the nakedness of the land, for it is equally dangerous on the mountains and in the depths of the forest. The evil probably has its origin in the chemical properties of the soil developed by some latent operation of nature. Unless some means of remedying the unhealthy air be discovered, or some new volcano shall effect the purification of the atmosphere by eruptions, it is highly probable that Middle Italy, south of the Alps, may become, after the lapse of centuries, a desert, used in winter for the pasturage of cattle, and totally uninhabitable in summer. The Pontine (q. v.) and other marshes do not belong to the Maremme. These are a consequence of the imperfect draining of the lowlands, between the coasts of the sea and the foot of the Apennines. A grand canal along the foot of this chain of mountains, should receive all its waters, and, as its bed would be higher than the level of the Mediterranean, where the former mouths of the rivers have been filled with sand, and have thereby become choked, should carry them, by many broad and deep canals, frequently cleared out, into the sea. And if the lowlands, which it is impossible to drain thoroughly, were planted with thickly-leaved trees, and many small villages were settled there, these swamps would soon become healthy.

MARENGO; a village in the plains between Alexandria and Tortona, in the royal Sardinian duchy of Montferrat, celebrated for the battle of June 14, 1800. Bonaparte had passed the Alps, between the 16th and 27th of May, with 60,000 men. Melas, the Austrian general, discovered his danger too late. June 2, Bonaparte had obtained possession of the fortress of Bardo, which commanded the entrance of the valley of Aosta; Murat advanced on Milan, Suchet took Nice, and Berthier defeated at Montebello the lieutenant field-marshal Von Ott. June 13, Desaix arrived from Egypt, at the head-quarters of Bonaparte; the main body of the army was concentrated at Marengo: Desaix commanded the consular guard. On the 14th, the battle was fought, in which Desaix was killed, and the Austrian army, under Melas, was driven beyond the Bormida, with a loss of 1200 killed, and 7000 taken prisoners.-About noon, on the day of battle, the French columns, under Lannes and Victor, destitute of ammunition, and reduced to half their number, were compelled to retreat. They retired under cover of Kellermann's brigade of cavalry. The slow advance of the

Austrians, and the false direction of their numerous cavalry, gave the remains of the French army time to rally behind the corps of Desaix, which the first consul had already ordered to Novi, to cut off the enemy's retreat to Genoa, but which was now recalled in haste. Desaix had taken his position at St. Giuliano, on the left side of the road from Tortona to Alexandria, when Kellermann arrived with his brigade of cavalry, having received from the adjutant Savary the command to support the attack of this general. Thus the battle was renewed. Kellermann had only 400 horse, and those fatigued by an eight hours' contest. The infantry of Desaix was about 3000 or 4000 strong. The enemy was certain of victory. Desaix was mortally wounded at the first attack, and his little corps, unable to resist, retreated. Behind the vineyards which covered him, Kellermann saw 6000 Hungarian grenadiers break their ranks in pursuit of the French. He threw himself into the midst of the enemy, who, terrified by this unexpected attack, cut off from their cavalry, and thinking themselves surrounded, threw down their arms before the little band. The Austrian main body supposed that the enemy had received a powerful reinforcement, and fell back, in haste and disorder, to Bormida. Thus Kellermann decided the victory. This defeat led to the armistice of Alexandria, between Bonaparte and Melas, according to the terms of which the Austrians evacuated, within 14 days, the citadels of Alexandria, Tortona, Milan, Turin, Pizzighitone, Arona and Piacenza, with the fortified places of Genoa, Coni, Ceva, Savona and Urbino, and retired beyond Piacenza, between the Po and the Mincio.

