Mich'ri (Heb. Mikri', "'ns'a, salable; Sept. Mo- Xop^ V. r. Maxtp), the father of Uzzi and grandfather of Elah, which last was one of the principal Benjamites resident in Jerusalem after the exile (1 Chron. ix, 8). B.C. considerably ante 440.
Mich'tam (Heb. miktam', dPlD<2, prob. for APIS'S, written; Sept. arrfKoypacpia, Yvi\g. tititli inscriptio), a term found in the titles of several psalms (xvi, Ivi, Ivii, Iviii, xl), and signifj'ing a icrifinr/, i. e. a poem or song (see Gesenius, Thesnur. p. 724), like 3Pl3p (miktab', " writing," in Isa. xxxviii, 9). Others (as Luther, after Aben-Ezra, Kimchi, and others) unaptly translate it golden, i. e. precious, distinguished, as if from DPS, gold. Still others (as Hezel, Ewald) refer to an Arabic root meaning to conceal, as if written from retirement, or in a plaintive strain ; and some (after the rabbins) make it a compound of CPI "^"Z, i. q. humble and per- fect, referring to David. See 1'salms.
Micislaus, duke of Poland in the 10th century, is noted in ecclesiastical history as the promulgator of Christianity among the Poles, A.D. 9G5. His own con- version was brought about by his wife, Dambrowka, daughter of a Bohemian prince. John XHI was at that time the Roman pontiff, and he despatched ^Egid- ius, bishop of Tusculum, to the aid of the duke and his wife. See Poland.
Micqueau, Jean-Louis, a French Protestant theo- logian, was born at Rheims about 1530. He took part in the Reformation ; established a school at Orleans in 1557, and taught the humanities in the college of the same city. Allied by friendship with Gentien Hervet, a canon of Rheims and native of Orleans, the difference in their religions brought on a polemical correspond- ence. He died near the close of the IGth century. Mic- queau wrote, Lycampcei castri obsidio et excidium (1554) : — De const iiuenda apud Aurelios juventutii disciplina Oratio (1558): — Avrelim urbis memordbilis ab Anglis obsidio, anno 1428, et Joannm Virginis Lotharingm res gestm (1560) -.—Response au discours de Gentien Hervet, sits ce que les pilleurs, voleurs et branleurs de Veglises disent qu'ils ne veulent c^iCaux prieres (15G4) •—Deuxieme
Response de Jean-Louis Micqueau, maistre d'ecole a Or' leans, aux folies 7-everies, execrables blasphemes, erreurs et niensonges de G. Hervet (1564). See Revue historique et litteraire de la Champagne, No. 11, 15 (November, 1854), p. 74; Hoefer, Nouv, Biog. Generale, s. v.
Micrcelius, Johann, a German Lutheran professor, was born at Cosslin, in Pomerania, Sept. 1, 1597. He began his studies at the college of his own town, and in 1614 removed to Stettin, where he studied theology under professor Aamer. In 1616 he maintained a dis- pute, " De Deo uno et trino,'^ which secured him much reputation. A year after he disputed at the University of Ktinigsberg, "Z'e veritate transcendentali." He re- ceived in 1621 the degree of master of philosophy at the University of Greifswald, after having maintained a thesis, " De meteoris.'' He finished his studies at Leip- sic. He was made professor of rhetoric in the royal college at Stettin in 1624, rector of the Senate School in 1627, and rector of the royal college and professor of theology in 1649. He had a famous dispute with John Bergius, first preacher at the court of the elector of Brandenburg, upon the differences between the Luther- ans and Calvinists. On a visit to Sweden, in 1653, he had the honor to pay his respects to queen Christina, who received him with very marked attention. She defrayed the charges of his doctor's degree. He died Dec. 3, 1658. Micralius wrote, Lexicon Philologicum : — Lexicon Philosophicum : — Syntagma Historice Mundi : — Syntagmci, Historice. Ecclesiasticce : — Ethnophronius con- tra Gentiles de Principiis Religionis Christiance : —Yi^ afterwards added a continuation. Contra Judwas Depra- vationes : — Tabelke Historic^, ad Millen. et Rerumjmb- lic. Tempora dijudicanda Necessarioe : — Tractatus de co- pia Rerum et Verborum, cum Praxi continua Proscejito- rum Rhetor. : — A rchceologia, A ?-ithmetica, usus Globoj-um et Tabular, Geographical: : — Orthodoxia Lutherana contra Bei-gium ; and numerous theses, disputations, orations, etc. See Allgemeines Historisches f^exikon (Leips. 1731, 5 vols. foL), iii, 560 sq. ; Witte, Memor, theol. p. 282 sq. ; Bayle, Hist. Did. s. v. (J. H. W.)
Micronesia (from Greek fiiKpog, small, and vtjaoc, island, signifying a region of small islands or islets) is a term of recent application, and is applied to a portion of the Central Archipelago, Pacific Ocean, including the Kingsmill group. Micronesia proper extends from the westernmost island of the Sandwich group to near Japan and the Philippines, and reaches south of the equator, including the Ladrone Islands, the Carolinas, and the Pellew Islands. The Kingsmill group lies on both sides of the equator, and consists of fifteen principal islands, all coral, and densely covered with cocoa-nut groves.
Customs. — The population of these islands amounts to about 50,000 souls. They are governed by independ- ent chiefs or kings, and mostly lead a life of indolence. They are divided into three classes — chiefs, landholders, and slaves. They live in small communities, regarding the eldest of their number as a kind of patriarch. Po- lygamy is common. They are hospitable, and ready to share the last morsel with the needy. In each town is a '• stranger's house," where travellers find a temporary home. The cocoa-nut, which everywhere abounds, sup- plies the few wants of the natives with little labor. Their chief employment is the manufacture of cocoa- nut oil. Almost everything which the natives eat, drink, wear, live in, or use in any way, is obtained from the cocoa-nut tree.