Chapter III: Front Matter (3)

MATTING, a general term embracing many coarse woven or plaited fibrous materials used for covering floors or furniture, for hanging as screens, for wrapping up heavy merchandise and for other miscellaneous purposes. In the United Kingdom, under the name of "coir" matting, a large amount of a coarse kind of carpet is made from coco-nut fibre; and the same material, as well as strips of cane, Manila hemp, various grasses and rushes, is largely employed in various forms for making door mats. Large quantities of the coco-nut fibre are woven in heavy looms, then cut up into various sizes, and finally bound round the edges by a kind of rope made from the same material. The mats may be of one colour only, or they may be made of different colours and in different designs. Sometimes the names of institutions are introduced into the mats. Another type of mat is made exclusively from the above-mentioned rope by arranging alternate layers in sinuous and straight paths, and then stitching the parts together. It is also largely used for the outer covering of ships' fenders. Perforated and otherwise prepared rubber, as well as wire-woven material, are also largely utilized for door and floor mats. Matting of various kinds is very extensively employed throughout India for floor coverings, the bottoms of bedsteads, fans and fly-flaps, &c.; and a considerable export trade in such manufactures is carried on. The materials used are numerous; but the principal substances are straw, the bulrushes _Typha elephantina_ and _T. angustifolia_, leaves of the date palm (_Phoenix sylvestris_), of the dwarf palm (_Chamaerops Ritchiana_), of the Palmyra palm (_Borassus flabelliformis_), of the coco-nut palm (_Cocos nucifera_) and of the screw pine (_Pandanus odoratissimus_), the munja or munj grass (_Saccharum Munja_) and allied grasses, and the mat grasses _Cyperus textilis_ and _C. Pangorei_, from the last of which the well-known Palghat mats of the Madras Presidency are made. Many of these Indian grass-mats are admirable examples of elegant design, and the colours in which they are woven are rich, harmonious and effective in the highest degree. Several useful household articles are made from the different kinds of grasses. The grasses are dyed in all shades and plaited to form attractive designs suitable for the purposes to which they are to be applied. This class of work obtains in India, Japan and other Eastern countries. Vast quantities of coarse matting used for packing furniture, heavy and coarse goods, flax and other plants, &c., are made in Russia from the bast or inner bark of the lime tree. This industry centres in the great forest governments of Viatka, Nizhniy-Novgorod, Kostroma, Kazan, Perm and Simbirsk.

MATTOCK (O.E. _mattuc_, of uncertain origin), a tool having a double iron head, of which one end is shaped like an adze, and the other like a pickaxe. The head has a socket in the centre in which the handle is inserted transversely to the blades. It is used chiefly for grubbing and rooting among tree stumps in plantations and copses, where the roots are too close for the use of a spade, or for loosening hard soil.

MATTO GROSSO, an inland state of Brazil, bounded N. by Amazonas and Pará, E. by Goyaz, Minas Geraes, São Paulo and Paraná, S. by Paraguay and S.W. and W. by Bolivia. It ranks next to Amazonas in size, its area, which is largely unsettled and unexplored, being 532,370 sq. m., and its population only 92,827 in 1890 and 118,025 in 1900. No satisfactory estimate of its Indian population can be made. The greater part of the state belongs to the western extension of the Brazilian plateau, across which, between the 14th and 16th parallels, runs the watershed which separates the drainage basins of the Amazon and La Plata. This elevated region is known as the plateau of Matto Grosso, and its elevations so far as known rarely exceed 3000 ft. The northern slope of this great plateau is drained by the Araguaya-Tocantins, Xingú, Tapajos and Guaporé-Mamoré-Madeira, which flow northward, and, except the first, empty into the Amazon; the southern slope drains southward through a multitude of streams flowing into the Paraná and Paraguay. The general elevation in the south part of the state is much lower, and large areas bordering the Paraguay are swampy, partially submerged plains which the sluggish rivers are unable to drain. The lowland elevations in this part of the state range from 300 to 400 ft. above sea-level, the climate is hot, humid and unhealthy, and the conditions for permanent settlement are apparently unfavourable. On the highlands, however, which contain extensive open _campos_, the climate, though dry and hot, is considered healthy. The basins of the Paraná and Paraguay are separated by low mountain ranges extending north from the _sierras_ of Paraguay. In the north, however, the ranges which separate the river valleys are apparently the remains of the table-land through which deep valleys have been eroded. The resources of Matto Grosso are practically undeveloped, owing to the isolated situation of the state, the costs of transportation and the small population.

The first industry was that of mining, gold having been discovered in the river valleys on the southern slopes of the plateau, and diamonds on the head-waters of the Paraguay, about Diamantino and in two or three other districts. Gold is found chiefly in placers, and in colonial times the output was large, but the deposits were long ago exhausted and the industry is now comparatively unimportant. As to other minerals little is definitely known. Agriculture exists only for the supply of local needs, though tobacco of a superior quality is grown. Cattle-raising, however, has received some attention and is the principal industry of the landowners. The forest products of the state include fine woods, rubber, ipecacuanha, sarsaparilla, jaborandi, vanilla and copaiba. There is little export, however, the only means of communication being down the Paraguay and Paraná rivers by means of subsidized steamers. The capital of the state is Cuyabá, and the chief commercial town is Corumbá at the head of navigation for the larger river boats, and 1986 m. from the mouth of the La Plata. Communication between these two towns is maintained by a line of smaller boats, the distance being 517 m.

The first permanent settlements in Matto Grosso seem to have been made in 1718 and 1719, in the first year at Forquilha and in the second at or near the site of Cuyabá, where rich placer mines had been found. At this time all this inland region was considered a part of São Paulo, but in 1748 it was made a separate _capitania_ and was named Matto Grosso ("great woods"). In 1752 its capital was situated on the right bank of the Guaporé river and was named Villa Bella da Santissima Trindade de Matto Grosso, but in 1820 the seat of government was removed to Cuyabá and Villa Bella has fallen into decay. In 1822 Matto Grosso became a province of the empire and in 1889 a republican state. It was invaded by the Paraguayans in the war of 1860-65.

