[1] These and other channels in the locality are named from their
position under parallels of latitude.
MALDON, a market town, municipal borough and port, in the Maldon
parliamentary borough of Essex, England, on an acclivity rising from the
south side of the Blackwater, 43 m. E.N.E. from London by a branch from
Witham of the Great Eastern railway. Pop. (1901), 5565. There are east
and west railway stations. The church of All Saints, dating from 1056,
but, as it stands, Early English and later, consists of chancel, nave
and aisles, with a triangular Early English tower (a unique form) at the
west end surmounted by a hexagonal spire. The tower of St Mary's Church
shows Norman work with Roman materials. The other public buildings are
the grammar school, founded in 1547; the town-hall, formerly D'Arcy's
tower, built in the reign of Henry VI.; and the public hall. There are
manufactures of crystallized salt, breweries, an oyster fishery and some
shipping. On Osea Island, in the Blackwater estuary, there is a farm
colony for the unemployed. A mile west of Maldon are remains of Beeleigh
Abbey, a Premonstratensian foundation of the 12th century. They consist
of the chapter-house and another chamber, and are of fine Early English
work. The borough is under a mayor, 4 aldermen and 12 councillors. Area,
3028 acres.
At Maldon (_Maelduna_, _Melduna_, _Mealdon_ or _Meaudon_) palaeolithic,
neolithic and Roman remains that have been found seem to indicate an
early settlement. It is not, however, an important Roman site. An
earthwork, of which traces exist, may be Saxon or Danish. The
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle relates that Edward the Elder established a "burh"
there about 921, and that Ealdorman Brihtnoth was killed there by the
Danes in 991. The position of Maldon may have given it some commercial
importance, but the fortress is the point emphasized by the Chronicle.
Maldon remained a royal town up to the reign of Henry I., and thus is
entered as on _terra regis_ in Domesday. Henry II. granted the burgesses
their first charter, probably in 1155, giving them the land of the
borough and suburb with sac and soc and other judicial rights, also
freedom from county and forest jurisdiction, danegeld, scutage, tallage
and all tolls, by the service of one ship a year for forty days. This
charter was confirmed by Edward I. in 1290, by Edward III. in 1344, and
by Richard II. in 1378. In 1403 the bishop of London granted further
judicial and financial rights, and Henry V. confirmed the charters in
1417, Henry VI. in 1443, and Henry VIII. in 1525. Maldon was
incorporated by Philip and Mary in 1554, and received confirmatory
charters from Elizabeth in 1563 and 1592, from Charles I. in 1631,
Charles II. and James II. In 1768 the incorporation charter was
regranted, with modifications in 1810.
MALEBRANCHE, NICOLAS (1638-1715), French philosopher of the Cartesian
school, the youngest child of Nicolas Malebranche, secretary to Louis
XIII., and Catherine de Lauzon, sister of a viceroy of Canada, was born
at Paris on the 6th of August 1638. Deformed and constitutionally
feeble, he received his elementary education from a tutor, and left home
only when sufficiently advanced to enter upon a course of philosophy at
the Collège de la Marche, and subsequently to study theology at the
Sorbonne. He had resolved to take holy orders, but his studious
disposition led him to decline a stall in Notre Dame, and in 1660 he
joined the congregation of the Oratory. He was first advised by Père
Lecointe to devote himself to ecclesiastical history, and laboriously
studied Eusebius, Socrates, Sozomen and Theodoret, but "the facts
refused to arrange themselves in his mind, and mutually effaced one
another." Richard Simon undertook to teach him Hebrew and Biblical
criticism with no better success. At last in 1664 he chanced to read
Descartes's _Traité de l'homme_ (_de homine_), which moved him so deeply
that (it is said) he was repeatedly compelled by palpitations of the
heart to lay aside his reading. Malebranche was from that hour
consecrated to philosophy, and after ten years' study of the works of
Descartes he produced the famous _De la recherche de la vérité_,
followed at intervals by other works, both speculative and
controversial. Like most of the great metaphysicians of the 17th
century, Malebranche interested himself also in questions of mathematics
and natural philosophy, and in 1699 was admitted an honorary member of
the Academy of Sciences. During his later years his society was much
courted, and he received many visits from foreigners of distinction. He
died on the 13th of October 1715; his end was said to have been hastened
by a metaphysical argument into which he had been drawn in the course of
an interview with Bishop Berkeley. For a critical account of
Malebranche's place in the history of philosophy, see CARTESIANISM.
