The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 303

MARTHA, ST., the sister of Mary and Lazarus, the patron saint of good housewives, is represented, in homely costume, with a bunch of keys at her girdle, and a pot in her hand. Festival, July 20.

MARTIAL, a Latin poet, born at Bilbilis, in Spain; went to Rome, stayed there, favoured of the emperors t.i.tus and Domitian, for 35 years, and then returned to his native city, where he wrote his Epigrammata, a collection of short poems over 1500 in number, divided into 14 books, books xiii. and xiv. being ent.i.tled respectively Xenia and Apoph.o.r.eta; these epigrams are distinguished for their wit, diction, and indecency, but are valuable for the light they shed on the manners of Rome at the period (43-104).

MARTIAL LAW, law administered by military force, to which civilians are amenable during an insurrection or riot.

MARTIN, the name of five popes: M. I., ST., Pope from 649 to 655; M. II., pope from 882 to 884; M. III., Pope from 942 to 946; M. IV., pope from 1281 to 1285; M. V., Pope from 1417 to 1431, distinguished for having condemned Huss to be burned.

MARTIN, AIMe, a French writer, born at Lyons, repaired to Paris, became the pupil and friend of Bernardin de St. Pierre; collected his works and married his widow; his letters to Sophia on "Natural History,"

&c., highly popular (1781-1844).

MARTIN, HENRI, celebrated French historian, born at Saint-Quentin; devoted his life to the study of the history of France; wrote an account of it, ent.i.tled "Histoire de France," a magnificent work in 19 volumes; brought the history down to 1789, and received from the Inst.i.tute 20,000 francs as a prize (1810-1885).

MARTIN, JOHN, English painter, born near Hexham; was an artist of an ardent temperament and extraordinary imaginative power; his paintings, the first "Sadak in Search of the Waters of Oblivion," characterised as "sublime" and "gorgeous," were 16 in number, and made a great impression when produced; engravings of some of them are familiar, such as the "Fall of Babylon" and "Belshazzar's Feast" (1789-1854).

MARTIN, LADY. See FAUCIT, HELEN.

MARTIN, ST., bishop of Tours, was in early life a soldier, and meeting with a naked beggar one cold day in winter divided his military cloak in two, and gave him the half of it; was conspicuous both as a monk and bishop for his compa.s.sion on the poor; seated at a banquet on one occasion between the king and queen, hobn.o.bbed with a poor beggar looking on, and extended his goblet of wine to him; he is the patron saint of topers; _d_. 397. Festival, November 11.

MARTIN, SARAH, a philanthropist, born at Great Yarmouth; lived by dressmaking, and devoted much of her time among criminals in the jails (1791-1843).

MARTIN, SIR THEODORE, man of letters, born in Edinburgh; acquired his first fame under the pseudonym of Bon Gaultier; is author of the "Life of the late Prince Consort"; wrote along with Aytouna "Book of Ballads," and translated the Odes of Horace, Dante's "Vita Nuova" and Goethe's "Faust"; _b_. 1816.

MARTINEAU, HARRIET, English auth.o.r.ess, born at Norwich; a lady with little or no genius but with considerable intellectual ability, and not without an honest zeal for the "progress of the species"; she was what is called an "advanced" thinker, and was a disciple of Auguste Comte; wrote a number of stories bearing on social questions, and had that courage of her opinions which commanded respect; it was she who persuaded Carlyle to try lecturing when his finances were low, and she had a real pride at the success of the scheme (1802-1876).

MARTINEAU, JAMES, rationalistic theologian, born in Norwich, brother of the preceding; began life as an engineer, took to theology, and became a Unitarian minister; was at first a follower of Bentham and then a disciple of Kant; at one time a materialist he became a theist, and a most zealous advocate of theistic beliefs from the Unitarian standpoint; he is a thinker of great power, and has done much both to elevate and liberate the philosophy of religion; his views are liberal as well as profound, and he is extensively known as the author of the "Endeavours after the Christian Life" and "Hours of Thought on Sacred Things"; _b_.

1805.

MARTINIQUE (176, of which a few are white), a West Indian French possession, one of the Lesser Antilles; has a much-indented precipitous coast; a mountain range in the centre is densely wooded; the plains are fertile, and produce sugar, coffee, and cotton, which with fruit are the exports; the climate is hot and not salubrious; the island has been French, with three short intervals, since 1635.

