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Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "McKinley, William" to "Magnetism, Terrestrial", Volume 17, Slice 3

VOLUME XVII SLICE III McKinley, William to Magnetism, Terrestrial (continued 4)

Reading edition

For a list of his paintings see the annual report of the Academy of Belgium for 1879.

(F. K.*)

Illustration from Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "McKinley, William" to "Magnetism, Terrestrial" Volume 17, Slice 3

MADOZ, PASCUAL (1806-1870), Spanish statistician, was born at Pampeluna on the 7th of May 1806. In early life he was settled in Barcelona, as a writer and journalist. He joined the Progresista party formed during the first Carlist war, 1833-40. He saw some service against the Carlists; was elected deputy to the Cortes of 1836; took part for Espartero, and then against him; was imprisoned in 1843; went into exile and returned; was governor of Barcelona in 1854, and minister of finance in 1855; had a large share in secularizing the Church lands; and after the revolution of 1868 was governor of Madrid. He had, however, no great influence as a leader and soon went abroad, dying at Genoa in 1870. Madoz was distinguished from most of the politicians of his generation by the fact that in middle life he compiled what is still a book of value—a geographical, statistical and historical dictionary of Spain and its possessions oversea, Diccionario geográfico, estadístico y historico de España, y sus posesiones de Ultramar (Madrid, 1848-1850).

Illustration from Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "McKinley, William" to "Magnetism, Terrestrial" Volume 17, Slice 3

MADRAS, a presidency of British India—officially styled Fort St George—occupying, with its dependencies, the entire south of the Indian peninsula. The north boundary is extremely irregular. On the extreme N.E. is the Bengal province of Orissa; then the wild highlands of the Central Provinces; next the dominions of the nizam of Hyderabad; and lastly, on the N.W., the Bombay districts of Dharwar and North Kanara. Geographically Mysore and Coorg lie within the bounds of Madras, and politically it includes the Laccadive Islands, off the Malabar coast, in the Indian Ocean. Its total area, including native states, is 151,695 sq. m., and its population in 1901 was 42,397,522, showing an increase of 7.7% in the decade. The seat of government is at Madras city (q.v.).

Physical Aspect.—The Madras presidency may be roughly divided into three tracts: (1) the long and broad east coast, (2) the shorter and narrower west coast, and (3) the high interior table-land. These divisions are determined by the great mountain ranges of the Eastern and Western Ghats (q.v.). Between these two ranges lies the central table-land, with an elevation of 1000 to 3000 ft., which includes the whole of Mysore, and extends over about half a dozen districts of Madras. The Anaimudi mountain (8837 ft.) in Travancore is the highest in southern India. The Nilgiri hills, which join the Ghats, culminate in Dodabetta (8760 ft.). There are besides many outlying spurs and tangled masses of hills, of which the Shevaroys, Anamalais and Palnis are the most important. The Godavari, Kistna and Cauvery rivers, each having a large tributary system, all rise in the Western Ghats, and run across the peninsula in a south-east direction into the Bay of Bengal. In the upper parts of their course they drain rather than water the country through which they flow, and are comparatively valueless either for navigation or irrigation; but before reaching the sea they spread over alluvial deltas. Smaller rivers of the same character are the Pennar and South Pennar or Ponniar, Palar, Vaigai, Vellar and Tambraparni. The principal lake is that of Pulicat on the east coast, which is 37 m. long from north to south, and forms an important means of communication between Madras city and the northern districts. On the west coast are a remarkable series of backwaters or lagoons, fringing the seaboard of Kanara, Malabar and Travancore. The largest is the backwater of Cochin, which extends 120 m. from north to south.

Geology.—By far the greater part of Madras is occupied by granitic and gneissic rocks of very ancient date. Among them are the “charnockites,” a series of associated eruptive rocks characterized by the presence of rhombic pyroxenes. In Bellary and Anantapur districts, as well as in Mysore and Hyderabad, several long narrow strips of a later formation, known as the Dharwar system, are folded or faulted into the gneissic floor. They run from N.N.W. to S.S.E., and consist of conglomerates, lavas and schists. All the quartz reefs which contain gold in paying quantities are found within these Dharwar bands, those of the Kolar goldfield in Mysore being the most important. The gneissic and Dharwar rocks are overlaid unconformably by the sandstones, limestones, shales, &c., of the Cuddapah and Kurnool series. It is in the sandstones and shales of the Kurnool group that most of the diamonds of southern India are found; but as these rocks are of sedimentary origin, it is probable that the diamonds were originally derived from some still unknown source. A strip of Gondwana beds follows approximately the course of the Godavari. In Hyderabad it includes the important Singareni coalfield, but in the Presidency no good coal seams have yet been found. Upper Gondwana beds also occur in small patches at several other places near the east coast. Marine cretaceous deposits are found in three detached areas, near Trichinopoly, Viruddhachalam and Pondicherry. Some of the coastal sandstones may be of late Tertiary age, but Tertiary fossils have not been found except in a few small patches on the west coast, the most southerly being near Quilon in Travancore.

Climate.—The climate varies in accordance with the height of the mountain chain on the western coast. Where this chain is lofty, as between Malabar and Coimbatore, the rainclouds are intercepted and give a rainfall of 150 in. on the side of the sea, and only 20 in. on the landward side. Where the range is lower, the rainclouds pass over the hills and carry their moisture to the interior districts. The Nilgiri hills enjoy the climate of the temperate zone, with a moderate rainfall. The Malabar coast has a rainfall of 150 in., and the clouds on the Western Ghats sometimes obscure the sun for months at a time. Along the eastern coasts and central table-lands the rainfall is low and the heat excessive. At Madras city the average rainfall is 50 in., but this is considerably above the mean of the east coast.

Minerals.—The mineral wealth of the province is undeveloped. Iron of excellent quality has been smelted by native smiths in many localities from time immemorial; but attempts to work the beds after European methods have proved unsuccessful. Carboniferous sandstone extends across the Godavari valley as far as Ellore, but the coal has been found to be of inferior quality. Among other minerals may be mentioned manganese in Vizagapatam, and mica in Nellore. Garnets are abundant in the sandstone of the Northern Circars, and diamonds of moderate value are found in the same region. Stone and gravel quarries are very numerous.

Forests.—The forest department of Madras was first organized in 1856, and it is estimated that forests cover a total area of more than 19,600 sq. m., the whole of which is under conservancy rules. An area of about 1500 sq. m. is strictly conserved. In the remaining forests, after supplying local wants, timber is either sold direct by the department or licences are granted to wood-cutters. The more valuable timber trees comprise teak, ebony, rosewood, sandal-wood and redwood. The trees artificially reared are teak, sandal-wood, Casuarina and eucalyptus. The finest teak plantation is near Beypur in Malabar. At Mudumalli there are plantations of both teak and sandal-wood; and the eucalyptus or Australian gum-tree grows on the Nilgiris in magnificent clumps.

Fauna.—The wild animals include the elephant, bison, sambur and ibex of the Western Ghats and the Nilgiris. Bison are found also in the hill tracts of the Northern Circars. In Travancore state the black leopard is not uncommon. The elephant is protected by law from indiscriminate destruction. The cattle are small, but in Nellore and along the Mysore frontier a superior breed is carefully kept up by the wealthier farmers. The best buffaloes are imported from the Bombay district of Dharwar.

Population.—The population in 1901 was divided into Hindus (37,026,471), Mahommedans (2,732,931), and Christians (1,934,480). The Hindus may be subdivided into Sivaites, Vishnuvites and Lingayats. The Sivaites are most numerous in the extreme south and on the west coast, while the Vishnuvites are chiefly found in the northern districts. The Lingayats, a sect of Sivaite puritans, derive their name from their practice of carrying about on their persons the linga or emblem of Siva. The Brahmans follow various pursuits, and some of them are recent immigrants, who came south in the train of the Mahratta armies. A peculiar caste of Brahmans, called Nambudri, is found in Malabar. The most numerous of the hill tribes are the Kondhs and Savaras, two cognate races who inhabit the mountainous tracts of the Eastern Ghats, attached to several of the large estates of Ganjam and Vizagapatam. On the Nilgiris the best known aboriginal tribe is the Todas (q.v.). The Mahommedans are subdivided into Labbai, Moplah, Arab, Sheikh, Sayad, Pathan and Mogul. The Labbais are the descendants of Hindu converts, and are traders by hereditary occupation, although many now employ themselves as sailors and fishermen. The Moplahs are the descendants of Malayalam converts to Islam—the head of the tribe, the raja of Cannanore, being descended from a fisher family in Malabar. They are a hard-working, frugal people, but quite uneducated and fanatical, and under the influence of religious excitement have often disturbed the public peace. Christians are more numerous in Madras than in any other part of India. In Travancore and Cochin states the native Christians constitute as much as one-fourth of the population. The Roman Catholics, whose number throughout southern India is estimated at upwards of 650,000, owe their establishment to St Francis Xavier and the famous Jesuit mission of Madura; they are partly under the authority of the archbishop of Goa, and partly under twelve Jesuit vicariates. Protestant missions date from the beginning of the 18th century. The Danes were the pioneers; but their work was taken up by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, under whom laboured the great Lutherans of the 18th century—Schultz, Sartorius, Fabricius and Schwartz. The Church Missionary Society entered the field in 1814; and subsequently an American mission joined in the work.

Languages.—Broadly speaking, the entire population of Madras belongs to the five linguistic offshoots of the great Dravidian stock, dominant throughout southern India. At an early period, before the dawn of history, these races appear to have accepted some form of the Brahmanical or Buddhist faiths. Many storms of conquest have since swept over the land, and colonies of Mogul and Mahratta origin are to be found here and there. But the evidence of language proves that the ethnical character of the population has remained stable under all these influences, and that the Madras Hindu, Mahommedan, Jain and Christian are of the same stock. Of the five Dravidian languages in British territory Telugu is spoken by over 14,000,000 persons; Tamil by over 15,000,000 persons; Kanarese by over 1,500,000 persons; Malayalam by nearly 3,000,000 persons; and Tulu by about 500,000 persons. Oriya is the native tongue in the extreme north of Ganjam, bordering on Orissa; and various sub-dialects of Dravidian origin are used by the hill tribes of the Eastern Ghats, of whom the Kondhs may be taken as the type.

