a market-town of England, in Leicestershire, situated at the confluence of the Wreck and Eye, 14 miles N.E. of Leicester, and 92 N. by W. of London. The town is well and substantially built, chiefly of brick; and consists of two main streets. The parish church is a large and handsome Gothic building, in the form of a cross, with a lofty and richly adorned tower in the centre. There are also churches for Independents, Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists, and Roman Catholics; several schools and almshouses; besides a subscription library, news-room, and theatre. Melton owes its prosperity and celebrity to its being the centre of the hunting district, and the seat of the Melton Hunt. It is on this account resorted to by the leading sporting men of England, and by some from other countries, during the season, which lasts from November till March. Upwards of 800 horses, with their grooms, &c., may be accommodated in the excellent stables of Melton; and in the neighbourhood there are many hunting seats. The chief manufactures of the place are lace and hosiery; and the trade consists chiefly in pork pies and Stilton cheese, which is made here, though it takes its name from Stilton in Huntingdonshire, where it was first sold. John Henley the orator was born here in 1692; and Melton is also remarkable as the scene of a defeat of the parliamentary troops by the royalists in 1644. Pop. (1851) 4391.

MELUN, a town of France, capital of the department of Seine-et-Marne, is pleasantly situated on the Seine, 27 miles S.S.E. of Paris. The town stands on both sides of the river, especially on a slope on the right bank, and partly on an island joined by two bridges to the other parts of the town. The oldest part of Melun is that on the island; and it is well, though irregularly built, containing a large prison, a ruined palace, and the church of Notre Dame. The part on the right bank, called St Aspais, includes a large and regularly built square, an old Gothic church, the ruins of an old abbey, the prefecture, formerly a Benedictine abbey, a theatre, baths, &c. On the left side of the river stand the cavalry barracks. The town has a public library, as well as a college and several schools. Melun has manufactures of woollen and linen cloth, leather, china, plaster, &c.; and there is a considerable trade in grain. This town was anciently called Melodunum, and was taken by the Romans under Labienus, one of Caesar's generals. It was afterwards captured by the English under Henry V. in 1420, but was recovered by the French fifteen years afterwards. Pop. (1851) 7528.