called languages. After the capture of Rhodes and some neighboring islands by the knights in 1310, they carried on from it a successful war with the Turks for more than two hundred years. Sultan Solyman took Rhodes from them in 1523 and they retired to Crete. In 1530 they received Malta as a gift from Charles V., which they yielded to the French in 1798. After the reformation they declined in importance, and most of their lands were confiscated by the different European states. There are two or three branches of the order still existing and two modern associations, one of which, the English Knights of St. John, was the principal founder of the Red Cross society. The badge of the Knights of Malta was an eightpointed cross of white, edged with gold, | called the Maltese cross, and their motto was "Pro fide" (for the faith), and later was added "Pro utilitate hominum" (for the good of man). Malvern Hill, BATTLE OF, the last of the battles of McClellan's memorable Peninsular campaign. After the battle of Gaines' Mill, June 26, 1862, when the federals were driven back with heavy loss, McClellan began a retreat to the James river. His left wing, which was south of the Chickahominy, led the way through White Oak swamp. His right wing, which was north of the Chickahominy, was with difficulty withdrawn across that stream, and following through White Oak swamp was attacked by Lee at Savage Station and again at Frazer's Farm, where desperate battles were fought June 29 and 30. Then General McClellan reached Malvern Hill, on the north bank of the James river, where he secured a strong position. Massing his artillery he repelled the attack of the confederates July 1, with great slaughter. Again and again their columns were hurled forward only to be mown down by the federal guns. The next day McClellan withdrew to Harrison's Landing, and the "seven days' fight" was at an end. The total losses were about 20,000 on each side. But McClellan had lost the campaign: the attempt to capture Richmond had failed. Mamelukes (mam'-e-lūkes), the Arabic word for white slaves, and especially the name of the slave kings of Egypt. They came from a body of Turkish slaves, brought in the 13th century from Asia Minor and the Caucasus, to act as the bodyguard of the sultan of Egypt. On the death of their master MAMMOTH they chose one of their own number his successor in 1250, and from that year to 1517 the Mamelukes ruled Egypt and Syria. There were forty-eight Mameluke sultans, often keeping the throne but a few years or months, in two royal houses, the Turkish and Circassian Mamelukes. Each sultan owed his throne to his courage and ability, and to his having the strongest battalions back of him. Each great lord was a little sultan on his own estate, with his bodyguard, ready on the first chance to fight his way to the throne. Violent and treacherous deaths were common, yet Egypt, since the Pharaohs, did not possess a more enlightened set of rulers than the Mamelukes. Their laws and police, their army, their naval enterprise, their postal service, their irrigation and engineering works, were all far ahead of their time. Most of the beautiful mosques of Cairo are of their building. Their brass work, wood carvings, ivory reliefs, tiles, mosaic pavements, and silk embroideries are all remarkable. Their dress, homes and court were gorgeous. Turks as a rule, they had tastes beyond the right of the Ottoman Turk who conquered Egypt in 1517. The Ottoman pasha, who now ruled, allowed twentyfour beys to rule the provinces. These beys, all Mamelukes, soon got all the power and the pasha became a cipher. Their last brilliant achievement was their desperate charge on Napoleon's squares at the battle of the Pyramids in 1798. Soon after Mohammed Åli came to power and by two treacherous massacres in 1805 and 1811, blotted out the Mameluke princes, except a few who fled to the Soudan. See S. Lane-Poole, Art of the Saracens in Egypt. Mammoth, the name of an extinct elephant, whose remains are so common in northern Europe and Asia, as to afford a valuable supply of fossil ivory. In geological time it is only as if it were yesterday that the mammoth ceased to live, for its remains are found along with those of man, and it seems to have lived in Great Britain until after the glacial period. The cave dwellers made use of its tusks, and on them cut the outlines of the reindeer and various animals, including the mammoth itself. The recent disappearance of this monster elephant has been shown by the discovery in Siberia of almost whole specimens, standing upright in the ice and frozen soil, with hair, skin, muscles and viscera, as well as bones, all well preserved. The first MAMMOTH 748 fairly complete mammoth was cut from | sunk heavily into the marsh and were smothered. Though whole mammoths are rare, their tusks, teeth and other bones have been found in great abundance, from England east to Bering Strait, and into North America. One of the early mammoth discoverers writes that "the whole appearance of the animal was fearfully wild." It