Agriculture.—Over the greater part of the area of Madras artificial irrigation is impossible, and cultivation is dependent upon the local rainfall, which rarely exceeds 40 in. a year, and is liable to fall irregularly. The Malabar coast is the only part where the rainfall brought by the south-west monsoon may be trusted both for its amount and regularity. Other districts, such as Bellary, are also dependent upon this monsoon; but in their case the rainclouds have spent themselves in passing over the Western Ghats, and cultivation becomes a matter of hazard. Over the greater part of the presidency the rainy season is caused by the south-east monsoon, which breaks about the end of September. The deltas of the Godavari, Kistna and Cauvery rivers are the only spots on the east coast which artificial irrigation is able to save from the risk of occasional scarcity. The principal food staples are rice, cholam, cambu, ragi and varagu (four kinds of millet). The most common oil-seed is gingelly (sesamum). Garden crops comprise tobacco, sugar-cane, chillies, betel-leaf and plantains. Sugar is chiefly derived from the sap of palms. The fruit trees are coco-nut, areca-nut, palmyra palm, jack, tamarind and mango. Special crops include cotton, indigo, coffee, tea, cinchona. The best cotton is grown in Tinnevelly. The principal coffee tract stretches along the slopes of the Western Ghats from the north of Mysore almost down to Cape Comorin. The larger portion of this area lies within Mysore, Coorg and Travancore states, but the Wynaad and the Nilgiri hills are within Madras. The first coffee plantation was opened in the Wynaad in 1840. Many of the early clearings proved unprofitable, and the enterprise made little progress till about 1855. Coffee, which is much cultivated on the Nilgiris, covers about 100 sq. m., though the area fluctuates. The tea plant was also introduced into the Nilgiri hills about 1840, but was not taken up as a commercial speculation till 1865, and is still unimportant. The cinchona plant was successfully introduced into the Nilgiri hills by the government in 1860, and there are now a few plantations belonging to private owners.

The greater part of the soil in Madras is held by the cultivators direct from the government under the tenure known as ryotwari. Besides these lands in the hands of the government, there are also proprietary or zamindari estates in all parts of the country. These estates are either the remains of ancient principalities, which the holder cannot sell or encumber beyond his own life interest, or they are creations of British rule and subject to the usual Hindu custom of partition. The total area of the zamindari estates is about 26 million acres, more than one-fourth of the whole presidency. The peshkash or tribute payable to government in perpetuity amounts to about £330,000 a year. Ináms, revenue-free or quit-rent grants of lands made for religious endowments or for services rendered to the state, occupy an aggregate area of nearly 8 million acres.

Manufactures.—Madras possesses few staple manufactures. The chief industries of the presidency are cotton-ginning, coffee-curing, fish-curing, indigo-pressing, oil-pressing, printing, rice-curing, rope-making, sugar-refining, tanning, tile and brick-making, and tobacco-curing. Up to the close of the 18th century cotton goods constituted the main article of export. Masulipatam, where the first English factory on the Coromandel coast was established in 1620, enjoyed a special reputation for its chintzes, which were valued for the freshness and permanency of their dyes. There is still a small demand for these articles in Burma, the Straits and the Persian Gulf; but Manchester goods have nearly beaten the Indian exporter out of the field. Native looms, however, still hold their own in the local market, in face of strenuous opposition. After weaving, working in metals appears to be the most widespread native industry. Among local specialities which have attracted European curiosity may be mentioned the jewelry of Trichinopoly, ornaments of ivory and horn worked at Vizagapatam, and sandal-wood carving in Kanara.

Commerce and Trade.—The continuous seaboard of the Madras presidency, without any natural harbours of the first rank, has tended to create a widely diffused trade. Madras city conducts nearly one-half of the total sea-borne commerce; next comes Malabar, containing the western railway terminus near Calicut; then Godavari, with its cluster of ports along the fringe of the delta; Tinnevelly, with the harbour at Tuticorin, which has opened large dealings with Ceylon and Burma; Tanjore, South Kanara, Ganjam and Vizagapatam. As compared with the other provinces, the trade of Madras is broadly marked by the larger proportion assigned to coasting trade with other Indian ports and with Ceylon. The chief staples of the export trade are hides and skins, coffee and raw cotton.

Railways and Irrigation.—The presidency is well supplied with railways, which naturally have their centre in Madras city, the chief seaport. The broad-gauge line of the Madras & Southern Mahratta railway connects with Bombay and Bangalore, and also crosses the peninsula to Calicut on the western coast. The South Indian (narrow-gauge) serves the extreme south, with its terminus at Tuticorin, and branches to Tinnevelly, Negapatam, Erade, Pondicherry and Nellore. The narrow-gauge line of the Madras & Southern Mahratta railway traverses the Deccan districts; and the East Coast line (broad-gauge), through the Northern Circars, has brought Madras into direct communication with Calcutta. The Madras system of irrigation has been most successful in the case of the three great eastern rivers, the Godavari, Kistna and Cauvery. Each of these is intercepted by an anicut or dam at the head of its delta, from which canals diverge on each side for navigation as well as irrigation. The scheme for diverting the waters of the Tungabhadra (a tributary of the Kistna) over the thirsty uplands of Kurnool proved a failure. The bold project of leading the Periyar river through a tunnel across the watershed of the Travancore hills on to the plain of Madura has been more successful.

Administration.—The Madras presidency is administered by a governor and a council, consisting of two members of the civil service, which number may be increased to four. There is also a board of revenue of three members. The number of districts is 24, each under the charge of a collector, with sub-collectors and assistants. The districts are not grouped into divisions or commissionerships, as in other provinces. For legislative purposes the council of the governor is augmented by additional members, numbering 45 in all, of whom not more than 17 may be nominated officials, while 19 are elected by various representative constituencies. Members of the legislative council enjoy the right of interpellation, of proposing resolutions on matters of public interest, and of discussing the annual financial statement. The principle of local devolution is carried somewhat further in Madras than in other provinces. At the bottom are union panchayats or village committees, whose chief duty is to attend to sanitation. Above them come taluk or subdivisional boards. At the head of all are district boards, a portion of whose members are elected by the taluk boards.

Education.—The chief educational institutions are the Madras University, the Presidency College, Madras Christian College, and Pachayyappa’s College at Madras; the government arts colleges at Combaconum and Rajahmundry; the law college, medical college and engineering college at Madras; the college of agriculture at Coimbatore; the teachers’ college at Saidapet; the school of arts at Madras; and the military orphanage at Ootacamund, in memory of Sir Henry Lawrence. In 1907, the total number of pupils at all institutions was 1,007,118, of whom 164,706 were females, and 132,857 were learning English.

History.—Until the British conquest the whole of southern India had never acknowledged a single ruler. The difficult nature of the hill passes and the warlike character of the highland tribes forbade the growth of great empires, such as succeeded one another on the plains of Hindustan. The Tamil country in the extreme south is traditionally divided between the three kingdoms of Pandya, Chola and Chera. The west coast supplied the nucleus of a monarchy which afterwards extended over the highlands of Mysore, and took its name from the Carnatic. On the north-east the kings of Kalinga at one time ruled over the entire line of seaboard from the Kistna to the Ganges. Hindu legend has preserved marvellous stories of these early dynasties, but our only authentic evidence consists in their inscriptions on stone and brass, and their noble architecture (see India). The Mahommedan invader first established himself in the south in the beginning of the 14th century. Ala-ud-din, the second monarch of the Khilji dynasty at Delhi, and his general Malik Kafur conquered the Deccan, and overthrew the kingdoms of Karnataka and Telingana, which were then the most powerful in southern India. But after the withdrawal of the Mussulman armies the native monarchy of Vijayanagar arose out of the ruins. This dynasty gradually extended its dominions from sea to sea, and reached a pitch of prosperity before unknown. At last, in 1565, it was overwhelmed by a combination of the four Mahommedan principalities of the Deccan. At the close of the reign of Aurangzeb, although that emperor nominally extended his sovereignty as far as Cape Comorin, in reality South India had again fallen under a number of rulers who owned no regular allegiance. The nizam of the Deccan, himself an independent sovereign, represented the distant court of Delhi. The most powerful of his feudatories was the nawab of the Carnatic, with his capital at Arcot. In Tanjore, a descendant of Sivaji ruled; and on the central table-land a Hindu chieftain was gradually establishing his authority and founding the state of Mysore, destined soon to pass to a Mahommedan usurper.

Vasco da Gama cast anchor off Calicut on the 20th of May 1498, and for a century the Portuguese retained in their control the commerce of India. The Dutch began to establish themselves on the ruin of the Portuguese at the beginning of the 17th century, and were quickly followed by the English, who established themselves at Calicut and Cranganore in 1616. Tellicherry became the principal English emporium on the west coast of Madras. The Portuguese eventually retired to Goa, and the Dutch to the Spice Islands. The first English settlement on the east coast was in 1611, at Masulipatam, even then celebrated for its fabrics. Farther south a fort, the nucleus of Madras city, was erected in 1640. Pondicherry was purchased by the French in 1762. For many years the English and French traders lived peacefully side by side, and with no ambition for territorial aggrandisement. The war of the Austrian succession in Europe lit the first flame of hostility on the Coromandel coast. In 1746 Madras was forced to surrender to La Bourdonnais, and Fort St David remained the only English possession in southern India. By the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle Madras was restored to the English; but from this time the rivalry of the two nations was keen, and found its opportunities in the disputed successions which always fill a large place in Oriental politics. English influence was generally able to secure the favour of the rulers of the Carnatic and Tanjore, while the French succeeded in placing their own nominee on the throne at Hyderabad. At last Dupleix rose to be the temporary arbiter of the fate of southern India, but he was overthrown by Clive, whose defence of Arcot in 1751 forms the turning point in Indian history. In 1760 the crowning victory of Wandewash was won by Colonel (afterwards Sir Eyre) Coote, over Lally, and in the following year, despite help from Mysore, Pondicherry was captured.

Though the English had no longer any European rival, they had yet to deal with Mahommedan fanaticism and the warlike population of the highlands of Mysore. The dynasty founded by Hyder Ali, and terminating in his son Tippoo Sultan, proved itself in four several wars, which terminated only in 1799, the most formidable antagonist which the English had ever encountered (see Hyder Ali and India). Since the beginning of the 19th century Madras has known no regular war, but occasional disturbances have called for measures of repression. The pálegárs or local chieftains long clung to their independence after their country was ceded to the British. On the west coast, the feudal aristocracy of the Nairs, and the religious fanaticism of the Moplahs, have more than once led to rebellion and bloodshed. In the extreme north, the wild tribes occupying the hills of Ganjam and Vizagapatam have only lately learned the habit of subordination. In 1836 the zamíndarí of Gumsur in this remote tract was attached by government for the rebellious conduct of its chief. An inquiry then instituted revealed the wide prevalence among the tribe of Kondhs of human sacrifice, under the name of meriah. The practice has since been suppressed by a special agency. In 1879 the country round Rampa on the northern frontier was the scene of riots sufficiently serious to lead to the necessity of calling out troops. The same necessity arose three years later, when the Hindus and Mahommedans of Salem came into collision over a question of religious ceremonial. A more serious disturbance was that known as the “Anti-Shanar riots” of 1899. The Maravans of Tinnevelly and parts of Madura, resenting the pretensions of the Shanans, a toddy-drawing caste, to a higher social and religious status, organized attacks on Shanan villages. The town of Sivakasi was looted and burnt by five thousand Maravans. Quiet was restored by the military, and a punitive police force was stationed in the disturbed area.

