Chapter VIII: Front Matter (8)

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.

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).

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).

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.

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.

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.

MAENADS (Gr. [Greek: Mainades], 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).

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).

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.

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.

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.

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 xix^e 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. (E. G.)

MAFEKING, a town in the British Bechuanaland division of the Cape, 870 m. N.E. of Cape Town and 492 m. S.S.W. of Bulawayo by rail, and 162 m. in a direct line W. by N. of Johannesburg. (Pop. 1904), 2713. It is built on the open veld, at an elevation of 4194 ft., by the banks of the Upper Molopo, is 9 m. W. of the western frontier of the Transvaal and 15 m. S. of the southern boundary of the Bechuanaland protectorate. The Madibi goldfields are some 10 m. south of the town. Mafeking is thus an important trading and distributing centre for Bechuanaland and the western Transvaal. Here are, too, the chief railway workshops between Kimberley and Bulawayo. The headquarters of the administration for the Bechuanaland protectorate are in the town. The chief buildings are the town-hall, Anglican church, Masonic temple, and hospital.

Mafeking was originally the headquarters of the Barolong tribe of Bechuana and is still their largest station, the native location (pop. 2860) being about a mile distant from the town. It was from Pitsani Pothlugo (or Potlogo), 24 m. north of Mafeking, that Dr Jameson started, on the 29th of December 1895, on his raid into the Transvaal. On the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer war in 1899 Mafeking was invested by a Boer force. Colonel R. S. S. Baden-Powell was in command of the defence, which was stubbornly maintained for 217 days (Oct. 12 to May 17), when a relief column arrived and the Boers dispersed (see TRANSVAAL: _History_). The fate of the town had excited the liveliest sympathy in England, and the exuberant rejoicings in London on the news of its relief led to the coining of the word _mafficking_ to describe the behaviour of crowds on occasions of extravagant demonstrations of a national kind. In September 1904 Lord Roberts unveiled at Mafeking an obelisk bearing the names of those who fell in defence of the town.

R. S. S. Baden-Powell's _Sketches in Mafeking and East Africa_ (1907)
and Lady Sarah Wilson's _South African Memories_ (1909) deal largely
with the siege of Mafeking.

MAFFEI, FRANCESCO SCIPIONE, MARCHESE DI (1675-1755); Italian archaeologist and man of letters, was born at Verona on the 1st of June 1675. He studied for five years in Parma, at the Jesuit College, and afterwards from 1698 at Rome; and in 1703-1704 he took part as a volunteer in the war of succession, fighting on the Bavarian side at Donauwerth. In 1709 he began at Padua along with Apostolo Zeno and Valisnieri the _Giornale dei letterati d'Italia_, a literary periodical which had but a short career; and subsequently an acquaintance with the actor Riccoboni led him to exert himself for the improvement of dramatic art in Italy. His _Merope_, a tragedy, appeared in 1713; _Teatro italiano_, a small collection of works for presentation on the stage, in 1723-1725; and _Le Ceremonie_, an original comedy, in 1728. From 1718 he became specially interested in the archaeology of his native town, and his investigations resulted in the valuable _Verona illustrata_ (1731-1732). Maffei afterwards devoted four years to travel in France, England, Holland and Germany. He died at Verona on the 11th of February 1755.

A complete edition of his works appeared at Venice (28 vols., 8vo) in
1790.

MAFIA (MAFFIA), a secret society of Sicily. Its organization and purposes much resemble those of the Camorra (q.v.).

Various derivations are found for the name. Some hold it to be a
Tuscan synonym for _miseria_; others, a corruption of Fr. _mauvais_
(bad). Others connect it with the name of an alleged Arab tribe,
Mà-âfir, once settled at Palermo. Giuseppe Pitré asserts that the word
is peculiar to western Sicily and that, with its derivatives, it
formerly meant, in Il Borgo, a district of Palermo, beauty or
excellence. Thus, a handsome woman showily dressed was said "to have
_mafia_," or to be _mafiusa_. Often in Palermo the street merchants
call _arance-mafiuse_ (fine oranges). Thus, Pitré argues, _mafia_,
applied to a man to express manly carriage and bravery, would
naturally become the title of a society the members of which were all
"bravos." A less credible explanation of the term is connected with
Mazzini, who is said to have formed a secret society the members of
which were called _Mafiusi_, from _Mafia_, a word composed of the
initial letters of five Italian words, _Mazzini autorizza furti,
incendi, avvelenamenti_, "Mazzini authorizes theft, arson and
poisoning." This theory suggests that the word was unknown before 1859
or 1860.

