Merritt, Timothy, an early and eminent Methodist Episcopal minister, was bom at Barkhamstead, Conn., October, 1775. He was converted about 1792, and en- tered the New England Conference in 179G. From 1803 to 1817 he located ; was stationed in Boston in 1817-18 ; in 1822 was at Providence; in 1825-26 preached at Bos- ton; in 1831 at Maiden, and also "devoted much time to the editorship of Z/o//.s- lln-dhl;' from 1832 to 1836 was assistant editor of the t'hrislidn Ailmade and Jtnnnal, New York. Ho died at Lynn. :\la.ss., 1«45. i\Ir. Jlerritt was an al.. an^l iiowcrful wrilcr, an eloquent preacher, an accomiili-lii il ii( Kai( r. and in all respects one of the fore- most niini>i( IS nt liis time. He was a well-read man, and worlhy of a place among the scholars of bis Church. His ministry was made especially useful by the enjoy- ment and earnest preaching of the doctrine of Christian perfection. His influence was wide and blessed, and his memory is precious. INIr. Merritt published Con- vert's Guide and I'reac/ier's Assistant : — Christian Man- ual:— Discussion ar/ainst Universal Salvation: — On the Validiti) and SuJJicienci/ of Infant Baptism : — and (to- gether with Dr. Wilbur Eisk) Lectures and Discussions on Universal Salvation. See Minutes of Conferences, iii, 616; Steven's Memorials of Methodism, i, ch. xxiii; ii, ch. xxvii ; Sherman's New £7>f/l. Divines, p. 312. ((}. L. T.)
Merriwether, .Toiix T., a minister of the Meth- odist Episcojial Church South ; joined the Jlemphis (Tenn.) Conference in 1854, and was appointed to Dyersburg Circuit; in 1855 to Dresden Station; in 1856 to Trenton Station; in 1857 to Holly Springs Station; in 1858 to Asbury Chajiel, IMemphis; in 1859 and 1860 to ^Vberdeen Station; in 1861 was made pre- siding elder of Alierdeen District; in 1865 was appoint- ed to Denmark Circuit; and in 1866 took a supernumer- ary relation. He died in Denmark, Tenn., April 10, 1867. '• He possessed a strong and highly -cultured mind, a soul imbued with the spirit of Christ, and an intelligent yet burning zeal in his high calling." See Minutes of the M.K. Church South, 1867.
Mersennws (Fr. Mersk.nniO, IMaktn, a very learned French ecclesiastic and philosopher, was Iwrn in 1588 at Oyso, in the present department of Maine. He received his education at the College of La Flcche. where he was a fellow-student of Des Cartes, and with lum he formed an intimacy, which a similarity of pursuits ripened into a friendship dissolved only by death. He also studied at tlie University of Paris, and subsequent- ly at the Sorbonne. In 1612 he took the vows at the Minimes, in the neighborhood of Paris. In tlic year fol- lowing entering the priesthood, he deemed it incum-
bent on him to study the Hebrew language, and ad- dressed himself to the accomplishment of this task. In 1615 he filled the chair of philosophy at Nevers, and there taught till the year 1619, when he was chosen superior of the convent, and, on completing the term of his office, he travelled in Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. He finally settled in Paris, where his gentle temper and polite and engaging manners pro- cured him a number of distinguished friends. Of these the chief was the founder of the Cartesian philosophy, who entertained the highest opinion of his abilities, and consulted him ujion all occasions. It has ijccn stated — though the story seems highly improbable — tliat Des Cartes, by the advice of Mersenne, at once changed his intention of founding his .system on the priiiciide of a vacuum, and adopted that of a plenum. The discov- ery of the cycloid has been ascribed to him and also to Des Cartes, but it now- seems pretty clear that to nei- ther are we indebted for the first notice of this curve. Mersenne died at Paris in 1648. Pcre Mersenne was undoubtedly a man of great learning and unwearied research, and deserved the esteem in which he was held by the philosophers and literati of his age ; but, except his Ilarmonie UniverseUe, his works are now unread and almost unknown. If by some he was overrated, by others he has been undervalued ; ajid when Voltaire mentioned him as " Le minime et tres minime Pere Mersenne," he indulged his wit at the expense of one with whose writings, it is to be suspected, he was very little acquainted. His eulogist, however, in the Dic- tionnaire //istorique, admits that Mersennus very ingeni- ously converted the thoughts of others to his own use; and the abbe Le Vayer calls him " Le bon I^arron" — a skilfid pilferer. Nevertheless, the v.'ork above named, IJIIai-mdiili I'liin i-s( llf, contenant la Theorie et la Pra- tique de III Miisiijii, ( I (137, 2 vols, fol.), has proved of the utmost value to all later waiters on the subject. The work was, in 1648, translated into Latin and enlarged by the author; but both the original and translation have now become as rare as they are curious. Another, but earlier production of his. La Verite des Sciences contre les Sceptiques (Paris, 1625), discusses at considerable length the nature of mathematical evidence, and con- cludes by maintaining that mental philosophy, jurispru- dence, and all the arts and sciences, should be taught and illustrated through the aid of mathematics (liv. i, ch. viii, X, xiii, xiv). "The mind itself," he held, "is the real and effective source of all its powers and perceptions of abstract truth" (p. 193). See Ililarion do Coste, U/c du 7?. /'. Marin de Jfei-senne ; Nicenm. Ilommes illustres, vol. xxxiii : Blakev, Hist, of the rhilost>plii) of J/tW, ii, 423 sq. (J.H.W.)