The different territories comprising the Madras presidency were acquired by the British at various dates. In 1763 the tract encircling Madras city, then known as the Jagir now Chingleput district, was ceded by the nawab of Arcot. In 1765 the Northern Circars, out of which the French had recently been driven, were granted to the Company by the Mogul emperor, but at the price of an annual tribute of £90,000 to the nizam of Hyderabad. Full rights of dominion were not acquired till 1823, when the tribute was commuted for a lump payment. In 1792 Tippoo was compelled to cede the Baramahal (now part of Salem district), Malabar and Dindigul subdivision of Madura. In 1799, on the reconstruction of Mysore state after Tippoo’s death, Coimbatore and Kanara were appropriated as the British share; and in the same year the Mahratta raja of Tanjore resigned the administration of his territory, though his descendant retained titular rank till 1855. In 1800 Bellary and Cuddapah were made over by the nizam of Hyderabad to defray the expense of an increased subsidiary force. In the following year the dominions of the nawab of the Carnatic, extending along the east coast almost continuously from Nellore to Tinnevelly, were resigned into the hands of the British by a puppet who had been put upon the throne for the purpose. The last titular nawab of the Carnatic died in 1855; but his representative still bears the title of prince of Arcot, and is recognized as the first native nobleman in Madras. In 1839 the nawab of Kurnool was deposed for misgovernment and suspicion of treason, and his territories annexed.

See Madras Manual of Administration, 3 vols. (Madras, 1885 and 1893); S. Ayyangar, Forty Years’ Progress in Madras (Madras, 1893); J. P. Rees, Madras (Society of Arts, 1901); Madras Provincial Gazetteer (2 vols., Calcutta, 1908).

Illustration from Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "McKinley, William" to "Magnetism, Terrestrial" Volume 17, Slice 3

MADRAS, the capital of Madras presidency, and the chief seaport on the eastern coast of India, is situated in 13° 4′ N. and 80° 17′ E. The city, with its suburbs, extends nine miles along the sea and nearly four miles inland, intersected by the little river Cooum. Area, 27 sq. m.; pop. (1901), 509,346, showing an increase of 12.6% in the decade. Madras is the third city in India.

Although at first sight the city presents a disappointing appearance, and possesses not a single handsome street, it has several buildings of architectural pretensions, and many spots of historical interest. It is spread over a very wide area, and many parts of it are almost rural in character. Seen from the roadstead, the fort, a row of merchants’ offices, a few spires and public buildings are all that strike the eye. Roughly speaking, the city consists of the following divisions. (1) George Town (formerly Black Town, but renamed after the visit of the Prince of Wales in 1906), an ill-built, densely populated block, about a mile square, is the business part of the town, containing the banks, custom house, high court, and all the mercantile offices. The last, for the most part handsome structures, lie along the beach. On the sea-face of George Town are the pier and the new harbour. Immediately south of George Town there is (2) an open space which contains Fort St George, the Marina, or fashionable drive and promenade by the seashore, Government House, and several handsome public buildings on the sea-face. (3) West and south of this lung of the city are crowded quarters known by native names—Chintadrapet, Turuvaleswarampet, Pudupak, Royapet, Kistnampet and Mylapur, which bend to the sea again at the old town of Saint Thomé. (4) To the west of George Town are the quarters of Veperi and Pudupet, chiefly inhabited by Eurasians, and the suburbs of Egmore, Nangambakam, and Perambur, adorned with handsome European mansions and their spacious “compounds” or parks, which make Madras a city of magnificent distances. (5) South-west and south lie the European quarters of Tanampet and aristocratic Adyar. Among the most notable buildings are the cathedral, Scottish church, Government House, Pachayappa’s Hall, senate house, Chepauk palace (now the revenue board), and the Central railway station.

Madras possesses no special industries. There are several cotton mills, large cement works, iron foundries and cigar factories. Large sums of money have from time to time been spent upon the harbour works, but without any great success. The port remains practically an open roadstead, protected by two breakwaters, and the P. & O. steamers ceased to call in 1898. Passengers or cargo are landed or embarked in flat-bottomed masula boats. The sea bottom is unusually flat, reaching a depth of ten fathoms only at a mile from the shore. The harbour is not safe during a cyclone, and vessels have to put out to sea. Madras conducts about 56% of the foreign trade of the presidency, but a much smaller share of the coasting trade. As the capital of southern India, Madras is the centre on which all the great military roads converge. It is also the terminal station of two lines of railway, the Madras & Southern Mahratta line and the Madras & Tanjore section of the South Indian railway. The Buckingham canal, which passes through an outlying part of the city, connects South Arcot district with Nellore and the Kistna and Godavari system of canal navigation. The municipal government of the city was framed by an act of the Madras legislature passed in 1884. The governing body consists of 32 commissioners, of whom 24 are elected by the ratepayers, together with a paid president. The Madras University was constituted in 1857, as an examining body, on the model of the university of London. The chief educational institutions in Madras city are the Presidency College; six missionary colleges and one native college; the medical college, the law college, the college of engineering, the teachers’ college in the suburb of Saidapet, all maintained by government; and the government school of arts.

The foundation of Madras dates from 1640, when Francis Day, chief of the East India Company’s settlement at Armagon, obtained a grant of the present site of the city from a native ruler. A fort—called Fort St George, presumably from having been finished on St George’s Day (April 23)—was at once constructed, and a gradually increasing population settled around its walls. In 1653 Madras, which had previously been subordinate to the settlement of Bantam in Java, was raised to the rank of an independent presidency. In 1702 Daud Khan, Aurangzeb’s general, blockaded the town for a few weeks, and in 1741 the Mahrattas unsuccessfully attacked the place. In 1746 La Bourdonnais bombarded and captured Madras. The settlement was restored to the English two years later by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, but the government of the presidency did not return to Madras till 1762. In 1758 the French under Lally occupied the Black Town and invested the fort. The siege was conducted on both sides with great skill and vigour. After two months the arrival of an English fleet relieved the garrison, and the besiegers retired with some precipitancy. With the exception of the threatening approach of Hyder Ali’s horsemen in 1769, and again in 1780, Madras has since the French siege been free from external attack. The town of Saint Thomé, now part of Madras city, was founded and fortified by the Portuguese in 1504, and was held by the French from 1672 to 1674.

See Mrs F. Penny, Fort St George (1900); W. Foster, Founding of Fort St George (1902).

Illustration from Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "McKinley, William" to "Magnetism, Terrestrial" Volume 17, Slice 3

MADRAZO Y KUNT, DON FEDERICO DE (1815-1894), Spanish painter, was born in Rome on the 12th of February 1815. He was the son of the painter Madrazo y Agudo (1781-1859), and received his first instruction from his father. While still attending the classes at the Academy of San Fernando he painted his first picture, “The Resurrection of Christ” (1829), which was purchased by Queen Christina. Not long afterwards he painted “Achilles in his Tent,” and subsequently presented to the Academy “The Continence of Scipio,” which secured him admission as a member “for merit.” While decorating the palace of Vista Alegre he took up portraiture. In 1852 he went to Paris, where he studied under Winterhalter, and painted portraits of Baron Taylor and of Ingres. In 1837 he was commissioned to produce a picture for the gallery at Versailles, and painted “Godfrey de Bouillon proclaimed King of Jerusalem.” The artist then went to Rome, where he worked at various subjects, sacred and profane. Then he painted “Maria Christina in the Dress of a Nun by the bedside of Ferdinand III.” (1843), “Queen Isabella,” “The Duchess of Medina-Coeli,” and “The Countess de Vilchès” (1845-1847), besides a number of portraits of the Spanish aristocracy, some of which were sent to the exhibition of 1855. He received the Legion of Honour in 1846. He was made a corresponding member of the Paris Academy of Fine Arts on the 10th of December 1853, and in 1873, on the death of Schnorr, the painter, he was chosen foreign member. After his father’s death he succeeded him as director of the Prado Gallery and president of the Academy of San Fernando. He originated in Spain the production of art reviews and journals, such as El Artista, El Renacimiento and El Semanario pintoresco. He died at Madrid on the 11th of June 1894. His brother, Don Louis De Madrazo, was also known as a painter, chiefly by his “Burial of Saint Cecilia” (1855). Don Federico’s best-known pupil was his son, Don Raimundo De Madrazo (b. 1841).

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MADRID, a province of central Spain, formed in 1833 of districts previously included in New Castile, and bounded on the W. and N. by Ávila and Segovia, E. by Guadalajara, S.E. by Cuenca and S. by Toledo. Pop. (1900), 775,034, of whom 539,835 inhabit the city of Madrid; area, 3084 sq. m. Madrid belongs to the basin of the Tagus, being separated from that of the Douro by the Sierra de Guadarrama on the N.W. and N., and by the Sierra de Gredos on the S.W. The Tagus is the southern boundary for some distance, its chief tributary being the Jarama, which rises in the Somosierra in the north and terminates at Aranjuez. The Jarama, in turn, is joined by the Henares and Tajuña on the left, and by the Lozoya and Manzanares on the right. The Guadarrama, another tributary of the Tagus, has its upper course within the province. Like the rest of Castile, Madrid is chiefly of Tertiary formation; the soil is mostly clayey, but there are tracts of sandy soil. Agriculture is somewhat backward; the rainfall is deficient, and the rivers are not utilized as they might be for irrigation. The south-eastern districts are the best watered, and produce in abundance fruit, vegetables, wheat, olives, esparto grass and excellent wine. Gardening and viticulture are carried on to some extent near the capital, though the markets of Madrid receive their most liberal supply of fruits and vegetables from Valencia. Sheep, goats and horned cattle are reared, and fish are found in the Jarama and other rivers. Much timber is extracted from the forests of the northern and north-eastern parts of the province for building purposes and for firewood and charcoal. The royal domains of the Escorial, Aranjuez and El Pardo, and the preserves of the nobility, are all well wooded and contain much game. Efforts have also been made by the local authorities to cover the large stretches of waste ground and commons with pines and other trees.

The Sierra de Guadarrama has quarries of granite, lime and gypsum, and is known to contain iron, copper and argentiferous lead; but these resources are undeveloped. Other industries are chiefly confined to the capital; but cloth, leather, paper, earthenware, porcelain, glass, bricks and tiles, ironware, soap, candles, chocolate and lace are also manufactured on a small scale beyond its boundaries. There is very little commerce except for the supply of the capital with necessaries.