WORKS.--_De La recherche de la vérité_ (1674; 6th ed., 1712; ed.
Bouillier, 1880; Latin trans, by J. Lenfant at Geneva in 1685; English
trans. by R. Sault, 1694; and T. Taylor, 1694, 1712); _Conversations
chrétiennes_ (1677, and frequently; Eng. trans., London, 1695);
_Traité de la nature et de la grâce_ (1680; Eng. trans., London,
1695); _Méditations chrétiennes et métaphysiques_ (1683); _Traité de
morale_ (1684; separate ed. by H. Joly, 1882; Eng. trans, by Sir J.
Shipton, 1699); several polemical works against Arnauld from 1684 to
1688; _Entretiens sur la métaphysique et sur la religion_ (1688);
_Traité de l'amour de Dieu_ (1697); _Entretiens d'un philosophe
chrétien et d'un philosophe chinois sur l'existence et la nature de
Dieu_ (1708); _Réflexions sur la prémotion physique_ (1715).
A convenient edition of his works in two volumes, with an
introduction, was published by Jules Simon in 1842. A full account by
Mrs Norman Smith of his theory of vision, in which he unquestionably
anticipated and in some respects surpassed the subsequent work of
Berkeley, will be found in the _British Journal of Psychology_ (Jan.
1905). For recent criticism see H. Joly, in the series _Les Grands
philosophes_ (Paris, 1901); L. Ollé-Laprune, _La Philosophie de
Malebranche_ (1870); M. Novaro, _Die Philosophie des Nicolaus
Malebranche_ (1893).
MALER KOTLA, a native state of India, within the Punjab. It ranks as one
of the Cis-Sutlej states, which came under British influence in 1809.
The territory lies south of Ludhiana. Area, 167 sq. m. Pop. (1901),
77,506, showing an increase of 2% in the decade. Estimated gross
revenue, £30,100. The military force numbers 280 men; and there is no
tribute. The town Maler Kotla is 30 m. S. of Ludhiana; pop. (1901),
21,122. The nawab or chief is of Afghan descent; his family originally
came from Kabul, and occupied positions of trust in Sirhind under the
Mogul emperors. They gradually became independent as the Mogul Empire
sank into decay in the course of the 18th century. In General Lake's
campaign against Holkar in 1805 the nawab of Maler Kotla sided with the
British. After the subjugation and flight of Holkar, the English
government succeeded to the power of the Mahrattas in the districts
between the Sutlej and the Jumna; and in 1809 its protection was
formally extended to Maler Kotla, as to the other Cis-Sutlej states,
against the formidable encroachments of Ranjit Singh. In the campaigns
of 1806, 1807 and 1808 Ranjit Singh had made considerable conquests
across the Sutlej; in 1808 he marched on Maler Kotla and demanded a
ransom of £10,000 from the nawab. This led to the interference of the
British, who addressed an ultimatum to Ranjit Singh, declaring the
Cis-Sutlej states to be under British protection. Finally the raja of
Lahore submitted, and the nawab was reinstated in February 1809. Owing
to the mental incapacity of nawab Ibrahim Ali Khan, the state was
administered in recent years for some time by the chief of Loharu; but
his son, Ahmed Ali Khan, was made regent in February 1905.
See _Maler Kotla State Gazetteer_ (Lahore, 1908).
