Mario (Alberto), Italian patriot, b. 3 June, 1825. He edited the
Tribune and Free Italy, became aide-de-camp to Garibaldi and married
Jessie White, an English lady. In '60 he wrote a polemic against the
papacy entitled Slavery and Thought. Died 2 June, 1883.
Marlow (Christopher), English poet and dramatist, b. Canterbury,
8 Feb. 1564. Educated at Benet College, Cambridge, where he took his
degree in 1587. He devoted himself to dramatic writing and according
to some became an actor. He was killed in a brawl at Deptford, 1 June,
1593, in time to escape being tried on an information laid against him
for Atheism and blasphemy. The audacity of his genius is displayed in
Tamburlaine and Dr. Faustus. Of the latter, Goethe said "How greatly
is it all planned." Swinburne says "He is the greatest discoverer,
the most daring and inspired pioneer in all our poetic literature."
Marr (Wilhelm), German socialist, author of Religious Excursions,
1876, and several anti-Semitic tracts.
Marsais (Cesar Chesneau du). See Du Marsais.
Marselli (Niccola), Italian writer, b. Naples, 5 Nov. 1832. Author
of advanced works on the Science of History, Nature and Civilisation,
the Origin of Humanity, the Great Races of Humanity, etc.
Marston (Philip Bourke), English poet, b. London, 13 Aug. 1850. He
became blind in childhood, and devoted to poetry. A friend of
D. G. Rossetti, Swinburne, and Thomson, his poems are sad and
sincere. Died 14 Feb. 1887, and was buried in accordance with his
own wishes in unconsecrated ground at Highgate, and without religious
service.
Marsy (François Marie de), b. Paris, 1714, educated as a Jesuit. He
brought out an analysis of Bayle, 1755, for which he was confined in
the Bastile. Died 16 Dec. 1763.
Marten (Henry), regicide, b. Oxford, 1602. Educated at Oxford, where
he proceeded B.A., 1619. He was elected to Parliament in 1640, and
expelled for his republican sentiments in 1643. He resumed his seat
6 Jan. 1646, took part in the civil war, sat as one of King Charles's
judges, and became one of the Council of State. He proposed the repeal
of the statute of banishment against the Jews, and when it was sought
to expel all profane persons, proposed to add the words "and all
fools." Tried for regicide 10 Oct. 1660, he was kept in Chepstow
Castle till his death, Sep. 1680. Carlyle calls him "sworn foe of
Cant in all its figures; an indomitable little Pagan if not better."
Martin (Emma), English writer and lecturess, b. Bristol, 1812. Brought
up as a Baptist, she, for a time, edited the Bristol Magazine. She
wrote the Exiles of Piedmont and translated from the Italian the Maxims
of Guicciardini. The trials of Holyoake and Southwell for blasphemy
led her to inquire and embrace the Freethought cause. While Holyoake
and Paterson were in gaol, Mrs. Martin went about committing the
"crime" for which they were imprisoned. In '43 she published Baptism A
Pagan Rite. This was followed by Tracts for the People on the Bible no
Revelation, Religion Superseded, Prayer, God's Gifts and Men's Duties,
a conversation on the being of God, etc. She also lectured and wrote
on the Punishment of Death, to which she was earnestly opposed. Died
Oct. 1851.
Martin (Bon Louis Henri), French historian, b. St. Quentin, 20
Feb. 1810. He was sent to Paris to study law, but abandoned it for
history. His History of France, in nineteen vols. (1838-53), is
a monumental work of erudition. A confirmed Republican, he warmly
opposed the Second Empire and after its fall became member of the
National Assembly, '71, and senator, '76. He was elected member of
the Academy, '78. In addition to his historical works he contributed
to le Siecle, la Liberté de penser, and l'Encyclopédie Nouvelle,
etc. Died 14 Dec. 1883.
Martin (Louis), author of Les Evangiles Sans Dieu (called by Victor
Hugo cette noble page), Paris, 1887, describes himself as an Atheist
Socialist.
Martin (Louis Auguste). French writer, b. Paris, 25 April, 1811,
editor of the Morale Independante and member of the Institute of
Geneva. For his True and False Catholics ('58), he was fined three
thousand francs and imprisoned for six months. He published the
Annuaire Philosophique. Several of his works are placed on the Roman
Index. Died Paris, 6 April, 1875.
Martinaud (M.), an ex-abbé who refused ordination, and wrote Letters
of a young priest, who is an Atheist and Materialist, to his bishop,
Paris, 1868, in which he says, "Religion is the infancy of peoples,
Atheism their maturity."
Martineau (Harriet), b. Norwich 12 June, 1803, descended from
a Huguenot family. Brought up as a Unitarian, she began writing
Devotional Exercises for Young Persons, and, taking to literature
as a means of living, distinguished herself by popularisations
of political economy. The Letters on the Laws of Man's Nature and
Development, which passed between her and H. G. Atkinson, appeared in
'51, and disclosed her advance to the Positivist school of Thought. In
'53 she issued a condensed account of Comte's philosophy. She wrote
a History of England during the Thirty Years' Peace, and numerous
other works. Died at Ambleside 27 June, 1876. Her Autobiography,
published after her death, shows the full extent of her unbelief.
Masquerier (Lewis), American land reformer of Huguenot descent, b. 1
March, 1802. Wrote The Sataniad, established Greenpoint Gazette,
and contributed to the Boston Investigator. Died 7 Jan. 1888.
Massenet (Jules Emile Fréderic), French musical composer, b. Montard,
12 May, 1842. Has written a daring and popular oratorio on Marie
Magdeleine, and an opera, Herodiade.
Massey (Gerald), poet and archæologist, b. of poor parents at
Tring, in Herts, 29 May, 1828. At eight years of age he was sent
to a factory to earn a miserable pittance. At the age of fifteen
he came to London as an errand boy, read all that came in his way,
and became a Freethinker and political reformer. Inspired by the
men of '48, he started The Spirit of Freedom, '49. It cost him five
situations in eleven months. In '53 his Ballad of Babe Christabel,
with other Lyrical Poems at once gave him position as a poet of fine
taste and sensibility. Mr. Massey devoted himself to the study of
Egyptology, the result of which is seen in his Book of Beginnings
and Natural Genesis, '81-83, in which he shows the mythical nature of
Christianity. Mr. Massey has also lectured widely on such subjects as
Why Don't God Kill the Devil? The Historical Jesus and the Mythical
Christ, The Devil of Darkness in the Light of Evolution, The Coming
Religion, etc. His poems are being re-published under the title My
Lyrical Life.