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MACDONALD, ANDREW. 



MACDONALD, LAURENCE, 



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was in this position that Mr. MacDiarmid chiefly distinguished himself. 

 lie raised the character of the provincial press by introducing origi- 

 nality and taste into the conduct of it, his newspaper becoming highly 

 successful, and a model for others. Mr. MacDiarmid had a partiality 

 for natural history, and he was accustomed to observe and record the 

 abnormal specimens which occurred ; but though a laugh was some- 

 times raised at his accounts of enormous gooseberries or marvellous 

 turnips, it is not known that he ever wilfully exaggerated. In addition, 

 he drew attention to the antiquities and natural beauties of Dumfries- 

 shire, and the adjacent counties of Kirkcudbright and Wigton, not 

 only in the newspaper, but by separate publications, 'The History of 

 Dumfries,' ' The Guide to Moffat,' &c. His other works were a ' Life 

 of Cowper,' published in 1817; a 'Life of William Nicholson, the 

 Galloway Poet;' 'Sketches of Nature,' 'The Scrap-Book,' &c. After 

 conducting the paper with extraordinary vigour and fertility, he died 

 on November 12, 1852. 



MACDONALD, ANDREW, an unfortunate man of letters, furnishes 

 the theme for one of the most affecting passages in Disraeli's ' Cala- 

 mities of Authors.' He was born about 1755, and was the son of a 

 gardener in Leith. After having been educated in the University of 

 Edinburgh, he took orders in the Scottish Episcopal Church, and in 

 1777 became pastor of a congregation in Glasgow. In 1782 he pub- 

 lished ' Velina, a Poetical Fragment,' in Spenser's stanza. This volume 

 was succeeded by a novel called ' The ludependent ; ' and afterwards 

 a tragedy of his, called ' Vimonda,' was played with success in the 

 theatre of Edinburgh, with a prologue written by Henry Mackenzie. 

 Becoming tired of a charge very ill remunerated, and being encouraged 

 by the reception of his play, he resigned hia place, and came to Edin- 

 burgh ; first however marrying the servant-maid of the house he had 

 lodged in, and then living for a short time very extravagantly. He 

 next removed to London, where in 1787 hia tragedy was brought on 

 the stage by Column with much pomp and Very considerable appro- 

 bation. But the author was starving ; and in 1788 he died in London, 

 leaving his wife and child in beggary. A volume of his sermons was 

 published in 1790; and a volume of poems, including ' Vimonda ' and 

 three other plays, appeared in 1791. His dramatic genius cannot be 

 rated high, but he possessed no inconsiderable power both of poetic 

 fancy and of expression. There is a good deal of vigour in some of 

 his li*ht poems, written in London, in the manner of Peter Pindar. 



MACDONALD, ETIENNE- JACQUES- JOSKPH-ALEXANDRE, 

 Duke of Tarentum and Marshal of France, was born on the 17th of 

 September 1765, at Sancerre in the department of Cher, though some 

 authorities make Sedan the place of his birth. He was descended 

 from a Scotch family, which, on account of its participation in the 

 rebellion of 1745, was compelled to take refuge in France. In 1781 

 he entered the army as a lieutenant in the legion of Maillebois, and 

 afterwards joined the regiment of Dillon, chiefly composed of Scotch 

 and Iriah, in the French service. His military talents procured him 

 a place at the commencement of hostilities on the staff of General 

 Dumouriez, and he rose to the rank of captain after the battle of 

 Jemmappes. He served in the campaign of the Low Countries under 

 General Pichegru, and distinguished himself by the passage of the 

 Waal on the ice, under a severe fire from the batteries of Nimeguen, 

 bjk which exploit the Dutch fleet was captured. Having risen to the 

 rank of General of Division, he commanded in 1796 at Diisseldorf 

 and Cologne. He then joined the army of the Rhino, and afterwards 

 that of Italy; and when in 1798 the French became masters of Rome, 

 Macdonald was appointed governor of that city. On the approach of 

 Generul Mack he was obliged to abandon Rome, and his army was 

 attacked by the enemy at Otricoli ; the Auatrians however were 

 defeated, and he was enabled to regain posses-ion of Rome. He waa 

 afterwards sent by the French government against Naples, and when 

 compelled to retire before the superior force of Suvarov, he saved his 

 army, and reconducted it to France by a retreat iu which he displayed 

 considerable skill. [SCVAROV.] 



Macdonald had command at Versailles during the period of the 

 revolution of the 18th Brumaire. In 1800 he was appointed com- 

 mander-in-chief of the army of reserve in Switzerland. Hia celebrated 

 passage of the Splugen, the dangers and difficulties which he sur- 

 inonuttd, the persevering ability which he displayed, have rendered 

 IJH name greatly celebrated in the annals of warfare. There are 

 indeed but two events recorded in history to which this memorable 

 exploit can be compared the passage of Hannibal over the Alps, and 

 that of Napoleon I. over the great St. Bernard. In March 1802 he 

 was* appointed French ambassador at the court of Copenhagen ; and 

 on his return to Paris he was created Grand Officer of the Legion of 

 Honour. He afterwards remained some years without employment, 

 on account of the free expression of his sentiments with respect to 

 the conduct of the first consul towards General Moreau. [BONAPARTE, 

 NAPOLEON I.; MOREAC.] It was not until 1809 that he was recalled 

 to military fervice, when the command of a division of the army of 

 Italy under Eugene Beauharnais was given to him by the emperor. 

