Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol. 3 / A Revised American Edition of the Reader's Handbook

Copyright, 1892, by
Selmar Hess.

PHOTOGRAVURES PRINTED ON THE
HESS PRESS.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

VOLUME III.

CHARACTER SKETCHES OF ROMANCE, FICTION, AND THE DRAMA.

Mark Tapley, a serving companion of Martin Chuzzlewit, who goes out with him to Eden, in North America. Mark Tapley thinks there is no credit in being jolly in easy circumstances; but when in Eden he found every discomfort, lost all his money, was swindled by every one, and was almost killed by fevers, then indeed he felt it would be a real credit “to be jolly under the circumstances.”—C. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit (1843).

Markham, a gentleman in the train of the earl of Sussex.—Sir W. Scott, Kenilworth (time, Elizabeth).

Markham (Mrs.), pseudonym of Mrs. Elizabeth Perrose (born Elizabeth Cartwright), authoress of History of England, etc.

Young Marlow, son of Sir Charles. “Among women of reputation and virtue he is the modestest man alive; but his acquaintances give him a very different character among women of another stamp” (act i. 1). Having mistaken Hardcastle’s house for an inn, and Miss Hardcastle for the barmaid, he is quite at his ease, and makes love freely. When fairly caught, he discovers that the supposed “inn” is a private house, and the supposed barmaid is the squire’s daughter; but the ice of his shyness being broken, he has no longer any difficulty in loving according to his station.—Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer (1773).

When Goldsmith was between 16 and 17 he set out for Edgworthstown, and finding night coming on, asked a man which was the “best house” in the town—meaning the best inn. The man pointed to the house of Sir Ralph Fetherstone (or Mr. Fetherstone), and Oliver, entering the parlor, found the master of the mansion sitting at a good fire. Oliver told him he desired to pass the night there, and ordered him to bring in supper. “Sir Ralph” knowing his customer, humored the joke, which Oliver did not discover till next day, when he called for his bill. (We are told in Notes and Queries that Ralph Fetherstone was only Mr., but his grandson was Sir Thomas).

Marmaduke Wharne. Eccentric old Englishman long resident in America. Benevolent and beneficent, but gruff in manner and speech.—A. D. T. Whitney, Leslie Goldthwaite’s Summer (1866).

Marmaduke (Sir). A man who has lost all earth can give—wealth, love, fame and friends, but thus comforts himself:

“I account it worth
All pangs of fair hopes crossed,—
All loves and honors lost,—
To gain the heavens, at cost
Of losing earth.”

Theodore Tilton, Sir Marmaduke’s Musings (1867).

Marmion. Lord Marmion was betrothed to Constance de Beverley, but he jilted her for Lady Clare, an heiress, who was in love with Ralph de Wilton. The Lady Clare rejected Lord Marmion’s suit, and took refuge from him in the convent of St. Hilda, in Whitby. Constance took the veil in the convent of St. Cuthbert, in Holy Isle, but after a time left the convent clandestinely, was captured, taken back, and buried alive in the walls of a deep cell. In the mean time, Lord Marmion, being sent by Henry VIII. on an embassy to James IV. of Scotland, stopped at the hall of Sir Hugh de Heron, who sent a palmer as his guide. On his return, Lord Marmion commanded the abbess of St. Hilda to release the Lady Clare, and place her under the charge of her kinsman, Fitzclare of Tantallon Hall. Here she met the palmer, who was Ralph de Wilton, and as Lord Marmion was slain in the battle of Flodden Field, she was free to marry the man she loved.—Sir W. Scott, Marmion (1808).

Marmion (Lord), a descendant of Robert de Marmion, who obtained from William the Conqueror, the manor of Scrivelby, in Lincolnshire. This Robert de Marmion was the first royal champion of England, and the office remained in the family till the reign of Edward I., when in default of male issue it passed to John Dymoke, son-in-law of Philip Marmion, in whose family it remains still.

Marnally (Bernard). Good-looking Irish tutor at “Happy-go-Lucky,” a country house. He is accused of murdering the infant children of a young widow with whom he is in love, but is acquitted and goes back to Ireland. Some years later, he revisits America, meets his old love and marries her.—Miriam Coles Harris, Happy-go-Lucky (1881).

Marner (Silas). Miser and misogynist in humble life, who finds a baby-girl in his cottage one night, and in bringing her up, learns to have patience with life and charity with his kind.—George Eliot, Silas Marner.

Ma´ro, Virgil, whose full name was Publius Virgilius Maro (B.C. 70-19).

Oh, were it mine with the sacred Maro’s art
To wake to sympathy the feeling heart,
Like him the smooth and mournful verse to dress
In all the pomp of exquisite distress ...
Then might I ...

