Mirror (Vulcan’s). Vulcan made a mirror which showed those who looked into it the past, present, and future. Sir John Davies says that Cupid handed this mirror to Antin´ous, when he was in the court of Ulysses, and Antinous gave it to Penel´opê, who beheld therein the court of Queen Elizabeth and all its grandeur.
Vulcan, the king of fire, that mirror wrought ...
As there did represent in lively show
Our glorious English court’s divine image
As it should be in this our golden age.
Sir John Davies, Orchestra (1615).
Mirror of King Ryence, a mirror made by Merlin. It showed those who looked into it whatever they wished to see.—Spenser, Faëry Queen, iii. (1590).
Mirror of Knighthood, a romance of chivalry. It was one of the books in Don Quixote’s library, and the curé said to the barber:
“In this same Mirror of Knighthood we meet with Rinaldo de Montalban and his companions, with the twelve peers of France, and Turpin, the historian. These gentlemen we will condemn only to perpetual exile, as they contain something of the famous Bojardo’s invention, whence the Christian poet Ariosto borrowed the groundwork of his ingenious compositions; to whom I should pay little regard if he had not written in his own language [Italian].”—Cervantes, Don Quixote, I. i. 6 (1605).
Mirror of all Martial Men, Thomas, earl of Salisbury (died 1428).
Mirrour for Magistraytes, begun by Thomas Sackville, and intended to be a poetical biography of remarkable Englishmen. Sackville wrote the “Induction,” and furnished one of the sketches, that of Henry Stafford, duke of Buckingham (the tool of Richard III.). Baldwynne, Ferrers, Churchyard, Phair, etc., added others. Subsequently, John Higgins, Richard Nichols, Thomas Blenerhasset, etc., supplied additional characters; but Sackville alone stands out pre-eminent in merit. In the “Induction,” Sackville tells us he was conducted by Sorrowe into the infernal regions. At the porch sat Remorse and Dread, and within the porch were Revenge, Miserie, Care, and Slepe. Passing on, he beheld Old Age, Maladie, Famine, and Warre. Sorrowe then took him to Achĕron, and ordered Charon to ferry them across. They passed the three-headed Cerbĕrus and came to Pluto, where the poet saw several ghosts, the last of all being the duke of Buckingham, whose “complaynt” finishes the part written by Thomas Sackville (1557). (See Buckingham.)
*** Henry Stafford, duke of Buckingham, must not be mistaken for George Villiers, duke of Buckingham 150 years later.
Mirza (The Vision of). Mirza, being at Grand Cairo on the fifth day of the moon, which he always kept holy, ascended a high hill, and, falling into a trance, beheld a vision of human life. First he saw a prodigious tide of water rolling through a valley with a thick mist at each end—this was the river of time. Over the river was a bridge of a thousand arches, but only three score and ten were unbroken. By these, men were crossing, the arches representing the number of years the traveller lived before he tumbled into the river. Lastly, he saw the happy valley, but when he asked to see the secrets hidden under the dark clouds on the other side, the vision was ended, and he only beheld the valley of Bagdad, with its oxen, sheep, and camels grazing on its sides.—Addison, Vision of Mirza (Spectator, 159).
Misbegot (Malcolm), natural son of Sybil Knockwinnock, and an ancestor of Sir Arthur Wardour.—Sir W. Scott, The Antiquary (time, George III.).