MALESHERBES, CHRÉTIEN GUILLAUME DE LAMOIGNON DE (1721-1794), commonly
known as Lamoignon-Malesherbes, French statesman, minister, and
afterwards counsel for the defence of Louis XVI., came of a famous legal
family. He was born at Paris on the 6th of December 1721, and was
educated for the legal profession. The young lawyer soon proved his
intellectual capacity, when he was appointed president of the _cour des
aides_ in the parlement of Paris in 1750 on the promotion of his father,
Guillaume de Lamoignon, to be chancellor. One of the chancellor's duties
was to control the press, and this duty was entrusted to Malesherbes by
his father during his eighteen years of office, and brought him into
connexion with the public far more than his judicial functions. To carry
it out efficiently he kept in communication with the literary leaders of
Paris, and especially with Diderot, and Grimm even goes so far as to say
that "without the assistance of Malesherbes the _Encyclopédie_ would
probably never have been published." In 1771 he was called upon to mix
in politics; the parlements of France had been dissolved, and a new
method of administering justice devised by Maupeou, which was in itself
commendable as tending to the better and quicker administration of
justice, but pernicious as exhibiting a tendency to over-centralization,
and as abolishing the hereditary "nobility of the robe," which, with all
its faults, had from its nature preserved some independence, and been a
check on the royal power. Malesherbes presented a strong remonstrance
against the new system, and was at once banished to his country seat at
St Lucie, to be recalled, however, with the old parlement on the
accession of Louis XVI., and to be made minister of the _maison du roi_
in 1775. He only held office nine months, during which, however, he
directed his attention to the police of the kingdom, which came under
his department, and did much to check the odious practice of issuing
_lettres de cachet_. The protest of the _cour des aides_ in 1775 is one
of the most important documents of the old régime in France. It gives a
complete survey of the corrupt and inefficient administration, and
presented the king with most outspoken criticism. On retiring from the
ministry with Turgot in 1776, he betook himself entirely to a happy
country and domestic life and travelled through Switzerland, Germany and
Holland. An essay on Protestant marriages (1787) did much to procure for
them the civil recognition in France. He had always been an enthusiastic
botanist; his avenue at St Lucie was world famous; he had written
against Buffon on behalf of the botanists whom Buffon had attacked, and
had been elected a member of the _Académie des sciences_ as far back as
1750. He was now elected a member of the _Académie française_, and
everything seemed to promise a quiet and peaceful old age spent in the
bosom of his family and occupied with scientific and literary pursuits,
when the king in his difficulties wished for the support of his name,
and summoned him back to the ministry in 1787. Lamoignon-Malesherbes
held office but a short time, but returned to his country life this time
with a feeling of insecurity and disquiet, and, as the troubles
increased, retired to Switzerland. Nevertheless, in December 1792, in
spite of the fair excuse his old age and long retirement would have
given him, he voluntarily left his asylum and undertook with Tronchet
and Desèze the defence of the king before the Convention, and it was his
painful task to break the news of his condemnation to the king. After
this effort he returned once more to the country, but in December 1793
he was arrested with his daughter, his son-in-law M. de Rosambo, and his
grandchildren, and on the 23rd of April 1794 he was guillotined, after
having seen all whom he loved in the world executed before his eyes for
their relationship to him. Malesherbes is one of the sweetest
characters of the 18th century; though no man of action, hardly a man of
the world, by his charity and unfeigned goodness he became one of the
most popular men in France, and it was an act of truest self-devotion in
him to sacrifice himself for a king who had done little or nothing for
him.
There are in print several scientific works of Malesherbes of varying
value, of which the most interesting is his _Observations sur Buffon
et Daubenton_, written when he was very young, and published with a
notice by Abeille in 1798. There exist also his _Mémoire pour Louis
XVI._, his _Mémoire sur la liberté de la presse_ (published 1809) and
extracts from his remonstrances, published as _Oeuvres choisies de
Malesherbes_ in 1809. For his life should be read the _Notice
historique_ (3rd ed., 1806) of Dubois, the _Éloge historique_ (1805)
of Gaillard, and the interesting _Essai sur la vie, les écrits et les
opinions de M. de Malesherbes_ (in 2 vols., 1818), of F. A. de Boissy
d'Anglas. There are also many éloges on him in print, of which the
best-known is that of M. Dupin, which was delivered at the Academy in
1841, and was reviewed with much light on Malesherbes's control of the
press by Sainte-Beuve in the 2nd volume of the _Causeries du lundi_.
The protest of the _cour des aides_ has been published with
translation by G. Robinson in the _Translations and Reprints of the
University of Pennsylvania_ (1900). For his defence of Louis XVI. see
Marquis de Beaucourt, _Captivité et derniers moments de Louis XVI._ (2
vols., 1892, Soc. d'hist. contemp.), and A. Tuetey, _Répertoire
général des sources manuscrites de l'hist. de Paris pendant la Rev.
fr._, vol. viii. (1908).
MALET, LUCAS, the pen-name of Mary St Leger Harrison (1852- ), English
novelist. She was the eldest daughter of Charles Kingsley, and was born
at Eversley on the 4th of June 1852. She studied at the Slade school and
at University College, London, and married in 1876 William Harrison,
rector of Clovelly. After her husband's death in 1897 she eventually
settled in London. She had already written several books--_Mrs Lorimer_
(1882), _Colonel Enderby's Wife_ (1885), _Little Peter_ (1887), _A
Counsel of Perfection_ (1888)--when she published her powerful story,
_The Wages of Sin_ (1891), which attracted great attention. Her _History
of Sir Richard Calmady_ (1901) had an even greater success. Her other
novels include _The Carissima_ (1896), _The Gateless Barrier_ (1900),
_On the Far Horizon_ (1906).