Falconer, The Shipwreck, iii. 5 (1756).

Mar´onites (3 syl.), a religious semi-Catholic sect of Syria, constantly at war with their near neighbors, the Druses, a semi-Mohammedan sect. Both are now tributaries of the sultan, but enjoy their own laws. The Maronites number about 400,000, and the Druses about half that number. The Maronites owe their name to J. Maron, their founder; the Druses to Durzi, who led them out of Egypt into Syria. The patriarch of the Maronites resides at Kanobin; the hakem of the Druses at Deir-el-kamar. The Maronites, or “Catholics of Lebanon,” differ from the Roman Catholics in several points, and have a pope or patriarch of their own. In 1860 the Druses made on them a horrible onslaught, which called forth the intervention of Europe.

Marotte (2 syl.), a footman of Gorgibus; a plain bourgeois, who hates affectation. When the fine ladies of the house try to convert him into a fashionable flunky, and teach him a little grandiloquence, he bluntly tells them he does not understand Latin.

Marphi´sa, sister of Roge´ro, and a female knight of amazing prowess. She was brought up by a magician, but being stolen at the age of seven, was sold to the king of Persia. When she was 18, her royal master assailed her honor; but she slew him, and usurped the crown. Marphisa went to Gaul to join the army of Agramant, but subsequently entered the camp of Charlemagne, and was baptized.—Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516).

Marphu´rius, a doctor of the Pyrrhonian school. Sganarelle consults him about his marriage; but the philosopher replies, “Perhaps; it is possible; it may be so; everything is doubtful;” till at last Sganarelle beats him, and Marphurius says he shall bring an action against him for battery. “Perhaps,” replies Sganarelle; “it is possible; it may be so,” etc., using the very words of the philosopher (sc. ix.).—Molière, Le Mariage Forcé (1664).

Marplot, “the busy body.” A blundering, good-natured, meddlesome young man, very inquisitive, too officious by half, and always bungling whatever he interferes in. Marplot is introduced by Mrs. Centlivre in two comedies, The Busy Body and Marplot in Lisbon.

^*_*^* This was Henry Woodward’s great part (1717-1777). His unappeasable curiosity, his slow comprehension, his annihilation under the sense of his dilemmas, were so diverting, that even Garrick confessed him the decided “Marplot” of the stage.—Boaden, Life of Siddons.

N. B.—William Cavendish, duke of Newcastle, brought out a free tranlation of Molière’s L’Etourdi, which he entitled Marplot.

That Young Mars of Men, Edward the Black prince, who with 8,000 men defeated, at Poitiers, the French king, John, whose army amounted to 60,000—some say even more (A. D. 1356).

Ossian, in Carrick-Thura, says that Loda, the god of his foes, came like a “blast from the mountain. He came in his terror and shook his dusky spear. His eyes were flames, and his voice like distant thunder. ‘Son of night,’ said Fingal, ‘retire. Do I fear thy gloomy form, spirit of dismal Loda? Weak is thy shield of cloud, feeble thy meteor sword.’” Then cleft he the gloomy shadow with his sword. It fell like a column of smoke. It shrieked. Then rolling itself up, the wounded spirit rose on the wind, and the island shook to its foundation.”

Marseilles’ Good Bishop, Henri François Xavier de Belsunce (1671-1775). Immortalized by his philanthropic diligence in the plague at Marseilles (1720-1722).

Charles Borromēo, archbishop of Milan a century previously (1576), was equally diligent and self-sacrificing in the plague of Milan (1538-1584).

Sir John Lawrence, lord mayor of London during the great plague, supported 40,000 dismissed servants, and deserves immortal honor.

Darwin refers to Belsunce and Lawrence in his Loves of the Plants, ii. 433.

Marshal Forwards, Blücher; so called for his dash in battle, and the rapidity of his movements, in the campaign of 1813 (1742-1819).

Marsi, a part of the Sabellian race, noted for Magic, and said to have been descended from Circê.

Marsig´lio, a Saracen king, who plotted the attack upon Roland, “under the tree on which Judas hanged himself.” With a force of 600,000 men, divided into three companies, Marsiglio attacked the paladin in Roncesvallês and overthrew him; but Charlemagne, coming up, routed the Saracen, and hanged him on the very tree under which he planned the attack.—Turpin, Chronicle (1122).

Marsilia, “who bears up great Cynthia’s train,” is the marchioness of Northampton, to whom Spenser dedicated his Daphnaida. This lady was Helena, daughter of Wolfgangus Swavenburgh, a Swede.