The Mafia, however named, existed long before Mazzini's day. In its crudest form it was co-operative brigandage, blended with the Vendetta (q.v.). The more strictly organized Mafia was the result of the disorders consequent upon the expulsion of the king of Naples by Napoleon. When the Bourbon court took refuge in Sicily there were a large number of armed retainers in the service of the Sicilian feudal nobility. Ferdinand IV., at the bidding of England, granted a constitution to the island in 1812, and with the destruction of feudalism most of the feudal troops became brigands. Powerless to suppress them, Ferdinand organized the bandits into a rural _gendarmerie_, and they soon established a reign of terror. The abject poverty of the poorer classes, unable to eke out existence by work in the sulphur mines or on the fields, fostered the growth of two classes of _mafiusi_--the vast majority of the inhabitants who were glad to put themselves as passive members under the protection of the Mafia, while the active members shared in the plunder. The Mafia thus became a loosely organized society under an unwritten code of laws or ethics known as _Omertà_, i.e., manliness (from Sicil. _omu_, Ital. _uomo_, a man), which embodied the rules of the Vendetta. Candidates were admitted after trial by duel, and were sworn to resist law and defeat justice. Like the Camorra, the Mafia was soon powerful in all classes, and even the commander of the royal troops acted in collusion with it. The real home of Mafia was in and around Palermo, where no traveller was safe from robbery and the knife. In an organized form the Mafia survives only in isolated districts. Generally speaking, it is to-day not a compact criminal association but a complex social phenomenon, the consequence of centuries of misgovernment. The Mafiuso is governed by a sentiment akin to arrogance which imposes a special line of conduct upon him. He considers it dishonourable to have recourse to lawful authority to obtain redress for a wrong or a crime committed against him. He therefore hides the identity of the offender from the police, reserving vengeance to himself or to his friends and dependants. This sentiment, still widely diffused among the lower classes of many districts, and not entirely unknown to the upper classes, renders difficult legal proof of culpability for acts of violence, and multiplies sanguinary private reprisals. In September 1892 about 150 Mafiusi were arrested at Catania, but all repressive measures proved useless. The only result was to drive some of the members abroad, with disastrous results to other countries. In October 1890 David Hennessy, chief of police in New Orleans, was murdered. Subsequent legal inquiry proved the crime to be the work of the Mafia, which had been introduced into the United States thirty years before. In May 1890 a band of Italians living in New Orleans had ambushed another gang of their fellow-countrymen belonging to a society called _Stoppaghera_. The severe police measures taken brought the vengeance of the society upon Hennessy. Eleven Italians were indicted on suspicion of being implicated in his murder; but the jury was terrorized and acquitted six. On the 14th of March 1891 a mob led by well-known New Orleans citizens broke into the gaol where nineteen Italians were imprisoned and lynched eleven of them.

See W. Agnew Paton, _Picturesque Sicily_ (1898); C. W. Heckethorn,
_Secret Societies of all Ages_ (1897); Alongi, _La Maffia_ (Turin,
1887); Le Faure, _La Maffia_ (Paris, 1892).

MAFRA, a town of Portugal, in the district of Lisbon (formerly in the province of Estremadura); near the Atlantic coast and the right bank of the river Lizandro, and 20 m. N.W. of Lisbon. Pop. (1900), 4769. Mafra is remarkable for its monastery, church, and palace, built by John V. in 1717-1732, in consequence of a vow made during a dangerous illness to build a convent for the poorest friary of the kingdom--which proved to be a small Franciscan settlement here. The architects, Johann Friedrich Ludwig of Regensburg, and his son Johann Peter, took the Escurial for their model; but the imitation is less successful than the original, though the cost exceeded £4,000,000. The building is in the form of a parallelogram measuring upwards of 800 ft. from north to south and 700 ft. from east to west; it is said to contain 866 rooms, and to be lighted by no fewer than 5200 windows. The centre is occupied by the church, sumptuously built of marble, and richly adorned with statues and other objects of art. In each of the twin towers there is a chime of 57 bells. Part of the palace, originally designed as barracks, is used as a military academy. Adjoining the palace are fine gardens and a royal model farm.

