The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 304

Ma.s.sACHUSETTS (2,239), a New England State of the American Union, lies on the Atlantic seaboard between New Hamps.h.i.+re and Vermont on the N.

and Rhode Island and Connecticut on the S., with New York on its western border; has a long irregular coast-line and an uneven surface, rising to the Green Mountains in the W.; the scenery is of great beauty, but the soil is in many places poor, the farms raising chiefly hay and dairy produce; the winters are severe; Ma.s.sachusetts is the third manufacturing State of the Union; its industries include cotton, woollen, worsted, clothing, leather and leather goods, iron and iron goods; school education throughout the State is free and of a high standard; there are several universities and colleges, including Harvard, Boston, Williams, and Amherst; founded in 1620 by the Pilgrim Fathers, Ma.s.sachusetts had many hards.h.i.+ps in early days, and was long the scene of religious intolerance and persecution; the War of Independence began at Bunker's Hill and Lexington in 1776; the capital and chief seaport is Boston (448); Worcester (85) has machinery factories, Springfield (44) paper, and Lowell (78) cotton mills; Concord was for long a literary centre.

Ma.s.sAGE, in medicine a process of kneading, stroking, and rubbing, with the fingers and palms of the hands, applied to the body as a whole or to locally affected parts, to allay pain, promote circulation, and restore nervous and vital energy; it was practised in very early times in China and India; was known to the Greeks and Romans, and was revived by Dr. Mezger of Amsterdam in 1853.

Ma.s.sAGETae, a Scythian people on the NE. of the Caspian Sea, who used to kill and eat the aged among them, in an expedition against whom, it is said, Cyrus the Great lost his life.

Ma.s.sENA, Duc de Rivoli, Prince of Essling, one of the most ill.u.s.trious marshals of France, born at Nice; he distinguished himself at Rivoli in 1796, at Zurich in 1799, at the siege of Genoa in 1800, at Eckmuhl and at Wagram in 1809, and was named by Napoleon _L'enfant cheri de la Victoire_, i. e. the favoured child of victory; he was recalled from the Peninsula by Napoleon for failing to expel Wellington, and it appears he never forgot the affront (1758-1817).

Ma.s.sEY, GERALD, English democratic poet, born in Hertfords.h.i.+re; wrote "Poems and Charms," "Voices of Freedom and Lyrics of Love"; has written for the reviews, and taken a great interest in spiritualism; _b_.

1828.

Ma.s.sILLON, JEAN BAPTISTE, celebrated French pulpit orator, born at Hieres, in Provence; entered the congregation of the Oratory, and became so celebrated for his eloquence that he was called to Paris, where he gathered round him hearers in crowds; Bourdaloue, when he heard him, said, "He must increase, but I must decrease," and Louis XIV. said to him, "When I hear others preach I go away much pleased with them, but when I hear you I feel displeased with myself"; he was made bishop of Clermont, and next year preached before Louis XV., now king, his famous "Pet.i.t Careme," a series of ten sermons for Lent; he was a devoted bishop, and the idol of his flock; his style was perfect, and his eloquence was winning, and went home to the heart (1663-1742).

Ma.s.sINGER, PHILIP, English dramatist; little is known of his personal history except that he studied at Oxford without taking a degree, that he lived in London, and was buried as "a stranger" in St.

Saviour's, Southwark; of his 37 plays only 18 remain, and of these the most famous is the comedy ent.i.tled "New Way to Pay Old Debts," the chief character in which is Sir Giles Overreach, and the representation of which still holds its place on the stage (1583-1640).

Ma.s.sON, DAVID, man of letters, born in Aberdeen; elected literature as his profession in preference to theology, with the study of which he commenced; joined the staff of the Messrs. Chambers; settled in London, and became professor of English Literature in University College, from the chair of which he removed to the corresponding one in Edinburgh in 1865; edited _Macmillan's Magazine_ from 1859 to 1868; his great work, the "Life of Milton," in 6 vols., a thorough book, and of great historical value; has written on "British Novelists and their Styles," "Life of Drummond of Hawthornden," &c.; became in 1893 Historiographer-Royal of Scotland; _b_. 1822.

Ma.s.sO'RAH, a body of Biblical references, chiefly handed down by tradition, and calculated to be of great service in verifying the original text of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Ma.s.sORETIC POINTS, the vowel points and accents in Hebrew; invented by the Ma.s.sorites, or authors of the Ma.s.sorah.

MASTER HUMPHREY, a character in d.i.c.kens's "Old Curiosity Shop."

MASTER OF SENTENCES, PETER LOMBARD (q. v.).

MASTODON, one of an extinct species of mammals akin to the elephant.

MASULIPATAM (38), chief seaport in the district of Kistna, Madras Presidency, India, 215 m. N. of Madras, with a large coasting trade.

MATABELELAND, a country stretching northward from the Transvaal, 180 m. by 150 m., towards the Zambesi River; formerly occupied by peaceful Mashona and Makalaka tribes, but conquered by the Matabele in 1840, and since held by them. They are warlike, and have no industries. The women grow mealies, the men make continual forays on their neighbours. Gold exists in various parts, and the country was declared British territory in 1890. It is developed by the British South African Company, whose chief stations are Buluwayo in the SW. and Fort Salisbury in the NE.

