[1] At least seventy hills in the state, mainly in this quarter, have
an elevation of 1500 ft. (twenty-four above 2000 ft.).
[2] In some localities it is not easy to establish irrefutably and in
detail the inter-arrangement of drainage and rock structure that
proves it to be a subaerial peneplain instead of an uplifted
submarine platform; but the general proof is very clear.
[3] The yield of cereals and of such other crops in 1907 as are
recorded in the _Yearbook_ of the United States Department of
Agriculture was as follows: Indian corn, 1,584,000 bushels; oats,
245,000 bushels; barley, 64,000 bushels; buckwheat, 42,000 bushels;
potatoes, 3,600,000 bushels; hay, 760,000 tons; tobacco, 7,167,500
lb. In the same year, according to the same authority, there were in
the state 196,000 milch cows, 92,000 other neat cattle, 45,000 sheep
and 70,000 swine.
[4] _The Green Schists and Associated Granites and Porphyries of
Rhode Island_, Bulletin, U.S. Geological Survey, No. 311, 1907.
[5] In 1905 Massachusetts produced 60.7% of the writing paper
manufactured in the country. Besides writing paper, book paper and
building paper are made in the state, but very little newspaper.
[6] It must be noted, however, that the first successful construction
of cards, drawing and roving, and of spindles, on the Arkwright
principle was by S. Slater at Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 1790.
[7] The tax valuation on ships engaged in foreign trade was lowered
between 1884 and 1900 from $2,801,405 to $147,768.
[8] The population of the state was 378,787 in 1790; 422,845 in 1800;
472,040 in 1810; 523,287 in 1820; 610,408 in 1830; 737,699 in 1840;
994,514 in 1850; 1,231,066 in 1860; 1,457,351 in 1870; 1,783,085 in
1880; 2,238,943 in 1890; and 2,805,346 in 1900. In 1905, according to
the state census, the population was 3,003,680, or about 7.7% more
than in 1900.
[9] In 1910 the following townships each had populations of more than
15,000: Revere, Leominster, Westfield, Attleborough, Peabody, Hyde
Park.
[10] The birth-rates every fifth (census) year up to 1895 varied for
natives from 14.48 to 19.49; for foreigners from 45.87 to 66.68. The
marriage rates in quinquennial periods up to 1905 were 19.6, 18.6,
21.0, 19.8, 15.6, 18.6, 18.6, 18.6, 17.4 and 17.4; the ratio of
marriages to the marriageable population was for males (above 16
years) 61.5, for females (above 14) 46.0; the fecundity of marriages
seemed to have increased, being about twice as high for foreigners as
for natives. See _Annual Report_ of the Board of Health (1896), by S.
W. Abbott; and _Sixty-fourth Report of Births, Marriages and Deaths
in Massachusetts_ (1906).
[11] The number of representatives from 1832 to 1908 varied from 240
to 635, and the length of session from 58 to 206 days (since 1867
none of under 100 days), with an almost continual increase in both
respects.
[12] However, every office-holder was, and every subject might be,
required to take (though this was not a condition of the franchise)
the oaths enjoined by parliament in the first year of the reign of
William and Mary as a substitute for the oaths of Allegiance and
Supremacy; and the same still applies to the signing of the
Declaration.
[13] From 1887-1900, out of 290 cases settled, only 107 were formal
arbitrations, 124 agreements were effected by the mediation of the
Board, 100 were effected otherwise while proceedings were pending,
and in 59 cases the Board interposed when the parties preferred
hostilities.
[14] For a summary statement of state labour laws in the United
States in 1903 see _Bulletin 54_ of the United States Bureau of
Labor, September 1904; and for a summary of labour laws in force at
the end of 1907 see 22nd _Annual Report_ (for 1907) of the U.S.
Commissioner of Labor (Washington, 1908).
[15] The usual allotment of the cost of this work is as follows: 65%
is paid by the railway company, 25% by the commonwealth and 10% by
the municipality in which the crossing is located.
[16] The cost was apportioned between the commonwealth and the local
government in the proportion of 3 to 1.
[17] Boston remained a township, governed by town-meetings, until
1822, when it had a population of some 47,000. The government of
Brookline (pop. in 1905, 23,436) is an interesting example of the
adaptation of the township system to urban conditions. The town is
frequently referred to as a model residential suburb; its budgets are
very large, its schools are excellent, and, among other things, it
has established a township gymnasium. The town hall is not large
enough for an assemblage of all the voters, but actually the
attendance is usually limited to about 200, and since 1901 there has
been in force a kind of referendum, under which any measure passed by
a town-meeting attended by 700 or more voters may be referred, upon
petition of 100 legal voters, to a regular vote at the polls. Much of
the work of the town-meetings is done through special committees.
[18] E. G. Brown, in _Monographs on Education in the United States_
prepared for the Paris Exposition of 1900 and edited by N. M. Butler.
[19] This is an especially honourable distinction, for William T.
Harris has said that "The history of education since the time of
Horace Mann is very largely an account of the successive
modifications introduced into elementary schools through the direct
or indirect influence of the normal school."
[20] In 1869 the personalty valuation was 60% that of realty; but it
steadily fell thereafter, amounting in 1893 to 32%. From 1874-1882
the assessment of realty increased nearly twelve times as much as
personalty. In the intervening period the assessed valuation of
realty in Boston increased more than 100%, while that of personalty
slightly diminished (the corresponding figures for the entire United
States from 1860 to 1890 being 172% and 12%), yet the most competent
business and expert opinions regarded the true value of personalty as
at least equal to and most likely twice as great as that of realty.
[21] In this document, whose democracy is characteristic of
differences between the Plymouth Colony and that of Massachusetts
Bay, the signatories "solemnly and mutually ... covenant and combine
ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering
and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue
hereof to enact, constitute and frame--[laws]--unto which we promise
all due submission and obedience." This was signed 11/21 of November
1620 by 41 persons.
[22] Slavery had existed as a social fact from the earliest years,
and legally after 1641; but it was never profitable, and was
virtually abolished long before the War of American Independence;
still it was never abolished explicitly by Massachusetts, though the
slave trade was prohibited in 1788, and though a number of negroes
were declared free after the adoption of the constitution of 1780 on
the strength of the sweeping declaration of human rights in that
instrument.
[23] According to the final report of the U.S. Adjutant-General in
1885, the enlistments were 146,730 men, of whom 13,942 died in war.
These figures are probably less accurate than those of the state.
[24] Endecott, by commission dated the 30th of April 1629, was made
"governor of London's plantation in the Massachusetts Bay." Matthew
Cradock, first governor of the Company, from the 4th of March 1629 to
the 20th of October 1629, was succeeded on the latter date by John
Winthrop, who, on reaching Salem on the 12th of June 1630 with the
charter, superseded Endecott.
[25] During three periods, 1701-1702, in February 1715, and from
April to August 1757 the affairs of the colony were administered by
the Executive Council.
[26] General Gage was military governor, Hutchinson remaining
nominally civil governor.
MASSACRE, a wholesale indiscriminate killing of persons, and also, in a
transferred sense, of animals. The word is adopted from the French; but
its origin is obscure. The meaning and the old form _macecle_ seem to
point to it being a corruption of the Lat. _macellum_, butcher's shop or
shambles, hence meat market; this is probably from the root _mac_-, seen
in [Greek: machesthai], to fight, [Greek: machaira], sword, and Lat.
_mactare_, to sacrifice. Another derivation connects with the Old Low
Ger. _matsken_, to cut in pieces; cf. mod. Ger. _metzeln_, to massacre.
MASSAGE. The word _massage_ has of late years come into general use to
signify the method of treating disease or other physical conditions by
manipulating the muscles and joints. According to Littré the word is
derived from the Arabic _mass_, and has the specific meaning of
"pressing the muscular parts of the body with the hands, and exercising
traction on the joints in order to give suppleness and stimulate
vitality." It was probably adopted from the Arabian physicians by the
French, who have played a leading part in reviving this method of
treatment, which has been practised from time immemorial, and by the
most primitive people, but has from time to time fallen into disuse
among Western nations. In the _Odyssey_ the women are described as
rubbing and kneading the heroes on their return from battle. In India,
under the name "shampoo" (_tshampua_), the same process has formed part
of the native system of medicine from the most remote times;
professional massers were employed there by Alexander the Great in 327
B.C. In China the method is also of great antiquity, and practised by a
professional class; the Swedish gymnastic system instituted by Pehr
Henrik Ling is derived from the book of Cong-Fou, the bonze of Tao-Sse.
Hippocrates describes and enjoins the use of manipulation, especially in
cases of stiff joints, and he was followed by other Greek physicians.
Oribasius gives an account of the application of friction with the bare
hands, which exactly corresponds with the modern practice of massage. It
is worthy of note that the treatment, after being held in high esteem by
the leading Greek physicians, fell into disrepute with the profession,
apparently on account of its association with vicious abuses. The same
drawback has made itself felt in the present day, and can only be met by
the most scrupulous care in the choice of agents and the manner of their
employment. Among the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, and later the Turks,
massage came to be part of the ordinary procedure of the bath without
any special therapeutic intention, and the usage has survived until
to-day; but that mode of application was no doubt a refinement of
civilized life. Medical rubbing is older and more elementary than
bathing, as we see from its employment by savages. Probably it was
evolved independently among different races from the natural
instinct--shared by the lower animals--which teaches to rub, press or
lick any part of the body in which uneasiness is felt, and is therefore
the oldest of all therapeutic means.
According to Weiss, the therapeutic use of massage was revived in Europe
by Hieronymus Fabricius ab Aquapendente (1537-1619), who applied it to
stiff joints and similar conditions. Paracelsus in his _De medicina
Aegyptiorum_ (1591), gives a description of methodical massage as
practised by the Egyptians quite on modern lines. Thereafter it appears
to have been adopted here and there by individual practitioners, and
various references are made to it, especially by French writers. The
word "massage" occurs in an essay written by Pierre Adolphe Piorry
(1794-1879) for a large encyclopaedia which appeared in 1818, but it was
probably used before. The practice was gradually advocated by an
increasing number of medical men. In Great Britain it was called
"medical rubbing," and at Edinburgh Beveridge had a staff of eight
trained male rubbers. A book published by Estradère in 1863 attracted
much attention, but the man who contributed most to the modern
popularity of massage was Metzger of Amsterdam, who began to use it
tentatively in 1853, and then proceeded to study and apply it
methodically. He published an essay on the subject in 1868. The modern
refinements of the treatment are chiefly due to him. At the same time,
its application by Dr Silas Weir Mitchell to hysterical and other
nervous conditions, in conjunction with the "rest cure," has done much
to make it known.