Besides the local lines, all the great railways in the kingdom converge in this province, and it contains in all 221 m. of line. Besides Madrid, the towns of Aranjuez (12,670) and Alcalá de Henares (11,206) and the Escorial are described in separate articles. The other towns with more than 5000 inhabitants are Vallecas (10,128), Colmenar de Oreja (6182), Colmenar Viejo (5255) and Carabanchel Bajo (5862).

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MADRID, the capital of Spain and of the province of Madrid, on the left bank of the river Manzanares, a right-hand tributary of the Jarama, which flows south into the Tagus. Pop. (1877), 397,816; (1887), 472,228; (1897), 512,150; (1900), 539,835. Madrid was the largest city in Spain in 1900; it is the see of an archbishop, the focus of the principal Spanish railways, the headquarters of an army corps, the seat of a university, the meeting-place of parliament, and the chief residence of the king, the court, and the captain-general of New Castile. It is, however, surpassed in ecclesiastical importance by Toledo and in commerce by Barcelona.

Situation and Climate.—Madrid is built on an elevated and undulating plateau of sand and clay, which is bounded on the north by the Sierra Guadarrama and merges on all other sides into the barren and treeless table-land of New Castile. Numerous water-courses (arroyos), dry except at rare intervals, furrow the surface of the plateau; these as they pass through the city have in certain cases been converted into roads—e.g. the Paseo de Recoletos and Prado, which are still so liable to be flooded after prolonged rain that special channels have been constructed to carry away the water. The highest point in Madrid is 2372 ft. above sea-level. The city is close to the geographical centre of the peninsula, nearly equidistant from the Bay of Biscay, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Owing to its high altitude and open situation it is liable to sudden and frequent variations of climate, and the daily range of temperature sometimes exceeds 50° F. In summer the heat is rendered doubly oppressive by the fiery, dust-laden winds which sweep across the Castilian table-land; at this season a temperature of 109° has been registered in the shade. In winter the northerly gales from the Sierra Guadarrama bring intense cold; snow falls frequently, and skating is carried on in the Buen Retiro park. A Spanish proverb describes the wind of Madrid as so deadly and subtle that “it will kill a man when it will not blow out a candle”; but, though pulmonary diseases are not uncommon, the climate appears to be exceptionally healthy. In 1901 the death-rate was 22.07 per 1000, or lower than that of any other town on the Spanish mainland. The Sierra Guadarrama renders the atmosphere unusually dry and clear by intercepting the moisture of the north-western winds which prevail in summer; hence the average dally number of deaths decreases from 80 in winter to about 25 in summer. The sanitation of the older quarters is defective, and overcrowding is common, partly owing to the royal decrees which formerly prohibited the extension of the city; but much has been done in modern times to remove or mitigate these evils.

The Inner City.—The form of Madrid proper (exclusive of the modern suburbs) is almost that of a square with the corners rounded off; from east to west it measures rather less than from north to south. It was formerly surrounded by a poor wall, partly of brick, partly of earth, some 20 ft. in height, and pierced by five principal gates (puertas) and eleven doorways (portillos). Of these only three, the Puerta de Alcalá on the east, the Puerta de Toledo on the south and the Portillo de San Vicente on the west, actually exist; the first and the third were erected in the time of Charles III. (1759-1788), and the second in honour of the restoration of Ferdinand VII. (1827). The Manzanares—or rather its bed, for the stream is at most seasons of the year quite insignificant—is spanned by six bridges, the Puente de Toledo and Puente de Segovia being the chief.

The Puerta del Sol is the centre of Madrid, the largest of its many plazas, and the place of most traffic. It derived its name from the former east gate of the city, which stood here until 1570, and had on its front a representation of the sun. On its south side stands the Palacio de la Gobernacion, or ministry of the interior, a heavy square building by a French architect, J. Marquet, dating from 1768. From the Puerta del Sol diverge, immediately or mediately, ten of the principal streets of Madrid—eastward by north, the Calle de Alcalá, terminating beyond the Buen Retiro park; eastward, the Carrera de San Jeronimo, terminating by the Plaza de las Cortes in the Prado; southward, the Calle de Carretas; westward, the Calle Mayor, which leads to the council chamber and to the palace, and the Calle del Arenal, terminating in the Plaza de Isabel II. and the royal opera house; north-westward, the Calles de Preciados and Del Carmen; and northward, the Calle de la Montera, which afterwards divides into the Calle de Fuencarral to the left and the Calle de Hortaleza to the right. The contract for another wide street through central Madrid, to be called the Gran Via, was given to an English firm in 1905.

The Calle de Alcalá is bordered on both sides with acacias, and contains the Real Academia de Bellas Artes, founded in 1752 as an academy of art and music; its collection of paintings by Spanish masters includes some of the best-known works of Murillo. The handsome Bank of Spain (1884-1891) stands where the Calle de Alcalá meets the Prado; in the oval Plaza de Madrid, at the same point, is a fine 18th-century fountain with a marble group representing the goddess Cybele drawn in a chariot by two lions. The Calle de Alcalá is continued eastward past the Buen Retiro gardens and park, and through the Plaza de Independencia, in the middle of which is the Puerta de Alcalá. The Plaza de las Cortes is so called from the Congreso de los Diputados, or House of Commons, on its north side. The square contains a bronze statue of Cervantes, by Antonio Sola, erected in 1835. The Calle de Carretas, on the west side of which is the General Post Office, ranks with the Carrera de San Jeronimo and Calle de la Montera for the excellence of its shops. From the Calle Mayor is entered the Plaza Mayor, a rectangle of about 430 ft. by 330 ft., formerly the scene of tournaments, bull fights, autos de fé, acts of canonization (including that of Ignatius Loyola in 1622) and similar exhibitions, which used to be viewed by the royal family from the balcony of one of the houses called the Panaderia (belonging to the guild of bakers). The square, which was built under Philip III. in 1619, is surrounded by an arcade; the houses are uniform in height and decoration. In the centre stands a bronze equestrian statue of Philip III., designed by Giovanni da Bologna, after a painting by Pantoja de la Cruz, and finished by Pietro Tacca. From the south-east angle of the Plaza Mayor the Calle de Atocha, one of the principal thoroughfares of Madrid, leads to the outskirts of the inner city; it contains two large hospitals and part of the university buildings (faculty of medicine). The house occupied by Cervantes from 1606 until his death in 1616 stands at the point where it meets the Calle de Léon; in this street is the Real Academia de la Historia, with a valuable library and collections of MSS. and plate. From the south-west angle of the Plaza Mayor begins the Calle de Toledo, the chief mart for the various woollen and silken fabrics from which the picturesque costumes peculiar to the peninsula are made. In the Plaza de Isabel II., at the western extremity of the Calle del Arenal, stands the royal opera-house, the principal front of which faces the Plaza del Oriente and the royal palace. In the centre of the plaza is a fine bronze equestrian statue of Philip IV. (1621-1665); it was designed by Velazquez and cast by Tacca, while Galileo is said to have suggested the means by which the balance is preserved. The gift of the grand duke of Tuscany in 1640, it stood in the Buen Retiro gardens until 1844.

Modern Development of the City.—The north and east of the city—the new suburbs—have developed past the Retiro Park as far as the Bull-ring, and have covered all the vast space included between the Retiro, the Bull-ring, the long Castellana Drive to the race-course and the exhibition building. On the slopes of the other side of the Castellana, and along what were the northern limits of Madrid in 1875, the modern suburbs have extended to the vicinity of the fine cellular prison that was built at the close of the reign of King Alphonso XII. to replace the gloomy building known as El Saladero.

The new parts of the capital, with their broad streets and squares, and their villas sometimes surrounded with gardens, their boulevards lined by rather stunted trees, and their modern public buildings, all resemble the similar features of other European capitals, and contrast with the old Madrid that has preserved so many of its traits in architecture, popular life and habits. Some of the streets have been slightly widened, and in many thoroughfares new houses are being built among the ugly, irregular dwelling-places of the 18th and earlier centuries. This contrast is to be seen especially in and about the Calle Mayor, the Plaza Mayor, the Calle de Toledo, the Rastro, and the heart of the city.

Few capitals have more extensively developed their electric and horse tramways, gas and electric light installations and telephones. Much was done to improve the sanitary conditions of the city in the last twenty years of the 19th century. The streets are deluged three times a day with fire-hose, but even that has little effect upon the dust. Unfortunately the water supply, which used to be famed for its abundance and purity, became wholly insufficient owing to the growth of the city. The old reservoir of the Lozoya canal, a cutting 32 m. long, and the additional reservoir opened in 1883, are quite inadequate for the requirements of modern Madrid, and were formerly kept in such an unsatisfactory state that for several months in 1898 and 1899 the water not only was on the point of giving out, but at times was of such inferior quality that the people had recourse to the many wells and fountains available. The construction of new waterworks was delayed by a terrible accident, which occurred on the 8th of April 1905; the whole structure collapsed, and nearly 400 persons lost their lives in the flooded ruins. A decided improvement has been made in the burial customs of Madrid. No bodies are allowed to be interred in the churches and convents. Some of the older burial grounds in the northern suburbs have been closed altogether, and in those which remain open few coffins are placed in the niche vaults in the depth of the thick walls, as was once the practice. A large modern necropolis has been established a few miles to the north-east.