MARET, Hugh Bernard, duke of Bassano, was born at Dijon, in 1758, and, after finishing his course of legal studies, went to Paris, with the intention of purchasing a post, when the meeting of the statesgeneral gave a new turn to his views. Having established a journal called the Bulletin de l'Assemblée, in which the debates were very accurately reported, his success induced Panckouke to engage him to report for the Moniteur (q. v.), which the former then undertook to publish. In a small house, in the street St. Thomas du Louvre, where the office of the paper was kept, he became acquainted with lieutenant Bonaparte. 1791, Maret was a member of the Jacobin club, but after the events on the Champsde-Mars (July 17 of that year), he left it,

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and became one of the founders of the club of Feuillans, or constitutional monarchists. In 1792, he was sent to London, to negotiate with the English ministry, but without success. Lord Grenville sent back his despatches unopened, and ordered him to quit the kingdom within three days. He was next sent on a mission to Italy; the whole legation was, however, seized by the Austrians on neutral territory, and thrown into prison at Mantua, whence they were transported into Tyrol, and released after a confinement of two years and a half. During his imprisonment, and for several years after his release, Maret was actively occupied with literary studies, and did not again act an important part in public affairs until after the 18th Brumaire (see France), when he was named secretary of state, with the dignity of minister. From this time, he was high in favor with the first consul and the emperor, who reposed the most unbounded confidence in his integrity, prudence and judgment. In 1805, the grand eagle of the legion of honor was conferred on him, and, during several succeeding years, his services were required in Austria, Poland and Prussia. In 1809, he was created duke of Bassano, and, in 1811, minister of foreign affairs. In the Russian war of 1812--13, he also followed the emperor, and, on the disasters in Russia, returned to Paris, when he demanded a new levy of 350,000 men. The portfolio of foreign affairs was withdrawn from him, and given to Caulaincourt, in 1814, Maret being, nevertheless, employed in important negotiations with the ministers at Châtillon. On the fall of Napoleon, the duke continued attached to him to the last, and on the emperor's return, again received his former post of secretary of state, and was created peer of France. After the second restoration, he was banished, but permitted to return in 1820.

MARFORIO; a colossal statue, representing the river Rhine, in a lying posture, and standing in the court of a wing of the Capitol (q.v.) at Rome. The name Marforio is said to be a corruption of that of the Mamertine prison or of the temple of Mars, which were near the spot where this statue originally stood, on the forum Romanum. The Marforio is famous for having served, like the Pasquino (q. v.), as the place where the Roman satirists placed their sallies.

MARGARET, queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, very justly called the northern Semiramis, the daughter of Wal24

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demar III, king of Denmark, was born at Copenhagen, in 1353, and married to Haquin or Hacon, king of Norway, in 1363. The talents, firmness and beauty of the princess rendered her popular among her countrymen, and, on the death of her father, she succeeded in placing her son Olaus on the throne of Denmark. The death of her husband in 1380, put the government of Norway in her hands, and the plan of uniting the three kingdoms, which was favored by the imbecility of the Swedish monarch, seems now to have occupied the mind of this princess. Olaus died in 1387, and Margaret, by her address, caused herself to be declared queen. Taking advantage of the domestic dissensions in Sweden, and flattering the nobles with the prospect of greater power, she raised a party in that country who recognised her as queen; and having defeated the troops of Albert, the Swedish king, at Falkeeping, she soon obtained possession of the throne. Looking forward to a permanent union of the three crowns, she endeavored to effect her purpose by the celebrated act of union, or treaty of Calmar (1397). She restored tranquillity at home, and was successful against the foreign enemies of her kingdom, but her peace was disturbed by the ingratitude of Eric, whom she had nominated her successor. She died in 1412, after having, by her prudence, energy, address and foresight, raised herself to a degree of power and grandeur, then unequalled in Europe from the time of Charlemagne. (See Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.)

MARGARET OF ANJOU, daughter of Regnier, or René the Good, titular king of Sicily, was married in 1443, to the imbecile Henry VI (q. v.) of England. By the marriage articles, Maine was given up to her uncle Charles of Anjou, and this cession facilitated the conquest of Normandy by the French. The loss of this important province was attributed to Margaret, and the house of commons accused Suffolk, the author of her marriage and the favorite minister of the queen, of high treason. He was banished the kingdom. Soon after the sentence, and without having quitted the country, he was murdered. In the war of the roses, which soon began to desolate England, Margaret played a conspicuous and important part. The bold, active, and even ficrce temper of this princess, contrasted singularly with the feeble character of her husband. She was for a long time the life of the Lancastrian party. She defeated the duke of York, and, placing a paper crown on his