Massage, as now practised, includes several processes, some of which are
passive and others active. The former are carried out by an operator,
and consist of rubbing and kneading the skin and deeper tissues with the
hands, and exercising the joints by bending the patient's limbs. The
active movements consist of a special form of gymnastics, designed to
exercise particular muscles or groups of muscles. In what is called
"Swedish massage" the operator moves the limbs while the patient
resists, thus bringing the opposing muscles into play. Some writers
insist on confining the word "massage" to the rubbing processes, and use
the general term "manipulation" to cover all the movements mentioned;
but this is a verbal subtlety of no importance. It is evident that alike
among the Greeks, the Orientals, and savage races, the two processes
have always been applied as part of the same treatment, and the
definition quoted above from Littré goes to show that the word "massage"
is properly applied to both.
Rubbing has been subdivided into several processes, namely (1)
stroking, (2) kneading, (3) rubbing, and (4) tapping, and some
practitioners attach great importance to the application of a
particular process in a particular way. As a rule, oils and other
lubricants are not used. But, however it may be applied, the treatment
acts essentially by increasing circulation and improving nutrition. It
has been shown by Lauder Brunton that more blood actually flows
through the tissues during and after rubbing. The number of red
corpuscles, and, to some extent, their haemoglobin value, are also
said to be increased (Mitchell). At the same time the movement of the
lymph stream is accelerated. In order to assist the flow of blood and
lymph, stroking is applied centripetally, that is to say, upwards
along the limbs and the lower part of the body, downwards from the
head. The effects of the increased physiological activity set up are
numerous. Functional ability is restored to exhausted muscles by the
removal of fatigue products and the induction of a fresh blood supply;
congestion is relieved; collections of serous fluid are dispersed;
secretion and excretion are stimulated; local and general nutrition
are improved. These effects indicate the conditions in which massage
may be usefully applied. Such are various forms of paralysis and
muscular wasting, chronic and subacute affections of the joints,
muscular rheumatism, sciatica and other neuralgias, local congestions,
sprains, contractions, insomnia and some forms of headache, in which
downward stroking from the head relieves cerebral congestion. It has
also been used in anaemia, hysteria and "neurasthenia," disorders of
the female organs, melancholia and other forms of insanity,
morphinism, obesity, constipation, inflammatory and other affections
of the eye, including even cataract. General massage is sometimes
applied, as a form of passive exercise, to indolent persons whose
tissues are overloaded with the products of incomplete metabolism.
As with other methods of treatment, there has been a tendency on the
part of some practitioners to exalt it into a cure-all, and of others
to ignore it altogether. Of its therapeutic value, when judiciously
used, there is no doubt, but it is for the physician or surgeon to say
when and how it should be applied. Affections to which it is not
applicable are fevers, pregnancy, collections of pus, acute
inflammation of the joints, inflamed veins, fragile arteries, wounds
of the skin and, generally speaking, those conditions in which it is
not desirable to increase the circulation, or in which the patient
cannot bear handling. In such conditions it may have a very injurious
and even dangerous effect, and therefore should not be used in a
haphazard manner without competent advice.
The revival of massage in Europe and America has called into existence
a considerable number of professional operators, both male and female,
who may be regarded as forming a branch of the nursing profession.
Some of these are trained in hospitals or other institutions, some by
private practitioners and some not at all. Similarly some are attached
to organized societies or institutions while others pursue their
calling independently. Several things are required for a good
operator. One is physical strength. Deep massage is very laborious
work, and cannot be carried on for an hour, or even half an hour,
without unusual muscular power. Feeble persons cannot practise it
effectively at all. The duration of a sitting may vary from five or
ten minutes to an hour. For general massage at least half an hour is
required. A masser should have strength enough to do the work without
too obvious exhaustion, which gives the patient an unpleasant
impression. A second requirement is tactile and muscular sensibility.
A person not endowed with a fine sense of touch and resistance is
liable to exert too great or too little pressure; the one hurts the
patient, the other is ineffective. Then skill and knowledge, which can
only be acquired by a course of instruction, are necessary. Finally,
some guarantee of cleanliness and character is almost indispensable.
Independent massers may possess all these qualifications in a higher
degree than those connected with an institution, but they may also be
totally devoid of them, whereas connexion with a recognized hospital
or society is a guarantee for a certain standard of efficiency. In
London there are several such institutions, which train and send out
both male and female massers. The fee is 5s. an hour, or from two to
four guineas a week. On the European continent, where trained massers
are much employed by some practitioners, the fee is considerably
lower; in the United States it is higher. For reasons mentioned above,
it is most desirable that patients should be attended by operators of
their own sex. If this is not insisted upon, a valuable therapeutic
means will be in danger of falling into disrepute both with the
medical profession and the general public. (A. Sl.)
MASSAGETAE, an ancient warlike people described by Herodotus (i.
203-216; iv. 22, 172) as dwelling beyond the Araxes (i.e. the Oxus) in
what is now Balkh and Bokhara. It was against their queen Tomyris that
Cyrus undertook the expedition in which according to one story he met
his end. In their usages some tribes were nomads like the people of
Scythia (q.v.), others with their community of wives and habit of
killing and eating their parents recalled the Issedones (q.v.); while
the dwellers in the islands of the river were fish-eating savages.
Probably the name denoted no ethnic unity, but included all the
barbarous north-eastern neighbours of the Persians. Herodotus says they
only used gold and copper (or bronze), not silver or iron. Their lavish
use of gold has caused certain massive ornaments from southern Siberia,
now in the Hermitage at St Petersburg, to be referred to the Massagetae.
(E. H. M.)
MASSA MARITTIMA, a town and episcopal see of the province of Grosseto,
Tuscany, Italy, 24 m. N.N.W. of Grosseto direct and 16 m. by rail N.E.
of Follonica (which is 28 m. N.W. of Grosseto on the main coast
railway), 1444 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901), (town) 9219; (commune)
17,519. It has a cathedral of the 13th century containing a Romanesque
font (1267 with a cover of 1447) and a Gothic reliquary (1324) of the
saint Cerbone, to whom the cathedral is dedicated. The battlemented
municipal palace of the 13th century is picturesque. There are mineral
springs, mines of iron, mercury, lignite and copper, with foundries,
ironworks and olive-oil mills. At Follonica on the coast, but in this
commune, are the furnaces in which are smelted the iron ore of Elba.
MASSAWA, or MASSOWAH, a fortified town on the African coast of the Red
Sea, chief port of the Italian colony of Eritrea, in 15° 36´ N. and 39°
28´ E. Pop. about 10,000. The town stands at the north end of the bay of
Massawa and is built partly on a coral island of the same name--where
was the original settlement--and partly on the islets of Tautlub and
Sheik Said, and the neighbouring mainland. Massawa Island is from 20 to
25 ft. above the sea, its length does not exceed ½ m. and its breadth is
about ¼ m. The harbour is formed by the channel between the island and
the mainland. It affords good anchorage in from 5 to 9 fathoms. The town
possesses several good public buildings, chiefly built of coral, as are
the houses of the principal European and Arab merchants. Landward the
town is guarded by forts erected by the Italians since 1885. Water was
formerly scarce; but in 1872 an ancient aqueduct from Mokullu (5 m.
distant westward) was restored and continued by an embankment to the
town. A railway connects Massawa with Asmara, the capital of the colony.
Besides the Abyssinians, who speak a Tigré dialect corrupted with
Arabic, the inhabitants comprise Italian officials and traders, Greeks,
Indians, Arabs from Yemen and Hadramut, Gallas and Somalis. Massawa is
the natural port for northern Abyssinia but commerce is undeveloped
owing to the lack of rapid means of communication. The trade done
consists mainly in exporting hides, butter, Abyssinian coffee and civet,
and importing European and Indian cotton goods and silks. It increased
in value from about £65,000 per annum in 1865 (the last year of Turkish
control) to from £240,000 to £280,000 between 1879 and 1881, when under
the administration of Egypt. Under the Italians trade greatly developed.
The returns for the five years 1901-1905 showed an average annual value
of £1,800,000, about two-thirds being imports.
The island of Massawa has probably been inhabited from a very early
date. It appears to have formed part of the Abyssinian dominions for
many centuries. It was at Massawa (Matzua, as it is called by the
Portuguese chroniclers) that Christopher da Gama and his comrades landed
in July 1541 on their way to aid the Abyssinians against the Moslem
invaders. Captured by the Turks in 1557, the island remained a Turkish
possession over two hundred years. A military colony of Bosnians settled
at Arkiko (a port on the bay 4 m. south of Massawa Island) was appointed
not only to defend it in case of attack from the mainland, but to keep
it supplied with water in return for $1400 per month from the town's
customs. For some time at the close of the 18th century Massawa was held
by the sherif of Mecca, and it afterwards passed to Mehemet Ali of
Egypt. The Turks were reinstated about 1850, but in 1865 they handed the
island back to Egypt for an annual tribute of 2½ million piastres. In
February 1885 Massawa was occupied by an Italian force, the Egyptian
garrison stationed there being withdrawn in the November following (see
EGYPT; ITALY; ABYSSINIA). The port was the capital of the Italian colony
until 1900 when the seat of administration was removed to Asmara (see
ERITREA).
For a description of the town in 1769 see the _Travels_ of James
Bruce. At that time the governor, though appointed by the Turks, paid
one half of the customs receipts to the negus of Abyssinia in return
for the protection of that monarch.
MASSÉNA, ANDRÉ, or _Andrea_, duke of Rivoli, prince of Essling
(1756-1817), the greatest of Napoleon's marshals, son of a small wine
merchant, it is said of Jewish origin, was born at Nice on the 6th of
May 1756. His parents were very poor, and he began life as a cabin boy,
but he did not care much for the sea, and in 1775 he enlisted in the
Royal-Italien regiment. He quickly rose to be under-officer-adjutant;
but, finding his birth would prevent his ever getting a commission, he
left the army in 1789, retired to his native city, and married. At the
sound of war, however, and the word republic, his desire to see service
increased, and he once more left Italy, and joined the 3rd battalion of
the volunteers of the Var in 1791. In those days when men elected their
officers, and many of the old commissioned officers had emigrated,
promotion to a man with a knowledge of his drill was rapid, and by
February 1792 Masséna was a lieutenant-colonel. His regiment was one of
those in the army which occupied Nice, and in the advance to the
Apennines which followed, his knowledge of the country, of the language,
and of the people was so useful that in December 1793 he was already a
general of division. In command of the advanced guard he won the battle
of Saorgio in August 1794, capturing ninety guns, and after many
successes he at last, on the 23rd of November 1795, with the right wing
of the army of Italy, had the greatest share in the victory of Loano,
won by Schérer over the Austrians and Sardinians. In Bonaparte's great
campaign of 1796-97 Masséna was his most trusted general of division; in
each battle he won fresh laurels, up to the crowning victory of Rivoli,
from which he afterwards took his title. It was during this campaign
that Bonaparte gave him the title of _enfant gâté de la victoire_, which
he was to justify till he met the English in 1810. In 1798 he commanded
the army of Rome for a short time, but was displaced by the intrigues of
his subordinate Berthier. Masséna's next important service was in
command of the army in Switzerland, which united the army in Germany
under Moreau, and that in Italy under Joubert. There he proved himself a
great captain, as he had already proved himself a great lieutenant; the
archduke Charles and Suvarov had each been successful in Germany and in
Italy, and now turned upon Masséna in Switzerland. That general held his
ground well against the archduke, and then suddenly, leaving Soult to
face the Austrians, he transported his army to Zürich, where, on the
26th of September 1799, he entirely defeated Korsakov, taking 200 guns
and 5000 prisoners. This campaign and battle placed his reputation on a
level with that of his compatriot Bonaparte, and he might have made the
revolution of Brumaire, but he was sincerely attached to the republic,
and had no ambition beyond a desire to live well and to have plenty of
money to spend. Bonaparte, now First Consul, sent him to Genoa to
command the débris of the army of Italy, and he nobly defended Genoa
from February to June to the very last extremity, giving time for
Bonaparte to strike his great blow at Marengo. He now went to Paris,
where he sat in the Corps Législatif in 1803, and actually defended
Moreau without drawing upon himself the ill-will of Napoleon, who well
knew his honesty and lack of ambition.