Principal Buildings.—As compared with other capitals Madrid has very few buildings of much architectural interest. The Basilica de Nuestra Señora de Atocha, on the Paseo de Atocha, a continuation of the Calle de Atocha, was originally founded in 1523. After being almost destroyed by the French, it was restored by Ferdinand VII., and rebuilt after 1896. The modern church is Romanesque in style; it contains a much venerated statue of the Virgin, attributed to St Luke. The collegiate church of San Isidro el Real, in the Calle de Toledo, dates from 1651; it has no architectural merit, but contains one or two valuable pictures and other works of art. It was originally owned by the Jesuits, but after their expulsion in 1769 it was reconsecrated, and dedicated to St Isidore the Labourer (d. 1170), the patron saint of Madrid, whose remains were entombed here. When the diocese of Madrid was separated from that of Toledo San Isidro was chosen as the cathedral. The modern Gothic church of San Jeronimo el Real occupies a conspicuous site eastward of the town. The church of San Francisco el Grande, which contains many interesting monuments, is also known as the National Pantheon. An act was passed in 1837 declaring that the remains of all the most distinguished Spaniards should be buried here; but no attempt to enforce the act systematically was made until 1869, and even then the attempt failed. Towards the close of the 19th century the church was splendidly restored at the expense of the state. Its interior was decorated with paintings and statuary by most of the leading Spanish artists of the time. Of secular buildings unquestionably the most important is the royal palace (Palacio Real), on the west side of the town, on rising ground overhanging the Manzanares. It occupies the site of the ancient Moorish alcázar (citadel), where a hunting seat was built by Henry IV.; this was enlarged and improved by Charles V. when he first made Madrid his residence in 1532; was further developed by Phillip II., but ultimately was destroyed by fire in 1734. The present edifice was begun under Philip V. in 1737 by Sacchetti of Turin, and was finished in 1764. It is in the Tuscan style, and is 470 ft. square and 100 ft. in height, the material being white Colmenar granite, resembling marble. To the north of the palace are the royal stables and coach-houses, remarkable for their extent; to the south is the armoury (Museo de la Real Armería), containing what is possibly the best collection of the kind in existence. After the Palacio Real may be mentioned the royal picture gallery (Real Museo de Pinturas), adjoining the Salon del Prado; it was built about 1785 for Charles III. by Juan de Villanueva as a museum of natural history and academy of sciences. It contains the collections of Charles V., Philip II. and Philip IV., and the pictures number upwards of two thousand. The specimens of Titian, Raphael, Tintoretto, Velazquez, Vandyck, Rubens and Teniers give it a claim to be considered the finest picture gallery in the world. The Biblioteca Nacional, in the Paseo de Recoletos, was founded in 1866, and completed in 1892. Not only the national library, with its important collections of MSS. and documents, but the archaeological museum, the museums of modern painting and sculpture, and the fine arts academy of San Fernando, are within its walls. The two houses of the Cortes meet in separate buildings. The deputies have a handsome building with a very valuable library in the Carrera San Jeronimo; the senators have an old Augustinian convent which contains some fine pictures. A large and handsome building near the Retiro Park contains the offices of the ministers of public works, agriculture and commerce, and of fine arts and education; nearly opposite stands the new station of the Southern Railway Company. The Great Northern and the Spain to Portugal Railway Companies have also replaced their old stations by very spacious, handsome structures, much resembling those of Paris. In 1896 the Royal Exchange was installed in a large monumental building with a fine colonnade facing the Dos de Mayo monument, not far from the museum of paintings.

Of the promenades and open places of public resort the most fashionable and most frequented is the Prado (Paseo del Prado, Salon del Prado) on the east side of the town, with its northward continuation—the Paseo de Recoletos. To the south of the town is the Paseo de las Delicias, and on the west, below the royal palace, and skirting the Manzanares, is the Paseo de la Virgen del Puerto, used chiefly by the poorer classes. Eastward from the Prado are the Buen Retiro Gardens, with ponds and pavilions, and a menagerie. The gardens were formerly the grounds surrounding a royal hunting seat, on the site of which a palace was built for Philip IV. in 1633; it was destroyed during the French occupation.

Education, Religion and Charity.—Madrid University developed gradually out of the college of Doña Maria de Aragon, established in 1590 by Alphonso Orozco. Schools of mathematics and natural science were added in the 16th and 17th centuries, and in 1786 the medical and surgical college of San Carlos was opened. In 1836-1837 the university of Alcalá de Henares (q.v.) was transferred to the capital and the older foundations incorporated with it. The university of Madrid thenceforth became the headquarters of education in central Spain. It has an observatory, and a library containing more than 2,000,000 printed books and about 5500 MSS. It gives instruction, chiefly in law and medicine, but also in literature, philosophy, mathematics and physics, to about 5000 students. Associated with the university is the preparatory school of San Isidro, founded by Philip IV. (1621-1665), and reorganized by Charles III. in 1770.

There are upwards of 100 official primary schools and a large number of private ones, among which the schools conducted by the Jesuits and the Scolapian fathers claim special mention. Madrid also has schools of agriculture, architecture, civil and mining engineering, the fine arts, veterinary science and music. The school of military engineering is at Guadalajara. Besides these special schools there are a self-supporting institute for preparing girls for the higher degrees and for certificates as primary teachers, and an institute for secondary education, conducted chiefly by ecclesiastics. Among the educational institutions may be reckoned the botanical garden, dating from 1781, the libraries of the palace, the university, and San Isidro, and the museum of natural science, exceedingly rich in the mineralogical department. The principal learned society is the royal Spanish Academy, founded in 1713 for the cultivation and improvement of the Spanish tongue. The Academy of History possesses a good library, rich in MSS. and incunabula, as well as a fine collection of coins and medals. In addition to the academies of fine arts, the exact sciences, moral and political science, medicine and surgery, and jurisprudence and legislation, all of which possess libraries, there are also anthropological, economic and geographical societies, and a scientific and literary athenaeum. Madrid has a British cemetery opened in 1853, when the older Protestant cemetery in the Paseo de Recoletos was closed. The town also contains a British embassy chapel, a German chapel, and several Spanish Protestant chapels, attended by over 1200 native Protestants, while the Protestant schools, chiefly supported by British, German and American contributions, are attended by more than 2500 children. The first Protestant bishop of Madrid was consecrated in 1895 by Archbishop Plunkett of Dublin. The charitable institutions were greatly improved between 1885 and 1905. The Princess Hospital was completely restored on modern methods, and can accommodate several hundred patients. The old contagious diseases hospital of San Juan de Dios was pulled down and a fine new hospital built in the suburbs beyond the Retiro Park, to hold 700 patients. The military hospital was demolished and a very good one built in the suburbs. There are in all twenty hospitals in Madrid, and a lunatic asylum on the outskirts of the capital, founded by one of the most eminent of Spanish surgeons, and admirably conducted. New buildings have been provided for the orphanages, and for the asylums for the blind, deaf and dumb, incurables and aged paupers. There are hospitals supported by the French, Italian and Belgian colonies; these are old and well-endowed foundations. Public charity generally is very active. In Madrid, as in the rest of Spain, there has been an unprecedented increase in convents, monasteries and religious institutions, societies and Roman Catholic workmen’s clubs and classes.

Apart from private institutions for such purposes, the state maintains in the capital a savings bank for the poorer classes, and acts as pawnbroker for their benefit. The mercantile and industrial classes are organized in gilds, which themselves collect the lump sum of taxation exacted by the exchequer and the municipality from each gremio or class of taxpayers. The working classes also have commercial and industrial circulos or clubs that are obeyed by the gilds with great esprit de corps, a chamber of commerce and industries, and “associations of productions” for the defence of economic interests.

Industries.—The industries of the capital have developed extraordinarily since 1890. In the town, and within the municipal boundaries in the suburbs, many manufactories have been established, giving employment to more than 30,000 hands, besides the 4000 women and girls of the Tobacco Monopoly Company’s factory. Among the most important factories are those which make every article in leather, especially cigar and card cases, purses and pocket-books. Next come the manufactures of fans, umbrellas, sunshades, chemicals, varnishes, buttons, wax candles, beds, cardboard, porcelain, coarse pottery, matches, baskets, sweets and preserves, gloves, guitars, biscuits, furniture, carpets, corks, cards, carriages, jewelry, drinks of all kinds, plate and plated goods. There are also tanneries, saw and flour mills, glass and porcelain works, soap works, brickfields, paper mills, zinc, bronze, copper and iron foundries. The working classes are strongly imbued with socialistic ideas. Strikes and May Day demonstrations have often been troublesome. Order is kept by a garrison of 12,500 men in the barracks of the town and cantonments around, and by a strong force of civil guards or gendarmes quartered in the town itself. The civil and municipal authorities can employ beside the gendarmes the police, about 1400 strong, and what is called the guardias urbanos, another police force whose special duty it is to regulate the street traffic and prevent breaches of the municipal regulations. There is not, on the average, more crime in Madrid than in the provinces.

History.—Spanish archaeologists have frequently claimed for Madrid a very high antiquity, but the earliest authentic historical mention of the town (Majrít, Majoritum) occurs in the Arab chronicle, and does not take us farther back than to the first half of the 10th century. The place was finally taken from the Moors by Alphonso VI. (1083), and was made a hunting-seat by Henry IV., but first rose into importance when Charles V., benefiting by its keen air, made it his occasional residence. Philip II. created it his capital and “only court” (única corte) in 1560. It is, however, only classed as a town (villa), having never received the title of city (ciudad). Fruitless attempts were made by Philip III. and Charles III. respectively to transfer the seat of government to Valladolid and to Seville. (See also Spain: History).

See J. Amador de los Rios, Historia de la villa y corte de Madrid (Madrid, 1861-1864); Valverdey Alvarez, La Capitol de España (Madrid, 1883); E. Sepúlveda, La Vida en Madrid en 1886 (Madrid, 1887); H. Peñasco, Las Calles de Madrid (Madrid, 1889); C. Perez Pastor, Bibliografia madrileña, siglo XVI. (Madrid, 1891); F. X. de Palacio y Garcia, count of las Almenas, La Municipalidad de Madrid (Madrid, 1896); E. Sepúlveda, El Madrid de los recuerdos: colección de artículos (Madrid, 1897); P. Hauser, Madrid bajo el punto de vista medico-social (Madrid, 1902); L. Williams, Toledo and Madrid, their Records and Romances (London, 1903).

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MADRIGAL (Ital. madrigale), the name of a form of verse, the exact nature of which has never been decided in English, and of a form of vocal music.

(1) In Verse.—The definition given in the New English Dictionary, “a short lyrical poem of amatory character,” offers no distinctive formula; some madrigals are long, and many have nothing whatever to do with love. The most important English collection of madrigals, not set to music, was published by William Drummond of Hawthornden (1585-1649) in his Poems of 1616. Perhaps the best way of ascertaining what was looked upon in the 17th century as a madrigal is to quote one of Drummond’s:—

The beauty and the life Of life’s and beauty’s fairest paragon, O tears! O grief! hung at a feeble thread. To which pale Atropos had set her knife; The soul with many a groan Had left each outward part, And now did take his last leave of the heart; Nought else did want, save death, even to be dead; When the afflicted band about her bed. Seeing so fair him come in lips, cheeks, eyes, Cried ah! and can death enter Paradise?

This may be taken as a type of Drummond’s madrigals, of which he has left us about eighty. They are serious, brief, irregular lyrics, in which neither the amatory nor the complimentary tone is by any means obligatory. Some of these pieces contain as few as six lines, one as many as fourteen, but they average from nine to eleven. In the majority of examples the little poem opens with a line of six syllables, and no line extends beyond ten syllables. The madrigal appears to be a short canzone of the Tuscan type, but less rigidly constructed. In French the madrigal has not this Italian character. It is simply a short piece of verse, ingenious in its turn and of a gallant tendency. The idea of compliment is essential. J. F. Guichard (1730-1811) writes:—

Orgon, poète marital, À Venus compare sa femme; C’est pour la belle un madrigal, C’est pour Venus une épigramme.