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head, exposed him at the gates of the city of York. In 1461, the princess defeated Warwick, at St. Alban's, and her victories were always stained with numerous executions. The son of the late duke of York, the gallant young Edward, soon appeared at the head of the Yorkists, who now became victorious. Margaret's army was annihilated at Towton, and Edward was declared king. (See Edward IV.) The unhappy queen succeeded in obtaining assistance from Louis XI of France, but was again defeated, and compelled to flee. After concealing herself in the wildest parts of the country, where she was often compelled to suffer the greatest privations, and even endured the greatest indignities from the lawless bands, with which the distracted kingdom was then infested, the queen finally took refuge in France. It was not long before Warwick became embroiled with the young king, and determined to replace Henry on the throne. Edward was in turn obliged to escape to the continent, but, having obtained assistance from the duke of Burgundy, reappeared in England after a few months, and defeated Warwick at Barnet, on the very day that Margaret landed in England with her son then 18 years of age. On hearing of the defeat and death of her champion, the courage of Margaret seemed for once to forsake her, and she took refuge in the monastery of Beaulieu. But her undaunted and masculine spirit again led her to the field; having collected her partisans, the hostile forces met at Tewksbury, and the Lancastrians were totally defeated. Her son was carried before the king. "How dare you," said Edward, "enter my realm with banner flying?" "To recover my father's kingdom," answered the prince, with the spirit of his mother, “and heritage from his father and grandfather to him, and from him to me lineally descended." Edward pushed him back, and the barbarous lords despatched him. Henry soon after died, if he was not murdered, in the Tower, and Margaret remained in prison four years. Louis XI ransomed her for 50,000 crowns, and, in 1482, she died, "the most unhappy queen, wife and mother," says Voltaire, "in Europe." Her courage, her sufferings, and her crimes have been delineated with historic truth and poetic beauty by the genius of Shakspeare.

MARGARET OF AUSTRIA, daughter of the emperor Maximilian I, born in 1480, was sent to France, after the death of her mother, Mary of Burgundy, to be educated at the court of Louis XI, to whose

son (Charles VIII) she was affianced. Charles, however, having married Anna, heiress of Brittany, she was sent back to her father's court, and was married in 1497 to John, Infant of Spain. On the voyage to Spain, a terrible storm threatened the destruction of the ship. In the midst of the danger, while the rest of the company were at their prayers, she is said to have composed her epitaph in the following words:

Cy-git Margot, la gente demoiselle,
Deux fois mariée et morte pucelle.

She arrived in safety, but, October 4, 1497, the Infant died. In 1501, she was married to Philibert II, duke of Savoy, who died in 1504. Her father then named her governess of the Netherlands, where her administration was distinguished by prudence and vigor. She died in 1530." Jean le Maire collected her addresses before the court and the estates, in the Couronne Margaritique (1549), which contains also many poems, and her Discours de sa vie et de ses infortunes. Fontenelle has made her a speaker in one of his witty Dialogues of the Dead.

MARGARET OF VALOIS, queen of Navarre, sister to Francis I, was born at Angoulême in 1492. She was brought up at the court of Louis XII, and married the duke of Alençon in 1509, became a widow in 1525; and, in 1527, was espoused to Henry d'Albret, king of Navarre. She joined with her husband in every effort to make their small kingdom flourish, by encouraging agriculture and the useful arts, and by improving knowledge and civilization. She was fond of reading, and had been led by curiosity to make herself acquainted with the principles of the reformers, to which she became partially a convert, and not only afforded protection to reformed divines, but used her influence with her brother Francis to the same purpose. She also read the Bible in the French translation, and formed mysteries for representation, from the New Testament, which she caused to be performed at court. She wrote a work entitled Le Miroir de l'Ame pécheresse, printed in 1533, which incurred the censure of the Sorbonne. She underwent some ill treatment from her husband on this account, and might have suffered more, but for the interposition of her brother, Francis I, who was much attached to her, and in complaisance to whom she, externally at least, became more strict in her attention to the ceremonial of the ancient religion. It will appear extraor

dinary in the present day, that a princess so contemplative and pious as Margaret of Valois, should be author of a book of tales as free in their tendency as those of Boccaccio. Such is Heptameron, ou sept Journées de la Reyne de Navarre, which was written during the gayety of youth, but not printed until after her death. She died in 1549, leaving one child, Joan d'Albret, afterwards mother of Henry IV. In 1547, a collection of her poems and other pieces was printed, under the title of Marguerites de la Marguerite des Princesses.

