Minnis,AVii.i.iA:M, D.D., a Presbyterian divine, was born, of Scotch-Irish parents, in Blount County, Tenn., Dec. 28, 1799. He was educated at Maryville College, Tenn.; studied divinity in the South-western Theologi- cal Seminary at Maryville ; was licensed in 1825, and ordained in 1826 as pastor of Westminster Church, Tenn. In 1838 he received and accepted a call to the charge of Salem and New ^Market, Tenn.; became a member of the United Synod at its organization in 18.57, and died May 5, 1863. Dr. !Miiniis was a man of ex- traordinary energy, thorough in the investigation of every subject, clear in the illustration of the deepest tliought, and truly in earnest in the conversion of souls. See Wilson, I'nsh. Hist. Almanac, 1807, \\ 446.
Miu'nith (Ileb. Minnith', T^'^l'O, distribution ; Sept. in Judg. MtviSr v. r. 'Apj'(oi',Vulg. Mennilh ; in Ezek. fivpa,bulsamuni), a town in the country of the Ammon- ites, to which Jephthah pursued them (Judg. xi, 33\ celebrated for the excellence of its wheat, which was exported to the markets of Tyre (Ezek. xxvii, 17). It
still existed in the age of Eusebius, four Roman miles from Heshbon, on the road to Philadelphia (Onomast. s. V. ^laavi^, Jerome Mannith). Schwarz (Palest. p. 230) thinks it the same with the present Minja, five miles east of Hesban. " ' From Aroer to the approach to ilin- nith' ( "2 ?jX12 1?) seems to have been a district con- taining twenty cities. Miimith was in the neighbor- hood of Abel-Ceramim, the 'meadow of vineyards.' In this vicinity were possibly situated the vineyards in which Balaam encountered the angel on his road from Mesopotamia to Moab (Numb, xxii, 24). An epis- copal city of 'Palestina secnnda,' named Mennith, is quoted by Keland (Puhest. p. 211), but with some (jues- tion as to its being located in this direction (p. 209). A site bearing the name Menjah is marked in Van de Velde's Map, perhaps on the authority of Buckingham, at seven Roman miles east of Heshbon, on a road to Amman, though not on the frequented track" (Smith). Mino, jMaestijo, a distinguished sculptor, flourish- ed during the 15th century. The exact dates of his birth and death are unknown. He is sometimes called Mixo DEL Regno. The statues of «S'«k Pietro and San Paolo, which are in the sacristy of St. Peter's, at Rome, but which until 1847 stood at tlie foot of the steps of St. Peter's, are his work; also the Tomb of Pope Paul II, in the Basilica of St. Peter's. See Vasari, Lives of the
I Painters, transl. by Mrs. Foster (Lond. 1850. 5 vols. 8vo),
I ii, 85.
Minor Canon is the name frequently applied to a petty canon, petty prebendary, or sub-canon :
j (1.) A vicar in priest's orders in the old foundations; a representative and auxiliary who celebrated at the high altar in the absence of a canon. Generally there were four, occasionally as many as eight. In most cases they were the vicars of the four dignitaries. In the Romish Church of England the word designated in some instances the prebendaries who were in minor or- ders, and at York a major canon was one who Lad kept the greater residence. At St. Paul's they form a col- lege, instituted in 1395, over and above the thirty vic-
i ars. The latter sinig the matin and lady mass; but
' the minor canons chanted the mass of requiem for their founder, as well as the apostles' and high or cliapter masses, being required in addition to attend all the hours. All were priests under a superior, called a war- den. Their almoner looked after the choristers. The
I two cardinals, who had a d()id)le{l stipend, were parish
I priests of the close. They furnished the librarian, sub- dean, succentor, and divinity lecturer, and the perpetual gospeller and epistoler. In 1378 they wore sur|ilices, dark almuces of calaba, lined with minever, with a black cope and hood, trimmed with silk or linen.
(2.) A subordinate or stipendiary priest, appointed by the dean and chapter in the new foundations; and by the original constitution the number equalled that of the canons, and the stipend half that of the latter. They had a share in the quotidian. In the time of Charles I their numbers were reduced. Tliey had no estates of their own, and lived in a common liall, along with the schoolmasters, lay singers, and choristers. Minor canons are removable by the dean and cha]iter, and are now choral substitutes of the canons residentiary, ofliciating in turn, under their authority, jointly with the dean. See Walcott, Sacred A rcha-olof/y, s. v. ; Staunton, Peeks. Diet. s. V. See also Canon, Ecci.ksiasticai,.
Minor, Launcelot Byrd, a missionary of the Proti'stant I",i>i>c(iiial Chunli.was Imrn at Topping Cas- tle. Carolina County, Ya., Sejit. 9, 1M13. In lKi3 he en- tered the theological seminary of Yirginia. Missiona- ries being required for West Africa, he determined to give himself to the work. He was ordained in 1836, and sailed from Baltimore for Cape Palmas ^lay 8. 1837. Immediately after arrival in liis field of labor, be as- sume<l the charge of a school at Mount Yauglian. Cape Palmas. In .\iiril, 1839, he visited the Gold Coast, of which he gave a graphic account to the Board of Mis-
MINOR
303
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sions. In the same year he returned to the United States on a visit, and while here he married. Shortly after he returned to Africa, to take charge of a small chapel at Mount Vaughan. In 18-il he took part in an exploring expedition, having for its object the estab- lishment of a station in the district of Taboo, and in 1843 he removed his family to that locality; but just as he was ready to commence his labors there he died. lie possessed' neither brilliant talents nor a strong intel- lect, but his devotion to his work made him so ear- nest and zealous that everything gave way before him. The natives were attracted by tlie amiableness of his character, and his influence over them was most potent and blessed. — H. W. Pierson, American Missionary Me- morial, p. 449.