In 1804 he was made one of the first marshals of France of the new
régime, and in 1805 was decorated with the Grand Eagle of the Legion of
Honour. In that year Napoleon needed an able general to keep in check
the archduke Charles in Italy, while he advanced through Germany with
the grand army. Masséna was chosen; he kept the archduke occupied till
he received news of the surrender of Ulm, and then on the 30th of
October defeated him in the battle of Caldiero. After the peace of
Pressburg had been signed, Masséna was ordered to take possession of the
kingdom of Naples, and to place Joseph Bonaparte on the throne. This
task done, Napoleon summoned Masséna to Poland, where he as usual
distinguished himself, and where he for the time gave up his republican
principles. In 1808 he was made duke of Rivoli. In 1808 he was
accidentally wounded by his old enemy Berthier when both were in
attendance on the emperor at a shooting party, and he lost the sight of
one eye. In the campaign in 1809 he covered himself with glory at
Landshut and at Eckmühl, and finally at the battle of Aspern-Essling his
magnificent leadership made what would without him have been an
appalling disaster into a mere reverse of which the enemy could make no
use. On the field of Wagram Masséna, though too ill to ride, directed
from his carriage the movements of the right wing. For his great
services he was created prince of Essling, and given the princely castle
of Thouars. He was then ordered to Spain to "drive the English into the
sea." (For the campaigns of 1810 and 1811, the advance to and the
retreat from Torres Vedras see PENINSULAR WAR.) Masséna himself, with
some justice, ascribed his failure to the frequent disobedience of his
subordinates Ney, Reynier and Junot, and public opinion attributed this
disobedience to the presence with the army of Masséna's mistress, and to
the resentment thereat felt by the wives of the three generals. Still,
unsuccessful as he was, Masséna displayed the determination of the
defence of Genoa and the fertility in expedients of the campaign of
Zürich, and kept his army for five weary months close up to Wellington's
impregnable position before retiring. His retreat through a devastated
country was terrible, but his force of character kept his men together,
and Ney having shown the worst side of his character now showed the best
in the frequent and brilliant rearguard actions, until a new act of
insubordination at last made the old marshal dismiss Ney from his
command. Soon Masséna was once again ready to try his fortune, and he
nearly defeated Wellington at Fuentes d'Oñoro, though much hampered by
Bessières. But his recall soon followed this and he returned home to
find his prestige gone. The old marshal felt he had a right to complain
of Ney and of Napoleon himself, and, it is said, opened communications
with Fouché and the remnant of the republican party. Whether this be
true or not, Napoleon gave his greatest marshal no more employment in
the field, but made him merely a territorial commandant at Marseilles.
This command he still held at the restoration, when Louis XVIII.
confirmed him in it, and with true Bourbon stupidity gave him letters of
naturalization, as if the great leader of the French armies had not
ceased to be an Italian. When Napoleon returned from Elba, Masséna,
probably by the advice of Fouché, kept Marseilles quiet to await events,
the greatest service he could do the royalists, but afterwards imputed
to him as a fault. After the second restoration Masséna was summoned to
sit on the court-martial which tried Marshal Ney, but, though he had
been on bad terms with that general, and attributed his own disgrace to
him, the old soldier would not be his comrade's judge. This refusal was
used by the royalists to attack the marshal, against whom they raked up
every offence they could think of. This annoyance shortened his life,
and on the 4th of April 1817 the old hero died. He was buried in
Père-la-Chaise, with only the word "Masséna" upon his tombstone.
In private life indolent, greedy, rapacious, ill-educated and morose, in
war Masséna was, like Napoleon, the incarnation of battle. Only his
indolence and his consequent lack of far-ranging imagination prevented
him being as great in strategy as in tactics. His genius needed the
presence of the enemy to stimulate it, but once it sprang to life
Masséna became an ideal leader, absolutely brave, resourceful,
unrelenting and indefatigable. He was as great a master of the strategy
of forces in immediate contact--of gathering up as it were the threads
of the fugue into a "stretto." For the planning of a whole perfect
campaign he had neither knowledge nor inclination, and he falls short
therefore of the highest rank amongst great generals; but his place
amongst the greatest of soldiers is beyond challenge.
See Thiébault's _Éloge funèbre_, and Koch's _Mémoires de Masséna_ (4
vols., 1849), a valuable work, carefully compiled. In more modern
times E. Gachot has produced several important works dealing with
Masséna's campaigns.
MASSENBACH, CHRISTIAN KARL AUGUST LUDWIG VON (1758-1827), Prussian
soldier, was born at Schmalkalden on the 16th of April 1758, and
educated at Heilbronn and Stuttgart, devoting himself chiefly to
mathematics. He became an officer of the Württemberg army in 1778, and
left this for the service of Frederick the Great in 1782. The pay of his
rank was small, and his appointment on the quartermaster-general's staff
made it necessary to keep two horses, so that he had to write
mathematical school-books in his spare time to eke out his resources. He
was far however from neglecting the science and art of war, for thus
early he had begun to make his name as a theorist as well as a
mathematician. After serving as instructor in mathematics to the young
prince Louis, he took part with credit in the expedition into Holland,
and was given the order _Pour le mérite_. On returning to Prussia he
became mathematical instructor at the school of military engineering,
leaving this post in 1792 to take part as a general staff officer in the
war against France. He was awarded a prebend at Minden for his services
as a topographical engineer on the day of Valmy, and after serving
through the campaigns of 1793 and 1794 he published a number of memoirs
on the military history of these years. He was chiefly occupied however
with framing schemes for the reorganization of the then neglected
general staff of the Prussian army, and many of his proposals were
accepted. Bronsart von Schellendorf in his _Duties of the General Staff_
says of Massenbach's work in this connexion, "the organization which he
proposed and in the main carried out survived even the catastrophes of
1806-1807, and exists even at the present moment in its original
outline." This must be accounted as high praise when it is remembered
how much of the responsibility for these very disasters must be laid to
Massenbach's account. The permanent gain to the service due to his
exertions was far more than formal, for it is to him that the general
staff owes its tradition of thorough and patient individual effort. But
the actual doctrine taught by Massenbach, who was now a colonel, may be
summarized as the doctrine of positions carried to a ludicrous excess;
the claims put forward for the general staff, that it was to prepare
cut-and-dried plans of operations in peace which were to be imposed on
the troop leaders in war, were derided by the responsible generals; and
the memoirs on proposed plans of campaign to suit certain political
combinations were worked out in quite unnecessary detail. It was
noteworthy that none of the proposed plans of campaign considered France
as an enemy.
In 1805 came threats of the war with Napoleon which Massenbach had
strongly opposed. He was made quartermaster-general (chief of staff) to
Prince Hohenlohe, over whom he soon obtained a fatal ascendancy. War was
averted for a moment by the result of the battle of Austerlitz, but it
broke out in earnest in October 1806. Massenbach's influence clouded all
the Prussian operations. The battles of Jena and Auerstädt were lost,
and the capitulation of Prince Hohenlohe's army was negotiated. Even
suggestions of disloyalty were not wanting; an attempt to try him by
court-martial was only frustrated by Prince Hohenlohe's action in taking
upon himself, as commander-in-chief, the whole responsibility for
Massenbach's actions. He then retired to his estate in the Posen
province, and occupied himself in writing pamphlets, memoirs, &c. When
his estates passed into the grand duchy of Warsaw, he chose to remain a
Prussian subject, and on the outbreak of the war of liberation he asked
in vain for a post on the Prussian staff. After the fall of Napoleon he
took part in Württemberg politics, was expelled from Stuttgart and
Heidelberg, and soon afterwards arrested at Frankfurt, delivered over to
the Prussian authorities and condemned to fourteen years' fortress
imprisonment for his alleged publication of state secrets in his
memoirs. He was kept in prison till 1826, when Frederick William III.,
having recovered from an accident, pardoned those whom he considered to
have wronged him most deeply. He died on the 21st of November 1827, at
his estate of Bialokoscz, Posen.
The obituary in _Neuer Nekrolog der Deutschen_, pt. ii. (Ilmenau,
1827) is founded on a memoir (_Der Oberst C. v. Massenbach_) which was
published at the beginning of his imprisonment.
MASSENET, JULES ÉMILE FRÉDÉRIC (1842- ), French composer, was born at
Montaud, on the 12th of May 1842. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire,
where he obtained the Grand Prix de Rome in 1863 with the cantata _David
Rizzio_. Massenet became one of the most prolific composers of his time.
His operas include the following: _La Grande tante_, one act, opéra
comique (1867); _Don César de Bazan_, three acts, opéra comique (1872);
_Le Roi de Lahore_, five acts, opera (1877); _Hérodiade_, five acts
(Brussels, 1881); _Manon_, five acts, opéra comique (1884); _Le Cid_,
four acts, opera (1885); _Esclarmonde_, four acts, opéra comique (1889);
_Le Mage_, five acts, opera (1891); _Werther_, four acts (Vienna, 1892);
_Thaïs_, three acts, opera (1894); _Le Portrait de Manon_, one act,
opéra comique (1894); _La Navarraise_, two acts (Covent Garden, 1894);
_Sapho_, opéra comique (1897); _Cendrillon_, opéra comique (1900);
_Grisélidis_, opéra comique (1901); _Le Jongleur de Notre Dame_
(Mentone, 1902). Of these the most popular is Manon. Massenet's other
works include _Marie Madeleine_, sacred drama (1873); _Eve_, a mystery
(1875); _La Vierge_, sacred legend (1880); six orchestral suites
entitled _Scènes hongroises_, _Scènes pittoresques_, _Scènes
dramatiques_, _Scènes napolitaines_, _Scènes de féerie_, _Scènes
alsaciennes_; music to the tragedy _Les Erynnies_, to _Théodora_, _Le
Crocodile_, _L'Hetman_; a requiem, _Narcisse_; an idyll, _Biblis_; a
_Scène antique_; several sets of songs, entitled _Poème d'avril_, _Poème
d'amour_, _Poème d'hiver_, _Poème d'octobre_, _Poème pastoral_, _Poème
du souvenir_; also a large number of detached songs. He was professor of
composition at the Conservatoire from 1878 to 1896, among his pupils
being Hillemacher, Marty, Bruneau, Vidal, Pierné, Leroux and
Charpentier. Massenet undoubtedly possesses a style of his own. He is at
his best in music descriptive of the tender passion, and many of the
love scenes in his operas are very beautiful.
