CHARACTER SKETCHES OF ROMANCE, FICTION AND THE DRAMA

A REVISED AMERICAN EDITION OF THE READER’S HANDBOOK

BY THE REV. E. COBHAM BREWER, LL.D.

EDITED BY MARION HARLAND

VOLUME III

NEW YORK SELMAR HESS PUBLISHER

MDCCCXCII

[ii]

Copyright, 1892, by Selmar Hess.

PHOTOGRAVURES PRINTED ON THE HESS PRESS.

[iii]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

VOLUME III.

[1]

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.

Markleham (Mrs.), the mother of Annie. Devoted to pleasure, she always maintained that she indulged in it for “Annie’s sake.” Mrs. Markleham is generally referred to as “the old soldier.”—C. Dickens, David Copperfield (1849).

Marksman, one of Fortunio’s seven attendants. He saw so clearly and to such a distance, that he generally bandaged his eyes in order to temper the great keenness of his sight.—Comtesse D’Aunoy, Fairy Tales (“Fortunio,” 1682).

Marlborough (The duke of), John Churchill. He was called by Marshal Turenne Le Bel Anglais (1650-1722).

Marlow (Sir Charles), the kind-hearted old friend of Squire Hardcastle.

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[2] 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.

[3]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.

Marotte. Voilà un laquais qui demande si vous êtes au logis, et dit que son maître, vous venir voir.

Madelon. Apprenez, sotte, à vous énoncer moins vulgaiment. Dites: Voilà un nécessaire que demande si vous êtes en commodité d’etre visibles.

Marotte. Je n’entends point le Latin.—Molière, Les Précieuses Ridicules, vii. (1659).

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.

That unlucky dog Marplot ... is ever doing mischief, and yet (to give him his due) he never designs it. This is some blundering adventure, wherein he thought to show his friendship, as he calls it.—Mrs. Centlivre, The Busy Body, iii. 5 (1709).

*** 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 New[4]castle, brought out a free tranlation of Molière’s L’Etourdi, which he entitled Marplot.

Marquis de Basqueville, being one night at the opera, was told by a messenger that his mansion was on fire. “Eh bien,” he said to the messenger, “adressez-vous à Mme. la marquise qui est en face dans cette loge; car c’est affaire de ménage.”—Chapus, Dieppe et ses Environs (1853).

Marrall (Jack), a mean-spirited, revengeful time-server. He is the clerk and tool of Sir Giles Overreach. When Marrall thinks Wellborn penniless, he treats him like a dog; but as soon as he fancies he is about to marry the wealthy dowager, Lady Allworth, he is most servile, and offers to lend him money. Marrall now plays the traitor to his master, Sir Giles, and reveals to Wellborn the scurvy tricks by which he has been cheated of his estates. When, however, he asks Wellborn to take him into his service, Wellborn replies, “He who is false to one master will betray another;” and will have nothing to say to him.—Massinger, A New Way to Pay Old Debts (1628).

Married Men of Genius. The number of men of genius unhappy in their wives is very large. The following are notorious examples:—Socratês and Xantippê; Saadi, the Persian poet; Dantê and Gemma Donati; Milton, with Mary Powell; Marlborough and Sarah Jennings; Gustavus Adolphus and his flighty queen; Byron and Miss Milbanke; Dickens and Miss Hogarth; etc. Every reader will be able to add to the list.

Mars, divine Fortitude personified. Bacchus is the tutelary demon of the Mahommedans, and Mars the guardian potentate of the Christians.—Camoens, The Lusiad (1569).

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).

The Mars of Men, Henry Plantagenet, earl of Derby, third son of Henry, earl of Lancaster, and near kinsman of Edward III. (See Derby.)

Marse’ Chan. Brave Virginian soldier whose lady-love enacts “My Lady Disdain” until news is brought her that he has fallen in battle. Then she grieves for him as a widow for her husband, and when she dies, she is buried by him.—Thomas Nelson Page, In Ole Virginia (1887).

Mars of Portugal (The), Alfonso de Albuquerque, viceroy of India (1452-1515).

Mars Wounded. A very remarkable parallel to the encounter of Diŏmed and Mars in the Iliad, v., occurs in Ossian. Homer says that Diomed hurled his spear against Mars, which, piercing the belt, wounded the war-god in the bowels; “Loud bellowed Mars, nine thousand men, ten thousand, scarce so loud, joining fierce battle.” Then Mars ascending, wrapped in clouds, was borne upwards to Olympus.

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[5] 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.

Marsis vi quadam genitali datum, ut serpentium virulentorum domitores sint, et incantationibus herbarumque succis faciant medelarum mira.—Gellius, xvi. 11.

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 Chev[6]reuil’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).

Martha, a friend of Margaret. She makes love to Mephistophelês, with great worldly shrewdness.—Goethe, Faust (1798).

Martha, alias Ulrica, mother of Bertha, who is betrothed to Hereward and marries him.—Sir W. Scott, Count Robert of Paris (time, Rufus).

Martha (The Abbess), abbess of Elcho Nunnery. She is a kinswoman of the Glover family.—Sir W. Scott, Fair Maid of Perth (time, Henry IV.).

Martha (Dame), housekeeper to major Bridgenorth.—Sir W. Scott, Peveril of the Peak (time, Charles II.).

Martha Hilton, serving-maid in the household of the widowed Governor Wentworth, until, on his sixtieth birthday, he surprised the guests assembled to do him honor by wedding her in their sight.—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Lady Wentworth.

Marthé, a young orphan, in love with Frédéric Auvray, a young artist who loves her in return, but leaves her, goes to Rome, and falls in love with another lady, Elena, sister of the Duke Strozzi. Marthé leaves the Swiss pastor, who is her guardian, and travels in midwinter to Rome, dressed as a boy, and under the name of Piccolino. She tells her tale to Elena, who abandons the fickle, false one, and Frédéric forbids the Swiss wanderer ever again to approach him. Marthé, in despair, throws herself into the Tiber, but is rescued. Frédéric repents, is reconciled, and marries the forlorn maiden.—Mons. Guiraud, Piccolino (an opera, 1875).

Marthon, an old cook at Arnheim Cas[7]tle.—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.).