No less praiseworthy is Marsilia,
Best known by bearing up great Cynthia’s train.
She is the pattern of true womanhead....
Worthy next after Cynthia [queen Elizabeth] to tread,
As she is next her in nobility.

Spenser, Colin Clout’s Come Home Again (1595).

Mar´syas, the Phrygian flute-player. He challenged Apollo to a contest of skill, but being beaten by the god, was flayed alive for his presumption.

Mar´tafax and Ler´mites (3 syl.), two famous rats brought up before the White Cat for treason, but acquitted.—Comtesse D’Aunoy, Fairy Tales (“The White Cat,” 1682).

Marta´no, a great coward, who stole the armor of Gryphon, and presented himself in it before King Norandi´no. Having received the honors due to the owner, Martano quitted Damascus with Origilla; but Aquilant unmasked the villain, and he was hanged (bks. viii., ix.).—Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516).

Marteau des Heretiques, Pierre d’Ailly; also called L’Aigle de la France (1350-1420).

Martel (Charles), Charles, natural son of Pépin d’Héristal.

M. Collin de Plancy says that this “palace mayor” of France was not called “Martel” because he martelé (“hammered”) the Saracens under Abd-el-Rahman in 732, but because his patron saint was Martellus (or St. Martin).—Bibliothèque des Légendes.

Thomas Delf, in his translation of Chevreuil’s Principles of Harmony, etc., of Colors (1847), signs himself “Charles Martel.”

Martext (Sir Oliver), a vicar in Shakespeare’s comedy of As You Like It (1600).

Martha:

“Yea, Lord! Yet man must earn
And woman bake the bread;
And some must watch and wake
Early for other’s sake
Who pray instead.”

Julia C. R. Dorr, Afternoon Songs (1885).

Martha, sister to “The Scornful Lady” (no name given).—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Scornful Lady (1616).

Martha, the servant-girl at Shaw’s Castle.—Sir W. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well (time, George III.).

Martha, the old housekeeper at Osbaldistone Hall.—Sir W. Scott, Rob Roy (time, George I.).

Martha, daughter of Ralph and Louise de Lascours, and sister of Diana de Lascours. When the crew of the Urania rebelled, Martha, with Ralph de Lascours (the captain), Louise de Lascours, and Barabas, were put adrift in a boat, and cast on an iceberg in “the Frozen Sea.” The iceberg broke, Ralph and Louise were drowned, Barabas was picked up by a vessel, and Martha fell into the hands of an Indian tribe, who gave her the name of Orgari´ta (“withered corn”). She married Carlos, but as he married under a false name, the marriage was illegal, and when Carlos was given up to the hands of justice, Orgarita was placed under the charge of her grandmother, Mde. de Théringe, and [probably] espoused Horace de Brienne.—E. Stirling, The Orphan of the Frozen Sea (1856).

Marthon, an old cook at Arnheim Castle.—Sir W. Scott, Anne of Geierstein (time, Edward IV.).

Marthon, alias Rizpah, a Bohemian woman, attendant on the Countess Hameline of Croye.—Sir W. Scott, Quentin Durward (time, Edward IV.).

Martian Laws (not Mercian as Wharton gives it in his Law Dictionary) are the laws collected by Martia, the wife of Guithelin, great grand-son of Mulmutius, who established in Britain the “Mulmutian Laws” (q.v.). Alfred translated both these codes into Saxon-English, and called the Martian code Pa Marchitle Lage. These laws have no connection with the kingdom of Mercia.—Geoffrey, British History, iii. 13 (1142).

Guynteline, ... whose queen, ... to show her upright mind,
To wise Mulmutius’ laws her Martian first did frame.

Drayton, Polyolbion, viii. (1612).

Martigny (Marie le comptesse de), wife of the earl of Etherington.—Sir W. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well (time, George III.).

Martin, in Swift’s Tale of the Tub, is Martin Luther; “John” is Calvin; and “Peter” the pope of Rome (1704).

In Dryden’s Hind and Panther, “Martin” means the Lutheran party (1687).

Martin, the old verdurer near Sir Henry Lee’s lodge.—Sir W. Scott, Woodstock (time, Commonwealth).

Martin, the old shepherd in the service of the lady of Avenel.—Sir W. Scott, The Monastery (time, Elizabeth).

Martin, the ape in the beast-epic of Reynard the Fox (1498).

Martin (Dame), partner of Darsie Latimer at the fishers’ dance.—Sir W. Scott, Redgauntlet (time, George III.).