MASSEREENE, JOHN CLOTWORTHY, 1ST VISCOUNT (d. 1665), Anglo-Irish
politician, was a son of Sir Hugh Clotworthy, sheriff of county Antrim.
He was elected to the Irish parliament as member for county Antrim in
1634, and was a member both of the Short and of the Long Parliament in
England. Clotworthy was a vehement opponent of the earl of Stafford, in
whose impeachment he took an active share. He also took part in the
prosecution of Archbishop Laud. Having unsuccessfully negotiated with
Ormond for the surrender of Dublin to the Parliamentary forces in 1646,
he was accused in the following year of having betrayed his cause, and
also of embezzlement; in consequence of these charges he fled to the
Continent, but returned to parliament in June 1648. On the 12th of
December in that year he was arrested, and remained in prison for nearly
three years. Having taken an active part in forwarding the Restoration,
he was employed in Ireland in arranging the affairs of the soldiers and
other adventurers who had settled in Ireland Clotworthy in no way abated
his old animosity against "papists" and high Anglicans, and he
championed the cause of the Irish Presbyterians; but being personally
agreeable to Charles II., his ecclesiastical views were overlooked, and
on the 21st of November 1660 he was created Baron Loughneagh and
Viscount Massereene in the Irish peerage, with remainder in default of
male heirs to his son-in-law, Sir John Skeffington. Massereene died
without male issue in September 1665, and the title devolved on
Skeffington, whose great-grandson, the fifth viscount, was created earl
of Massereene in 1756. The earldom became extinct on the death of the
fourth earl without male issue in 1816, the viscounty and barony of
Loughneagh descending to his daughter Harriet, whose husband, Thomas
Foster, took the name of Skeffington, and inherited from his mother in
1824 the titles of Viscount Ferrard and Baron Oriel of Collon in the
Irish peerage, and from his father in 1828 that of Baron Oriel of
Ferrard in the peerage of the United Kingdom.
MASSEY, SIR EDWARD (c. 1619-c. 1674), English soldier in the Great
Rebellion, was the son of John Massey of Coddington, Cheshire. Little is
known of his early life, but it is said that he served in the Dutch army
against the Spaniards. In 1639 he appears as a captain of pioneers in
the army raised by Charles I. to fight against the Scots. At the
outbreak of the Great Rebellion he was with the king at York, but he
soon joined the Parliamentary army. As lieutenant-colonel under the earl
of Stamford he became deputy governor of Gloucester, where he remained
till towards the end of the first Civil War, becoming governor early in
1643. He conducted minor operations against numerous small bodies of
Royalists, and conducted the defence of Gloucester against the king's
main army in August 1643, with great steadiness and ability, receiving
the thanks of parliament and a grant of £1000 for his services. In 1644
Massey continued to keep the field and to disperse the local Royalists,
and on several occasions he measured swords with Prince Rupert. In May
1644 he was made general of the forces of the Western Association. In
1645 he took the offensive against Lord Goring and the western
Royalists, advanced to the relief of Taunton, and in the autumn
co-operated effectively with Sir Thomas Fairfax and the New Model army
in the Langport campaign. After taking part in the desultory operations
which closed the first war, he took his seat in the House of Commons as
member for Gloucester. He then began to take an active part in politics
on the Presbyterian side, and was one of the generals who was impeached
by the army on the ground that they were attempting to revive the Civil
War in the Presbyterian interests. Massey fled from England in June
1647, and though he resumed his seat in the house in 1648 he was again
excluded by Pride's Purge, and after a short imprisonment escaped to
Holland. Thence, taking the side of the king openly and definitely like
many other Presbyterians, he accompanied Charles II. to Scotland. He
fought against Cromwell at the bridge of Stirling and Inverkeithing, and
commanded the advanced guard of the Royalist army in the invasion of
England in 1651. It was hoped that Massey's influence would win over the
towns of the Severn valley to the cause of the king, and the march of
the army on Worcester was partly inspired by this expectation. However,
he effected little, and after riding with the king for some distance
from the field of Worcester, fell into the hands of his former comrades
and was lodged in the Tower. He again managed to escape to Holland.
While negotiating with the English Presbyterians for the restoration of
Charles, he visited England twice, in 1654 and 1656. In 1660 he was
active in preparing for Charles's return, and was rewarded by a
knighthood and a grant of £3000. The rest of his life was spent in
political, and occasionally in military and administrative business, and
he is said to have died in Ireland in 1674 or 1675.
MASSEY, GERALD (1828-1907), English poet, was born near Tring,
Hertfordshire, on the 29th of May 1828. His parents were in humble
circumstances, and Massey was little more than a child when he was set
to hard work in a silk factory, which he afterwards deserted for the
equally laborious occupation of straw-plaiting. These early years were
rendered gloomy by much distress and deprivation, against which the
young man strove with increasing spirit and virility, educating himself
in his spare time, and gradually cultivating his innate taste for
literary work. He was attracted by the movement known as Christian
Socialism, into which he threw himself with whole-hearted vigour, and so
became associated with Maurice and Kingsley. His first public appearance
as a writer was in connexion with a journal called the _Spirit of
Freedom_, of which he became editor, and he was only twenty-two when he
published his first volume of poems, _Voices of Freedom and Lyrics of
Love_. These he followed in rapid succession by _The Ballad of Babe
Christabel_ (1854), _War Waits_ (1855), _Havelock's March_ (1860), and
_A Tale of Eternity_ (1869). Many years afterwards in 1889, he collected
the best of the contents of these volumes, with additions, into a
two-volume edition of his poems called _My Lyrical Life_. He also
published works dealing with spiritualism, the study of Shakespeare's
sonnets (1872 and 1890), and theological speculation. It is generally
understood that he was the original of George Eliot's _Felix Holt_.
Massey's poetry has a certain rough and vigorous element of sincerity
and strength which easily accounts for its popularity at the time of its
production. He treated the theme of Sir Richard Grenville before
Tennyson thought of using it, with much force and vitality. Indeed,
Tennyson's own praise of Massey's work is still its best eulogy, for the
Laureate found in him "a poet of fine lyrical impulse, and of a rich
half-Oriental imagination." The inspiration of his poetry is essentially
British; he was a patriot to the core. It is, however, as an
Egyptologist that Gerald Massey is best known in the world of letters.
He first published _The Book of the Beginnings_, followed by _The
Natural Genesis_; but by far his most important work is _Ancient Egypt:
The Light of the World_, published shortly before his death. He died on
the 29th of October 1907.
See an article by J. Churton Collins in the _Contemporary Review_ (May
1904).
MASSICUS, MONS, a mountain ridge of ancient Italy, in the territory of the
Aurunci, and on the border of Campania and Latium adjectum--attributed by
most authors to the latter. It projects south-west from the volcanic
system of Rocca Monfina (see SUESSA AURUNCA) as far as the sea, and
separates the lower course of the Liris from the plain of Campania. It
consists of limestone, with a superstratum of pliocenic and volcanic
masses, and was once an island; its highest point is 2661 ft. above
sea-level.
It was very famous for its wine in ancient times. There was just room
along the coast for the road to pass through; the pass was guarded by
the Auruncan town of Vescia (probably on the mountain side), which
ceased to exist in 314 B.C. after the defeat of the Ausones, but left
its name to the spot. Its successor, Sinuessa, on the coast, a station
on the Via Appia, was constructed in 312 B.C., and a colony was
founded there in 295 B.C. It is not infrequently mentioned by
classical writers as a place in which travellers halted. Here Virgil
joined Horace on the famous journey to Brundusium. Domitian
considerably increased its importance by the construction of the Via
Domitiana, which left the Via Appia here and ran to Cumae and Puteoli,
and it was he, no doubt, who raised it to the position of _colonia
Flavia_. The town was destroyed by the Saracens, but some ruins of it
are still visible two miles north-west of the modern village of
Mondragone. The mineral springs which still rise here were frequented
in antiquity.
MASSIF, a French term, adopted in geology and physical geography for a
mountainous mass or group of connected heights, whether isolated or
forming part of a larger mountain system. A "massif" is more or less
clearly marked off by valleys.
MASSILLON, JEAN BAPTISTE (1663-1742), French bishop and preacher, was
born at Hyères on the 24th of June 1663, his father being a royal notary
of that town. At the age of eighteen he joined the Congregation of the
Oratory and taught for a time in the colleges of his order at Pézenas,
and Montbrison and at the Seminary of Vienne. On the death of Henri de
Villars, archbishop of Vienne, in 1693, he was commissioned to deliver a
funeral oration, and this was the beginning of his fame. In obedience to
Cardinal de Noailles, archbishop of Paris, he left the Cistercian abbey
of Sept-Fonds, to which he had retired, and settled in Paris, where he
was placed at the head of the famous seminary of Saint Magloire. He soon
gained a wide reputation as a preacher and was selected to be the Advent
preacher at the court of Versailles in 1699. He was made bishop of
Clermont in 1717, and two years later was elected a member of the French
Academy. The last years of his life were spent in the faithful discharge
of his episcopal duties; his death took place at Clermont on the 18th of
September 1742. Massillon enjoyed in the 18th century a reputation equal
to that of Bossuet and of Bourdaloue, and has been much praised by
Voltaire, D'Alembert and kindred spirits among the _Encyclopaedists_.
His popularity was probably due to the fact that in his sermons he lays
little stress on dogmatic questions, but treats generally of moral
subjects, in which the secrets of the human heart and the processes of
man's reason are described with poetical feeling. He has usually been
contrasted with his predecessor Bourdaloue, the latter having the credit
of vigorous denunciation, Massillon that of gentle persuasiveness.
Besides the _Petit Carême_, a sermon which he delivered before the young
king Louis XV. in 1718, his sermons on the Prodigal Son, on the small
number of the elect, on death, for Christmas Day, and for the Fourth
Sunday in Advent, may be perhaps cited as his masterpieces. His funeral
oration on Louis XIV. is only noted now for the opening sentence: "Dieu
seul est grand." But in truth Massillon is singularly free from
inequality. His great literary power, his reputation for benevolence,
and his known toleration and dislike of doctrinal disputes caused him to
be much more favourably regarded than most churchmen by the
_philosophes_ of the 18th century.
The first edition of Massillon's complete works was published by his
nephew, also an Oratorian (Paris, 1745-1748), and upon this, in the
absence of MSS., succeeding reprints were based. The best modern
edition is that of the Abbé Blampignon (Paris, 1865-1868, 4 vols.; new
ed. 1886).