MATTOON, a city of Coles county, Illinois, U.S.A., in the east central part of the state, about 12 m. south-east of Peoria. Pop. (1890), 6833; (1900), 9622, of whom 430 were foreign-born; (1910 census) 11,456. It is served by the Illinois Central and Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St Louis railways, which have repair shops here, and by inter-urban electric lines. The city has a public library, a Methodist Episcopal Hospital, and an Old Folks' Home, the last supported by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mattoon is an important shipping point for Indian corn and broom corn, extensively grown in the vicinity, and for fruit and livestock. Among its manufactures are foundry and machine shop products, stoves and bricks; in 1905 the factory product was valued at $1,308,781, an increase of 71.2% over that in 1900. The municipality owns the waterworks and an electric lighting plant. Mattoon was first settled about 1855, was named in honour of William Mattoon, an early landowner, was first chartered as a city in 1857, and was reorganized under a general state law in 1879.

MATTRESS (O.Fr. _materas_, mod. _matelas_; the origin is the Arab. _al-materah_, cushion, whence Span. and Port. _almadraque_, Ital. _materasso_), the padded foundation of a bed, formed of canvas or other stout material stuffed with wool, hair, flock or straw; in the last case it is properly known as a "palliasse" (Fr. _paille_, straw; Lat. _palea_); but this term is often applied to an under-mattress stuffed with substances other than straw. The padded mattress on which lay the feather-bed has been replaced by the "wire-mattress," a network of wire stretched on a light wooden or iron frame, which is either a separate structure or a component part of the bedstead itself. The "wire-mattress" has taken the place of the "spring mattress," in which spiral springs support the stuffing. The term "mattress" is used in engineering for a mat of brushwood, faggots, &c., corded together and used as a foundation or as surface in the construction of dams, jetties, dikes, &c.

MATURIN, CHARLES ROBERT (1782-1824), Irish novelist and dramatist, was born in Dublin in 1782. His grandfather, Gabriel Jasper Maturin, had been Swift's successor in the deanery of St Patrick. Charles Maturin was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and became curate of Loughrea and then of St Peter's, Dublin. His first novels, _The Fatal Revenge; or, the Family of Montorio_ (1807), _The Wild Irish Boy_ (1808), _The Milesian Chief_ (1812), were issued under the pseudonym of "Dennis Jasper Murphy." All these were mercilessly ridiculed, but the irregular power displayed in them attracted the notice of Sir Walter Scott, who recommended the author to Byron. Through their influence Maturin's tragedy of _Bertram_ was produced at Drury Lane in 1816, with Kean and Miss Kelly in the leading parts. A French version by Charles Nodier and Baron Taylor was produced in Paris at the Théâtre Favart. Two more tragedies, _Manuel_ (1817) and _Fredolfo_ (1819), were failures, and his poem _The Universe_ (1821) fell flat. He wrote three more novels, _Women_ (1818), _Melmoth, the Wanderer_ (1820), and _The Albigenses_ (1824). _Melmoth_, which forms its author's title to remembrance, is the best of them, and has for hero a kind of "Wandering Jew." Honoré de Balzac wrote a sequel to it under the title of _Melmoth réconcilié à l'église_ (1835). Maturin died in Dublin on the 30th of October 1824.

MATVYEEV, ARTAMON SERGYEEVICH ( -1682), Russian statesman and reformer, was one of the greatest of the precursors of Peter the Great. His parentage and the date of his birth are uncertain. Apparently his birth was humble, but when the obscure figure of the young Artamon emerges into the light of history we find him equipped at all points with the newest ideas, absolutely free from the worst prejudices of his age, a ripe scholar, and even an author of some distinction. In 1671 the tsar Alexius and Artamon were already on intimate terms, and on the retirement of Orduin-Nashchokin Matvyeev became the tsar's chief counsellor. It was at his house, full of all the wondrous, half-forbidden novelties of the west, that Alexius, after the death of his first consort, Martha, met Matvyeev's favourite pupil, the beautiful Natalia Naruishkina, whom he married on the 21st of January 1672. At the end of the year Matvyeev was raised to the rank of _okolnichy_, and on the 1st of September 1674 attained the still higher dignity of _boyar_. Matvyeev remained paramount to the end of the reign and introduced play-acting and all sorts of refining western novelties into Muscovy. The deplorable physical condition of Alexius's immediate successor, Theodore III. suggested to Matvyeev the desirability of elevating to the throne the sturdy little tsarevich Peter, then in his fourth year. He purchased the allegiance of the _stryeltsi_, or musketeers, and then, summoning the boyars of the council, earnestly represented to them that Theodore, scarce able to live, was surely unable to reign, and urged the substitution of little Peter. But the reactionary boyars, among whom were the near kinsmen of Theodore, proclaimed him tsar and Matvyeev was banished to Pustozersk, in northern Russia, where he remained till Theodore's death (April 27, 1682). Immediately afterwards Peter was proclaimed tsar by the patriarch, and the first _ukaz_ issued in Peter's name summoned Matvyeev to return to the capital and act as chief adviser to the tsaritsa Natalia. He reached Moscow on the 15th of May, prepared "to lay down his life for the tsar," and at once proceeded to the head of the Red Staircase to meet and argue with the assembled stryeltsi, who had been instigated to rebel by the anti-Petrine faction. He had already succeeded in partially pacifying them, when one of their colonels began to abuse the still hesitating and suspicious musketeers. Infuriated, they seized and flung Matvyeev into the square below, where he was hacked to pieces by their comrades.

See R. Nisbet Bain, _The First Romanovs_ (London, 1905); M. P.
Pogodin, _The First Seventeen Years of the Life of Peter the Great_
(Rus.), (Moscow, 1875); S. M. Solovev, _History of Russia_ (Rus.),
(vols. 12, 13, (St Petersburg, 1895, &c.); L. Shehepotev, _A. S.
Matvyeev as an Educational and Political Reformer_ (Rus.), (St
Petersburg, 1906). (R. N. B.)