MARGARET, called Madame de Parma, duchess of Parma, the natural daughter of Charles V and Margaret of Gest, was born 1522, and married first to Alexander of Medici, and afterwards to Octavio Farnese, duke of Parma and Piacenza. Philip II, of Spain, appointed her to the government of the Netherlands, in 1559, where she acted, under the advice of Granvella (q. v.), with considerable prudence, and, perhaps, might have restored quiet, had not the king sent the duke of Alva to aid in suppressing the disaffection. Alva brought such powers, that nothing but the title of sovereign was left to Margaret, who returned, indignantly, to Italy, to her husband, and died at Ortona in 1586. Her son was the famous Alexander Farnese, duke of Parma.

MARGARET OF FRANCE, queen of Navarre, wife of Henry IV, daughter of Henry II, was born in 1552, and was one of the greatest beauties of her age. Her talents and accomplishments corresponded to the charms of her person. She was married to Henry, then prince of Béarn, in 1572; but the duke of Guise was known to be the object of her affections, and, notwithstanding her amiable qualities and brilliant beauty, she never possessed the heart of her husband. (See Henry IV.) The gallantries of Henry, which he never pretended to conceal from his wife, could not excuse nor authorize, but doubtless contributed to increase, her own irregularities. On the escape of Henry from Paris, she demanded permission of Henry III to follow him, but was not, for a long time, allowed to depart. After living several years with the king of Navarre, she returned to Paris, on account of some disgust at the restraints placed on the exercise of the Catholic religion, and while there was guilty of the greatest licentiousness.

Rejected at once from the court of Navarre and that of Paris, she maintained herself in the Agenois, in open defiance of her husband and brother. On the acces

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sion of the former to the throne of France, he proposed to dissolve their marriage, to which she consented, on condition of receiving a suitable pension, and having her debts paid. In 1605, Margaret returned to Paris, where she lived in great splendor, retaining her beauty, wit, and habits of dissipation, and died in 1615, at the age of 63. The house of Margaret was frequented by the wits of the day, and she knew how to unite excessive indulgence in pleasure with attention to study. Some very agreeable poems by her are extant, and her Mémoires (1661 and 1713) are extremely curious.

MARGATE; a watering place in the isle of Thanet, Kent, England, 72 miles E. of London, with which it has frequent communication by steam vessels. Population, 7843. It has several pleasant promenades, among which the pier is the favorite. It is much resorted to for sea-bathing.

MARGRAVE (from the German Markgraf, count of the mark; in Latin, Marchio ; see Marches); originally a commander intrusted with the protection of a mark, or a country on the frontier. As early as the times of Charlemagne, marks and margraves appear; for instance, the mark of Austria. The margraves stood immediately under the German kings and emperors, and not under the dukes, in whose country the margraviate was situated; yet there were also some margraves dependent on dukes. In the 12th century, margraviates became hereditary, and, at last, the margraves acquired the rank of princes of the empire, and stood between counts and dukes in the German empire. The word mark signified, anciently, a landmark, and was then taken for countries on the frontier; as the mark Brandenburg.

MARIA DA GLORIA. See Miguel, Don. MARIA LOUISA, queen of Spain, daughter of Philip duke of Parma, born in 1751, was married to Charles IV, against his wishes, but in obedience to the express commands of his father, in 1765. Maria was prudent, not without address, and much superior to her husband in understanding. She soon overcame the violent temper of Charles, which at first broke out into acts of personal outrage, and so far prevailed over the formality of the Spanish court as to have unrestricted access to the king. Every thing was submitted to her approval. For her favorites she took care to secure the favor of the king previously to avowing her own inclinations, and thus had the merit of appearing to yield to the wishes of her husband. Even while princess of Austria, an intrigue with

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the elder Godoy was only terminated by his banishment from Madrid. His place was supplied by his younger brother, don Manuel Godoy (q. v.), who became equally the favorite of Charles. (See Charles IV.) Their intrigues led to the affair of the Escurial, in which Maria acted a most unnatural part against her son. (See Ferdinand VII.) In 1808, the revolution of Aranjuez took place, Charles abdicated, and Maria threw herself into the arms of the French. Charles was obliged to retract his abdication, and that celebrated correspondence with Murat followed, in which Maria Louisa, in a letter written with her own hand, accuses her son of hardheartedness, cruelty,and want of affection for his parents. After the well-known proceedings at Bayonne, Maria Louisa remained in France a short time with Godoy and the ex-king, and finally went to Rome, where she died in 1819. (See Spain.)