See Abbé Blampignon, _Massillon, d'après des documents inédits_
(Paris, 1879); and _L'Épiscopat de Massitlon d'après des documents
inédits, suivi de sa correspondance_ (Paris, 1884); F. Brunetière
"L'Éloquence de Massillon" in _Études critiques_ (Paris, 1882); Père
Ingold, _L'Oratoire et le jansénisme au temps de Massitlon_ (Paris,
1880); and Louis Petit de Julleville's _Histoire de la langue et de la
littérature française_, v. 372-385 (Paris, 1898).
MASSILLON, a city of Stark county, Ohio, U.S.A., on the Tuscarawas river
and the Ohio canal, 8 m. W. of Canton, and about 50 m. S. by E. of
Cleveland. Pop. (1900), 11,944 (1693 foreign-born); (1910), 13,879. It
is served by the Pennsylvania (Pittsburg, Ft Wayne & Chicago Division),
the Baltimore & Ohio and the Wheeling & Lake Erie railways. Massillon is
built among hills in a part of the state noted for its large production
of coal and wheat and abounding in white sandstone, iron ore and
potter's clay. The city has various manufactures, including iron,
engines, furnaces, reapers, threshers and bottles. The total value of
the factory products in 1905 was $3,707,013, an increase of 34.8% over
that of 1900. The first settlement was made in 1825; in 1826 the town
was laid out and named in honour of Jean Baptiste Massillon; it was
incorporated a village in 1853, and became a city in 1868.
MASSIMO, or MASSIMI, a Roman princely family of great antiquity, said to
be descended from the ancient Maximi of republican Rome. The name is
first mentioned in 1012 in the person of Leo de Maximis, and the family
played a considerable part in the history of the city in the middle
ages. The brothers Pietro and Francesco Massimi acquired fame by
protecting and encouraging the German printer Ulrich Hahn, who came to
Rome in 1467. In the 16th century the Massimi were the richest of the
Roman nobles. A marquisate was conferred on them in 1544, and the
lordship of Arsoli in 1574. To-day there are two branches of the
Massimi, viz. the Principi Massimo, descended from Camillo Massimiliano
(1770-1840), and the dukes of Rignano, descended from Francesco Massimo
(1773-1844). One of the sons of the present Prince Camillo Carlo
Alberto, Don Fabrizio, married Princess Beatrice, daughter of Don Carlos
of Bourbon (duke of Madrid), the pretender to the Spanish throne. The
Palazzo Massimo in Rome was built by Baldassare Peruzzi by order of
Pietro Massimo, on the ruins of an earlier palace destroyed in the sack
of Rome in 1527.
See F. Gregorovius, _Geschichte der Stadt Rom_ (Stuttgart, 1880); A.
von Reumont, _Geschichte der Stadt Rom_ (Berlin, 1868); _Almanach de
Gotha_; J. H. Douglas, _The Principal Noble Families of Rome_ (Rome,
1905).
MASSINGER, PHILIP (1583-1640), English dramatist, son of Arthur
Massinger or Messanger, was baptized at St Thomas's, Salisbury, on the
24th of November 1583. He apparently belonged to an old Salisbury
family, for the name occurs in the city records as early as 1415. He is
described in his matriculation entry at St Alban Hall, Oxford (1602), as
the son of a gentleman. His father, who had also been educated at St
Alban Hall, was a member of parliament, and was attached to the
household of Henry Herbert, 2nd earl of Pembroke, who recommended him in
1587 for the office of examiner in the court of the marches. The 3rd
earl of Pembroke, the William Herbert whose name has been connected with
Shakespeare's sonnets, succeeded to the title in 1601. It has been
suggested that he supported the poet at Oxford, but the significant
omission of any reference to him in any of Massinger's prefaces points
to the contrary. Massinger left Oxford without a degree in 1606. His
father had died in 1603, and he was perhaps dependent on his own
exertions. The lack of a degree and the want of patronage from Lord
Pembroke may both be explained on the supposition that he had become a
Roman Catholic. On leaving the university he went to London to make his
living as a dramatist, but his name cannot be definitely affixed to any
play until fifteen years later, when _The Virgin Martyr_ (ent. at
Stationers' Hall, Dec. 7, 1621) appeared as the work of Massinger and
Dekker. During these years he worked in collaboration with other
dramatists. A joint letter, from Nathaniel Field, Robert Daborne and
Philip Massinger, to Philip Henslowe, begs for an immediate loan of five
pounds to release them from their "unfortunate extremitie," the money to
be taken from the balance due for the "play of Mr Fletcher's and ours."
A second document shows that Massinger and Daborne owed Henslowe £3 on
the 4th of July 1615. The earlier note probably dates from 1613, and
from this time Massinger apparently worked regularly with John Fletcher,
although in editions of Beaumont and Fletcher's works his co-operation
is usually unrecognized. Sir Aston Cokayne, Massinger's constant friend
and patron, refers in explicit terms to this collaboration in a sonnet
addressed to Humphrey Moseley on the publication of his folio edition of
Beaumont and Fletcher (_Small Poems of Divers Sorts_, 1658), and in an
epitaph on the two poets he says:--
"Plays they did write together, were great friends,
And now one grave includes them in their ends."
After Philip Henslowe's death in 1616 Massinger and Fletcher began to
write for the King's Men. Between 1623 and 1626 Massinger produced
unaided for the Lady Elizabeth's Men then playing at the Cockpit three
pieces, _The Parliament of Love_, _The Bondman_ and _The Renegado_. With
the exception of these plays and _The Great Duke of Florence_, produced
in 1627 by the Queen's servants, Massinger continued to write regularly
for the King's Men until his death. The tone of the dedications of his
later plays affords evidence of his continued poverty. Thus in the
preface to _The Maid of Honour_ (1632) he wrote, addressing Sir Francis
Foljambe and Sir Thomas Bland: "I had not to this time subsisted, but
that I was supported by your frequent courtesies and favours." The
prologue to _The Guardian_ (licensed 1633) refers to two unsuccessful
plays and two years of silence, when the author feared he had lost the
popular favour. S. R. Gardiner, in an essay on "The Political Element in
Massinger" (_Contemp. Review_, Aug. 1876), maintained that Massinger's
dramas are before all else political, that the events of his day were as
openly criticized in his plays as current politics are in the cartoons
of _Punch_. It is probable that this break in his production was owing
to his free handling of public matters. In 1631 Sir Henry Herbert, the
master of the revels, refused to license an unnamed play by Massinger
because of "dangerous matter as the deposing of Sebastian, King of
Portugal," calculated presumably to endanger good relations between
England and Spain. There is little doubt that this was the same piece as
_Believe as You List_, in which time and place are changed, Antiochus
being substituted for Sebastian, and Rome for Spain. In the prologue
Massinger ironically apologizes for his ignorance of history, and
professes that his accuracy is at fault if his picture comes near "a
late and sad example." The obvious "late and sad example" of a wandering
prince could be no other than Charles I.'s brother-in-law, the elector
palatine. An allusion to the same subject may be traced in _The Maid of
Honour_. In another play by Massinger, not extant, Charles I. is
reported to have himself struck out a passage put into the mouth of Don
Pedro, king of Spain, as "too insolent." The poet seems to have adhered
closely to the politics of his patron, Philip Herbert, earl of
Montgomery, and afterwards 4th earl of Pembroke, who had leanings to
democracy and was a personal enemy of the duke of Buckingham. In _The
Bondman_, dealing with the history of Timoleon, Buckingham is satirized
as Gisco. The servility towards the Crown displayed in Beaumont and
Fletcher's plays reflected the temper of the court of James I. The
attitude of Massinger's heroes and heroines towards kings is very
different. Camiola's remarks on the limitations of the royal prerogative
(_Maid of Honour_, act iv. sc. v.) could hardly be acceptable at court.
Massinger died suddenly at his house near the Globe theatre, and was
buried in the churchyard of St Saviour's, Southwark, on the 18th of
March 1640. In the entry in the parish register he is described as a
"stranger," which, however, implies nothing more than that he belonged
to another parish.
The supposition that Massinger was a Roman Catholic rests upon three of
his plays, _The Virgin Martyr_ (licensed 1620), _The Renegado_ (licensed
1624) and _The Maid of Honour_ (c. 1621). The religious sentiment is
certainly such as would obviously best appeal to an audience sympathetic
to Roman Catholic doctrine. _The Virgin Martyr_, in which Dekker
probably had a large share, is really a miracle play, dealing with the
martyrdom of Dorothea in the time of Diocletian, and the supernatural
element is freely used. Little stress can be laid on this performance as
elucidating Massinger's views. It is not entirely his work, and the
story is early Christian, not Roman Catholic. In _The Renegado_,
however, the action is dominated by the beneficent influence of a Jesuit
priest, Francisco, and the doctrine of baptismal regeneration is
enforced. In _The Maid of Honour_ a complicated situation is solved by
the decision of the heroine, Camiola, to take the veil. For this she is
held up "to all posterity a fair example for noble maids to imitate."
Among all Massinger's heroines Camiola is distinguished by genuine
purity and heroism.
His plays have generally an obvious moral intention. He sets himself to
work out a series of ethical problems through a succession of ingenious
and effective plots. In the art of construction he has, indeed, few
rivals. But the virtue of his heroes and heroines is rather morbid than
natural, and often singularly divorced from common-sense. His _dramatis
personae_ are in general types rather than living persons, and their
actions do not appear to spring inevitably from their characters, but
rather from the exigencies of the plot. The heroes are too good, and the
villains too wicked to be quite convincing. Moreover their respective
goodness and villainy are too often represented as extraneous to
themselves. This defect of characterization shows that English drama had
already begun to decline.
It seems doubtful whether Massinger was ever a popular playwright, for
the best qualities of his plays would appeal rather to politicians and
moralists than to the ordinary playgoer. He contributed, however, at
least one great and popular character to the English stage. Sir Giles
Overreach, in _A New Way to Pay Old Debts_, is a sort of commercial
Richard III., a compound of the lion and the fox, and the part provides
many opportunities for a great actor. He made another considerable
contribution to the comedy of manners in _The City Madam_. In
Massinger's own judgment _The Roman Actor_ was "the most perfect birth
of his Minerva." It is a study of the tyrant Domitian, and of the
results of despotic rule on the despot himself and his court. Other
favourable examples of his grave and restrained art are _The Duke of
Milan_, _The Bondman_ and _The Great Duke of Florence_.
Massinger was a student and follower of Shakespeare. The form of his
verse, especially in the number of run-on lines, approximates in some
respects to Shakespeare's later manner. He is rhetorical and
picturesque, but rarely rises to extraordinary felicity. His verse is
never mean, but it sometimes comes perilously near to prose, and in
dealing with passionate situations it lacks fire and directness.