MAUBEUGE, a town of northern France, in the department of Nord, situated on both banks of the Sambre, here canalized, 23½ m. by rail E. by S. of Valenciennes, and about 2 m. from the Belgian frontier. Pop. (1906), town 13,569, commune 21,520. As a fortress Maubeuge has an old enceinte of bastion trace which serves as the centre of an important entrenched camp of 18 m. perimeter, constructed for the most part after the war of 1870, but since modernized and augmented. The town has a board of trade arbitration, a communal college, a commercial and industrial school; and there are important foundries, forges and blast-furnaces, together with manufactures of machine-tools, porcelain, &c. It is united by electric tramway with Hautmont (pop. 12,473), also an important metallurgical centre.

Maubeuge (_Malbodium_) owes its origin to a double monastery, for men and women, founded in the 7th century by St Aldegonde relics of whom are preserved in the church. It subsequently belonged to the territory of Hainault. It was burnt by Louis XI., by Francis I., and by Henry II., and was finally assigned to France by the Treaty of Nijmwegen. It was fortified at Vauban by the command of Louis XIV., who under Turenne first saw military service there. Besieged in 1793 by Prince Josias of Coburg, it was relieved by the victory of Wattignies, which is commemorated by a monument in the town. It was unsuccessfully besieged in 1814, but was compelled to capitulate, after a vigorous resistance, in the Hundred Days.

MAUCH CHUNK, a borough and the county-seat of Carbon county, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., on the W. bank of the Lehigh river and on the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company's Canal, 46 m. by rail W.N.W. of Easton. Pop. (1800), 4101; (1900), 4029 (571 foreign-born); (1910), 3952. Mauch Chunk is served by the Central of New Jersey railway and, at East Mauch Chunk, across the river, connected by electric railway, by the Lehigh Valley railway. The borough lies in the valley of the Lehigh river, along which runs one of its few streets and in another deeply cut valley at right angles to the river; through this second valley east and west runs the main street, on which is an electric railway; parallel to it on the south is High Street, formerly an Irish settlement; half way up the steep hill, and on the north at the top of the opposite hill is the ward of Upper Mauch Chunk, reached by the electric railway. An incline railway, originally used to transport coal from the mines to the river and named the "Switch-Back," now carries tourists up the steep slopes of Mount Pisgah and Mount Jefferson, to Summit Hill, a rich anthracite coal region, with a famous "burning mine," which has been on fire since 1832, and then back. An electric railway to the top of Flagstaff Mountain, built in 1900, was completed in 1901 to Lehighton, 4 m. south-east of Mauch Chunk, where coal is mined and silk and stoves are manufactured, and which had a population in 1900 of 4629, and in 1910 of 5316. Immediately above Mauch Chunk the river forms a horseshoe; on the opposite side, connected by a bridge, is the borough of East Mauch Chunk (pop. 1900, 3458; 1910, 3548); and 2 m. up the river is Glen Onoko, with fine falls and cascades. The principal buildings in Mauch Chunk are the county court house, a county gaol, a Young Men's Christian Association building, and the Dimmick Memorial Library (1890). The borough was long a famous shipping point for coal. It now has ironworks and foundries, and in East Mauch Chunk there are silk mills. The name is Indian and means "Bear Mountain," this English name being used for a mountain on the east side of the river. The borough was founded by the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company in 1818. This company began in 1827 the operation of the "Switch-Back," probably the first railway in the country to be used for transporting coal. In 1831 the town was opened to individual enterprise, and in 1850 it was incorporated as a borough. Mauch Chunk was for many years the home of Asa Packer, the projector and builder of the Lehigh Valley railroad from Mauch Chunk to Easton.

MAUCHLINE, a town in the division of Kyle, Ayrshire, Scotland. Pop. (1901), 1767. It lies 8 m. E.S.E. of Kilmarnock and 11 m. E. by N. of Ayr by the Glasgow and South-Western railway. It is situated on a gentle slope about 1 m. from the river Ayr, which flows through the south of the parish of Mauchline. It is noted for its manufacture of snuff-boxes and knick-knacks in wood, and of curling-stones. There is also some cabinet-making, besides spinning and weaving, and its horse fairs and cattle markets have more than local celebrity. The parish church, dating from 1829, stands in the middle of the village, and on the green a monument, erected in 1830, marks the spot where five Covenanters were killed in 1685. Robert Burns lived with his brother Gilbert on the farm of Mossgiel, about a mile to the north, from 1784 to 1788. Mauchline kirkyard was the scene of the "Holy Fair"; at "Poosie Nansie's" (Agnes Gibson's)--still, though much altered, a popular inn--the "Jolly Beggars" held their high jinks; near the church (in the poet's day an old, barn-like structure) was the Whiteford Arms inn, where on a pane of glass Burns wrote the epitaph on John Dove, the landlord; "auld Nanse Tinnock's" house, with the date of 1744 above the door, nearly faces the entrance to the churchyard; the Rev. William Auld was minister of Mauchline, and "Holy Willie," whom the poet scourged in the celebrated "Prayer," was one of "Daddy Auld's" elders; behind the kirkyard stands the house of Gavin Hamilton, the lawyer and firm friend of Burns, in which the poet was married. The braes of Ballochmyle, where he met the heroine of his song, "The Lass o' Ballochmyle," lie about a mile to the south-east. Adjoining them is the considerable manufacturing town of CATRINE (pop. 2340), with cotton factories, bleach fields and brewery, where Dr Matthew Stewart (1717-1785), the father of Dugald Stewart--had a mansion, and where there is a big water-wheel said to be inferior in size only to that of Laxey in the Isle of Man. Barskimming House, 2 m. south by west of Mauchline, the seat of Lord-President Miller (1717-1789), was burned down in 1882. Near the confluence of the Fail and the Ayr was the scene of Burns's parting with Highland Mary.

MAUDE, CYRIL (1862- ), English actor, was born in London and educated at Charterhouse. He began his career as an actor in 1883 in America, and from 1896 to 1905 was co-manager with F. Harrison of the Haymarket Theatre, London. There he became distinguished for his quietly humorous acting in many parts. In 1906 he went into management on his own account, and in 1907 opened his new theatre The Playhouse. In 1888 he married the actress Winifred Emery (b. 1862), who had made her London début as a child in 1875, and acted with Irving at the Lyceum between 1881 and 1887. She was a daughter of Samuel Anderson Emery (1817-1881) and granddaughter of John Emery (1777-1822), both well-known actors in their day.

