MEDLEY, SAMUEL: English Baptist preacher and hymnist; b. at Cheshunt (6 m. s. of Hertford) June 23, 1738; d. at Liverpool July 17, 1799. After serving in the navy (1755-59), he kept school in London (17626); entered the ministry and became pastor at Watford, Hertfordshire (1767), being ordained in 1768; and was pastor of the Byrom Street chapel, Liverpool, from 1772 till his death. He is known principally as a hymnist, his beat composition being "O could I speak the matchless worth."

Bibliography: His Memoirs were compiled by his eon, Samuel, London, 1800; and by his daughter, Sarah, 2 parts, Liverpool, 1833. Consult also: Julian, HpnanoYogy, p. 722; 6. W. Duffield, English Hymns, pp. 51, 402, 823, New York, 1888.

MEDO-PERSIA

.

I. The Names.

II. The Countries.

Geographical Position and Extent (§ 1).

Climate; Fauna and Flora (§ 2).

III. Exploration and Excavation.

IV. Ethnological Data.

V. The History of Medo-Persia.

The Manda Hordes (§ 1).

The Kasshites (§ 2).

The Early Medes (§ 3).

Early Migrations; the Cimmerians (§ 4).

Ecbatana (§ 5).

Deioces and Astyages I. (§ 6).

The Achaemenians (§ 7).

Cyrus (§ 8).

Old-Testament Allusions (§ 9).

Cambyses; Darius (§ 10).

Xerxes, Artaxerxes, and Successors (§ 11).

I. The Names

The form of the word Media in the earliest Persian cuneiform texts is Mdda, Assyr. and Hebr., Madai. The origin of the word, its meaning, and its etymological relationships are entirely unknown. The name Persia, Persian, in the Old Persian inscriptions is P6rsa, in Susian ParRr, in Babylonian Parsd, in Hebrew Paras.

II. The Countries