The plays attributed to Massinger alone are: _The Duke of Milan, a
Tragedy_ (c. 1618, pr. 1623 and 1638); _The Unnatural Combat, a
Tragedy_ (c. 1619, pr. 1639); _The Bondman, an Antient Storie_
(licensed 1623, pr. 1624); _The Renegado, a Tragaecomedie_ (lic. 1624,
pr. 1630); _The Parliament of Love_ (lic. 1624; ascribed, no doubt
erroneously, in the Stationers' Register, 1660, to W. Rowley; first
printed by Gifford from an imperfect MS. in 1805); _A New Way to Pay
Old Debts, a Comoedie_ (c. 1625, pr. 1632); _The Roman Actor. A
Tragaedie_ (lic. 1626, pr. 1629); _The Maid of Honour_ (dating perhaps
from 1621, pr. 1632); _The Picture, a Tragecomedie_ (lic. 1629, pr.
1630); _The Great Duke of Florence, a Comicall Historie_ (lic. 1627,
pr. 1635); _The Emperor of the East, a Tragaecomoedie_ (lic. and pr.
1631), founded on the story of Theodosius the Younger; _Believe as You
List_ (rejected by the censor in January, but licensed in May, 1631;
pr. 1848-1849 for the Percy Society); _The City Madam, a Comedie_
(lic. 1632, pr. 1658), which Mr Fleay (_Biog. Chron. of the Eng.
Drama_, i. 226), however, considers to be a _rifaciamento_ of an older
play, probably by Jonson; _The Guardian_ (lic. 1633, pr. 1655); and
_The Bashful Lover_ (lic. 1636, pr. 1655). _A Very Woman, or The
Prince of Tarent_, licensed in 1634 as the work of Massinger alone, is
generally referred to his collaboration with Fletcher. The "exquisite
temperance and justice" of this piece are, according to Swinburne,
foreign to Fletcher's genius, and afford a striking example of
Massinger's artistic skill and moderation.
Twelve plays of Massinger are said to be lost, but the titles of some
of these may be duplicates of those of existing plays. Five of these
lost plays were MSS. used by John Warburton's cook for pie-covers. The
numerous plays in which Massinger's co-operation with John Fletcher is
generally assumed are dealt with under BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER. But it
may be here noted that Mr R. Boyle has constructed an ingenious case
for the joint authorship by Fletcher and Massinger of the two
"Shakespearian" plays, _Henry VIII._ and _Two Noble Kinsmen_ (see the
New Shakspere Society's _Transactions_, 1884 and 1882). Mr Boyle sees
the touch of Massinger in the first two acts of the _Second Maiden's
Tragedy_ (Lansdowne MS., lic. 1611), a play with which the names of
Fletcher and Tourneur are also associated by different critics. _The
Fatall Dowry, a Tragedy_ (c. 1619, pr. 1632), which was adapted
without acknowledgment by Nicholas Rowe in his _Fair Penitent_, was
written in conjunction with Nathaniel Field; and _The Virgin Martir, a
Tragedie_ (lic. 1620, pr. 1621), with Thomas Dekker.
Massinger's independent works were collected by Coxeter (4 vols.,
1759, revised edition with introduction by Thomas Davies, 1779), by J.
Monck Mason (4 vols., 1779), by William Gifford (4 vols., 1805, 1813),
by Hartley Coleridge (1840), by Lieut.-Colonel Cunningham (1867), and
selections by Mr Arthur Symons in the _Mermaid Series_ (1887-1889).
Gifford's remains the standard edition, and formed the basis of
Cunningham's text. It contains "An Essay on the Dramatic Writings of
Massinger" by Dr John Ferriar.
Massinger has been the object of a good deal of criticism. A metrical
examination of the plays in which Massinger was concerned is given in
_Englische Studien_ (Halle, v. 74, vii. 66, viii. 39, ix. 209 and x.
383), by Mr R. Boyle, who also contributed the life of the poet in the
_Dictionary of National Biography_. The sources of his plays are dealt
with by E. Koeppel in _Quellen Studien zu den Dramen Chapman's,
Massinger's und Ford's_ (Strassburg, 1897). For detailed criticism,
beside the introductions to the editions quoted, see A. W. Ward,
_Hist. of Eng. Dram. Lit._ (1899), iii. 1-47, and F. G. Fleay, _Biog.
Chron. of the Eng. Drama_ (1891), under _Fletcher_; a general estimate
of Massinger, dealing especially with his moral standpoint, is given
in Sir Leslie Stephen's _Hours in a Library_ (3rd series, 1879);
Swinburne, in the _Fortnightly Review_ (July 1889), while
acknowledging the justice of Sir L. Stephen's main strictures, found
much to say in praise of the poet.
MASSINISSA (c. 238-149 B.C.), king of Massylian or eastern Numidia. He
was educated, like many of the Numidian chiefs, at Carthage, learnt
Latin and Greek, and was an accomplished as well as a naturally clever
man. Although his kingdom was nominally independent of Carthage, it
really stood to it in a relation of vassalage; it was directly under
Carthaginian influences, and was imbued to a very considerable extent
with Carthaginian civilization. It was to this that Massinissa owed his
fame and success; he was a barbarian at heart, but he had a varnish of
culture, and to this he added the craft and cunning in which
Carthaginian statesmen were supposed to excel. While yet a young man
(212) he forced his neighbour Syphax, prince of western Numidia, who had
recently entered into an alliance with Rome, to fly to the Moors in the
extreme west of Africa. Soon afterwards he appeared in Spain, fighting
for Carthage with a large force of Numidian cavalry against the Romans
under the two Scipios. The defeat of the Carthaginian army in 206 led
him to cast in his lot with Rome. Scipio Africanus is said to have
cultivated his friendship. Massinissa now quitted Spain for a while for
Africa, and was again engaged in a war with Syphax in which he was
decidedly worsted. Scipio's arrival in Africa in 204 gave him another
chance, and no sooner had he joined the Roman general than he crushed
his old enemy Syphax, and captured his capital Cirta (Constantine). Here
occurs the romantic story of Sophonisba, daughter of the Carthaginian
Hasdrubal, who had been promised in marriage to Massinissa, but had
subsequently become the wife of Syphax. Massinissa, according to the
story, married Sophonisba immediately after his victory, but was
required by Scipio to dismiss her as a Carthaginian, and consequently an
enemy to Rome. To save her from such humiliation he sent her poison,
with which she destroyed herself. Massinissa was now accepted as a loyal
ally of Rome, and was confirmed by Scipio in the possession of his
kingdom. In the battle of Zama (202) (see PUNIC WARS), he commanded the
cavalry on Scipio's right wing, and materially assisted the Roman
victory. For his services he received the kingdom of Syphax, and thus
under Roman protection he became master of the whole of Numidia, and his
dominions completely enclosed the Carthaginian territories, now
straitened and reduced at the close of the Second Punic War. It would
seem that he had thoughts of annexing Carthage itself with the
connivance of Rome. In a war which soon followed he was successful; the
remonstrances of Carthage with Rome on the behaviour of her ally were
answered by the appointment of Scipio as arbitrator; but, as though
intentionally on the part of Rome, no definite settlement was arrived
at, and thus the relations between Massinissa and the Carthaginians
continued strained. Rome, it is certain, deliberately favoured her
ally's unjust claims with the view of keeping Carthage weak, and
Massinissa on his part was cunning enough to retain the friendship of
the Roman people by helping them with liberal supplies in their wars
against Perseus of Macedon and Antiochus. As soon as Carthage seemed to
be recovering herself, and some of Massinissa's partisans were driven
from the city into exile, his policy was to excite the fears of Rome,
till at last in 149 war was declared--the Third Punic War, which ended
in the final overthrow of Carthage. The king took some part in the
negotiations which preceded the war, but died soon after its
commencement in the ninetieth year of his age and the sixtieth of his
reign.
Massinissa was an able ruler and a decided benefactor to Numidia. He
converted a plundering tribe into a settled and civilized population,
and out of robbers and marauders made efficient and disciplined
soldiers. To his sons he bequeathed a well-stored treasury, a formidable
army, and even a fleet. Cirta (q.v.), his capital, became a famous
centre of Phoenician civilization. In fact Massinissa changed for the
better the whole aspect of a great part of northern Africa. He had much
of the Arab nature, was singularly temperate, and equal to any amount of
fatigue. His fidelity to Rome was merely that of temporary expediency.
He espoused now one side, and now the other, but on the whole supported
Rome, so that orators and historians could speak of him as "a most
faithful ally of the Roman people."
See Livy xxiv. 49, xxviii. 11, 35, 42, xxix. 27, xxx. 3, 12, 28, 37,
xlii. 23, 29, xliii. 3; Polybius iii. 5, ix. 42, xiv. 1, xxxii. 2,
xxxvii. 3; Appian, _Hisp._ 37, _Punica_, 11, 27, 105; Justin xxxiii.
1; A. H. J. Greenidge, _Hist. of Rome_ (London, 1904).
MASSON, DAVID (1822-1907), Scottish man of letters, was born at Aberdeen
on the 2nd of December 1822, and educated at the grammar school there
and at Marischal College. Intending to enter the Church, he proceeded to
Edinburgh University, where he studied theology under Dr Chalmers, whose
friendship he enjoyed until the divine's death in 1847. However,
abandoning his project of the ministry, he returned to his native city
to undertake the editorship of the _Banner_, a weekly paper devoted to
the advocacy of Free Kirk principles. After two years he resigned this
post and went back to the capital, bent upon pursuing a purely literary
career. There he wrote a great deal, contributing to _Fraser's
Magazine_, _Dublin University Magazine_ (in which appeared his essays on
Chatterton) and other periodicals. In 1847 he went to London, where he
found wider scope for his energy and knowledge. He was secretary
(1851-1852) of the "Society of the Friends of Italy." In a famous
interview with Mrs Browning at Florence he contested her admiration for
Napoleon III. He had known De Quincey, whose biography he contributed in
1878 to the "English Men of Letters" series, and he was an enthusiastic
friend and admirer of Carlyle. In 1852 he was appointed professor of
English literature at University College, London, in succession to A. H.
Clough, and from 1858 to 1865 he edited the newly established
_Macmillan's Magazine_. In 1865 he was selected for the chair of
rhetoric and English literature at Edinburgh, and during the early years
of his professorship actively promoted the movement for the university
education of women. In 1879 he became editor of the Register of the
Scottish Privy Council, and in 1893 was appointed Historiographer Royal
for Scotland. Two years later he resigned his professorship. His _magnum
opus_ in his _Life of Milton in Connexion with the History of His Own
Time_ in six volumes, the first of which appeared in 1858 and the last
in 1880. He also edited the library edition of Milton's _Poetical Works_
(3 vols., 1874), and De Quincey's _Collected Works_ (14 vols.,
1889-1890). Among his other publications are _Essays, Biographical and
Critical_ (1856, reprinted with additions, 3 vols., 1874), _British
Novelists and their Styles_ (1859), _Drummond of Hawthornden_ (1873),
_Chatterton_ (1873) and _Edinburgh Sketches_ (1892). He died on the 6th
of October 1907. A bust of Masson was presented to the senate of the
university of Edinburgh in 1897. Professor Masson had married Rosaline
Orme. His son Orme Masson became professor of chemistry in the
university of Melbourne, and his daughter Rosaline is known as a writer
and novelist.