MATANZA (50), a fortified town in Cuba, 32 m. E. of Havana.

MATERIALISM, the theory which, denying the independent existence of spirit, resolves everything within the sphere of being into matter, or into the operation and the effect of the operation of forces latent in it, or into the negative and positive interaction of mere material forces, to the exclusion of intelligent purpose and design.

MATHER, COTTON, an American divine, born in Boston; notorious for his belief in witchcraft, and for the persecution he provoked against those charged with it by his zeal in spreading the delusion (1663-1728).

MATHEW, THEOBALD, or FATHER MATHEW, apostle of temperance, born in Tipperary; studied for the Catholic priesthood, but joined the Capuchin Minorites; was in 1814 ordained a priest, and located in Cork, where at sight of the cruel effects of drunkenness on the ma.s.s of the people his heart was moved, and he resolved on a crusade against it to stamp it out; he started on this enterprise in 1827, but it took a year and a half before his mission bore any fruit, and then it was accompanied with marvellous success wherever he went, even as far as the New World itself (1790-1856).

MATHEWS, CHARLES, comedian, born in London; abandoned his father's trade of bookseller for the stage in 1794; appeared in Dublin and York, and from 1803 till 1818 played in Drury Lane, Covent Garden, and the Lyceum; the rest of his life he spent as a single-handed entertainer, charming countless audiences in Britain and America with his good singing and incomparable mimicry; he died at Plymouth (1776-1835).

MATHEWS, CHARLES JAMES, light comedian, son of the preceding; married Madame Vestris; was a charming actor, acted with a great grace and delicacy of feeling (1803-1878).

MATLOCK, a watering-place in Derbys.h.i.+re, on a slope overlooking the Derwent, 15 m. NW. of Derby.

MATILDA, the "Great Countess" of Tuscany, celebrated for her zeal on behalf of the Popes against the Emperor Henry IV., and for the donation of her possessions to the Church, which gave rise to a contest after her death (1046-1115).

MATILDA or MAUD, daughter of Henry I. of England and wife of the Emperor Henry V., on whose decease she was married to Geoffrey Plantagenet of Anjou and became mother of Henry II.; on the death of her father succeeded to the English throne, but was supplanted by Stephen, whom she defeated and who finally defeated her (1103-1167).

MATADORE, the athlete who kills the bull in a bull-fight.

MATSYS, QUENTIN, a Flemish painter, originally a blacksmith, did altar-pieces and _genre_ paintings (1466-1530).

MATTATHIAS, a Jewish priest, the father of the Maccabees, who in 170 B.C., when asked by a Syrian emba.s.sy to offer sacrifice to the Syrian G.o.ds, not only refused to do so, but slew with his own hand the Jew that stepped forward to do it for him, and then fell upon the emba.s.sy that required the act; upon which he rushed with his five sons into the wilderness of Judea and called upon all to follow him who had any regard for the Lord; this was the first step in the war of the Maccabees, the immediate issue of which was to the Jew the achievement of an independence which he had not enjoyed for 400 years.

MATTERHORN, a sharp Alpine peak 14,700 ft., on the Swiss-Italian border, difficult of ascent; first scaled by Whymper 1865.

MATTHEW, a publican, by the Sea of Tiberias, who being called became a disciple and eventually an apostle of Christ; generally represented in Christian art as an old man with a large flowing beard, often occupied in writing his gospel, with an angel standing by.

MATTHEW, GOSPEL ACCORDING TO, written not later than 62 A.D., is the earliest record we possess of the ministry and teaching of Christ, and is believed to have been originally a mere collection of His sayings and parables; was written in Aramaic, the spoken language of the Jews at the period, of which the version we have in Greek is a translation, as some think by Matthew himself; its aim is to show that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah promised in the Old Testament, in a form, however, which led to His rejection by the Jews, and their consequent rejection by Him, to the proclamation of His gospel among the Gentiles (chap. xxviii. 19, 20).

MATTHIAS CORVINUS, conqueror and patron of learning, born at Klausenburg; was elected King of Hungary 1458; though arbitrary in his measures, he promoted commerce, dispensed justice, fostered culture, and observed sound finance; he founded the University of Buda-Pesth, an observatory, and great library, but his reign was full of wars; for nine years he fought the Turks and took from them Bosnia, Moldavia, and Wallachia; from 1470 till 1478 the struggle was with Bohemia, from which he wrested Moravia, Silesia, and Lusatia; then followed war with Frederick III., the capture of Vienna 1485, and a large part of Austria 1487; he made Vienna his capital, and died there (1443-1490).

MATURIN, CHARLES ROBERT, novelist, a poor curate in Dublin, where he died; wrote "The Fatal Revenge" and other extravagant tales, and produced one successful tragedy, "Bertram," 1816 (1782-1824).

MAUDSLEY, HENRY, specialist in mental diseases, born near Giggleswick; was educated at University College, London, and graduated M.D. 1857; after being physician in Manchester Asylum, he returned to London 1862, and was professor of Medical Jurisprudence at his own college 1869-79; he is the author of several works on mental pathology; _b_. 1835.