MAGADHA, an ancient kingdom of India, mentioned in both the _Ramayana_ and the _Mahabharata_. It comprised that portion of Behar lying S. of the Ganges, with its capital at Pataliputra or Patna. As the scene of many incidents in the life of Gautama Buddha, it was a holy land. It was also the seat of the Maurya Empire, founded by Chandragupta, which extended over all India under Asoka; and, later, of the powerful Gupta dynasty.

MAGALDÁN, a town in the northern part of the province of Pangasinan, Luzon, Philippine Islands, about 2 m. from the shore of the Gulf of Lingayen. Pop. (1903), 15,841. In 1903 the adjacent municipality of Mapandan (pop. in 1903, 4198) was annexed to Magaldán. Most of its inhabitants are engaged in rice culture. The principal language is Pangasinan; Ilocano is also spoken.

MAGALLANES (Spanish form of _Magellan_), a territory of southern Chile extending from 47° S. to Cape Horn and including the mainland from the Argentine frontier to the Pacific coast, the islands extending along that coast, the Fuegian archipelago, and the western half of Tierra del Fuego. Area, about 71,127 sq. m.; pop. (1895), 5170. It is one of the most inhospitable regions of the world, being exposed to cold westerly storms for most of the year. The islands are barren, but the mainland is covered with forests, practically inaccessible to exploitation because of the inclement climate and the wet spongy soil. The coast is indented with bays and fjords and affords remarkable scenery. There is little animal life on land, but the coast is frequented by the seal and sea-otter and the sheltered waters by countless sea-fowl. The only permanent settlements are at Punta Arenas, the capital, on the Straits of Magellan, Palomares on Otway Water, Mina Marta on Skyring Water, and Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope) on the east shore of Worsley Sound. All are east of the Andean ranges and partially sheltered from the westerly storms. In this sheltered region there are open plains where sheep are grazed. A few sheep ranges have been established on Tierra del Fuego. Some nomadic tribes of Indians inhabit Tierra del Fuego and the extreme southern end of the mainland, but their numbers are small. Coal has been found in the vicinity of Punta Arenas, and gold occurs.

See _The Voyage of the Adventure and Beagle_ (1839).

MAGAZINE, primarily a warehouse for goods or merchandise (Arab. _makhzan_, a storehouse, from _khazana_, to store up). In Morocco _makhzan_ (or _maghzen_) has come to be used as the name of the government. The Spaniards adopted the Arabic in the form _magacen_, and the English form comes through the older French _magazin_, modern _magasin_. The meaning of a storehouse or large shop, common in French, is rare in English except in the military use of the term for a building for the storage of explosives and ammunition. It is applied to the chamber of a repeating rifle or machine-gun containing the supply of cartridges. The name as applied to a periodical publication containing articles on various subjects was first used in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ (1731), described as "a monthly collection, to treasure up as in a magazine" articles on the subjects with which it was proposed to deal.

MAGDALA (more correctly MAKDALA), a natural stronghold in the country of the Wollo Gallas, Abyssinia, about 250 m. W. of Jibuti on the Gulf of Aden, in 11° 22´ N., 39° 25´ E. The basaltic plateau of which it consists rises 9110 ft. above the sea. It is about three-quarters of a mile in length by less than half a mile in breadth, and lies more than a thousand feet higher than the neighbouring plain of Arogié. Chosen about 1860 by the emperor Theodore of Abyssinia as his principal stronghold in the south, Magdala owes its celebrity to the fact that, as the place of imprisonment of the English captives, it became the goal of the great English Expedition of 1868. At the time of its capture it contained huts for a population of about three thousand. The whole rock was burned bare by order of the commander of the British force, Sir Robert Napier, who, on being raised to the peerage for his services on this occasion, took the title of Lord Napier of Magdala. The plateau was subsequently refortified by the Abyssinians.

See Clements Markham, _History of the Abyssinian Expedition_ (1869);
and H. Rassam, _British Mission to Theodore_ (1869).