 Macdonald on this occasion made a noble use of the opportunity of 

 renewing his military reputation. The troops under his orders entered 

 Styria; he compelled the Austrian general Mcerfeldt to capitulate at 

 Lajbuch (My 22, 1809); and he shared the glories of the victory of 

 Raab. He was present on the 6th of July at the famous battle of 

 Wagram ; the important duty of forcing the enemy's centre, which 



was defended by 200 pieces of cannon, was committed to him, and he 

 executed this critical movement with consummate skill and bravery, 

 but with immense loss. Oa the morning after this great and san- 

 guinary engagement, Napoleon, as he passed by Macdonald, stopped, 

 and, holding out his hand as a pledge of their reconciliation, paid him 

 a just tribute of praise for his share in the victory, and as an earnest 

 of his admiration presented him with the marshal's staff. 



He was afterwards appointed Governor of Gratz, where by the 

 strict discipline he maintained among his troops he so conciliated the 

 esteem of the inhabitants, that on his leaving the town they begged 

 his acceptance of a most valuable gift of jewels, intended as a present 

 to one of his daughters who was about to be married. This gift how- 

 ever he refused, and added that the best proof of their gratitude 

 towards him would be shown by their care of 300 sick soldiers whom 

 he was obliged to leave behind him. In April 1810 Macdonald 

 returned to Paris, and was created Duke of Tarentum, and appointed 

 to the command in Catalonia of the corps of Marshal Augert-au, who 

 was recalled. [AUQEKEAC.] His conduct in Spain did not add to his 

 military reputation. On one occasion indeed he was engaged in an 

 enterprise which has tarnished the glory of his previous exploits. 

 After the fall of Tortosa (March 29, 1811), he was attacked on his 

 march to Barcelona by the Spanish general Sarsfeld, and his troops 

 met with a determined opposition on the bridge of Manresa, when 

 they forced their way through the town, whose inhabitants offered 

 them no resistance, and wreaked their vengeance upon it by setting 

 fire to its buildings : 700 houses and two large hospitals were thus 

 destroyed, and Macdonald, who witnessed the conflagration, mada no 

 efforts to put a stop to it, and offered no assistance to the sufferers. 

 This atrocious and wholly unnecessary cruelty was visited by universal 

 indignation, and rekindled in all its vigour that guerilla warfare which 

 proved so harassing in its effects and so important in its ultimate 

 results. In 1812 Macdonald accompanied Napoleon in the expedition 

 to Russia, with the tenth corps of the army under hia command. In 

 the Saxon campaign of 1813 he distinguished himself at the battles 

 of Bautzen and Liitzcn. In that of Katzbach (August 29, 1313) he 

 met with a severe reverse. In direct violation of Napoleon's orders, 

 he imprudently advanced against Marshal Bliicher, who was at the 

 head of an army very superior in numbers to his own, which was 

 imprudently scattered over a space of thirty miles from Lieguitz to 

 Schoeuen ; so that when attacked on his centre and his left by the 

 concentrated masses of the Prussians he had no adequate force at hand 

 to arrest the onset of the enemy. The result of tliis engagement was 

 the loss of one of his divisions, that commanded by Puthod, 100 

 officers, including Puthod himself and all his staff; 3000 soldiers 

 became prisoners ; twelve pieces of artillery also fell into the hands 

 of the enemy. At the great and disastrous battle of Leipzig, more 

 fortunate than the illustrious Poniatoweky, he was enabled in the 

 retreat to swim safely across the Elater. 



In 1814 Marshal Macdonald constantly adhered to the declining 

 fortune of Napoleon ; he also warmly exerted himself with the allies 

 to obtain favourable terms for the emperor and his family. He was 

 with him at Fontainebleau, where Napoleon expressed to him his 

 regret at not having before appreciated his value, and presented him 

 with a splendid Turkish sabre, th gift of Ibrahim Bey. On the first 

 restoration of the Bourbons, Macdonald was called to the Chamber of 

 Peers, where he proposed without success several measures of justice 

 towards the returned emigrants and the veterans of Napoleon's array. 

 When his former chief returned from Elba, this marshal was solicited 

 to accept a command, but refused ; and, proceeding to Lyon to join 

 the Count d'Artois, afterwards Charles X., he endeavoured, though 

 fruitlessly, to induce the troops to remain faithful to the Bourbon 

 cause. On his failure he returned to Paris, and wheu Napoleon 

 approached that city he accompanied to the frontier the fugitive king 

 (.March 20, 1815). It is however stated by some that he came back to 

 Paris, and there performed, duty as a simple soldier in the national 

 guard. 



On tlie second restoration of the Bourbons he was named Chancellor 

 of the Legion of Honour, which office he retained till 1831. He like- 

 wise received the appointment of Governor of the Twenty-first 

 Military Division, and that of Major-General of the Royal Guard. 

 The rest of Macdonald's life appears to have been chiefly passed in 

 tranquil occupations on his estates. He visited Scotland, where he 

 showed much kindness to some relatives whom he found in the High- 

 lands hi humble circumstances. He died at Paris on the 21th of 

 September 1840. 



'MACDONALD, LAURENCE. This distinguished sculptor is a 

 native of Scotland, and received his early artistic education in the 

 schools of the Royal Academy, but settled many years ago in Rome, 

 where he still resides, and where he divides with Gibson the admira- 

 tion and the commissions of the British patrons of art. Like Gibson, 

 he is a thorough classicist in taste; but though, like him, he takes 

 all his original works from the mythology of Greece and Rome, 

 Mr. Mncdouald has obtained a larger share of celebrity ajid profit 

 from his portrait busts than from his poetic statues. The character 

 of his original works may be gathered from the titles of a few of 

 those which he has executed in marble : ' Andromeda,' executed in 

 1842 for the Marquis of Abercorn ; 'Hyaciuthus;' ' Ulysses,' a noble 

 figure of the heroic size, executed for Sir Arthur Brooke, and one of 