This quatrain emphasizes the fact that in French a madrigal is a trifling piece of erotic compliment, neatly turned but not seriously meant. The credit of inventing the old French verse-form of madrigal belongs to Clément Marot, and one of his may be quoted in contrast to that of Drummond:—

Un doux nenni avec un doux sourire Est tant honneste, il le vous faut apprendre; Quant est de oui, si veniez à le dire, D’avoir trop dit je voudrois vous reprendre; Non que je sois ennuyé d’entreprendre D’avoir le fruit dont le désir me point; Mais je voudrois qu’en ne le laissant prendre, Vous me disiez: vous ne l’aurez point.

In English, when the word first occurred—it has not been traced farther back than 1588 (in the preface to Nicholas Yonge’s Musica transalpina)—it was identified with the chief form of secular vocal music in the 16th century. In 1741 John Immyns (d. 1764) founded the Madrigal Society, which met in an ale-house in Bride Lane, Fleet Street; this association still exists, and is the oldest musical society in Europe.

The word “madrigal” is frequently also used to designate a sentimental or trifling expression in a half-contemptuous sense.

(E. G.)

(2) In Music.—As a definite musical art-form, the madrigal was known in the Netherlands by the middle of the 15th century; like the motet, it obviously originated in the treatment of counterpoint on a canto fermo, some early examples even combining an ecclesiastical canto fermo in the tenor with secular counterpoint in the other parts. Thus Josquin’s Déploration de Jehan Okenheim (see Music) might equally well be called a madrigal or motet, if the word “madrigal” were used for compositions to French texts at all. But by the middle of the 16th century the Italian supremacy in music had developed the madrigal into the greatest of secular musical forms, and made it independent of the form of the words; and thus when Lasso sets Marot’s madrigals to appropriately witty and tuneful music he calls the result a “chanson”; while when Palestrina composes Petrarca’s Sonnets to the Virgin in memory of Laura, the result appears as a volume of Madrigali spirituali. Elegiac madrigals, whether spiritual or secular, were thus as common as any other kind; so that when the Musica transalpina brought the word “madrigal” to England it brought a precedent for the poet Drummond’s melancholy type of madrigal poetry.

Italian madrigals, however, are by no means always elegiac; but the term always means a highly organized and flowing polyphonic piece, often as developed as the motet, though, in the mature classical period, distinct in style. Yet masses were often founded on the themes of madrigals, just as they were on the themes of motets (see Mass; Motet); and it is interesting, in such beautiful cases as Palestrina’s Missa gia fu chi m’ebbe cara, to detect the slight strain the mildly scandalous origin of the themes puts upon the ecclesiastical style.

The breaking strain was put on the madrigal style at the end of the 16th century, in one way by the new discords of Monteverde and (with more musical invention) Schütz; and in another way by the brilliant musical character-drawing of Vecchi, whose Amfiparnasso is a veritable comic opera in the form of a set of fourteen madrigals, all riotously witty in the purest and most masterly polyphonic style. It was probably meant, or at least made use of, to laugh down the earliest pioneers of opera (q.v.); but it is the beginning of the end for the madrigal as a living art. Long afterwards we occasionally meet with the word again, when a 17th or 18th century composer sets to some kind of accompanied singing a poem of madrigalesque character. But this does not indicate any continuation of the true musical history of the madrigal. The strict meaning of the word in its musical sense is, then, a musical setting of an Italian or English non-ecclesiastical poem (typically a canzone) for unaccompanied chorus, in a 16th-century style less ecclesiastical than the motet, but as like it in organization as the form and sentiment of the words admit. The greatest classics in the madrigal style are those of Italy; and but little, if at all, below them come the English. The form, though not the name, of course, exists in the 16th-century music of other languages whenever the poetry is not too light for it.

It is important but easy to distinguish the madrigal from the lighter 16th-century forms, such as the Italian villanella and the English ballet, these being very homophonic and distinguished by the strong lilt of their rhythm.

The madrigal has been very successfully revived in modern English music with a more or less strict adherence to the 16th century principles; the compositions of De Pearsall being of high artistic merit, while the Madrigale spirituale in Stanford’s oratorio Eden is a movement of rare beauty.

(D. F. T.)

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MADURA (Dutch Madoera), an island of the Dutch East Indies, separated by the shallow Strait of Madura from the N.E. coast of Java. Pop. (1897), 1,652,580, of whom 1,646,071 were natives, 4252 Chinese and 558 Europeans. It extends from about 112° 32′ to 114° 7′ E., and is divided into two nearly equal portions by the parallel of 7° S.; the area is estimated at 1725 sq. m. It is a plateau-like prolongation of the limestone range of northern Java, with hills (1300 to 1600 ft. high) and dales. The formation of the coast and plains is Tertiary and recent alluvium. Hot springs are not infrequent; and in the valley between Gunong Geger and Banjar lies the mud volcano of Banju Ening. The coasts are clothed with tropical vegetation; but the soil is better fitted for pastoral than agricultural purposes. Fishing and cattle-rearing are the chief means of subsistence. Besides rice and maize, Madura yields coco-nut oil and jati. The manufacture of salt for the government, abolished in other places, continues in Madura. Hence perhaps the name is derived (Sansk. mandura, salt). Petroleum is found in small quantities.

The principal town is Sumenep; and there are populous Malay, Arab and Chinese villages between the town and the European settlement of Maringan. On a hill in the neighbourhood lies Asta, the burial-place of the Sumenep princes. Pamekasan is the seat of government. Bangkalang is a large town with the old palace of the sultan of Madura and the residences of the princes of the blood; the mosque is adorned with the first three suras of the Koran, thus differing from nearly all the mosques in Java and Madura, though resembling those of western Islam. In the vicinity once stood the Erfprins fort. Arisbaya (less correctly Arosbaya) is the place where the first mosque was built in Madura, and where the Dutch sailors first made acquaintance with the natives. The once excellent harbour is now silted up. Sampang is the seat of an important market. The Kangean and Sapudi islands, belonging to Madura, yield timber, trepang, turtle, pisang and other products.

Madura formerly consisted of three native states—Madura or Bangkalang, Pamekasan and Sumenep. The whole island was considered part of the Java residency of Surabaya. The separate residency of Madura was constituted in 1857; it now consists of four “departments”—Pamekasan, Madura, Sumenep and Sampang.

See P. J. Veth, Java, vol. iii.; Kielstra, “Het Eiland Madoera,” in De Gids (1890); H. van Lennep, “De Madoereezen,” in De Indische Gids (1895), with detailed bibliography.

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MADURA, a city and district of British India, in the Madras Presidency. The city is situated on the right bank of the river Vaigai, and has a station on the South Indian railway 345 m. S.E. of Madras. Pop. (1901), 105,984. The city was the capital of the old Pandyan dynasty, which ruled over this part of India from the 5th century B.C. to the end of the 11th century A.D. Its great temple forms a parallelogram about 847 ft. by 729 ft., and is surrounded by nine gopuras, of which the largest is 152 ft. high. These ornamental pyramids begin with doorposts of single stones 60 ft. in height, and rise course upon course, carved with rows of gods and goddesses, peacocks, bulls, elephants, horses, lions, and a bewildering entanglement of symbolical ornament all coloured and gilded, diminishing with distance until the stone trisul at the top looks like the finest jeweller’s work. The temple, which contains some of the finest carving in southern India, is said to have been built in the reign of Viswanath, first ruler of the Nayak dynasty. Its chief feature is the sculptured “Hall of a Thousand Pillars.” The palace of Tirumala Nayak is the most perfect relic of secular architecture in Madras. This palace, which covers a large area of ground, has been restored, and is utilized for public offices. The Vasanta, a hall 333 ft. long, probably dedicated to the god Sundareswara, and the Tamakam, a pleasure-palace, now the residence of the collector, are the other principal buildings of this period.

The last of the old Pandyan kings is said to have exterminated the Jains and conquered the neighbouring kingdom of Chola; but he was in his turn overthrown by an invader from the north, conjectured to have been a Mahommedan. In 1324 a Moslem army under Malik Kafur occupied Madura, and the Hindus were held in subjection for a period of fifty years. Subsequently Madura became a province of the Hindu Empire of Vijayanagar. In the middle of the 16th century the governor Viswanath established the Nayak dynasty, which lasted for a century. The greatest of the line was Tirumala Nayak (reigned 1623-1659), whose military exploits are recorded in the contemporary letters of the Jesuit missionaries. He adorned Madura with many public buildings, and extended his empire over the adjoining districts of Tinnevelly, Travancore, Coimbatore, Salem and Trichinopoly. His repudiation of the nominal allegiance paid to the raja of Vijayanagar brought him into collision with the sultan of Bijapur, and after a lapse of three centuries Mahommedans again invaded Madura and compelled him to pay them tribute. After the death of Tirumala the kingdom of Madura gradually fell to pieces, being invaded by both Mahommedans and Mahrattas. About 1736 the district fell into the hands of the nawab of the Carnatic, and the line of the Nayaks was extinguished. About 1764 British officers took charge of Madura in trust for Mahommed Ali (Wallah Jah), the last independent nawab of the Carnatic, whose son finally ceded his rights of sovereignty to the East India Company in 1801.

The District of Madura has an area of 8701 sq. m. Pop. (1901), 2,831,280, an increase of 8.5% in the decade. It consists of a section of the plain stretching from the mountains east to the sea, coinciding with the basin of the Vaigai river, and gradually sloping to the S.E. The plain is broken by the outlying spurs of the Ghats, and by a few isolated hills and masses of rock scattered over the country. The most important spur of the Ghats is known as the Palni hills, which project E.N.E. across the district for a distance of about 54 m. Their highest peaks are more than 8000 ft. above sea-level, and they enclose a plateau of about 100 sq. m., with an average height of 7000 ft. On this plateau is situated the sanatorium of Kodaikanal, and coffee-planting is successfully carried on. The other principal crops of the district are millets, rice, other food-grains, oil-seeds and cotton. Tobacco is grown chiefly in the neighbourhood of Dindigul, whence it is exported to Trichinopoly, to be made into cigars. There are several cigar factories and a number of saltpetre refineries. The only other large industry is that of coffee-cleaning. Madura is traversed by the main line of the South Indian railway. It has four small seaports, whose trade is chiefly carried on with Ceylon. The most important irrigation work, known as the Periyar project, consists of a tunnel through the Travancore hills, to convey the rainfall across the watershed.

See Madura District Gazetteer (Madras, 1906).