MAGDEBURG, a city of Germany, capital of the Prussian province of Saxony, a fortress of the first rank and one of the principal commercial towns of the German Empire. It lies in a broad and fertile plain, mainly on the left bank of the Elbe, 88 m. S.W. from Berlin and at the junction of main lines to Leipzig, Brunswick, Cassel and Hamburg. Pop. (1885), 159,520; (1890), 202,234; (1905), 240,661. It consists of the town proper, and of the five suburbs of Friedrichstadt, Wilhelmstadt, Neustadt, Sudenburg and Buckau; the last four are separated from the town by the ramparts and glacis, but are all included within the new line of advanced bastions, while Friedrichstadt lies on the right bank of the river. In the Elbe, between the old town and the Friedrichstadt, lies an island whereon stands the citadel; this is united with both banks by bridges. With the exception of the Breite Weg, a handsome thoroughfare running from north to south, the streets of the town proper are narrow and crooked. Along the Elbe, however, extend fine promenades, the Fürstenwall and the Fürsten Üfer. To the south of the inner town is the Friedrich Wilhelms Garten, a beautiful park laid out on the site of the celebrated convent of Berge, which was founded in 968 and suppressed in 1809. By far the most important building in Magdeburg is the cathedral, dedicated to SS Maurice and Catherine, a handsome and massive structure of the 14th century, exhibiting an interesting blending of Romanesque and Gothic architecture. The two fine western towers were completed about 1520. The interior contains the tombs of the emperor Otto the Great and his wife Edith, an English princess, and the fine monument of Archbishop Ernest (d. 1513), executed in 1495 by Peter Vischer of Nüremberg. The Liebfrauenkirche, the oldest church in Magdeburg, is an interesting Romanesque edifice of the 12th and 13th centuries, which was restored in 1890-1891. The chief secular buildings are the town-hall (Rathaus), built in 1691 and enlarged in 1866, the government offices, the palace of justice, the central railway station and the exchange. The Breite Weg and the old market contain numerous fine gable-ended private houses in the style of the Renaissance. In front of the town-hall stands an equestrian statue of Otto the Great, erected about 1290. The modern streets are spacious, and the houses well-built though monotonous. There are two theatres, an agricultural college, an art school, several gymnasia, a commercial and other schools, an observatory, and two fine hospitals. The first place amongst the industries is taken by the ironworks (one being a branch of the Krupp firm, the Grusonwerke, employing about 4000 hands), which produce naval armour and munitions of war. Of almost equal importance are the sugar refineries and chicory factories. Then come establishments for making tobacco, gloves, chocolate, artificial manure, cement, varnish, chemicals and pottery. There are also distilleries and breweries, and factories for the manufacture of cotton and silk goods. Magdeburg is the central market in Germany for sugar and chicory, but trades extensively also in cereals, fruit, vegetables, groceries, cattle, horses, wool, cloth, yarn, leather, coal and books. A new winter harbour, made at a cost of £400,000, facilitates the river traffic along the Elbe. Three million tons of merchandise pass Magdeburg, going upstream, and nearly 1 million tons, going downstream, annually. Magdeburg is the headquarters of the IV. corps of the German army and the seat of the provincial court of appeal and administrative offices, and of a Lutheran consistory.

_History._--Magdeburg, which was in existence as a small trading settlement at the beginning of the 9th century, owes its early prosperity chiefly to the emperor Otto the Great, who established a convent here about 937. In 968 it became the seat of an archbishop, who exercised sway over an extensive territory. Although it was burnt down in 1188, Magdeburg became a flourishing commercial town during the 13th century, and was soon an important member of the Hanseatic League. Its bench of jurats (_Schöppenstuhl_) became celebrated, and "Magdeburg law" (_Magdeburger Recht_), securing the administrative independence of municipalities, was adopted in many parts of Germany, Poland and Bohemia. During the middle ages the citizens were almost constantly at variance with the archbishops, and by the end of the 15th century had become nearly independent of them. It should, however, be noted that Magdeburg never became a free city of the Empire. The town embraced the Reformation in 1524, and was thenceforth governed by Protestant titular archbishops (see BISHOP). On the refusal of the citizens to accept the "Interim," issued by the emperor Charles V., Magdeburg was besieged by Maurice of Saxony in 1550, and capitulated on favourable terms in November 1551. During the Thirty Years' War it was twice besieged, and suffered terribly. It successfully resisted Wallenstein for seven months in 1629, but was stormed and sacked by Tilly in May 1631. The whole town, with the exception of the cathedral, and about 140 houses, was burned to the ground, and the greater part of its 36,000 inhabitants were butchered without regard to age or sex, but it recovered from this deadly blow with wonderful rapidity. By the peace of Westphalia (1648) the archbishopric was converted into a secular duchy, to fall to Brandenburg on the death of the last administrator, which happened in 1680. In 1806 Magdeburg was taken by the French and annexed to the kingdom of Westphalia, but it was restored to Prussia in 1814, on the downfall of Napoleon. Otto von Guericke (1602-1686), the inventor of the air-pump, was burgomaster of Magdeburg. Count Lazare Carnot died here in exile, and was buried in the cemetery, but his remains were exhumed in 1889 and conveyed to Paris. Luther was at school here, and sang in the streets for bread with other poor choristers.

