of Scituate, and lived in a cave on the farm on which the son was born, lived, and died. Elisha received a common-s(;hool education, was a suc- cessful farmer, served for many years in the legis- lature, of which he was at one time speaker, and in 1806 was elected to the U. S. senate to fill the unexpired term of James Fenner, serving from November, 1807. till March, 1811.
MATIGNON, Francis (mah-teen-yong), clergy-
man, b. in Paris, France, in 1753 ; d. in Boston,
Mass., 19 Sept., 1818. He was ordained in 1778, and
received the degree of D. D. at the Sorbonne in 1785.
He was for several years professor of divinity in
the College of Navarre, but fled to England during
the reign of terror, and then he resolved to go to
the United States. He landed in Baltimore, 26 June,
1792, and was appointed by Bishop Carroll to take
charge of the church in Boston. The entire Ro-
man Catholic population of the city was less than
300, nearly all French and Irish of the poorer
classes. For four years he was the only priest in
Boston, and his mission also embraced the whole
of New England. There were no churches, and
he had to visit the Roman Catholics that were
scattered over this territory at their homes. He
was so poor that he had to make his journeys on
foot. In 1796 he was assisted by the Abbe de
Cheverus, who had been his pupil in France. In
1803 the congregation of the Abbe Matignon had
increased so much that a new church became neces-
sary. Subscriptions flowed in rapidly, to a great
extent from Protestants, tlie name of the president
of the United States, John Adams, standing at the
head of the list. In 1808 the see of Boston was
created, and Dr. Matignon was proposed as bishop,
but he declined. He is considered the pioneer of
the Roman Catholic church in New England. Dr.
Matignon was an eloquent preacher and profound
scholar, and the rapid advance of his church in
numbers and consideration in Boston was mainly
due to his efforts. Dr. Matignon wrote " Rules of
the Confraternitv, or Association of the Holy
Cross"' (Boston, 1817).
MATILE, George Auguste, jurist, b. in La
Chaux-de-Fonds, Neufchatel, Switzerland, 30 May,
1807 ; d. in Washington, D. C, 6 Feb., 1881. He
was educated in the colleges of Neufchatel and
Berne, studied law in Berlin, Heidelberg, and
Paris, and was admitted to the bar at Neufchatel in
1830. He served several terms in the legislature
of his canton, and was chosen professor of Roman
law at the University of Neufchatel in 1838. He
also served as one of the judges of the supreme
court. He came to the United States in 1849, in
consequence of political troubles, and was natu-
ralized in 1856. He was professor of history at
Princeton in 1855-'8, and then accepted the chair
of French literature in the University of Pennsyl-
vania. After 1863 he held various government
posts in Washington, and he was translator of the
interior department at the time of his death. On
1 Feb., 1881, while ascending the steps of the patent-
office he was suddenly seized with an attack of
vertigo, and fell, receiving severe injuries about
the head, which resulted in his death. Like his
colleague, Arnold Guizot. he held that religion did
not necessarily conflict with science, and frequent-
ly wrote articles for the religious press of both
this country and the old. Among these writings
is a pamphlet bearing the title " The True God."
Prof. Matile was the first to call the attention of
jurists to the importance of examining the ques-
tion of patents from an international standpoint.
Among his numerous works are " Points de cou-
tume "' (1838) ; " Autorite du droit remain de la
Boutume de Bourgogne et la Caroline dans la
principaute de Neufchatel " (1838) ; " Musee his-
torique de Neufchatel " (3 vols., 1841-'9) ; " Monu-
ments de I'histoire de Neufchatel" (2 vols.. 1844-'8) ;
and " Histoire de la seigneurie de Valangin "
(1852). His son, Leox, is now (1888) a captain in
the United States army.
MATIS, Francisco Javier (mah'-tis), Colombian
painter and naturalist, b. in Guaduas in 1774 ; d. in
Bogota in 1851. He received a limited education,
but early showed great talent for drawing, and in
1792 went to Bogota, where he found instruction
in his art, and soon became an excellent painter,
especially of natural objects. This attracted the
attention of the naturalist Jose Celestino Mutis,
who employed him in his botanical expedition as
an artist, and afterward taught him natural his-
tory. After Mutis's death Matis was employed by
the viceroy to continue the scientist's work, and
was made director of the expedition, which post he
retained after the establishment of independence.
He formed an efficient staff to continue the work,
but never entirely overcame the want of a literary
education in his vouth. and wrote nothing.
MATLACK, Timothy, patriot, b. in Haddon-
field, N. J., in 1730; d. 'near Hornesburg, Pa., 15
April, 1829. He had been a member of the Society
of Friends, but at the beginning of the Revolu-
tion left it for that of the free or " Fighting Quak-
ers," and is described by Christopher Marshall as
" one of the most active spirits of the days of
1775-6." When he first wore his sword in the
streets of Philadelphia, some of the orthodox
Friends ridiculed him, and inquired what its use
was. " It is to defend my property and my liberty,"
he replied. He was one of the general committee
of safety in 1776, a colonel of the battalion that
served against the Delaware Tories, who in June
of that year had cut off the land communication
to Dover. He was also a deputy with Benjamin
Franklin, Thomas McKean, Col. John Bayard, and
others from Philadelphia to attend the state con-
ference of 14 June, 1776. He was a delegate from
Pennsylvania to theContinental congress in 1780-'7,
and for many years was master of the rolls of the
state, residing in Lancaster, Pa., but, on becoming
prothonotary of one of the courts of Philadelphia,
he returned to that city. In 1783 the committee
of safety of Philadelphia presented him with a
silver urn " for his patriotic devotion to the cause
of freedom, and the many services rendered by
him throughout the struggle." With Benjamin
Franklin, Robert Morris, and others, he estab-
lished and contributed the funds to build the free
Quaker meeting-house of Philadelphia. He lived
to be more than ninety-nine years old, and retained
his faculties to the last.
MATSELL, George Washington, chief of police, b. in New York city, 25 Oct., 1811; d. there, 25 July, 1877. In 1826 he was apprenticed as a designer in a dyeing and printing establishment on Staten island. From 1837 till 1843 he was major of the 6th infantry of the New York
militia, and in 1843 was appointed a police magistrate at the Tombs. He took an active part in politics as a Democrat, was appointed a police justice, and, organizing a band of detectives, took a personal part in capturing many noted criminals. In 1844-'5 the first municipal police force in the United States was originated and organized by
Matsell, of which he was chief till 1857, when the legislature passed an act creating the Metropolitan police, as Mayor Fernando Wood had been accused of using the municipal police for political purposes. Upon the creation of the new police