MALHERBE, FRANÇOIS DE (1555-1628), French poet, critic and translator,
was born at Caen in 1555. His family was of some position, though it
seems not to have been able to establish to the satisfaction of heralds
the claims which it made to nobility older than the 16th century. The
poet was the eldest son of another François de Malherbe, _conseiller du
roi_ in the magistracy of Caen. He himself was elaborately educated at
Caen, at Paris, at Heidelberg and at Basel. At the age of twenty-one,
preferring arms to the gown, he entered the household of Henri
d'Angoulême, grand prior of France, the natural son of Henry II. He
served this prince as secretary in Provence, and married there in 1581.
It seems that he wrote verses at this period, but, to judge from a
quotation of Tallemant des Réaux, they must have been very bad ones. His
patron died when Malherbe was on a visit in his native province, and for
a time he had no particular employment, though by some servile verses he
obtained a considerable gift of money from Henry III., whom he
afterwards libelled. He lived partly in Provence and partly in Normandy
for many years after this event; but very little is known of his life
during this period. His _Larmes de Saint Pierre_, imitated from Luigi
Tansillo, appeared in 1587.
It was in the year parting the two centuries (1600) that he presented to
Marie de' Medici an ode of welcome, the first of his remarkable poems.
But four or five years more passed before his fortune, which had
hitherto been indifferent, turned. He was presented by his countryman,
the Cardinal Du Perron, to Henry IV.; and, though that economical prince
did not at first show any great eagerness to entertain the poet, he was
at last summoned to court and endowed after one fashion or another. It
is said that the pension promised him was not paid till the next reign.
His father died in 1606, and he came into his inheritance. From this
time forward he lived at court, corresponding affectionately with his
wife, but seeing her only twice in some twenty years. His old age was
saddened by a great misfortune. His son, Marc Antoine, a young man of
promise, fell in a duel in 1626. His father used his utmost influence
to have the guilty parties (for more than one were concerned, and there
are grounds for thinking that it was not a fair duel) brought to
justice. But he died before the suit was decided (it is said in
consequence of disease caught at the camp of La Rochelle, whither he had
gone to petition the king), in Paris, on the 16th of October, 1628, at
the age of seventy-three.
The personal character of Malherbe was far from amiable, but he
exercised, or at least indicated the exercise of, a great and enduring
effect upon French literature, though by no means a wholly beneficial
one. The lines of Boileau beginning _Enfin Malherbe vint_ are rendered
only partially applicable by the extraordinary ignorance of older French
poetry which distinguished that peremptory critic. But the good as well
as bad side of Malherbe's theory and practice is excellently described
by his contemporary and superior Regnier, who was animated against him,
not merely by reason of his own devotion to Ronsard but because of
Malherbe's discourtesy towards Regnier's uncle P. Desportes, whom the
Norman poet had at first distinctly copied. These are the lines:--
"Cependant leur savoir ne s'étend nullement
Qu'à régratter un mot douteuse au jugement,
Prendre garde qu'un _qui_ ne heurte une diphthongue,
Epier si des vers la rime est brève ou longue,
Ou bien si la voyelle à l'autre s'unissant
Ne rend point à l'oreille un vers trop languissant.
. . . . . . . .
C'est proser de la rime et rimer de la prose."
This is perfectly true, and from the time of Malherbe dates that great
and deplorable falling off of French poetry in its more poetic
qualities, which was not made good till 1830. Nevertheless the critical
and restraining tendency of Malherbe was not ill in place after the
luxuriant importation and innovation of the _Pléiade_; and if he had
confined himself to preaching greater technical perfection, and
especially greater simplicity and purity in vocabulary and
versification, instead of superciliously striking his pen through the
great works of his predecessors, he would have deserved wholly well. As
it was, his reforms helped to elaborate the kind of verse necessary for
the classical tragedy, and that is the most that can be said for him.
His own poetical work is scanty in amount, and for the most part frigid
and devoid of inspiration. The beautiful _Consolation à Duperier_, in
which occurs the famous line--