Home › Matters of Religious Interest › Things Not Generally Known: Mars

Things Not Generally Known: Mars

It is the exact equivalent to a "beau," an elegant, in which sense it is applied by thousands, who use it vulgarly, without suspicion of its antiquity. Mask, the Iron. A name used to designate an unknown French prisoner, whose identity has never been satisfactorily established. He was carried, about the year

1679, with the greatest secrecy, to the castle of Pignerol, of which St. Mars was governor. He wore during the journey a black mask, and orders were given to kill him if he discovered himself. In 1686 he was carried by St. Mars to the Island of Sainte Marguerite; and, on the passage, the same precautions were observed as upon the first journey. St. Mars, having been appointed governor of the Bastile in 1698, carried the prisoner with him, but still masked. There he remained till his death, on November 19th, 1703, treated with the utmost respect, but closely watched and not permitted to take off his mask even before his physician. He was buried on the 20th of November in the cemetery of St. Paul, under the name of Machioti. Mason and Dixon's Line. A name given to the southern boundary line separating the free State of Pennsylvania from the former slave States of Maryland and Virginia. It lies in lattitude 39° 43′ 26.3", and was run-with the exception of about 22 miles-by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, two English mathematicians and surveyors, between Nov. 15, 1763, and Dec. 26, 1767. During the excited debate in Congress, in 1820, on the question of excluding slavery from

Missouri, the eccentric John Randolph, of Roanoke, made great use of this phrase, which was caught up and re-echoed by every newspaper in the land, and thus gained a proverbial celebrity, which it still retains. Micawber, Mr. Wilkins. A character in Dickens' novel of "David Copperfield;"

noted for his long speeches, ambitious style, love of letter-writing, alternate elevation and depression of spirits, hearty appetite, reckless improvidence, and everlasting troubles, and for his constantly "waiting for something to turn up." Mind your P's and Q's. This started in the caution of a French dancing master to his pupils during the reign of Louis XIV., when wigs of unwieldy size were worn, and bows were made with great formality. "Mind your P's (ie., pieds)

and Q's (i.e., queues-wigs)" was therefore a very apropos instruction. Mistress of the Seas. A name sometimes given to Great Britain, on account of her naval supremacy.