MASSON, LOUIS CLAUDE FRÉDÉRIC (1847- ), French historian, was born at
Paris on the 8th of March 1847. His father, Francis Masson, a solicitor,
was killed on the 23rd of June 1848, when major in the _garde
nationale_. Young Masson was educated at the college of Sainte Barbe,
and at the lycée Louis-le-Grand, and then travelled in Germany and in
England; from 1869 to 1880 he was librarian at the Foreign Office. At
first he devoted himself to the history of diplomacy, and published
between 1877 and 1884 several volumes connected with that subject. Later
he published a number of more or less curious memoirs illustrating the
history of the Revolution and of the empire. But he is best known for
his books connected with Napoleon. In _Napoléon inconnu_ (1895), Masson,
together with M. Guido Biagi, brought out the unpublished writings
(1786-1793) of the future emperor. These were notes, extracts from
historical, philosophical and literary books, and personal reflections
in which one can watch the growth of the ideas later carried out by the
emperor with modifications necessitated by the force of circumstances
and his own genius. But this was only one in a remarkable series:
_Joséphine de Beauharnais, 1763-1796_ (1898); _Joséphine, impératrice et
reine_ (1899); _Joséphine répudiée 1809-1814_ (1901); _L'Impératrice
Marie Louise_ (1902); _Napoléon et les femmes_ (1894); _Napoléon et sa
famille_ (9 vols., 1897-1907); _Napoléon et son fils_ (1904); and
_Autour de l'Île d'Elbe_ (1908). These works abound in details and
amusing anecdotes, which throw much light on the events and men of the
time, laying stress on the personal, romantic and dramatic aspects of
history. The author was made a member of the Académie française in 1903.
From 1886 to 1889 he edited the review _Arts and Letters_, published in
London and New York.
A bibliography of his works, including anonymous ones and those under
an assumed name, has been published by G. Vicaire (_Manuel de
l'amateur des livres du XIX^e siècle_, tome v., 1904). _Napoléon et
les femmes_ has been translated into English as _Napoleon and the Fair
Sex_ (1894).
MAST (1) (O. Eng. _maest_; a common Teutonic word, cognate with Lat.
_malus_; from the medieval latinized form _mastus_ comes Fr. _mât_), in
nautical language, the name of the spar, or straight piece of timber, or
combination of spars, on which are hung the yards and sails of a vessel
of any size. It has been ingeniously supposed that man himself was the
first mast. He discovered by standing up in his prehistoric "dugout," or
canoe, that the wind blowing on him would carry his craft along. But the
origin of the mast, like that of the ship, is lost in times anterior to
all record. The earliest form of mast which prevailed till the close of
the middle ages, and is still in use for small vessels, was and is a
single spar made of some tough and elastic wood; the conifers supply the
best timber for the purpose. In sketching the history of the development
of the mast, we must distinguish between the increase in the number
erected, and the improvements made in the mast itself. The earliest
ships had only one, carrying a single sail. So little is known of the
rigging of classical ships that nothing can be affirmed of them with
absolute confidence. The Norse vessels carried one mast placed in the
middle. The number gradually increased till it reached four or five. All
were at first upright, but the mast which stood nearest the bow was by
degrees lowered forward till it became the bow-sprit of modern times,
and lost the name of mast. The next from the bows became the
foremast--called in Mediterranean sea language _mizzana_, in French
_misaine_. Then came the main-mast--in French _grand mât_; and then the
mizen--in French, which follows the Mediterranean usage, the _artimon_,
i.e. "next the rudder," _timon_. A small mast was sometimes erected in
the very end of the ship, and called in English a "bonaventure mizen."
It had a close resemblance to the jigger of yawl-rigged yachts. By the
close of the 16th century it had become the established rule that a ship
proper had three masts--fore, main and mizen. The third takes its name
not as the other two do, from its place, but from the lateen sail
originally hoisted on it (see RIGGING), which was placed fore and aft in
the middle (Italian, _mizzo_) of the ship, and did not lie across like
the courses and topsails. With the development of very large sailing
clippers in the middle of the 19th century a return was made to the
practice of carrying more than three masts. Ships and barques are built
with four or five. Some of the large schooners employed in the American
coast trade have six or seven, and some steamers have had as many.
The mast was for long made out of a single spar. Thence the
Mediterranean name of "palo" (spar) and the Spanish "arbol" (tree).
The typical Mediterranean mast of "lateen" (Latin) vessels is short
and bends forward. In other classes it is upright, or bends slightly
backwards with what is called a "rake." The mast is grounded, or in
technical language "stepped," on the kelson (or keelson), the solid
timber or metal beam lying parallel with, and above the keel. As the
15th century advanced the growth of the ship made it difficult, or
even impossible, to find spars large enough to make a mast. The
practice of dividing it into lower, and upper or topmast, was
introduced. At first the two were fastened firmly, and the topmast
could not be lowered. In the 16th century the topmast became movable.
No date can be given for the change, which was gradual, and was not
simultaneously adopted. When the masting of sailing ships was fully
developed, the division was into lower or standing mast, topmast,
topgallant mast, and topgallant royal. The topgallant royal is a small
spar which is often a continuation of the topgallant mast, and is
fixed. Increase of size also made it impossible to construct each of
these subdivisions out of single timbers. A distinction was made
between "whole" or single-spar masts and "armed" and "made masts." The
first were used for the lighter spars, for small vessels and the
Mediterranean craft called "polacras." Armed masts were composed of
two single timbers. Made masts were built of many pieces, bolted and
"coaked," i.e. dovetailed and fitted together, fastened round by iron
hoops, and between them by twelve or thirteen close turns of rope,
firmly secured. "Made masts" are stronger than those made of a single
tree and less liable to be sprung. The general principle of
construction is that it is built round a central shaft, called in
English the "spindle" or "upper tree," and in French the _mèche_ or
wick. The other pieces--"side trees," "keel pieces," "side fishes,"
"cant pieces" and "fillings" are "coaked," i.e. dovetailed and bolted
on to and around the "spindle," which itself is made of two pieces,
coaked and bolted. The whole is bound by iron bands, and between the
bands, by rope firmly "woulded" or turned round, and nailed tight. The
art of constructing made masts, like that of building wooden ships, is
in process of dying out. In sailing men-of-war the mizen-mast often
did not reach to the kelson, but was stepped on the orlop deck. Hollow
metal cylinders are now used as masts. In the case of a masted screw
steamer the masts abaft the engines could not be stepped on the kelson
because they would interfere with the shaft of the screw. It is
therefore necessary to step them on the lower deck, where they are
supported by stanchions, or on a horseshoe covering the screw shaft.
The size of masts naturally varies very much. In a 110-gun ship of
2164 tons the proportions of the mainmast were: for the lower mast,
length 117 ft., diameter 3 ft. 3 in.; topmast, 70 ft., and 20¾ in.;
topgallant mast, 35 ft., and 11(5/8) in., 222 ft. in all. At the other
end of the scale, a cutter of 200 tons had a lower mast of 88 ft., of
22 in. diameter, and a topgallant mast (there was no topmast between
them) of 44 ft., of 9¾ in. in diameter, 132 ft. in all; topgallant
mast of 44 ft., and 9¾ in. in diameter. The masts of a warship were
more lofty than those of a merchant ship of the same tonnage. At
present masts are only used by warships for signalling and military
purposes. In sailing merchant ships, the masts are more lofty than
they were about a century ago. A merchant ship of 1300 tons, in 1830,
had a mainmast 179 ft. in height; a vessel of the same size would have
a mast of 198 ft. to-day.
A "jury mast" is a temporary mast put up by the crew when the spars
nave been carried away in a storm or in action, or have been cut away
to relieve pressure in a storm. The word has been supposed without any
foundation to be short for "injury" mast; it may be a mere fanciful
sailor adaptation of "jury" in some connexion now lost. Skeat suggests
that it is short for O. Fr. _ajourie_, Lat. _adjutare_, to aid. There
is no reason to connect with _jour_, day.
See L. Jal, _Glossaire Nautique_ (Paris, 1848); Sir Henry Manwayring,
_The Seaman's Dictionary_ (London, 1644); N. Hutchinson, _Treatise on
Naval Architecture and Practical Seamanship_ (Liverpool, 1777); David
Steel, _Elements and Practice of Rigging, Seamanship and Naval
Tactics_ (London, 1800); William Burney's _Falconer's Dictionary_
(London, 1830); Sir Gervais Nares's _Seamanship_ (Portsmouth, 1882);
and John Fincham, _On Masting Ships and Mast Making_ (London, 1829).
(D. H.)
MAST (2) (Anglo-Saxon _maest_, food, common to some Teutonic languages,
and ultimately connected with "meat"), the fruit of the beech, oak, and
other forest trees, used as food for swine.
MASTABA (Arab. for "bench"), in Egyptian architecture, the term given to
the rectangular tombs in stone with raking sides and a flat roof. There
were three chambers inside. In one the walls were sometimes richly
decorated with paintings and had a low bench of stone in them on which
incense was burnt. The second chamber was either closed, with holes
pierced in the wall separating it from the first chamber, or entered
through a narrow passage through which the fumes of the incense passed;
this chamber contained the _serdab_ or figure of the deceased. A
vertical well-hole cut in the rock descended to a third chamber in which
the mummy was laid.
MASTER (Lat. _magister_, related to _magis_, more, as the corresponding
_minister_ is to _minus_, less; the English form is due partly to the O.
Eng. _maegister_, and partly to O. Fr. _maistre_, mod. _maître_; cf. Du.
_meester_, Ger. _Meister_, Ital. _maestro_), one holding a position of
authority, disposition or control over persons or things. The various
applications of the word fall roughly into the following main divisions;
as the title of the holder of a position of command or authority; as
that of the holder of certain public or private offices, and hence a
title of address; and as implying the relationship of a teacher to his
pupils or of an employer to the persons he employs. As a title of the
holder of an office, the use of the Lat. _magister_ is very ancient.
_Magister equitum_, master of the horse, goes back to the early history
of the Roman Republic (see DICTATOR; and for the British office, MASTER
OF THE HORSE). In medieval times the title was of great frequency. In Du
Cange (_Glossarium_) the article _magister_ contains over 120
sub-headings. In the British royal household most of the offices bearing
this title are now obsolete. Of the greater offices, that of master of
the buckhounds was abolished by the Civil List Act 1901. The master of
the household, master of the ceremonies, master of the king's music
still survive. Since 1870 the office of master of the mint has been held
by the chancellor of the exchequer, all the administrative and other
duties being exercised by the deputy master.