Martin (Sarah), the prison reformer of Great Yarmouth. This young woman, though but a poor dressmaker, conceived a device for the reformation of prisoners in her native town, and continued for twenty-four years her earnest and useful labor of love, acting as schoolmistress, chaplain and industrial superintendent. In 1835, Captain Williams, inspector of prisons, brought her plans before the Government, under the conviction that the nation at large might be benefitted by their practical good sense (1791-1843).

Martin Weldeck, the miner. His story is read by Lovel to a picnic party at St. Ruth’s ruins.—Sir W. Scott, The Antiquary (time, George III.).

Martine (3 syl.), wife of Sganarelle. She has a furious quarrel with her husband, who beats her, and she screams. M. Robert, a neighbor, interferes, says to Sganarelle, “Quelle infamie! Peste soit le coquin, de battre ainsi sa femme.” The woman snubs him for his impertinence, and says, “Je veux qu’il me battre, moi;” and Sganarelle beats him soundly for meddling with what does not concern him.—Molière, Le Médecin Malgré Lui (1666).

Martival (Stephen de), a steward of the field at the tournament.—Sir W. Scott, Ivanhoe (time, Richard I.).

Martivalle (Martius Galeotti), astrologer to Louis XI. of France.—Sir W. Scott, Quentin Durward (time, Edward IV.).

Martyr King (The), Henry VI., buried at Windsor beside Edward IV.

Here o’er the Martyr King [Henry VI.] the marble weeps.
And fast beside him once-feared Edward [IV.] sleeps;
The grave unites where e’en the grave finds rest,
And mingled lie the oppressor and th’opprest.

Pope.

Martyr King (The), Charles I. of England (1600, 1625-1649).

Louis XVI. of France is also called Louis “the Martyr” (1754, 1774-1793).

Martyrs to Science.

Claude Louis, Count Berthollet, who tested on himself the effects of carbonic acid on the human frame, and died under the experiment (1748-1822).

Giordano Bruno, who was burnt alive for maintaining that matter is the mother of all things (1550-1600).

Galileo, who was imprisoned twice by the Inquisition for maintaining that the earth moved round the sun, and not the sun round the earth (1564-1642).

And scores of others.

Marvellous Boy (The), Thomas Chatterton (1752-1770).

I thought of Chatterton, the marvellous boy,
The sleepless soul that perished in his pride.

Wordsworth.

Marwood (Alice), daughter of an old woman who called herself Mrs. Brown. When a mere girl she was concerned in a burglary and was transported. Carker, manager in the firm of Dombey and Son, seduced her, and both she and her mother determined on revenge. Alice bore a striking resemblance to Edith (Mr. Dombey’s second wife), and in fact they were cousins, for Mrs. Brown was “wife” of the brother-in-law of the Hon. Mrs. Skewton (Edith’s mother).—C. Dickens, Dombey and Son (1846).

Marwood (Mistress), jilted by Fainall, and soured against the whole male sex. She says, “I have done hating those vipers—men, and am now come to despise them;” but she thinks of marrying to keep her husband “on the rack of fear and jealousy.”—W. Congreve, The Way of the World (1700).

Mary, the pretty housemaid of the worshipful, the mayor of Ipswich (Nupkins). When Arabella Allen marries Mr. Winkle, Mary enters her service; but eventually marries Sam Weller, and lives at Dulwich, as Mr. Pickwick’s housekeeper.—C. Dickens, The Pickwick Papers (1836).

Mary, niece of Valentine, and his sister Alice. In love with Mons. Thomas.—Beaumont and Fletcher, Mons. Thomas (1619).

Mary. The queen’s Marys, four young ladies of quality, of the same age as Mary, afterwards “queen of Scots.” They embarked with her in 1548, on board the French galleys, and were destined to be her playmates in childhood, and her companions when she grew up. Their names were Mary Beaton (or Bethune), Mary Livingston (or Leuison), Mary Fleming (or Flemyng), and Mary Seaton (Seton or Seyton).

^*_*^* Mary Carmichael has no place in authentic history, although an old ballad says:

Yestrien the queen had four Marys;
This night she’ll hae but three:
There was Mary Beaton, and Mary Seaton,
And Mary Carmichael, and me.

^*_*^* One of Whyte Melville’s novels is called The Queen’s Marys.

Mary Anne, a slang name for the guillotine; also called L’abbaye de monte-à-regret (“the mountain of mournful ascent”). (See Marianne.)

Mary Anne, a generic name for a secret republican society in France. See Marianne.)—B. Disraeli, Lothair.

Schiller has taken Mary Stuart for the subject of his best tragedy, and P. Lebrun brought out in France a French version thereof (1729-1807).