MAULE, a coast province of central Chile, bounded N. by Talea, E. by Linares and Nuble, and S. by Concepción, and lying between the rivers Maule and Itata, which form its northern and southern boundaries. Pop. (1895), 119,791; area, 2475 sq. m. Maule is traversed from north to south by the coast range and its surfaces are much broken. The Buchupureo river flows westward across the province. The climate is mild and healthy. Agriculture and stock-raising are the principal occupations, and hides, cattle, wheat and timber are exported. Transport facilities are afforded by the Maule and the Itata, which are navigable, and by a branch of the government railway from Cauquenes to Parral, an important town of southern Linares. The provincial capital, Cauquenes (pop., in 1895, 8574; 1902 estimate, 9895), is centrally situated on the Buchupureo river, on the eastern slopes of the coast cordilleras. The town and port of Constitución (pop., in 1900, about 7000) on the south bank of the Maule, one mile above its mouth, was formerly the capital of the province. The port suffers from a dangerous bar at the mouth of the river, but is connected with Talca by rail and has a considerable trade.

The Maule river, from which the province takes its name, is of historic interest because it is said to have marked the southern limits of the Inca Empire. It rises in the Laguna del Maule, an Andean lake near the Argentine frontier, 7218 ft. above sea-level, and flows westward about 140 m. to the Pacific, into which it discharges in 35° 18´ S. The upper part of its drainage basin, to which the _Anuario Hydrografico_ gives an area of 8000 sq. m., contains the volcanoes of San Pedro (11,800 ft.), the Descabezado (12,795 ft.), and others of the same group of lower elevations. The upper course and tributaries of the Maule, principally in the province of Linares, are largely used for irrigation.

MAULÉON, SAVARI DE (d. 1236), French soldier, was the son of Raoul de Mauléon, vicomte de Thouars and lord of Mauléon (now Châtillon-sur-Sèvre). Having espoused the cause of Arthur of Brittany, he was captured at Mirebeau (1202), and imprisoned in the château of Corfe. But John set him at liberty in 1204, gained him to his side and named him seneschal of Poitou (1205). In 1211 Savari de Mauléon assisted Raymond VI. count of Toulouse, and with him besieged Simon de Montfort in Castelnaudary. Philip Augustus bought his services in 1212 and gave him command of a fleet which was destroyed in the Flemish port of Damme. Then Mauléon returned to John, whom he aided in his struggle with the barons in 1215. He was one of those whom John designated on his deathbed for a council of regency (1216). Then he went to Egypt (1219), and was present at the taking of Damietta. Returning to Poitou he was a second time seneschal for the king of England. He defended Saintonge against Louis VIII. in 1224, but was accused of having given La Rochelle up to the king of France, and the suspicions of the English again threw him back upon the French. Louis VIII. then turned over to him the defence of La Rochelle and the coast of Saintonge. In 1227 he took part in the rising of the barons of Poitiers and Anjou against the young Louis IX. He enjoyed a certain reputation for his poems in the _langue d'oc_.

See Chilhaud-Dumaine, "Savari de Mauléon," in _Positions des Thèses
des élèves de l'École des Chartes_ (1877); _Histoire littéraire de la
France_, xviii. 671-682.

MAULSTICK, or MAHLSTICK, a stick with a soft leather or padded head, used by painters to support the hand that holds the brush. The word is an adaptation of the Dutch _maalstok_, i.e. the painter's stick, from _malen_, to paint.

MAUNDY THURSDAY (through O.Fr. _mandé_ from Lat. _mandatum_, commandment, in allusion to Christ's words: "A new commandment give I unto you," after he had washed the disciples' feet at the Last Supper), the Thursday before Easter. Maundy Thursday is sometimes known as _Sheer_ or _Chare_ Thursday, either in allusion, it is thought, to the "shearing" of heads and beards in preparation for Easter, or more probably in the word's Middle English sense of "pure," in allusion to the ablutions of the day. The chief ceremony, as kept from the early middle ages onwards--the washing of the feet of twelve or more poor men or beggars--was in the early Church almost unknown. Of Chrysostom and St Augustine, who both speak of Maundy Thursday as being marked by a solemn celebration of the Sacrament, the former does not mention the foot-washing, and the latter merely alludes to it. Perhaps an indication of it may be discerned as early as the 4th century in a custom, current in Spain, northern Italy and elsewhere, of washing the feet of the catechumens towards the end of Lent before their baptism. It was not, however, universal, and in the 48th canon of the synod of Elvira (A.D. 306) it is expressly prohibited (cf. _Corp. Jur. Can._, c. 104, _caus._ i. _qu._ 1). From the 4th century ceremonial foot-washing became yearly more common, till it was regarded as a necessary rite, to be performed by the pope, all Catholic sovereigns, prelates, priests and nobles. In England the king washed the feet of as many poor men as he was years old, and then distributed to them meat, money and clothes. At Durham Cathedral, until the 16th century, every charity-boy had a monk to wash his feet. At Peterborough Abbey, in 1530, Wolsey made "his maund in Our Lady's Chapel, having fifty-nine poor men whose feet he washed and kissed; and after he had wiped them he gave every of the said poor men twelve pence in money, three ells of good canvas to make them shirts, a pair of new shoes, a cast of red herrings and three white herrings." Queen Elizabeth performed the ceremony, the paupers' feet, however, being first washed by the yeomen of the laundry with warm water and sweet herbs. James II. was the last English monarch to perform the rite. William III. delegated the washing to his almoner, and this was usual until the middle of the 18th century. Since 1754 the foot-washing has been abandoned, and the ceremony now consists of the presentation of Maundy money, officially called Maundy Pennies. These were first coined in the reign of Charles II. They come straight from the Mint, and have their edges unmilled. The service which formerly took place in the Chapel Royal, Whitehall, is now held in Westminster Abbey. A procession is formed in the nave, consisting of the lord high almoner representing the sovereign, the clergy and the yeomen of the guard, the latter carrying white and red purses in baskets. The clothes formerly given are now commuted for in cash. The full ritual is gone through by the Roman Catholic archbishop of Westminster, and abroad it survives in all Catholic countries, a notable example being that of the Austrian emperor. In the Greek Church the rite survives notably at Moscow, St Petersburg and Constantinople. It is on Maundy Thursday that in the Church of Rome the sacred oil is blessed, and the chrism prepared according to an elaborate ritual which is given in the _Pontificale_.

