Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/239

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MARGIL OF JESUS
MARIN

mentarii de Brasiliensium et Chilensium indole et lingua.” Marggrafs premature death prevented him from completing a great work, the title of which, as given by Laet, was “Progymnastica mathematica Americana tribus sectionibus comprehensa.” It was intended to contain everything relating to the astronomy, geography, and geodesy of Brazil. A creeping-plant of the Antilles, belonging to the guttiferous family, has been named Marggravia in honor of its discoverer.


MARGIL OF JESUS, Antonio, clergyman, b. in Valencia, Spain, 18 Aug., 1655 ; d. in the city of Mexico, 6 Aug., 1726. At the age of sixteen he entered a Franciscan convent of the strictest kind, where he was noted for his piety and cheerful dis- position. He finished his theological studies at the convent of Denia, and began his missionary career at Onda, where he became celebrated as a pulpit orator. With the consent of his superiors, he offered his services for the American mission, and after a long voyage landed at Vera Cruz, which had just been destroyed by French pirates. He then set out on foot for the convent of the Holy Cross, in Queretaro. which he reached in August, 1683. He was employed in missionary work in Mexico, Yucatan, and Central America, and con- verted large numbers of Indians. He established a missionary college in the city of Guatemala, became its guardian, and then went to Zacatecas, where he founded an apostolic college. He afterward estab- lished missions in Nayarit, and then went to Texas at the head of a band of Franciscans. He established various missionary stations there and within what is now the state of Louisiana, and travelled fifty miles on foot to minister to the French of Natchi- toches, who were without a priest, and then re- turned to Nacogdoches, where he labored four years, refusing the office of guardian of the College of Zacatecas, to which he had been elected. His mis- sions were attacked by the French from New Or- leans, and Father Margil was obliged to abandon them for a time, but he returned in March, 1721, restored some of the stations, and rebuilt the church of Guadeloupe, which had been destroyed. He sent one of his monks to found the mission of San Jose, on San Antonio river, which became the most prosperous of all. In 1722 he was appointed pre- fect of the missions de propaganda fide, and dur- ing the same year, by his directions, a chapel and convent were built on the site of La Salle's fort on Espiritu Santo bay. Shortly afterward he was elected guardian of the College of Guadeloupe at Zacatecas. On completing his term, he resumed his missionary labors in Mexico and continued them until he was stricken down with the illness of which he died. The Spaniards and Indians be- lieved that he had worked miracles, and the city of Mexico petitioned the Roman see for his canoni- zation. The cause was examined into some years after his death, and he was declared venerable by Pope Gregory XVI. in 1836, but has not yet been declared beatified. Numerous biographies of Father Margil have been written in Spanish and Italian, including " Vida Portentosa del Americano Septen- trional Apostol, El V. P. P. Anto. Margil " (Mad- rid, 1775), and " Notizie della vita del ven. servo di Dio, Fr. Antonio Margil de Jesus " (Rome, 1836).


MARGUERITTES, Julie de, author, b. in London, England, in 1814 ; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 21 June, 1866. She was the daughter of an emi- nent English physician, and married the Count de Marguerittes, who was expelled from France on the establishment of the second republic, and came to New York, where she supported him by her pen. When he was recalled by Louis Napoleon he abandoned his wife, who obtained a divorce, and afterward married George G. Foster, an author and publisher of New York city, who died in 1850. The widow gave concerts and readings, and on 9 March, 1852, made her appearance on the operatic stage at the Broadway theatre. New York, in the opera of " La Gazza Ladra." She performed in the same piece at the Chestnut theatre, Philadel- phia, made that city her home, and, retiring from the stage, became the dramatic critic of the " Sun- day Transcript." She afterward married Samuel J. Rea, a journalist of Philadelphia. She was a copious writer for the press, and published in book-form " The Ins and Outs of Paris " (Phila- delphia, 1855) ; " Italy and the War of 1859 " (1859) ; and " Parisian Pickings, or Paris in all States and Stations " (1860). — Her daughter, Noemie, made her debut at the Halliday street theatre, Baltimore, in the "Ambassador's Wife," but afterward withdrew from the stage, and suc- ceeded her mother as dramatic critic of the Boston " Sunday Transcript."


MARIANNA DE JESUS, surnamed the Lily OF Quito, a saint of the Roman Catholic church, b. in Quito, Ecuador, 31 Oct., 1618 ; d. there, 26 May, 1645. The name of her family was Paredes y Flores. She began to practise austerity at a very early age. On the death of her mother she was confided to the care of an aunt, who lived in the suburbs of Quito. At length her friends decided to send her to be educated in the convent of St. Catharine of Sienna, but she declared that she had a revelation that she was to remain with her family. She spent most of her time in prayer, and fre- quently remained for days without food. In 1645 the city was afflicted with terrible epidemics and frequently recurring earthquakes. She rose in church on 25 March of that year, and in a few words declared that a victim was required, and of- fered her life for the salvation of the people. It is said that earthquakes ceased after this act of self- devotion, and that the violence of the plague gradu- ally decreased, until after her death the epidemic disappeared altogether. She was buried with great pomp on 28 May, and it was reported that miracles were wrought at her tomb. A petition for her can- onization was presented at Rome, and in 1850 her beatification was decreed by Pope Pius IX.


MARIGNY, Charles René Louis, Viscount de Bernard de (mah-reen'-ye). French naval officer, b. in Seez, Normandy, 1 Feb., 1740 ; d. in Brest, 25 July, 1815. He became a midshipman in 1755, and lieu- tenant in 1757, and served in Santo Domingo from 1767 till 1774. In 1775 he made an extended cruise through the West Indies, and in 1778 he commanded the frigate " La Belle Poule," on which Benjamin Franklin returned to the United States. They en- countered two English men-of-war, but Marigny eluded their pursuit. He captured an English ship at the battle of Ouessant in 1778, became post- captain and a knight of St. Louis in the following year, and served under De Guichen, D'Estaing, and De Grasse at the battles off St. Christopher, 25 and 26 Jan., 1782. He participated in seven naval bat- tles during the war of American independence. Afterward he served as naval commander in Brest, and became rear-admiral in 1792, but resigned a few months later, and was imprisoned during the reign of terror. Louis XVIII. appointed him vice- admiral and knight-commander of St. Louis in 1814, but he refused to re-enter the service.


MARIN, Jose Gaspar (mah-reen'), Chilian patriot, b. in Serena in 1772 ; d. in Santiago, 24 Feb., 1839. He studied in the College of San Carlos, where he was graduated very young as doctor in