was much more awkward than our elephant. One of the early specimens stood 13 feet high, 15 feet long, with tusks eight feet long; but other specimens are larger. In this case the dark skin was covered with yellowish to reddish soft wool an inch long, mingled with brown hairs four inches long, and longer black bristles. The mammoth was more like the present Indian than the African elephant, but it is only one of a crowd of such giants, of which the mammoth, mastodon and dinotherium are leading types. The disappearance of these animals was due to many causes, among them the attacks of flesh-eating ani MAN mals, the disappearance of forests in Mammoth Cave, in Kentucky, Man, ISLE OF, in the Irish Sea, is 334 miles long, 121⁄2 miles broad, and covers 145,325 acres, of which nearly 100,000 are cultivated. At the southwestern end is an islet called the Calf of Man, covering 800 acres. A chain of mountains stretches from northeast to southwest. The coast scenery is bold and picturesque, especially at Spanish Head, the southern end of the island. Large quantities of lead and zinc are mined, and smaller quantities of copper and iron. The tailless Manx cat is the only animal peculiar to the island. The large herring and cod fisheries, cattle and wheat raising are the leading employments. Of the many interesting relics of Man, Castle Rushen, probably the most perfect building of its date standing, was founded by Guthred, son of King Orry, in 947. There are left about forty Runic crosses besides other Runic monuments. Tynwald Hill, an artificial hill, arranged in four platforms, where new laws are always proclaimed, goes back to the time of the Scandinavians. The chief towns are Castletown, Douglas, the modern capital, and Peel. Little is known of the Isle of Man before the 6th century. From that time MANAGUA 749 MANCHESTER it was ruled by Welsh kings till near | shore plants. The mothers show much the end of the 9th century, when the affection for their young and guard Norwegians conquered it. Scandina- them in danger. The manatee is from vian kings were in power till it and the 10 to 12 feet long; its thick, wrinkled, Hebrides were ceded to Alexander III. | hairless hide is dark bluish-gray. Its of Scotland in 1266. After his death upper lip bears a rounded knob and the Manx placed themselves under the there are yellow bristles about the protection of Edward I. of England in mouth; the eyes are small and the nos1290. Royal favorites governed it un- trils are slits at the end of the snout. til in 1406 it was bestowed on Sir John The thicker body and straighter head, Stanley and his heirs, who ruled at first the shovel-shaped tail and the handas kings and afterwards as lords of like form of the fore limbs, to which Man. To stop the smuggling trade carried on, the English government bought the sovereignty of the island in 1765. The Isle of Man has a constitution and government of its own, somewhat independent of the English parliament. Its legislature, called the court of Tynwald, is made up of the council, and the house of Keys, or representatives chosen by the people, including women. A bill must pass both houses, be assented to by the queen, and even then is not a law till it has been proclaimed in the English and Manx languages on the Tynwald Hill. The Manx are a Celtic people with a mixture of Scandinavian. The language is Celtic, but is little spoken. See Rev. J. G. Cumming's Isle of Man; also Scott's Peveril of the Peak. Managua (man-a'-gwa), capital of Nicaragua, lies in a fertile district on the south shore of Lake Managua. Population, about 10,000. Managua Lake, NICARAGUA, at the head of which the city of Leon, once the boast of Spanish America, was founded in 1523. It lies 12 miles northwest of Lake Nicaragua, with which it is connected by a small stream. Manasseh, the eldest son of Joseph. The tribe of Manasseh was given land on both sides of the Jordan. MANASSEH was also the name of the fourteenth king of Judah, who succeeded his father Hezekiah, 697 or 699 B. C., at the age of 12 and reigned 55 years. He rushed headlong into all manner of idolatry, and led the people with him. Carried prisoner to Babylon, he repented, and his prayer was heard. Manatee (man'-a-tee), one of the "sea cows." There are two kinds much like one another. One is found in the rivers and inlets of the Atlantic side of tropical South America, and the other in the Senegal and other rivers of West Africa. They go in herds and are harmless, sluggish animals, browsing on sea moss, fresh-water weeds and sometimes MANATEE. the name manatee refers, distinguish it from the dugong. The manatee is becoming scarce, but is still harpooned because of its flesh, which is eaten, its fat and its strong skin. It is gentle and affectionate and is easily tamed. Manby, GEORGE WILLIAM, inventor of life-saving apparatus for shipwrecked persons, was born in 1765, at Hilgay, in Norfolk, England. He served in the militia and became barrackmaster at Yarmouth in 1803. In 1808 he succeeded with his apparatus in saving the lives