MAUPASSANT, HENRI RENÉ ALBERT GUY DE (1850-1893), French novelist and poet, was born at the Château of Miromesnil in the department of Seine-Inférieure on the 5th August 1850. His grandfather, a landed proprietor of a good Lorraine family, owned an estate at Neuville-Champ-d'Oisel near Rouen, and bequeathed a moderate fortune to his son, a Paris stockbroker, who married Mademoiselle Laure Lepoitevin. Maupassant was educated at Yvetot and at the Rouen lycée. A copy of verses entitled _Le Dieu créateur_, written during his year of philosophy, has been preserved and printed. He entered the ministry of marine, and was promoted by M. Bardoux to the Cabinet de l'Instruction publique. A pleasant legend says that, in a report by his official chief, Maupassant is mentioned as not reaching the standard of the department in the matter of style. He may very well have been an unsatisfactory clerk, as he divided his time between rowing expeditions and attending the literary gatherings at the house of Gustave Flaubert, who was not, as he is often alleged to be, connected with Maupassant by any blood tie. Flaubert was not his uncle, nor his cousin, nor even his godfather, but merely an old friend of Madame de Maupassant, whom he had known from childhood. At the literary meetings Maupassant seldom shared in the conversation. Upon those who met him--Tourgenieff, Alphonse Daudet, Catulle Mendès, José-Maria de Heredia and Émile Zola--he left the impression of a simple young athlete. Even Flaubert, to whom Maupassant submitted some sketches, was not greatly struck by their talent, though he encouraged the youth to persevere. Maupassant's first essay was a dramatic piece twice given at Étretat in 1873 before an audience which included Tourgenieff, Flaubert and Meilhac. In this indecorous performance, of which nothing more is heard, Maupassant played the part of a woman. During the next seven years he served a severe apprenticeship to Flaubert, who by this time realized his pupil's exceptional gifts. In 1880 Maupassant published a volume of poems, _Des Vers_, against which the public prosecutor of Etampes took proceedings that were finally withdrawn through the influence of the senator Cordier. From Flaubert, who had himself been prosecuted for his first book, _Madame Bovary_, there came a letter congratulating the poet on the similarity between their first literary experiences. _Des Vers_ is an extremely interesting experiment, which shows Maupassant to us still hesitating in his choice of a medium; but he recognized that it was not wholly satisfactory, and that its chief deficiency--the absence of verbal melody--was fatal. Later in the same year he contributed to the _Soirées de Médan_, a collection of short stories by MM. Zola, J.-K. Huysmans, Henry Céard, Léon Hennique and Paul Alexis; and in _Boule de suif_ the young unknown author revealed himself to his amazed collaborators and to the public as an admirable writer of prose and a consummate master of the _conte_. There is perhaps no other instance in modern literary history of a writer beginning, as a fully equipped artist, with a genuine masterpiece. This early success was quickly followed by another. The volume entitled _La Maison Tellier_ (1881) confirmed the first impression, and vanquished even those who were repelled by the author's choice of subjects. In _Mademoiselle Fifi_ (1883) he repeated his previous triumphs as a _conteur_, and in this same year he, for the first time, attempted to write on a larger scale. Choosing to portray the life of a blameless girl, unfortunate in her marriage, unfortunate in her son, consistently unfortunate in every circumstance of existence, he leaves her, ruined and prematurely old, clinging to the tragic hope, which time, as one feels, will belie, that she may find happiness in her grandson. This picture of an average woman undergoing the constant agony of disillusion Maupassant calls _Une Vie_ (1883), and as in modern literature there is no finer example of cruel observation, so there is no sadder book than this, while the effect of extreme truthfulness which it conveys justifies its sub-title--_L'Humble vérité_. Certain passages of _Une Vie_ are of such a character that the sale of the volume at railway bookstalls was forbidden throughout France. The matter was brought before the chamber of deputies, with the result of drawing still more attention to the book, and of advertising the _Contes de la bécasse_ (1883), a collection of stories as improper as they are clever. _Au soleil_ (1884), a book of travels which has the eminent qualities of lucid observation and exact description, was less read than _Clair de lune_, _Miss Harriet_, _Les Soeurs Rondoli_ and _Yvette_, all published in 1883-1884 when Maupassant's powers were at their highest level. Three further collections of short tales, entitled _Contes et nouvelles_, _Monsieur Parent_, and _Contes du jour et de la nuit_, issued in 1885, proved that while the author's vision was as incomparable as ever, his fecundity had not improved his impeccable form. To 1885 also belongs an elaborate novel, _Bel-ami_, the cynical history of a particularly detestable, brutal scoundrel who makes his way in the world by means of his handsome face. Maupassant is here no less vivid in realizing his literary men, financiers and frivolous women than in dealing with his favourite peasants, boors and servants, to whom he returned in _Toine_ (1886) and in _La Petite roque_ (1886). About this time appeared the first symptoms of the malady which destroyed him; he wrote less, and though the novel _Mont-Oriol_ (1887) shows him apparently in undiminished possession of his faculty, _Le Horla_ (1887) suggests that he was already subject to alarming hallucinations. Restored to some extent by a sea-voyage, recorded in _Sur l'eau_ (1888), he went back to short stories in _Le Rosier de Madame Husson_ (1888), a burst of Rabelaisian humour equal to anything he had ever written. His novels _Pierre et Jean_ (1888), _Fort comme la mort_ (1889), and _Notre coeur_ (1890) are penetrating studies touched with a profounder sympathy than had hitherto distinguished him; and this softening into pity for the tragedy of life is deepened in some of the tales included in _Inutile beauté_ (1890). One of these, _Le Champ d'Oliviers_, is an unsurpassable example of poignant, emotional narrative. With _La Vie errante_ (1890), a volume of travels, Maupassant's career practically closed. _Musotte_, a theatrical piece written in collaboration with M. Jacques Normand, was published in 1891. By this time inherited nervous maladies, aggravated by excessive physical exercises and by the imprudent use of drugs, had undermined his constitution. He began to take an interest in religious problems, and for a while made the _Imitation_ his handbook; but his misanthropy deepened, and he suffered from curious delusions as to his wealth and rank. A victim of general paralysis, of which _La Folie des grandeurs_ was one of the symptoms, he drank the waters at Aix-les-Bains during the summer of 1891, and retired to Cannes, where he purposed passing the winter. The singularities of conduct which had been observed at Aix-les-Bains grew more and more marked. Maupassant's reason slowly gave way. On the 6th of January 1892 he attempted suicide, and was removed to Paris, where he died in the most painful circumstances on the 6th of July 1893. He is buried in the cemetery of Montparnasse. The opening chapters of two projected novels, _L'Angélus_ and _L'Ame étrangère_, were found among his papers; these, with _La Paix du ménage_, a comedy in two acts, and two collections of tales, _Le Père Milon_ (1898) and _Le Colporteur_ (1899), have been published posthumously. A correspondence, called _Amitié amoureuse_ (1897), and dedicated to his mother, is probably unauthentic. Among the prefaces which he wrote for the works of others, only one--an introduction to a French prose version of Mr Swinburne's _Poems and Ballads_--is likely to interest English readers.