MARIA LOUISA, LEOPOLDINE CAROLINE, arch-duchess of Austria, duchess of Parma, eldest daughter of the emperor Francis I by his second marriage, with Maria Theresa, daughter of Ferdinand, king of Naples, was born in 1791, and married to the emperor Napoleon at Paris, April 1, 1810. This connexion seemed to confirm the peace of the continent. Napoleon conducted his bride, in a kind of triumph, through the provinces of his empire. March 20, 1811, Maria Louisa became the mother of a son. The court of the empress was now more brilliant than ever. The next year, Maria Louisa accompanied her husband to Dresden, and visited, in company with her imperial parents, her former home. After this she returned to Paris. Before setting out for his final struggle, Napoleon appointed her regent of the empire, with many limitations. March 29, 1814, she was obliged to leave Paris with her son, and, April 1, retired to Blois, by the command of her husband. April 11, Napoleon abdicated his authority. She then went to Orleans, and, April 12, attended by prince Esterhazy, proceeded to Rambouillet. On the 16th, she had an interview with her father, at Petit-Trianon, which decided her fate. She was not permitted to follow her husband. In May, she passed through Switzerland, with her son, to Schönbrunn; and, March 17, 1816, she entered upon the administration of the duchies of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla, secured to her by the treaty of Fontainebleau (April 11, 1814). April 20, 1816, she made her entry into Parma. In May, 1816, she declared her

self grand-mistress of the Constantine order of St. George, which she had estab lished. As Spain refused to accede to the acts of the congress of Vienna, it was agreed at Paris, June 28, 1817, between Austria, Russia, France, Spain, England and Prussia, that the duchies of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla, on the death of the arch-duchess Maria Louisa (who no longer bore the title of empress, but that of your majesty), should revert to the Infanta Maria Louisa, formerly queen of Etruria (princess of Lucca), and her male heirs, and that Lucca should then be annexed to Tuscany. Austria, however, retained the Parmesan district (surrounded by the kingdom of Lombardy) on the left bank of the Po, and the right of maintaining a garrison in Piacenza. The son of Napoleon and Maria Louisa, formerly hereditary prince of Parma, is no longer called Napoleon, in the state calendar, but Francis Charles Joseph. By the treaty above-mentioned, on the death of his mother, and the reversion of Parma to the house of Bourbon, he will receive the appanage of Ferdinand grand-duke of Tuscany, in Bohemia. In 1818, the emperor Francis conferred upon the prince, his grandson, the title of duke of Reichstadt. (q. v.) When his father returned from Elba to Paris, in 1815, a plan was formed for carrying off the young prince from Schönbrunn, where he was under the care of the countess Montesquiou, who had accompanied him from France. The empress Maria Louisa had also received letters from her husband, inviting her to come, with her son, to France; but his letters were not answered. The design of carrying off the prince, conceived by the son of the countess Montesquiou, was discovered at the moment of its execution, March 19, 1815. The prince was transferred to Vienna, and placed under the inspection of Germans. May 29, he was again restored to his mother. When she went to Parma, he remained in Vienna, where he is attended entirely by Germans. MARIA OF MEDICI. (See Mary of Medici.)

MARIA STUART. (See Mary Stuart.)

MARIA THERESA, queen of Hungary and Bohemia, arch-duchess of Austria, and empress of Germany, daughter of the emperor Charles VI, was born at Vienna, 1717, and, in 1736, married duke Francis Stephen of Lorraine (who, in 1737, became grand-duke of Tuscany, by virtue of the treaty of Vienna, Oct. 3, 1735); the day after the death of Charles (Oct. 21, 1740), ascended the throne of Hungary,