Men" assembled from the surround- ing parishes, the whole service of the day is, so to speak, left in their hands— only the minister of the parish usu- ally presides, and sums up the opinions expressed on the subject under consideration. Many of the " Men" as- sume on these occasions a peculiar garb in the form of a large blue cloak ; and in moving about from one com- munity to another, they are treated with great respect, kindness, and hospitality. The influence which was thus acquired by the " Men" over the people was very powerful, and no wonder that some of tliem grievously abusetl it. Yet there can be no doubt that, in many par- ishes in the Highlands, where the ministers have been careless and remiss in the performance of their duties, these lay-workers have often been useful in keeping spir- itual religion alive. It is not to be wondered that the heads of some of them were turned, and that the lionor in which they were held begat spiritual pride in them. But these are always said to have been the exception. Since the period of the disruption, when the Highlands have been furnished with a more adequate supply of Gos- pel ordinances, anil spiritual fiuilahsiu lias been broken, it has been observed tliat the intlucnce of tlie'-Men,"for the most i>art connected now with the Free Church, has been graduallv on the wane. See Auld. Min. <tnd Mtn of the Far North (1868), p. 142-262. (J. U. W.)
Men of Understanding, a religious sect which seems to liave been a branch of the Brethren and Sisters of the Free Spirit, has already been considered under the heading Ho.minks Intelligentle. Menachoth. See Talmud. Menaea (or MtvaTov), a part of the liturgj' of the Eastern Church, containing all the changeable parts of the services used for the festival days of the Christian year. It is usually arranged in twelve volumes, one for every month, but the whole is sometimes compressed into three volumes. The Menaa of the Eastern Church nearly answers to the Breviary of the Western Church, omitting, however, some portions of the services which the latter contains, and inserting others which are not in it. See Zacharius, Bibliotheca Hit. ; Neale, Eastern Church, p. 829. See Breviary.