See W. Kawerau, _Aus Magdeburgs Vergangenheit_ (Halle, 1886) O. von
Guericke, _Geschichte der Belagerung, Eroberung und Zerstörung von
Magdeburg_ (Magdeburg, 1887); M. Dittmar, _Beiträge zur Geschichte der
Stadt Magdeburg_ (Halle, 1885); F. W. Hoffmann, _Geschichte der Stadt
Magdeburg_ (Magdeburg, 1885-1886); F. Hülsse, _Die Einführung der
Reformation in der Stadt Magdeburg_ (Magdeburg, 1883); R. Volkholz,
_Die Zerstörung Magdeburgs_ 1631 (Magdeburg, 1892); W. Leinung and R.
Stumvoll, _Aus Magdeburgs Sage und Geschichte_ (Magdeburg, 1894); and
the _Urkundenbuch der Stadt Magdeburg_ (1892).

THE ARCHBISHOPRIC OF MAGDEBURG was carved out of the bishopric of Halberstadt when it was founded in 968, and its history is largely bound up with that of the city and of the prelates who have ruled the see. The first archbishop was Adalbert, and he and his successors had six or seven suffragan bishops. Several of the archbishops took very prominent parts in German politics. Early in the 15th century their residence was fixed at Halle, and about the same time it became the custom to select them from one of the reigning families of Germany, most often from the house of Brandenburg. The doctrines of the reformers made their appearance in the diocese early in the 16th century, and soon Archbishop Sigismund, a son of Joachim II., elector of Brandenburg, openly avowed his adherence to Lutheranism. After the issue of the edict of restitution by the emperor Ferdinand II. in 1629, there were three rival candidates for the see, and their struggles added to the confusion caused by the Thirty Years' War. By the peace of Prague, however, in 1635, the archbishopric was given to Augustus, prince of Saxe-Weissenfels, who retained it until his death in 1680. In 1773 the area of the see was over 2000 sq. m. It included 29 towns and over 400 villages and contained about 250,000 inhabitants.

See the _Regesta archiepiscopatus magdeburgensis_, edited by G. A. von
Mülverstedt (Magdeburg, 1876-1899); and K. Uhlirz, _Geschichte des
Erzbistums Magdeburg unter den Kaisern aus sächsischem Hause_
(Magdeburg, 1887).

Distinct both from the archbishopric and from the city was the BURGRAVIATE OF MAGDEBURG. The office of burgrave dates from the time of Charlemagne, although its holder was not at first called by this name, and it soon became one of great importance. The burgrave was the king's representative; he was charged with the administration of the royal estates in a given district, and in general with watching the royal interests therein. The burgraviate of Magdeburg was held by several countly families in turn until 1269, when it was purchased by Archbishop Conrad II., who, however, soon sold it. In 1294 it was again united with the archbishopric and the prelates retained it until 1538; then in 1579 Augustus, elector of Saxony, made an arrangement which again gave the office to the archbishops, who held it until the secularization of the see.

The MAGDEBURG CENTURIES (_Magdeburger Zenturien_) is the name given to the first general history of the Christian Church written from a Protestant point of view. It was compiled in Magdeburg, and the history is divided into periods of one hundred years each. It was written in Latin in 1562, its principal author being the reformer Matthias Flacius, who was assisted by other Lutheran theologians. The cost of the undertaking was borne by some of the German Protestant princes. As the _Historia ecclesiae Christi_ it was first published at Basel in seven volumes (1559-1574). It deals with the history of the Church down to 1400, and considering the time at which it was written it is a remarkable monument to the scholarship of its authors. The earlier part of it has been translated into German (Jena, 1560-1565).