of the crew of the brig Elizabeth. This career of usefulness he followed for the remaining 46 years of his life. He died Nov. 18, 1854. By the time of his death nearly 1,000 persons had been rescued from stranded ships by means of his apparatus. He first invented a rope of rawhide, which would stand the strain of being fired from a mortar, also shells filled with luminous matter which when fired would enable the sailors to see the rope as it came. He also invented a kind of fire works by which vessels could be seen from the shore on the darkest night. Manchester, ENGLAND, lies on the east bank of the Irwell river, 31 miles east of Liverpool. Sixteen bridges, besides railroad viaducts, join it to Salford on the opposite bank, which is really a part of Manchester. Manchester is the center of the largest manufacturing district in the world. It is surrounded by a ring of suburban cities, and within a few miles there is a second ring of cities with populations ranging from 10,000 to 50,000. Thirty miles from Manchester is a third cluster of towns and cities, most of them manufactur MANCHESTER ing. The present water supply is about 25,000,000 gallons daily, but in a short time a further daily supply of 50,000,000 gallons will be had. The city government manages its own lighting, at a yearly profit of over $500,000. Manchester and Salford now have eleven parks, containing 300 acres. The free reference library contains 198,000 volumes, and there are also six branch libraries. The Chetham library, founded in 1653, contains 30,000 volumes, many of them rare and very valuable. It was the first free library in England. The "Old Church," built in 1422, is a fine Gothic structure. The magnificent town hall is a Gothic, triangular building, costing $5,250,000. The hospital, the royal infirmary, was first used in 1755. Other buildings of note are the royal institution, the royal exchange, the free trade hall and the assize courts. The statues of Wellington, Peel, Watt, and the Albert memorial, are but a few of the many monuments of Manchester. The grammar school goes back to 1515. Victoria University, and especially the Technical School, are well known. 750 Manchester was the first town in England to introduce, about the middle of the 18th century, the factory system, where large numbers of men work together, in place of the older method of the men working in their homes. In 1756 the Bridgewater canal was dug, which joined Manchester to the coal fields of Lancashire, the salt mines of Cheshire, and made an outlet to the sea. In 1830 Manchester had the first perfect railroad in operation. In 1887-'91 a great ship canal was built at a cost of $28,750,000, which has made Manchester an inland seaport. There are about 700 different industries carried on, but the great business is cotton manufacture, and in and around Manchester are located two-thirds of the cotton mills of Great Britain and Ireland. | MANFRED cloth. There are also linen and woolen Mandolin (man'-do-lin), a musical instrument somewhat like the lute. The body is made by gluing together narrow pieces of different kinds of wood. A sounding-board, finger-board and neck like a guitar are added. The sound is made by a plectrum. The finest kind is the Neapolitan mandolin with four double strings. Manetho (man'-e-tho), high priest of Heliopolis, Egypt, lived in the 3rd century B. C. At the request of the king, Ptolemy Philadelphus, he wrote a history of his country, which, as shown by comparing the fragments that remain with the monuments, was written from true sources. He divided the time from Menes to the conquest of Egypt by Darius II. into 30 dynasties. This division has been followed by all historians of Egypt. Manfred, regent and king of Sicily, was a natural son of Frederick II., and was born in 1231. At 19 he became prince of Tarentum, regent in Italy for his half-brother Conrad, and later regent in Apulia for his nephew Conradin. He was forced by the pope to Manchester is mentioned as a Roman flee to the Saracens, but returning destation, but is not known as a manufac-feated the papal troops and became in turing district till the reign of Edward III. The famous Anti-Corn Law League, which after a seven years' struggle caused the repeal of the corn laws, began in Manchester. Population, $73,000. See Saintsbury's Manchester. Manchester, the largest city of New Hampshire, stands mostly on the east bank of the Merrimac river, 59 miles northwest of Boston. The river here falls 54 feet, and affords waterpower to many factories. It yearly manufactures 70,000 bales of cotton 1257 master of Naples and Sicily. The next year he was crowned king at Palermo and soon conquered all Tuscany. But Charles of Anjou, brother of King Louis IX. of France, claimed Manfred's dominions as a gift from the pope, and at the bloody battle of Benevento, in 1266, Manfred was treacherously slain. His widow and three sons died in prison, where his daughter was kept for twenty-two years. His history is a favorite subject for plays and operas. See Byron's Manfred. |