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MADVIG, JOHAN NICOLAI (1804-1886), Danish philologist, was born on the island of Bornholm, on the 7th of August 1804. He was educated at the classical school of Frederiksborg and the university of Copenhagen. In 1828 he became reader, and in 1829 professor, of Latin language and literature at Copenhagen, and in 1832 was appointed university librarian. In 1848 Madvig entered parliament as a member of what was called the “Eider-Danish” party, because they desired the Eider to be the boundary of the country. When this party came into power Madvig became minister of education. In 1852 be became director of public instruction. Some years later, from 1856 to 1863, Madvig was president of the Danish parliament and leader of the National Liberal party. With these brief interruptions the greater part of his life was devoted to the study and teaching of Latin and the improvement of the classical schools, of which he was chief inspector. As a critic he was distinguished for learning and acumen. He devoted much attention to Cicero, and revolutionized the study of his philosophical writings by an edition of De Finibus (1839; 3rd ed., 1876). Perhaps his most widely known works are those on Latin grammar and Greek syntax, especially his Latin grammar for schools (Eng. trans. by G. Woods). In 1874 his sight began to fail, and he was forced to give up much of his work. He still, however, continued to lecture, and in 1879 he was chosen rector for the sixth time. In 1880 he resigned his professorship, but went on with his work on the Roman constitution, which was completed and published before his death. In this book Madvig takes a strongly conservative standpoint and attacks Mommsen’s views on Caesar’s programme of reforms. It is a clear exposition, though rather too dogmatic and without sufficient regard for the views of other scholars. His last work was his autobiography, Livserindringer (published 1887). Madvig died at Copenhagen on the 12th of December 1886.

See J. E. Sandys, History of Classical Scholarship (1908), iii., 319-324.

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MAECENAS, GAIUS (Cilnius), Roman patron of letters, was probably born between 74 and 64 B.C., perhaps at Arretium. Expressions in Propertius (ii. 1, 25-30) seem to imply that he had taken some part in the campaigns of Mutina, Philippi and Perusia. He prided himself on his ancient Etruscan lineage, and claimed descent from the princely house of the Cilnii, who excited the jealousy of their townsmen by their preponderating wealth and influence at Arretium in the 4th century B.C. (Livy x. 3). The Gaius Maecenas mentioned in Cicero (Pro Cluentio, 56) as an influential member of the equestrian order in 91 B.C. may have been his grandfather, or even his father. The testimony of Horace (Odes iii. 8, 5) and Maecenas’s own literary tastes imply that he had profited by the highest education of his time. His great wealth may have been in part hereditary, but he owed his position and influence to his close connexion with the emperor Augustus. He first appears in history in 40 B.C., when he was employed by Octavian in arranging his marriage with Scribonia, and afterwards in assisting to negotiate the peace of Brundusium and the reconciliation with Antony. It was in 39 B.C. that Horace was introduced to Maecenas, who had before this received Varius and Virgil into his intimacy. In the “Journey to Brundusium,” (Horace, Satires, i. 5) in 37, Maecenas and Cocceius Nerva are described as having been sent on an important mission, and they were successful in patching up, by the Treaty of Tarentum, a reconciliation between the two claimants for supreme power. During the Sicilian war against Sextus Pompeius in 36, Maecenas was sent back to Rome, and was entrusted with supreme administrative control in the city and in Italy. He was vice-gerent of Octavian during the campaign of Actium, when, with great promptness and secrecy, he crushed the conspiracy of the younger Lepidus; and during the subsequent absences of his chief in the provinces he again held the same position. During the latter years of his life he fell somewhat out of favour with his master. Suetonius (Augustus, 66) attributes the loss of the imperial favour to Maecenas having indiscreetly revealed to Terentia, his wife, the discovery of the conspiracy in which her brother Murena was implicated. But according to Dio Cassius (liv. 19) it was due to the emperor’s relations with Terentia. Maecenas died in 8 B.C., leaving, the emperor heir to his wealth.

Opinions were much divided in ancient times as to the personal character of Maecenas; but the testimony as to his administrative and diplomatic ability was unanimous. He enjoyed the credit of sharing largely in the establishment of the new order of things, of reconciling parties, and of carrying the new empire safely through many dangers. To his influence especially was attributed the humaner policy of Octavian after his first alliance with Antony and Lepidus. The best summary of his character as a man and a statesman is that of Velleius Paterculus (ii. 88), who describes him as “of sleepless vigilance in critical emergencies, far-seeing and knowing how to act, but in his relaxation from business more luxurious and effeminate than a woman.”

Expressions in the Odes of Horace (ii. 17. i) seem to imply that Maecenas was deficient in the robustness of fibre characteristic of the average Roman. His character as a munificent patron of literature—which has made his name a household word—is gratefully acknowledged by the recipients of it and attested by the regrets of the men of letters of a later age, expressed by Martial and Juvenal. His patronage was exercised, not from vanity or a mere dilettante love of letters, but with a view to the higher interest of the state. He recognized in the genius of the poets of that time, not only the truest ornament of the court, but a power of reconciling men’s minds to the new order of things, and of investing the actual state of affairs with an ideal glory and majesty. The change in seriousness of purpose between the Eclogues and the Georgics of Virgil was in a great measure the result of the direction given by the statesman to the poet’s genius. A similar change between the earlier odes of Horace, in which he declares his epicurean indifference to affairs of state, and the great national odes of the third book is to be ascribed to the same guidance. Maecenas endeavoured also to divert the less masculine genius of Propertius from harping continually on his love to themes of public interest. But if the motive of his patronage had been merely politic it never could have inspired the affection which it did in its recipients. The great charm of Maecenas in his relation to the men of genius who formed his circle was his simplicity, cordiality and sincerity. Although not particular in the choice of some of the associates of his pleasures, he admitted none but men of worth to his intimacy, and when once admitted they were treated like equals. Much of the wisdom of Maecenas probably lives in the Satires and Epistles of Horace. It has fallen to the lot of no other patron of literature to have his name associated with works of such lasting interest as the Georgics of Virgil, the first three books of Horace’s Odes, and the first book of his Epistles.

Maecenas himself wrote in both prose and verse. The few fragments that remain show that he was less successful as an author than as a judge and patron of literature. His prose works on various subjects—Prometheus, Symposium (a banquet at which Virgil, Horace and Messalla were present), De cultu suo (on his manner of life)—were ridiculed by Augustus, Seneca and Quintilian for their strange style, the use of rare words and awkward transpositions. According to Dio Cassius, Maecenas was the inventor of a system of shorthand.

There is no good modern biography of Maecenas. The best known is that by P. S. Frandsen (1843), See “Horace et Mecène” by J. Girard, in La Révue politique et littéraire (Dec. 27, 1873); V. Gardthausen, Augustus und seine Zeit, i. 762 seq.; ii. 432 seq. The chief ancient authorities for his life are Horace (Odes with Scholia), Dio Cassius, Tacitus (Annals), Suetonius (Augustus). The fragments have been collected and edited by F. Harder (1889).

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MAECIANUS, LUCIUS VOLUSIUS (2nd cent.) Roman jurist, was the tutor in law of the emperor Marcus Aurelius. When governor of Alexandria he was slain by the soldiers, as having participated in the rebellion of Avidius Cassius (175). Maecianus was the author of works on trusts (Fideicommissa), on the Judicia publica, and of a collection of the Rhodian laws relating to maritime affairs. His treatise on numerical divisions, weights and measures (Distributio) is extant, with the exception of the concluding portion.

See Capitolinus, Antoninus, 3; Vulcacius Gallicanus, Avidius Cassius, 7; edition of the metrological work by F. Hultsch in Metrologicorum scriptorum reliquiae, ii. (1866); Mommsen in Abhandlungen der sächsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, iii. (1853).

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MAELDUIN (or Maeldune), VOYAGE OF (Imram Maeleduin), an early Irish romance. The text exists in an 11th-century redaction, by a certain Aed the Fair, described as the “chief sage of Ireland,” but it may be gathered from internal evidence that the tale itself dates back to the 8th century. It belongs to the group of Irish romance, the Navigations (Imrama), the common type of which was probably imitated from the classical tales of the wanderings of Jason, of Ulysses and of Aeneas. Maelduin, the foster-son of an Irish queen, learnt on reaching manhood that he was the son of a nun, and that his father, Ailill of the edge of battle, had been slain by a marauder from Leix. He set sail to seek his father’s murderer, taking with him, in accordance with the instructions of a sorcerer, seventeen men. His three foster-brothers swam after him, and were taken on board. This increase of the fateful number caused Maelduin’s vengeance to be deferred for three years and seven months, until the last of the intruders had perished. The travellers visited many strange islands, and met with a long series of adventures, some of which are familiar from other sources. The Voyage of St Brendan (q.v.) has very close similarities with the Maelduin, of which it is possibly a clerical imitation, with the important addition of the whale-island episode, which it has in common with “Sindbad the Sailor.”

Imram Curaig Mailduin is preserved, in each case imperfectly, in the Lebor na h Uidre, a MS. in the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin; and in the Yellow Book of Lecan, MS. H. 216 in the Trinity College Library, Dublin; fragments are in Harleian MS. 5280 and Egerton MS. 1782 in the British Museum. There are translations by Patrick Joyce, Old Celtic Romances (1879), by Whitley Stokes (a more critical version, printed together with the text) in Revue celtique, vols. ix. and x. (1888-1889). See H. Zimmer, “Brendan’s Meerfahrt” in Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum, vol. xxxiii. (1889). Tennyson’s Voyage of Maeldune, suggested by the Irish romance, borrows little more than its framework.

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MAELIUS, SPURIUS (d. 439 B.C.), a wealthy Roman plebeian, who during a severe famine bought up a large amount of corn and sold it at a low price to the people. Lucius (or Gaius) Minucius, the patrician praefectus annonae (president of the market), thereupon accused him of courting popularity with a view to making himself king. The cry was taken up. Maelius, summoned before the aged Cincinnatus (specially appointed dictator), refused to appear, and was slain by Gaius Servilius Ahala; his house was razed to the ground, his corn distributed amongst the people, and his property confiscated. The open space called Aequimaelium, on which his house had stood, preserved the memory of his death. Cicero calls Ahala’s deed a glorious one, but, whether Maelius entertained any ambitious projects or not, his summary execution was an act of murder, since by the Valerio-Horatian laws the dictator was bound to allow the right of appeal.

See Niebuhr’s History of Rome, ii. 418 (Eng. trans., 1851); G. Cornewall Lewis, Credibility of early Roman History, ii.; Livy, iv. 13; Cicero, De senectute 16, De amicitia 8, De republica, ii. 27; Floras, i. 26; Dion. Halic. xii. i.

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MAELSTROM (whirlpool), a term originally applied to a strong current running past the south end of the island of Moskenaes, a member of the group of Lofoten Islands on the west coast of Norway. It is known also as the Moskenstrom. Though dangerous in certain states of wind and tide, the tales of ships being swallowed in this whirlpool are fables. The word is probably of Dutch origin, from malen, to grind or whirl, and strom or stroom, a stream or current. It appears on Mercator’s Atlas of 1595.

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MAENADS (Gr. Μαινάδες, frenzied women), the female attendants of Dionysus. They are known by other names—Bacchae, Thyiades, Clodones and Mimallones (the last two probably of Thracian origin)—all more or less synonymous.

