Malthus Thomas Malthus (1766–1834); an English economist who held the theory that the world population tends to increase faster than the food supply with inevitable disastrous results unless natural restriction, such as war, famine, and disease reduce the population or the increase is checked by moral restraint.
Marseillaise the national anthem of France, composed in 1792 during the French Revolution.
melee a noisy, confused fight or hand-to-hand struggle among a number of people.
menagerie a collection of wild or strange animals kept in cages or enclosures for exhibition.
mendicant person who begs for money, food, clothes, etc., given to the poor.
monopoly exclusive control of a commodity or service in a given market, or control that makes possible the fixing of prices and the virtual elimination of free competition.
naïvely in an unaffectedly, or sometimes foolishly, simple manner; artlessly.
obdurate not easily moved to pity or sympathy; hardhearted.
Octopus reference to the novel The Octopus, written by Frank Norris, in which farmers fought against the railroad monopoly.
oligarchy form of government in which the ruling power belongs to a few persons.
outlawry disregard or defiance of the law.