Mary queen of Scots. The most elegant and poetical compliment ever paid to woman was paid to Mary queen of Scots, by Shakespeare, in Midsummer Night’s Dream. Remember, the mermaid is “Queen Mary;” the dolphin means the “dauphin of France,” whom Mary married; the rude sea means the “Scotch rebels;” and the stars that shot from their spheres means “the princes who sprang from their allegiance to Queen Elizabeth.”

Thou remember’st
Since once I sat upon a promontory,
And heard a mermaid, on a dolphin’s back,
Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath,
That the rude sea grew civil at her song;
And certain stars shot madly from their spheres,
To hear the sea-maid’s music.

Act ii. sc. 1 (1592).

These “stars” were the earl of Northumberland, the earl of Westmoreland, and the duke of Norfolk.

Mary, the Maid of the Inn, the delight and sunshine of the parish, about to be married to Richard, an idle, worthless fellow. One autumn night, two guests were drinking at the inn, and one remarked he should not much like to go to the abbey on such a night. “I’ll wager that Mary will go,” said the other, and the bet was accepted. Mary went, and, hearing footsteps, stepped into a place of concealment, when presently passed her two young men carrying a young woman they had just murdered. The hat of one blew off, and fell at Mary’s feet. She picked it up, and flew to the inn, told her story, and then, producing the hat, found it was Richard’s. Her senses gave way, and she became a confirmed maniac for life.—R. Southey, Mary, the Maid of the Inn (from Dr. Plot’s History of Staffordshire, 1686).

Mary Pyncheon. (See Pyncheon.)

Mary Woodcock. (See Woodcock.)

Mar´zavan, foster-brother of the Princess Badou´ra.—Arabian Nights (“Camaralzaman and Badoura”).

Masaniello, a corruption of [Tom]maso Aniello, a Neapolitan fisherman, who headed an insurrection in 1647 against the duke of Arcos; and he resolved to kill the duke’s son for having seduced Fenella, his sister, who was deaf and dumb. The insurrection succeeded, and Masaniello was elected by his rabble “chief magistrate of Portici;” but he became intoxicated with his greatness, so the mob shot him, and flung his dead body into a ditch. Next day, however, it was taken out and interred with much ceremony and pomp. When Fenella heard of her brother’s death, she threw herself into the crater of Vesuvius.

^*_*^* Auber has an opera on the subject (1831), the libretto by Scribe. Caraffa had chosen the same subject for an opera previously.

Mascarille (3 syl.), the valet of La Grange. In order to reform two silly, romantic girls, La Grange and Du Croisy introduce to them their valets, as the “marquis of Mascarille” and the “viscount of Jodelet.” The girls are taken with their “aristocratic visitors;” but when the game has gone far enough, the masters enter and unmask the trick. By this means the girls are taught a most useful lesson, and are saved from any serious ill consequences.—Molière, Les Précieuses Ridicules (1659).

^*_*^* Molière had already introduced the same name in two other of his comedies, L’Etourdi (1653) and Le Dépit Amoureux (1654).

Masetto, a rustic engaged to Zerlīna; but Don Giovanni intervenes before the wedding, and deludes the foolish girl into believing that he means to make her a great lady and his wife.—Mozart, Don Giovanni (libretto by L. da Ponte, 1787).

Mask´well, the “double dealer.” He pretends to love Lady Touchwood, but it is only to make her a tool for breaking the attachment between Mellefont (2 syl.) and Cynthia. Maskwell pretends friendship for Mellefont merely to throw dust in his eyes respecting his designs to carry off Cynthia, to whom Mellefont is betrothed. Cunning and hypocrisy are Maskwell’s substitutes for wisdom and honesty.—W. Congreve, The Double Dealer (1700).

Massasowat. The account given by Edward Winslow of the illness of Massasowat—the friendly Indian chief whose alliance with the pilgrim father ceased only with his life—is a curious contribution to colonial literature. The remedies and diet used by Winslow are so extraordinary as to give unintentional point to his remark—“We, with admiration, blessed God for giving his blessing to such rare and ignorant means.”—Edward Winslow, Good News from New England (1624).

Mason (William). The medallion to this poet in Westminster Abbey was by Bacon.

Mason (Lady). She forges a will purporting to be by her husband, securing his estate to herself and her son. Nobody suspects the fraud for years. When inquiry arises, Lady Mason is engaged to a gallant old baronet who will not credit her guilt until, conscience-smitten, she throws herself at his feet and acknowledges all.

Lucius Mason. The priggish, good-looking youth for whom Lady Mason risks so much. When he learns the truth he is stern in his judgment of the unhappy woman.—Anthony Trollope, Orley Farm.

Master (The). Goethe is called Der Meister (1749-1832).