MARTYN, HENRY, a Christian missionary, born at Truro, in Cornwall; was a Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge; went to India as a chaplain, settled in various stations and in Persia; translated the New Testament into Hindi and Persian, as well as the Prayer-book; fell into broken health; did more than he was able for, caught fever and died (1781-1812).

MARVELL, ANDREW, poet and politician, born at Worcester; was first a lyric poet, and in politics much of a Royalist, at last a violent politician on the Puritan side, having become connected with Milton and Cromwell; he wrote a tract "On the Growth of Popery and Arbitrary Government in England" after the Restoration, which brought him into trouble; being a favourite with the king, the king sought to bribe him, but he could not be caught; he died suddenly, and an unfounded rumour was circulated that he had been poisoned (1621-1678).

MARX, KARL, a German Socialist, born at Treves, of Jewish descent; was at first a student of philosophy and a disciple of Hegel, but soon abandoned philosophy for social economy on a democratic basis and in a materialistic interest, early adopted socialistic opinions, for his zeal in which he was driven from Germany, France, and finally Belgium, to settle in London, where he spent the last 30 years of his life; founded the "INTERNATIONAL" (q. v.), and wrote a work "Das Kapital,"

which has become the text-book of Socialism, a remarkable book, and one that has materially promoted the cause it advocates (1818-1866).

MARY, THE VIRGIN. Of her we know nothing for certain except what is contained in the Gospel history, and that almost exclusively in her relation to her Son, in connection with whom, and as His mother, she has become an object of wors.h.i.+p in the Roman Catholic and Greek Churches.

MARY I., queen of England, was born at Greenwich, daughter of Henry VIII. and Catharine of Aragon; at first the king's favourite, on her mother's divorce she was treated with aversion; during her brother Edward VI.'s reign she lived in retirement, clinging to her Catholic faith; on her accession in 1553 a Protestant plot to put Lady Jane Grey on the throne failed; she began cautiously to restore Catholicism, imprisoning Reformers and reinstating the old bishops; on her choosing Philip of Spain for her husband a revolt broke out under Sir Thomas Wyatt, and though easily put down was the occasion for the execution of Lady Jane Grey and the imprisonment of Elizabeth; after her marriage in 1554 the religious reaction gained strength, submission was made to Rome, and a persecution began in which 300 persons, including Latimer, Ridley, and Cranmer, perished in three years; ill-health, Philip's cruelty, and her childlessness drove her to melancholy; a war with France led to the loss of Calais in 1558, and she died broken-hearted, a virtuous and pious, but bigoted and relentless woman (1516-1558).

MARY II., queen of England, daughter of the Duke of York (afterwards James II.) and Anne Hyde; was married to her cousin William of Orange in 1677, ascended the English throne along with him on her father's abdication in 1688, and till her death was his much loved, good, and gentle queen; Greenwich Hospital for disabled sailors, which she built, is her memorial (1662-1694).

MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, daughter of James V. and Mary of Lorraine, born at Linlithgow, became by her father's death queen ere she was a week old; her early childhood was spent on an island in the Lake of Menteith; she was sent to France in 1548, brought up at court with the royal princes, and married to the dauphin in 1558, who for a year, 1559-60, was King Francis II.; on his death she had to leave France; she returned to a.s.sume the government in Scotland, now in the throes of the Reformation; refraining from interference with the Protestant movement she retained her own Catholic faith, but chose Protestant advisers; out of many proposed alliances she elected, against all advice, to be married to her cousin Darnley 1565, and easily quelled the insurrection that broke out under Moray; Darnley, granted the t.i.tle king, tried to force her to settle the succession in the event of her dying childless on him and his heirs; deeming her favourite Rizzio to stand in the way, he plotted with the Protestant Lords to have him murdered, and Mary was reduced to agree to his demands; the murder was done; the queen was for a time a prisoner in Holyrood, but she succeeded in detaching Darnley, and the scheme fell through; her only son, afterwards James VI., was born three months later in 1566; the murder of Darnley took place in February 1567, being accomplished by Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, almost certainly with Mary's connivance; her marriage with Bothwell in May alienated the n.o.bles; they rose, took the queen prisoner at Carberry, carried her to Edinburgh, then to Loch Leven, where they forced her to abdicate in July; next year, escaping, she fled to England, and was there for many years a prisoner; Catholic plots were formed to liberate her and put her in place of Elizabeth on the English throne (she was next in order of succession, being great-granddaughter of Henry VII.); at last she was accused of complicity in Babbington's conspiracy, tried, found guilty, and executed in Fotheringhay Castle, February 8, 1587; faithful to her religion to the end; she was a woman of great beauty and charm, courage and ability, warm affection and generous temper (1542-1587).