See the exhaustive articles by A. Legrand in Daremberg and Saglio’s Dictionnaire des antiquités and A. Rapp in Roscher’s Lexikon der Mythologie; also editions of Euripides, Bacchae (e.g. J. E. Sandys).

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MAENIUS, GAIUS, Roman statesman and general. Having completed (when consul in 338 B.C.) the subjugation of Latium, which with Campania had revolted against Rome, he was honoured by a triumph, and a column was erected to him in the Forum. When censor in 318, in order that the spectators might have more room for seeing the games that were celebrated in the Forum, he provided the buildings in the neighbourhood with balconies, which were called after him maeniana.

See Festus, s.v. Maeniana; Livy viii. 13, ix. 34; Pliny, Nat. Hist. xxxiv. 11 (5).

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MAERLANT, JACOB VAN (c. 1235-c. 1300), Flemish poet, was born in the Franc de Burges (tradition says at Damme) between 1230 and 1240. He was sacristan of Maerlant, in the island of Ost-Voorne, and afterwards clerk to the magistrates at Damme. His early works are translations of French romances. Maerlant’s most serious work in the field of romance was his Ystorien van Troyen (c. 1264), a poem of some forty thousand lines, translated and amplified from the Roman de Troie of Benoît de Sainte-More. From this time Maerlant rejected romance as idle, and devoted himself to writing scientific and historical works for the education and enlightenment of the Flemish people. His Heimelicheit der Heimelicheden (c. 1266) is a translation of the Secreta secretorum, a manual for the education of princes, ascribed throughout the middle ages to Aristotle. Van der Naturen Bloeme is a free translation of De natura rerum, a natural history in twenty books by a native of Brabant, Thomas de Cantimpré; and his Rijmbijbel is taken, with many omissions and additions, from the Historia scholastica of Petrus Comestor. He supplemented this metrical paraphrase of Scripture history by Die Wrake van Jherusalem (1271) from Josephus. Although Maerlant was an orthodox Catholic, he is said to have been called to account by the priests for translating the Bible into the vulgar tongue. In 1284 he began his magnum opus, the Spiegel historiael, a history of the world, derived chiefly from the third part of the Speculum majus of Vincent de Beauvais. This work was completed by two other writers, Philipp Utenbroeke and Lodowijk van Velthem. Maerlant died in the closing years of the 13th century, his last poem, Van den lande van oversee, dating from 1291. The greater part of his work consists of translations, but he also produced poems which prove him to have had real original poetic faculty. Among these are Die Clausule van der Bible, Der Kerken Clage, imitated from the Complaintes of Rutebeuf, and the three dialogues entitled Martijn, in which the fundamental questions of theology and ethics were discussed. In spite of his orthodoxy, Maerlant was a keen satirist of the corruptions of the clergy. He was one of the most learned men of his age, and for two centuries was the most celebrated of Flemish poets.

See monographs by J. van Beers (Ghent, 1860); C. A. Serrure (Ghent, 1861); K. Versnaeyen (Ghent, 1861); J. te Winkel (Leiden, 1877, 2nd ed., Ghent, 1892); and editions of Torec (Leiden, 1875) by J. te Winkel; of Naturen Bloeme, by Eelco Verwijs; of Alexanders Geesten (Groningen, 1882), by J. Franck; Merlijn (Leiden, 1880-1882), by J. van Bloten; Heimelicheit der Heimelicheden (Dordrecht, 1838), by Clarisse; Der Naturen Bloeme (Groningen, 1878), by Verwijs; of Rijmbijbel (Brussels, 1858-1869), by David; Spiegel historiael (Leiden 1857-1863), by Verwijs and de Vries; selections from the Ystorien van Troyen (1873), by J. Verdam.

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MAES, NICOLAS (1632-1693), Dutch painter, was born at Dordrecht, and went about 1650 to Amsterdam, where he entered Rembrandt’s studio. Before his return to Dordrecht in 1654 Maes painted a few Rembrandtesque genre pictures, with life-size figures and in a deep glowing scheme of colour, like the “Reverie” at the Ryks Museum in Amsterdam, the “Card Players” at the National Gallery, and the “Children with a Goat Carriage,” belonging to Baroness N. de Rothschild. So closely did his early style resemble that of Rembrandt, that the last-named picture, and other canvases in the Leipzig and Budapest galleries and in the collection of Lord Radnor, were or are still ascribed to Rembrandt. In his best period, from 1655 to 1665, Maes devoted himself to domestic genre on a smaller scale, retaining to a great extent the magic of colour he had learnt from Rembrandt. Only on rare occasions did he treat scriptural subjects, as in the earl of Denbigh’s “Hagar’s Departure,” which has been ascribed to Rembrandt. His favourite subjects were women spinning, or reading the Bible, or preparing a meal. In 1665 he went to Antwerp, where he remained till 1678, in which year he probably returned to Amsterdam. His Antwerp period coincides with a complete change in style and subject. He devoted himself almost exclusively to portraiture, and abandoned the intimacy and glowing colour harmonies of his earlier work for a careless elegance which suggests the influence of Van Dyck. So great indeed was the change, that it gave rise to the theory of the existence of another Maes, of Brussels. Maes is well represented at the National Gallery by five paintings: “The Cradle,” “The Dutch Housewife,” “The Idle Servant,” “The Card Players,” and a man’s portrait. At Amsterdam, besides the splendid examples to be found at the Ryks Museum, is the “Inquisitive Servant” of the Six collection. At Buckingham Palace is “The Listening Girl” (repetitions exist), and at Apsley House “Selling Milk” and “The Listener.” Other notable examples are at the Berlin, Brussels, St Petersburg, the Hague, Frankfort, Hanover and Munich galleries.

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MAESTRO, a north-westerly wind observed in the Adriatic and surrounding regions, chiefly during summer. The maestro is a “fine weather” wind, and is the counterpart of the sirocco.

Illustration from Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "McKinley, William" to "Magnetism, Terrestrial" Volume 17, Slice 3

MAETERLINCK, MAURICE (1862- ), Belgian-French dramatist and poet, of Flemish extraction, was born at Ghent on the 29th of August 1862. He was educated at the Collège Sainte-Barbe, and then at the university of his native city, where, at the age of twenty-four, he was enrolled as a barrister. In 1887 he settled in Paris, where he immediately became acquainted with Villiers de l’Isle-Adam and the leaders of the symbolist school of French poetry. At the death of his father, Maeterlinck returned to Belgium, where he thenceforth mainly resided: in the winter at Ghent, in the summer on an estate at Oostacker. He had by this time determined to devote his whole life to poetry, a dedication which his fortune permitted. His career as an author began in 1889, when he published a volume of verse, Serres chaudes, and a play, La Princesse Maleine, the latter originally composed in metre, but afterwards carefully rewritten in prose, the vehicle which the author continued to use for his dramatic work. Maeterlinck was at this time totally unknown, but he became famous through an article by Octave Mirbeau, prominently published in the Paris Figaro, entitled “A Belgian Shakespeare.” The enthusiasm of this review and the excellence of the passages quoted combined to make Maeterlinck the talk of the town. Maeterlinck, among his Belgian roses, continued to work with extreme deliberation. In 1890 he published, in Brussels, two more plays, L’Intruse and Les Aveugles; followed in 1891 by Les Sept princesses. His strong leaning to mysticism was now explained, or defined, by a translation of the Flemish medieval visionary, the Admirable Ruysbroeck, which Maeterlinck brought out in 1891. In 1892 appeared what has been perhaps the most successful of all his plays on the stage, Pelléas et Mélisande, followed in 1894 by those very curious and powerful little dramas written to be performed by marionettes: Alladine el Palomides, Intérieur and La Mort de Tintagiles. In 1895 Maeterlinck brought out, under the title of Annabella, a translation of Ford’s ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore, with a preface. Two philosophical works followed, a study on Novalis (1895) and Le Trésor des humbles (1896). In 1896 he returned to drama with Aglavaine el Sélysette and to lyric verse with Douze chansons. A monograph on the ethics of mysticism, entitled La Sagesse et la destinée, was issued, as a kind of commentary on his own dramas, in 1898; and in 1901 Maeterlinck produced a fascinating volume of prose, founded upon observations made in his apiaries at Oostacker, in which philosophy, fancy and natural history were surprisingly mingled—La Vie des abeilles. In 1902 he published Le Temple enseveli and Monna Vanna; in 1903 Joyzelle. In 1901 he began to issue, in Brussels, an edition of his complete dramatic works.

The nature of Maeterlinck’s writings, whether in prose or verse, has been strictly homogeneous. Few poets have kept so rigorously to a certain defined direction in the practice of their art. Whether in philosophy, or drama, or lyric, Maeterlinck is exclusively occupied in revealing, or indicating, the mystery which lies, only just out of sight, beneath the surface of ordinary life. In order to produce this effect of the mysterious he aims at an extreme simplicity of diction, and a symbolism so realistic as to be almost bare. He allows life itself to astonish us by its strangeness, by its inexplicable elements. Many of his plays are really highly pathetic records of unseen emotion; they are occupied with the spiritual adventures of souls, and the ordinary facts of time and space have no influence upon the movements of the characters. We know not who these orphan princesses, these blind persons, these pale Arthurian knights, these aged guardians of desolate castles, may be; we are not informed whence they come, nor whither they go; there is nothing concrete or circumstantial about them. Their life is intense and consistent, but it is wholly of a spiritual character; they are mysterious with the mystery of the movements of a soul. These characteristics, which make the dramatic work of Maeterlinck so curious and unique, are familiar to most readers in Pelléas et Mélisande, but are carried, perhaps, to their farthest intensity in Aglavaine et Sélysette, which seems to be written for a phantom stage and to be acted by disembodied spirits. In spite of the violence of his early admirers, and of the fact that the form of his dramas easily lent itself to the cheap ridicule of parodists, the talent of Maeterlinck has hardly met with opposition from the criticism of his time. It has been universally felt that his spirit is one of grave and disinterested attachment to the highest moral beauty, and his seriousness, his serenity and his extreme originality have impressed even those who are bewildered by his diaphanous graces and offended at his nebulous mysticism. While the crude enthusiasm which compared him with Shakespeare has been shown to be ridiculous, the best judges combine with Camille Mauclair when he says: “Maurice Maeterlinck est un homme de génie authentique, un très grand phénomène de puissance mentale à la fin du xixe siècle.” In spite of the shadowy action of Maeterlinck’s plays, which indeed require some special conditions and contrivances for their performance, they are frequently produced with remarkable success before audiences who cannot be suspected of mysticism, in most of the countries of Europe. In his philosophical writings Maeterlinck shows himself a disciple of Novalis, of Emerson, of Hello, of the Flemish Catholic mystics, and he evolves from the teachings of those thinkers a system of aesthetics applicable to the theatre as he conceives it.

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