Maupassant began as a follower of Flaubert and of M. Zola, but, whatever the masters may have called themselves, they both remained essentially _romantiques_. The pupil is the last of the "naturalists": he even destroyed naturalism, since he did all that can be done in that direction. He had no psychology, no theories of art, no moral or strong social prejudices, no disturbing imagination, no wealth of perplexing ideas. It is no paradox to say that his marked limitations made him the incomparable artist that he was. Undisturbed by any external influence, his marvellous vision enabled him to become a supreme observer, and, given his literary sense, the rest was simple. He prided himself in having no invention; he described nothing that he had not seen. The peasants whom he had known as a boy figure in a score of tales; what he saw in Government offices is set down in _L'Héritage_; from Algiers he gathers the material for Maroca; he drinks the waters and builds up _Mont-Oriol_; he enters journalism, constructs _Bel-ami_, and, for the sake of precision, makes his brother, Hervé de Maupassant, sit for the infamous hero's portrait; he sees fashionable society, and, though it wearied him intensely, he transcribes its life in _Fort comme la mort_ and _Notre coeur_. Fundamentally he finds all men alike. In every grade he finds the same ferocious, cunning, animal instincts at work: it is not a gay world, but he knows no other; he is possessed by the dread of growing old, of ceasing to enjoy; the horror of death haunts him like a spectre. It is an extremely simple outlook. Maupassant does not prefer good to bad, one man to another; he never pauses to argue about the meaning of life, a senseless thing which has the one advantage of yielding materials for art; his one aim is to discover the hidden aspect of visible things, to relate what he has observed, to give an objective rendering of it, and he has seen so intensely and so serenely that he is the most exact transcriber in literature. And as the substance is, so is the form: his style is exceedingly simple and exceedingly strong; he uses no rare or superfluous word, and is content to use the humblest word if only it conveys the exact picture of the thing seen. In ten years he produced some thirty volumes. With the exception of _Pierre et Jean_, his novels, excellent as they are, scarcely represent him at his best, and of over two hundred _contes_ a proportion must be rejected. But enough will remain to vindicate his claim to a permanent place in literature as an unmatched observer and the most perfect master of the short story.

See also F. Brunetière, _Le Roman naturaliste_ (1883); T. Lemaître,
_Les Contemporains_ (vols. i. v. vi.); R. Doumic, _Ecrivains
d'aujourd'hui_ (1894); an introduction by Henry James to _The Odd
Number_ ... (1891); a critical preface by the earl of Crewe to _Pierre
and Jean_ (1902); A. Symons, _Studies in Prose and Verse_ (1904).
There are many references to Maupassant in the _Journal des Goncourt_,
and some correspondence with Marie Bashkirtseff was printed with
_Further Memoirs_ of that lady in 1901. (J. F. K.)

MAUPEOU, RENÉ NICOLAS CHARLES AUGUSTIN (1714-1792), chancellor of France, was born on the 25th of February 1714, being the eldest son of René Charles de Maupeou (1688-1775), who was president of the parlement of Paris from 1743 to 1757. He married in 1744 a rich heiress, Anne de Roncherolles, a cousin of Madame d'Épinay. Entering public life, he was his father's right hand in the conflicts between the parlement and Christophe de Beaumont, archbishop of Paris, who was supported by the court. Between 1763 and 1768, dates which cover the revision of the case of Jean Calas and the trial of the comte de Lally, Maupeou was himself president of the parlement. In 1768, through the protection of Choiseul, whose fall two years later was in large measure his work, he became chancellor in succession to his father, who had held the office for a few days only. He determined to support the royal authority against the parlement, which in league with the provincial magistratures was seeking to arrogate to itself the functions of the states-general. He allied himself with the duc d'Aiguillon and Madame du Barry, and secured for a creature of his own, the Abbé Terrai, the office of comptroller-general. The struggle came over the trial of the case of the duc d'Aiguillon, ex-governor of Brittany, and of La Chalotais, procureur-général of the province, who had been imprisoned by the governor for accusations against his administration. When the parlement showed signs of hostility against Aiguillon, Maupeou read letters patent from Louis XV. annulling the proceedings. Louis replied to remonstrances from the parlement by a _lit de justice_, in which he demanded the surrender of the minutes of procedure. On the 27th of November 1770 appeared the _Édit de règlement et de discipline_, which was promulgated by the chancellor, forbidding the union of the various branches of the parlement and correspondence with the provincial magistratures. It also made a strike on the part of the parlement punishable by confiscation of goods, and forbade further obstruction to the registration of royal decrees after the royal reply had been given to a first remonstrance. This edict the magistrates refused to register, and it was registered in a _lit de justice_ held at Versailles on the 7th of December, whereupon the parlement suspended its functions. After five summonses to return to their duties, the magistrates were surprised individually on the night of the 19th of January 1771 by musketeers, who required them to sign yes or no to a further request to return. Thirty-eight magistrates gave an affirmative answer, but on the exile of their former colleagues by _lettres de cachet_ they retracted, and were also exiled. Maupeou installed the council of state to administer justice pending the establishment of six superior courts in the provinces, and of a new parlement in Paris. The _cour des aides_ was next suppressed.