MARYLAND (1,042), a State of the American Union, occupying the basin of the Potomac and of Chesapeake Bay, with Pennsylvania on the N., Delaware on the E., and the Virginias on the W. and S.; has a much indented coast-line affording great facilities for navigation; the soil is throughout fertile; on the level coast plains tobacco and fruit, chiefly peaches, are grown; in the undulating central land wheat; the mountains in the W. are well wooded with pine; there are coal-mines in the W., copper and chrome in the midland, and extensive marble quarries; the shad and herring fisheries are valuable; the manufactures of clothing stuffs, flour, tobacco, and beer are extensive; the climate of Maryland is temperate and genial; education is free, and advanced; the John Hopkins University is in Baltimore; there is a State college in every county, and schools for blind, deaf, and feeble-minded children; colonisation began in 1634, and a policy of religious toleration and peace with the Indians led to prosperity; the State was active in the War of Independence, and remained with the North in the Civil War; the capital is Annapolis (8), but the largest city is Baltimore (434), a great wheat-s.h.i.+pping port and centre of industry; c.u.mberland (13) has brick and cement works, and Hagerstown (10) has machine, farm implement, and furniture factories.

MASACCIO, an Italian painter, born in Florence; went when very young to Rome, where he painted in the church of St. Clement a series of frescoes, his greatest work being the frescoes in the Brancacci chapel of the Carmine church; he was a great master of perspective and colour (1402-1443).

MASAI, a warlike tribe in Africa, between the coast of Zanzibar and Victoria Nyanza, of the race of the Gallas, men of powerful physique, though far from prepossessing in appearance; when their warlike spirit and prowess are spent they settle down to cattle-breeding.

MASANIELLO, a fisherman of Amalfi, who headed a revolt against the Spanish viceroy in Naples, which proved successful, but turned his head and led to his a.s.sa.s.sination (1623-1647).

MASHONALAND, a plateau 4000 ft. high crossed by the Umvukwe Mountains, lying to the NE. of Matabeleland and S. of the Zambesi River, of which its streams are tributaries; is a fertile country, and being traversed continually by cold SE. winds is healthy and bracing; the natives, of Bantu stock, are peaceful and industrious, growing rice, maize, tobacco, and cotton, which they also weave, and working with skill in iron; they live in dread of the fierce Matabele tribes; the country is very rich in iron, copper, and gold, and has traces of ancient scientific gold-mining; it has been under British protection since 1888.

MASK, IRON. See IRON MASK.

MASKELYNE, NEVIL, astronomer-royal, born in London; determined the method of finding longitude at sea, and the density of the earth by experiments at Schiehallion, and commenced the "National Almanack," and produced the first volume of "Astronomical Observations at Greenwich"

(1732-1811).

MASON, SIR JOSIAH, Birmingham manufacturer and philanthropist, born at Kidderminster; made his fortune by split rings, steel pens, electro-plating; founded an orphanage at Erdington at the cost of nearly 300,000, and the college at Birmingham which bears his name (1795-1881).

MASON, WILLIAM, a minor poet, a friend of poet Gray; the author of two tragedies, "Elfrida" and "Caractacus" (1724-1797).

MASON AND DIXON'S LINE, so called after English engineers who surveyed it 1764-67; is the boundary separating Maryland from Pennsylvania and Delaware; during the Civil War it was inaccurately regarded as dividing the slave-holding from the free States, Maryland and Delaware both recognising slavery.

MASPERO, GASTON CAMILLE CHARLES, French Egyptologist, born at Paris; made extensive explorations and important discoveries in Egypt; has written, among works bearing on Egypt, "Histoire Ancienne des Peuples d'Orient"; _b_. 1846.