Minor, Melchior Gottlieb, a German theolo- gian, was born at Zilzendorf, in the Silesian county of Brieg, Dec. "28, 1G93 ; received his preparatory education at the orphan school at Halle, where he distinguished himself by great proficiency in the ancient languages ; in 1709 he entered the gymnasium at Zittau, and in 1712 the university. He studied theology and philosophy at Wittenberg ; soon afterwards he went to Halle, to study modern languages, civil and ecclesiastical law, and mathematics. Upon the completion of his course in 1715, he returned to his native city, where he got a po- sition as tutor; in 1720 he was appointed minister at Teppliwode, in the principality of Miinsterberg ; and in 1722 minister at Landshut. Some time after he was appointed counsellor of the Prussian consistory, and in- spector of churches and schools of the district of Schweidnitz. He died Sept. 24, 1748. Some of his most important works are. Das Leben im Leiden, eine Leichenpredigt iiher Psa. xlii, 2, 3 (Landshut, 1723, fol.) : — Das nothige Wissen eines Chiisten (Janer, 1723, 12mo) : •^ — Kurze Nachricht von den Altdren der Jiiden, Ileiden laid Christen, mit einer Beschreibimg des in der Gnaden- Mrche von Landshut erhauten Altars (Landshut, 1725, 4to): — Hanptsumme der chrisfUchen Lehi-e (ibid. 172G, 12mo) : — Geistliche Reden und Ahhandlungen (Leipsic and Breslau, 2 vols. 1752, 8vo) : — Heilige Betrachtitngen iiher die Evangelien (ibid. 1756, 8vo) : — Heilige Betruch- tungen iiber die Leidensgeschichte Jesu (ibid. 1757, large 8vo). See Doring, Gelehrte Theol. Deutschlands, s. v.
Minorca (Span. Menorca), one of the Balearic Isles, some twenty-five miles distant from Majorca, the largest of the group, is 31 miles long and 13 miles wide, cover- ing in all a territory of about 300 square miles, and counting 37,280 inhabitants, subject to the Spanish gov- ernment. The coast of Minorca, broken into numerous bays and inlets, is fringed with islets and shoals, and its surface, less mountainous than that of Majorca, is un- dulating, rising to its highest point in Mount Toro, 4793 feet above the sea-level. Its chief productions are mar- ble, slate, plaster, the common cereals and legumes, or- anges, silk, lemons, oil, wine, olives, and aromatic herbs. The chief towns are Port Mahon, the capital, and Ciu- dadela, the former capital, with a population of about 4000. There are many remains of Celtic civilization on the island. The people of Jlinorca {Menorquines) are very indolent, the women verj' stylish aiid polite. The religious history of the Menorquines is so intimately con- nected with that of their rulers that we must refer to the article Spain.
Minoress is another name under which the ff)llow- ers of St. Clare are distinguished. See Clare, St.
Minorites, a name of the Franciscan order, derived from tlie later denomination adopted by their founder, Fratres Minores. See Franciscans.
Minos, a Cretan hero and lawgiver, figures in Greek mythology and legends. There are many writers who speak of two characters of that name, but Homer and Hesiod know of only one Minos, the king of Cnossus, and son and friend of the god Jupiter himself. We are told that Minos secured the throne by promising sacri- fices to the gods, and that when he had acquired the
power he was cruel and tyrannical ; and that after he liad subjected the Athenians he treated them merci- lessly, and required their boys and virgins as sacrifices to the Minotaur (q. v.). Although these legends and fables are of but little interest, Minos deserves a place here as a benefactor of the race ; and, if his existence be not mythical, he must be ranked among the wise men of the earth. To him the celebrated Laws of Minos, which served as a model for the legislation of Lycurgus,' are ascribed. He is said to have dealt out justice, and to have so pleased the gods that he became a judge of the souls which entered the infernal regions. Minos has by some writers on antiquity been identified with Jlanu (or ]\Ienu), the great Hindu lawgiver. See VoU- mer, Mythologisches WOrterbuch, s. v.
Minotaur (i. e. the Bull of Minos') is one of the most repulsive conceptions of Grecian mythology. He is represented as the son of Pasiphae and a bull, for which she had conceived a passion. It was half man, half bull — a man with a bull's head. Minos, the hus- band of Pasiphae, shut him up in the Cnossian Laby- rinth, and there fed him with youths and maidens, whom Athens was obliged to supply as an annual trib- ute, till Theseus, with the help of Ariadne, slew the monster. See Minos. The Minotaur is, Avith some probability, regarded as a sjonbol of the Phoenician sun- god. See VoUmer, Mythologisches Wurterbuch, s. v.
Minshall, Robert, a minister of the IMethodist Episcopal Church, was born in Pennsylvania in 1788; entered the Baltimore Conference in 1813 ; and died in Mercersburg, Pa., July 15, 1828. He was a man of fine talents and great piety and zeal. He was especially useful as a promoter of Sunday-schools and tract socie- ties, and was also an excellent and faithful minister of the Word. — Minnies of Conferences, ii, 37.
Minster signified originally, as in the writings of Cassian, St. Athanasius, and Jerome, the cell of a soli- tary ; but the word was extended by Eusebius to em- brace the church or the abode of a religious community. (1.) A church of regular canons. (2.) A church for- merly served bj' monks (in Germany the terra Mtinster is still emploj'ed, and Marmoutier in France — majus monasterium, or great minster). (3.) A cathedral. (4.) IMany large churches, held by secular canons, were dig- nified by the title of minster. (5.) Paris churches, in 9G0, were called minsters, and several retain the name. These were the original outposts of the Church, isolated stations of priests living under rule and in community, which in time became parishes. See Walcott, Sacred Archteology, s. v.