Voltaire praised this revolution, applauding the suppression of the old hereditary magistrature, but in general Maupeou's policy was regarded as the triumph of tyranny. The remonstrances of the princes, of the nobles, and of the minor courts, were met by exile and suppression, but by the end of 1771 the new system was established, and the Bar, which had offered a passive resistance, recommenced to plead. But the death of Louis XV. in May 1774 ruined the chancellor. The restoration of the parlements was followed by a renewal of the quarrels between the new king and the magistrature. Maupeou and Terrai were replaced by Malesherbes and Turgot. Maupeou lived in retreat until his death at Thuit on the 29th of July 1792, having lived to see the overthrow of the _ancien régime_. His work, in so far as it was directed towards the separation of the judicial and political functions and to the reform of the abuses attaching to a hereditary magistrature, was subsequently endorsed by the Revolution; but no justification of his violent methods or defence of his intriguing and avaricious character is possible. He aimed at securing absolute power for Louis XV., but his action was in reality a serious blow to the monarchy.

The chief authority for the administration of Maupeou is the _compte
rendu_ in his own justification presented by him to Louis XVI. in
1789, which included a dossier of his speeches and edicts, and is
preserved in the Bibliothèque nationale. These documents, in the hands
of his former secretary, C. F. Lebrun, duc de Plaisance, formed the
basis of the judicial system of France as established under the
consulate (cf. C. F. Lebrun, _Opinions, rapports et choix d'écrits
politiques_, published posthumously in 1829). See further _Maupeouana_
(6 vols., Paris, 1775), which contains the pamphlets directed against
him; _Journal hist. de la révolution opérée ... par M. de Maupeou_ (7
vols., 1775); the official correspondence of Mercy-Argenteau, the
letters of Mme d'Épinay; and Jules Flammermont, _Le Chancelier Maupeou
et les parlements_ (1883).

MAUPERTUIS, PIERRE LOUIS MOREAU DE (1698-1759), French mathematician and astronomer, was born at St Malo on the 17th of July 1698. When twenty years of age he entered the army, becoming lieutenant in a regiment of cavalry, and employing his leisure on mathematical studies. After five years he quitted the army and was admitted in 1723 a member of the Academy of Sciences. In 1728 he visited London, and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society. In 1736 he acted as chief of the expedition sent by Louis XV. into Lapland to measure the length of a degree of the meridian (see EARTH, FIGURE OF), and on his return home he became a member of almost all the scientific societies of Europe. In 1740 Maupertuis went to Berlin on the invitation of the king of Prussia, and took part in the battle of Mollwitz, where he was taken prisoner by the Austrians. On his release he returned to Berlin, and thence to Paris, where he was elected director of the Academy of Sciences in 1742, and in the following year was admitted into the Academy. Returning to Berlin in 1744, at the desire of Frederick II., he was chosen president of the Royal Academy of Sciences in 1746. Finding his health declining, he repaired in 1757 to the south of France, but went in 1758 to Basel, where he died on the 27th of July 1759. Maupertuis was unquestionably a man of considerable ability as a mathematician, but his restless, gloomy disposition involved him in constant quarrels, of which his controversies with König and Voltaire during the latter part of his life furnish examples.

The following are his most important works: _Sur la figure de la
terre_ (Paris, 1738); _Discours sur la parallaxe de la lune_ (Paris,
1741); _Discours sur la figure des astres_ (Paris, 1742); _Éléments de
la géographie_ (Paris, 1742); _Lettre sur la comète de 1742_ (Paris,
1742); _Astronomie nautique_ (Paris, 1745 and 1746); _Vénus physique_
(Paris, 1745); _Essai de cosmologie_ (Amsterdam, 1750). His _Oeuvres_
were published in 1752 at Dresden and in 1756 at Lyons.

MAU RANIPUR, a town of British India in Jahnsi district, in the United Provinces. Pop. (1901), 17,231. It contains a large community of wealthy merchants and bankers. A special variety of red cotton cloth, known as _kharua_, is manufactured and exported to all parts of India. Trees line many of the streets, and handsome temples ornament the town.

MAUREL, ABDIAS (d. 1705), Camisard leader, became a cavalry officer in the French army and gained distinction in Italy; here he served under Marshal Catinat, and on this account he himself is sometimes known as Catinat. In 1702, when the revolt in the Cévennes broke out, he became one of the Camisard leaders, and in this capacity his name was soon known and feared. He refused to accept the peace made by Jean Cavalier in 1704, and after passing a few weeks in Switzerland he returned to France and became one of the chiefs of those Camisards who were still in arms. He was deeply concerned in a plot to capture some French towns, a scheme which, it was hoped, would be helped by England and Holland. But it failed; Maurel was betrayed, and with three other leaders of the movement was burned to death at Nîmes on the 22nd of April 1705. He was a man of great physical strength; but he was very cruel, and boasted he had killed 200 Roman Catholics with his own hands.

MAUREL, VICTOR (1848- ), French singer, was born at Marseilles, and educated in music at the Paris Conservatoire. He made his début in opera at Paris in 1868, and in London in 1873, and from that time onwards his admirable acting and vocal method established his reputation as one of the finest of operatic baritones. He created the leading part in Verdi's _Otello_, and was equally fine in Wagnerian and Italian opera.