See E. Schaumkell, _Beitrag zur Entstehungsgeschichte der Magdeburger
Zenturien_ (Ludwigslust, 1898).

MAGEE, WILLIAM (1766-1831), archbishop of Dublin, was born at Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, and educated at Trinity College, Dublin, where he was elected fellow in 1788. He was ordained in 1790. Two sermons, preached in the college chapel in 1798 and 1799, form the basis of his _Discourses on the Scriptural Doctrines of Atonement and Sacrifice_ (1801), a polemic against Unitarian theology which was answered by Lant Carpenter. Magee was appointed professor of mathematics and senior fellow of Trinity in 1800, but in 1812 he resigned, and undertook the charge of the livings of Cappagh, Co. Tyrone, and Killeleagh, Co. Down. Next year he became dean of Cork. He was well known as a preacher and promoter of the Irish reformation, and in 1819 he was consecrated bishop of Raphoe. In 1822 the archbishop of Dublin was translated to Armagh, and Magee succeeded him at Dublin. Though in most respects a tolerant man, he steadily opposed the movement for Catholic Emancipation. He died on the 18th of August 1831.

A memoir of his life is included with the _Works of the Most Reverend
William Magee_, D.D. (1842), by A. H. Kenney.

MAGEE, WILLIAM CONNOR (1821-1891), Anglican divine, archbishop of York, was born at Cork in 1821. His father was curate of the parish attached to the Protestant cathedral in that city; his grandfather was archbishop of Dublin. Young Magee entered Trinity College, Dublin, with a scholarship at thirteen. He was ordained to the curacy of St Thomas's, Dublin, but, being threatened with consumption, went after two years to Malaga. On his return he took a curacy at Bath, and was speedily appointed to the Octagon Chapel, where his fame both as preacher and platform speaker continued to spread. Some years afterwards he was made prebendary of Wells Cathedral. In 1860 the delicate state of his health caused him to accept the living of Enniskillen. In 1864 he was made dean of Cork and chaplain to the lord lieutenant. Here he manifested those great gifts which ultimately raised him to high office; a powerful grasp of mental, moral and political problems, combined with eloquence of a high order, and illuminated with brilliant flashes of wit. In 1868 the question of the disestablishment of the Irish Church came to the front, and Magee threw himself into the task of its defence with his usual energy and vivacity. The success of his orations caused Disraeli to offer him the bishopric of Peterborough. He justified his appointment by his magnificent speech when the Disestablishment Bill reached the House of Lords in 1869, and then plunged into diocesan and general work in England. He preached three remarkable sermons on Christian Evidence in Norwich Cathedral in 1871. He took up the temperance question, and declared in the House of Lords that he would rather see "England free than England compulsorily sober," an utterance which the extreme advocates of total abstinence misquoted and attacked. He was also a supporter of the movement for abolishing the recitation of the Athanasian Creed in the public services of the Church of England, believing, as he said, that the "presence" of the damnatory clauses, "as they stand and where they stand, is a real peril to the Church and to Christianity itself," and that those clauses "are no essential part" of the creed. The project was laid aside in consequence of the hostility of a large body of the clergy, reinforced by the threat of Dr Pusey and Canon Liddon to abandon their offices if it were carried. Magee took a prominent part in the Ritual controversy, opposing what he conceived to be romanizing excess in ritual, as well as the endeavour of the opposite party to "put down Ritualism," as Disraeli expressed it, by the operation of the civil law. His incisive way of putting things earned for him the title of the "Militant Bishop," but, as he himself remarked in relation to this title, his efforts were ever for peace. Unfortunately for the Church, he was not elevated to the see of York until his energies were exhausted. He died on the 5th of May 1891, about four months after his appointment. Magee's manifold activities, his capability as an administrator, his sound judgment, and his remarkable insight into the ecclesiastical problems of his time, rank him among the most distinguished of English prelates.

See _Life and Letters_, by Canon MacDonnell (2 vols. 1896).