The name given ironically to the suppression of the revolt of the Geraldines in 1535, when Maynooth Castle, the seat of the Earl of Desmond, was captured, and out of thirty-seven prisoners taken, twenty-six were executed. Meal Tub Plot. A pretended plot, fabricated by Dangerfield in 1679, in emulation of Titus Oates, the inventor of the Popish Plot. Dangerfield averred that a Presbyterian plot existed to depose the King, and establish a Republic. After arrest he stated that this was only a blind to conceal a plot of the Papists, documents relating to which would be found hidden in a meal tub in the house of Mrs. Cellier, a Roman Catholic. This lady was tried for high treason and acquitted. Dangerfield was condemned to be flogged from Newgate to Tyburn and back, and died under the lash. Measures, Assize of. An edict issued in 1197, with the object of securing uniformity in weights and measures throughout England. It was, however, found impossible to obtain acceptance for this reform, and the edict remained a dead letter. Mediation, Constitution of. A constitution in which an attempt was made to harmonise the old Cantonal system with the new Helvetic Constitution, and which was imposed upon the Swiss by Napoleon in 1803. Mediatized Princes. Members of the old ruling families of the smaller German States, who have at various times been deprived of their sovereign rights. Meersen, Treaty of. A treaty, signed in 870, by which Lewis the German and Charles the Bald divided the territories of their nephews, Lewis II and Charles. The former took Alsace and the Rhine Provinces, the latter Burgundy and Provence, thus finally separating Germany and France. Mellanriks Law. The decree confirming the Union of Sweden and Norway, accepted by the Norwegians in November, 1814, and defining the financial and other relations between the two kingdoms. Melun, Treaty of. A treaty signed in 1593, between Queen Elizabeth and Henri IV of France, providing for an offensive and defensive alliance against Philip II of Spain. Mercatoribus, Statute de. A statute of Edward I, passed in 1283, giving protection to foreign merchants settled in England. Merchandise Marks Act. An Act passed in 1887, inflicting penalties for the use of false trade descriptions, and enacting that, in all cases of imported goods, when any question is likely to arise as to the country of origin, the same shall be clearly marked on the goods. Merchant Adventurers. A guild of merchants established in Brabant in 1296. They received special trading privileges in England from Henry VII, and in 1564 were given a charter of incorporation by Elizabeth. Merchant Shipping Act. _See_ Plimsoll’s Act. Merchants, Charter of the. A charter granted by Edward I in 1303, to foreign merchants trading in England, which at the same time imposed import and export duties on wool and other commodities passing through their hands. Merciless Parliament. _See_ Wonderful Parliament.