MAURENBRECHER, KARL PETER WILHELM (1838-1892), German historian, was born at Bonn on the 21st of December, 1838, and studied in Berlin and Munich under Ranke and Von Sybel, being especially influenced by the latter historian. After doing some research work at Simancas in Spain, he became professor of history at the university of Dorpat in 1867; and was then in turn professor at Königsberg, Bonn and Leipzig. He died at Leipzig on the 6th of November, 1892.

Many of Maurenbrecher's works are concerned with the Reformation,
among them being _England im Reformationszeitalter_ (Düsseldorf,
1866); _Karl V. und die deutschen Protestanten_ (Düsseldorf, 1865);
_Studien und Skizzen zur Geschichte der Reformationszeit_ (Leipzig,
1874); and the incomplete _Geschichte der Katholischen Reformation_
(Nördlingen, 1880). He also wrote _Don Karlos_ (Berlin, 1876);
_Gründung des deutschen Reiches 1859-1871_ (Leipzig, 1892, and again
1902); and _Geschichte der deutschen Königswahlen_ (Leipzig, 1889).
See G. Wolf, _Wilhelm Maurenbrecher_ (Berlin, 1893).

MAUREPAS, JEAN FRÉDÉRIC PHÉLYPEAUX, COMTE DE (1701-1781), French statesman, was born on the 9th of July 1701 at Versailles, being the son of Jérôme de Pontchartrain, secretary of state for the marine and the royal household. Maurepas succeeded to his father's charge at fourteen, and began his functions in the royal household at seventeen, while in 1725 he undertook the actual administration of the navy. Although essentially light and frivolous in character, Maurepas was seriously interested in scientific matters, and he used the best brains of France to apply science to questions of navigation and of naval construction. He was disgraced in 1749, and exiled from Paris for an epigram against Madame de Pompadour. On the accession of Louis XVI., twenty-five years later, he became a minister of state and Louis XVI.'s chief adviser. He gave Turgot the direction of finance, placed Lamoignon-Malesherbes over the royal household and made Vergennes minister for foreign affairs. At the outset of his new career he showed his weakness by recalling to their functions, in deference to popular clamour, the members of the old parlement ousted by Maupeou, thus reconstituting the most dangerous enemy of the royal power. This step, and his intervention on behalf of the American states, helped to pave the way for the French revolution. Jealous of his personal ascendancy over Louis XVI., he intrigued against Turgot, whose disgrace in 1776 was followed after six months of disorder by the appointment of Necker. In 1781 Maurepas deserted Necker as he had done Turgot, and he died at Versailles on the 21st of November 1781.

Maurepas is credited with contributions to the collection of facetiae
known as the _Étrennes de la Saint Jean_ (2nd ed., 1742). Four volumes
of _Mémoires de Maurepas_, purporting to be collected by his secretary
and edited by J. L. G. Soulavie in 1792, must be regarded as
apocryphal. Some of his letters were published in 1896 by the _Soc. de
l'hist. de Paris_. His _éloge_ in the Academy of Sciences was
pronounced by Condorcet.

MAURER, GEORG LUDWIG VON (1790-1872), German statesman and historian, son of a Protestant pastor, was born at Erpolzheim, near Dürkheim, in the Rhenish Palatinate, on the 2nd of November 1790. Educated at Heidelberg, he went in 1812 to reside in Paris, where he entered upon a systematic study of the ancient legal institutions of the Germans. Returning to Germany in 1814, he received an appointment under the Bavarian government, and afterwards filled several important official positions. In 1824 he published at Heidelberg his _Geschichte des altgermanischen und namentlich altbayrischen öffentlich-mündlichen Gerichtsverfahrens_, which obtained the first prize of the academy of Munich, and in 1826 he became professor in the university of Munich. In 1829 he returned to official life, and was soon offered an important post. In 1832, when Otto (Otho), son of Louis I., king of Bavaria, was chosen to fill the throne of Greece, a council of regency was nominated during his minority, and Maurer was appointed a member. He applied himself energetically to the task of creating institutions adapted to the requirements of a modern civilized community; but grave difficulties soon arose and Maurer was recalled in 1834, when he returned to Munich. This loss was a serious one for Greece. Maurer was the ablest, most energetic and most liberal-minded member of the council, and it was through his enlightened efforts that Greece obtained a revised penal code, regular tribunals and an improved system of civil procedure. Soon after his recall he published _Das griechische Volk in öffentlicher, kirchlicher, und privatrechtlicher Beziehung vor und nach dem Freiheitskampfe bis zum 31 Juli 1834_ (Heidelberg, 1835-1836), a useful source of information for the history of Greece before Otto ascended the throne, and also for the labours of the council of regency to the time of the author's recall. After the fall of the ministry of Karl von Abel (1788-1859) in 1847, he became chief Bavarian minister and head of the departments of foreign affairs and of justice, but was overthrown in the same year. He died at Munich on the 9th of May 1872. His only son, Conrad von Maurer (1823-1902), was a Scandinavian scholar of some repute, and like his father was a professor at the university of Munich.

Maurer's most important contribution to history is a series of books
on the early institutions of the Germans. These are: _Einleitung zur
Geschichte der Mark-, Hof-, Dorf-, und Stadtverfassung und der
öffentlichen Gewalt_ (Munich, 1854); _Geschichte der Markenverfassung
in Deutschland_ (Erlangen, 1856); _Geschichte der Fronhöfe, der
Bauernhöfe, und der Hofverfassung in Deutschland_ (Erlangen,
1862-1863); _Geschichte der Dorfverfassung in Deutschland_ (Erlangen,
1865-1866); and _Geschichte der Slädteverfassung in Deutschland_
(Erlangen, 1869-1871). These works are still important authorities for
the early history of the Germans. Among other works are, _Das Stadt-
und Landrechtsbuch Ruprechts von Freising, ein Beitrag zur Geschichte
des Schwabenspiegels_ (Stuttgart, 1839); _Über die Freipflege (plegium
liberale), und die Entstehung der grossen und kleinen Jury in England_
(Munich, 1848); and _Über die deutsche Reichsterritorial- und
Rechtsgeschichte_ (1830).

Sec K. T. von Heigel, _Denkwürdigkeiten des bayrischen Staatsrats G.
L. von Maurer_ (Munich, 1903).