At sea, a "master" is more properly styled "master mariner." In the
merchant service he is the commander of a ship, and is by courtesy known
as the captain. In the British navy he was the officer entrusted with
the navigation under the captain. He had no royal commission, but a
warrant from the Navy Board. Very often he had been a merchant captain.
His duties are now performed by the staff commander or navigating
lieutenant. The master-at-arms is the head of the internal police of a
ship; the same title is borne by a senior gymnastic instructor in the
army. In the United States navy, the master is a commissioned officer
below the rank of lieutenant.
"Master" appears as the title of many legal functionaries (for the
masters of the supreme court see CHANCERY; and KING'S BENCH, COURT OF;
for masters in lunacy see INSANITY: § _Law_, see also MASTER OF THE
ROLLS, below). The "master of the faculties" is the chief officer of the
archbishop of Canterbury in his court of faculties. His duties are
concerned with the appointment of notaries and the granting of special
licences of marriage. The duties are performed _ex officio_ by the judge
of the provincial courts of Canterbury and York, who is also dean of
Arches, in accordance with § 7 of the Public Worship Regulation Act
1874. The "master of the Temple" is the title of the priest-in-charge of
the Temple Church in London. It was formerly the title of the grand
master of the Knights Templars. The priest-in-charge of the Templars'
Church was properly styled the _custos_, and this was preserved by the
Knights Hospitallers when they were granted the property of the Templars
at the dissolution of that order. The act of 1540 (32 Henry VIII.),
which dissolved the order of the Hospitallers, wrongly styled the
_custos_ master of the Temple, and the mistake has been continued. The
proper title of a bencher of the Inns of Court is "master of the Bench"
(see INNS OF COURT). The title of "Master-General of the Ordnance" was
revived in 1904 for the head of the Ordnance Department in the British
military administration.
"Master" is the ordinary word for a teacher, very generally used in the
compound "schoolmaster." The word also is used in a sense transferred
from this to express the relation between the founder of a school of
religion, philosophy, science, art, &c., and his disciples. It is partly
in this sense and partly in that of one whose work serves as a model or
type of superlative excellence that such terms as "old masters" are
used. In medieval universities _magister_ was particularly applied to
one who had been granted a degree carrying with it the _licentia
docendi_, the licence to teach. In English usage this survives in the
faculty of arts. The degree is that of _artium magister_, master of
arts, abbreviated M.A. In the other faculties the corresponding degree
is doctor. Some British universities give a master's degree in surgery,
_magister chirurgiae_, C.M. or M.Ch., and also in science, _magister
scientiae_, M.Sc. The academic use of "master" as the title of the head
of certain colleges at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge is to be
referred to the frequent application of the term to the holder of a
presiding office in an institution.
Master was the usual prefix of address to a man's name, though
originally confined to people of some social standing. Probably under
the influence of "mistress," it was corrupted in sound to "mister," and
was abbreviated to "Mr." In the case of the puisne judges of the High
Court "Mr Justice" is still used as the proper official form of written
address. The Speaker of the House of Commons is also formally addressed
as "Mr Speaker." In some Scottish peerages below the rank of earl,
"master" is used in the courtesy title of the heir, e.g. the "Master of
Ruthven."
MASTER AND SERVANT. These are scarcely to be considered as technical
terms in English law. The relationship which they imply is created when
one man hires the labour of another for a term. Thus it is not
constituted by merely contracting with another for the performance of a
definite work, or by sending an article to an artificer to be repaired,
or engaging a builder to construct a house. Nor would the employment of
a man for one definite act of personal service--e.g. the engagement of a
messenger for a single occasion--generally make the one master and the
other servant. It was held, however, in relation to the offence of
embezzlement, that a drover employed on one occasion to drive cattle
home from market was a servant within the statute. On the other hand,
there are many decisions limiting the meaning of "servants" under wills
giving legacies to the class of servants generally. Thus "a person who
was not obliged to give his whole time to the master, but was yet in
some sense a servant," was held not entitled to share in a legacy to the
servants. These cases are, however, interpretations of wills where the
intention obviously is to benefit domestic servants only. And so in
other connexions questions may arise as to the exact nature of the
relations between the parties--whether they are master and servant, or
principal and agent, or landlord and tenant, or partners, &c.
The terms of the contract of service are for the most part such as the
parties choose to make them, but in the absence of express stipulations
terms will be implied by the law. Thus, "where no time is limited either
expressly or by implication for the duration of a contract of hiring and
service, the hiring is considered as a general hiring, and in point of
law a hiring for a year." But "in the case of domestic and menial
servants there is a well-known rule, founded solely on custom, that
their contract of service may be determined at any time by giving a
month's warning or paying a month's wages, but a domestic or other
yearly servant, _wrongfully_ quitting his master's service, forfeits all
claim to wages for that part of the current year during which he has
served, and cannot claim the sum to which his wages would have amounted
had he kept his contract, merely deducting therefrom one month's wages.
Domestic servants have a right by custom to leave their situations at
any time on payment of a calendar month's wages in advance, just as a
master may discharge them in a similar manner" (Manley Smith's _Law of
Master and Servant_, chs. ii. and iii.). The following are sufficient
grounds for discharging a servant: (1) wilful disobedience of any lawful
order; (2) gross moral misconduct; (3) habitual negligence; (4)
incompetence or permanent disability caused by illness. A master has a
right of action against any person who deprives him of the services of
his servant, by enticing him away, harbouring or detaining him after
notice, confining or disabling him, or by seducing his female servant.
Indeed, the ordinary and only available action for seduction in English
law is in form of a claim by a parent for the loss of his daughter's
services. The death of either master or servant in general puts an end
to the contract. A servant wrongfully discharged may either treat the
contract as rescinded and sue for services actually rendered, or he may
bring a special action for damages for the breach. The common law
liabilities of a master towards his servants have been further regulated
by the Workmen's Compensation Acts (see EMPLOYER'S LIABILITY). A master
is bound to provide food for a servant living under his roof, and wilful
breach of duty in that respect is a misdemeanour under the Offences
against the Person Act 1861.
A servant has no right to demand "a character" from an employer, and if
a character be given it will be deemed a privileged communication, so
that the master will not be liable thereon to the servant unless it be
false and malicious. A master by knowingly giving a false character of a
servant to an intending employer may render himself liable--should the
servant for example rob or injure his new master.
Reference may be made to the articles on LABOUR LEGISLATION for the
cases in which special terms have been introduced into contracts of
service by statute (e.g. Truck Acts).
MASTER OF THE HORSE, in England, an important official of the
sovereign's household. The master of the horse is the third dignitary of
the court, and is always a member of the ministry (before 1782 the
office was of cabinet rank), a peer and a privy councillor. All matters
connected with the horses and hounds of the sovereign, as well as the
stables and coach-houses, the stud, mews and kennels, are within his
jurisdiction. The practical management of the royal stables and stud
devolves on the chief or crown equerry, formerly called the gentleman of
the horse, who is never in personal attendance on the sovereign and
whose appointment is permanent. The clerk marshal has the supervision of
the accounts of the department before they are submitted to the Board of
Green Cloth, and is in waiting on the sovereign on state occasions only.
Exclusive of the crown equerry there are seven regular equerries,
besides extra and honorary equerries, one of whom is always in
attendance on the sovereign and rides at the side of the royal carriage.
They are always officers of the army, and each of them is "on duty" for
about the same time as the lords and grooms in waiting. There are also
several pages of honour in the master of the horse's department, who
must not be confounded with the pages of various kinds who are in the
department of the lord chamberlain. They are youths aged from twelve to
sixteen, selected by the sovereign in person, to attend on him at state
ceremonies, when two of them, arrayed in an antique costume, assist the
groom of the stole in carrying the royal train.
In France the master of the horse ("Grand Écuyer," or more usually
"Monsieur le grand") was one of the seven great officers of the crown
from 1617. As well as the superintendence of the royal stables, he had
that of the retinue of the sovereign, also the charge of the funds set
aside for the religious functions of the court, coronations, &c. On
the death of a sovereign he had the right to all the horses and their
equipment in the royal stables. Distinct from this officer and
independent of him, was the first equerry ("Premier Écuyer"), who had
charge of the horses which the sovereign used personally ("la petite
écurie"), and who attended on him when he rode out. The office of
master of the horse existed down to the reign of Louis XVI. Under
Louis XVIII. and Charles X. the duties were discharged by the first
equerry, but under Napoléon I. and Napoléon III. the office was
revived with much of its old importance.
In Germany the master of the horse (Oberststallmeister) is a high
court dignitary; but his office is merely titular, the superintendence
of the king's stables being carried out by the Oberstallmeister, an
official corresponding to the crown equerry in England.
MASTER OF THE ROLLS, the third member of the Supreme Court of Judicature
in England, the lord chancellor, president of the chancery division,
being the first, and the lord chief justice, president of the king's
bench division, being the second. At first he was the principal clerk of
the chancery, and as such had charge of the records of the court,
especially of the register of original writs and of all patents and
grants under the Great Seal. Until the end of the 15th century he was
called either the clerk or the keeper of the rolls, and he is still
formally designated as the master or keeper of the rolls. The earliest
mention of him as master of the rolls is in an act of 1495; and in
another act of the same year he is again described as clerk of the
rolls, showing that his official designation still remained unsettled.
About the same period, however, the chief clerks of the chancery came to
be called masters in chancery, and the clerk, master or keeper of the
rolls was always the first among them, whichever name they bore. In
course of time, from causes which are not very easy to trace, his
original functions as keeper of the records passed away from him and he
gradually assumed a jurisdiction in the court of chancery second only to
that of the lord chancellor himself. In the beginning he only heard
causes in conjunction with the other masters in chancery, and his
decrees were invalid until they had been approved and signed by the lord
chancellor. Sitting in the Rolls chapel or in the court in Rolls yard,
he heard causes without assistance, and his decrees held good until they
were reversed on petition either to the lord chancellor or afterwards to
the lords justices of appeal. Before any judge with the formal title of
vice-chancellor was appointed the master of the rolls was often spoken
of as vice-chancellor, and in theory acted as such, sitting only when
the lord chancellor was not sitting and holding his court in the evening
from six o'clock to ten. Only since 1827 has the master of the rolls sat
in the morning hours. By the Public Record Office Act 1838 the custody
of the records was restored to him, and he is chairman of the State
Papers and Historical Manuscripts Commissions. Under the Judicature Act
1875, and the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876, he now always sits with
the lords justices in the court of appeal (which usually sits in two
divisions of three judges, the master of the rolls presiding over one
division), whose decisions can be questioned only in the House of Lords.
The master of the rolls was formerly eligible to a seat in the House of
Commons--a privilege enjoyed by no other member of the judicial
bench;[1] but he was deprived of it by the Supreme Court of Judicature
Act 1873, which provides that all judges of the High Court of Justice
and the court of appeal shall be incapable of being elected to or
sitting in the House of Commons. The master of the rolls is always sworn
of the privy council. His salary is £6000 a year.
See Lord Hardwicke, _Office of the Master of the Rolls_.