MARSHALL 



MARSTON 



63 



tew; and in 1781, after a final campaign,, he 

 settled down to liis profession. He quickly gained 

 distinction, and eventually rose to be head of the 

 Virginia bar. From 1782 he sat in the Virginia 

 House of Burgesses, the state council, the legis- 

 lature ; in 1788 he was elected to the state con- 

 vention, which ultimately mainly owing to his 

 and Madison's (q.v.) arguments adopted the new 

 Uniti-d States constitution. In 1797 he was 

 appointed joint envoy, with Pinckney and Gerry 

 (q.v.) to France, where he and Pinckney, as 

 Federalists, were ordered to leave the republic, 

 after the envoys had indignantly declined Talley- 

 rand's overtures for a personal and a public loan. 

 Hi* conduct in this matter only made Marshall 

 more respected and popular at home, and in 1799 

 he was elected to congress ; on 12th May 1800 

 lie was appointed secretarv of state, which office 

 he held till March 1801. In January 1801 he was 

 appointed chief-justice of the Unitea States, and 

 this position he occupied until his death, at 

 Philadelphia, 6th July 1835. Chief-justice Mar- 

 shall's long series of important decisions are 

 rrrn'.'Mised as standard authority on questions of 

 constitutional law; a selection was published at 

 Host i in in 1839. He prepared a Life of Washing- 

 ton (5 vols. 1804-7 ; revised ed. 2 vols. 1832) 

 from papers placed at his disposal by the presi- 

 dent's family. See John Marshall, by A. B. 

 Magruder ( ' American Statesmen ' series, Boston, 

 1885). 



Marshall)!!;; of Anns. See HERALDRY. 



Marshall Islands, a group in the western 

 Pacific, bisected bv 10 1 N. lat., and having the 

 Caroline group to tlie west, consists of two parallel 

 chains of low coral-reefs one, the Katak group, 

 consisting of lifU'i-n islands, and measuring in all 

 48 sq. m. ; the other, the Kalik group, eighteen 

 islands, with a total area of 107 sq. m. The cocoa- 

 nut and pandanus palms and the bread-fruit tree 

 are tin- principal sources of food, besides fish. 

 Coprah in. the only export (2800 tons annually). 

 The inhabitants, 11,600 in number, belong to the 

 Micronesian division, and are an ugly but good- 

 natured and hospitable race, fond of song and 

 dance, and skilful weavers of bast mate. The 

 Boston (U.S.) Mission Society have a branch 

 here. These islands were annexed by Germany 

 in 1885. See Hager, Die MurshaUitiseln (Leip. 

 UN). 



Warshalltown, capital of Marshall county, 

 Iowa, near the Iowa Kiver, 50 miles NE. of Des 

 Moines, at the crossing of two railways. It has 

 a large trade in wheat, &c., has foundries and 

 ni;i< hine-slioris, and manufactures Hour, oil, soap, 

 and fencing-wire. Pop.(1890) 8914 ; (1900) 11,544. 



Marshalsra. the jail attached to the Marshal- 

 sea Court, originally established under the earl- 

 marshal of England for the trial of servants of the 

 roval household. Later on it came to be used as a 

 'prison for debtor* and defaulters, as well as persons 

 convicted of piracy or other offences on the high 

 sens. It stood near the church of St George, 

 Southwark, and existed in the reign of Edward 

 III. It was abolished as the Palace Court in 1849. 

 Bishop Bonner was confined here for nearly ten 

 years, till his death in 1569, and George Wither in 

 1613 ; he obtained his release by his Unti/re to the 

 h'ini/'n HI in/ excellent Majesty. But the Marshalsea 

 will lie longest remembered as the home of Dickens's 

 Little Dorrit. 



Marsh-gas. See CARBUBETTED HYDROGEN. 



Marsh-mallow (. \ltlnra), a genus of plants 

 of the natural order Malvaceae. The species, 

 which are not numerous, are annual and perennial 

 plants, with showy llowere, natives of Europe and 



Asia. Only one, the Common Marsh-mallow (A. 

 officinalig), is an undoubted native of Britain, and 

 is common only in 

 the south, grow- 

 ing in meadows 

 and marshes, espe- 

 cially near the 

 sea. The whole 

 plant is whole- 

 some, abounding 

 in fibre, mucilage, 

 starch, and sac- 

 charine matter. 

 It is in the roots 

 chiefly that the 

 mucilage a- 

 b<i i! nds. The 

 emollient and de- 

 mulcent qualities 

 of marsh-mallow 

 are well known in 

 medicine, and in 

 seasons of scarcity 

 the inhabitants 

 of some eastern 

 countries often 

 have recourse to 

 it as a principal 

 article of food. 

 Lozenges made 

 from it (Pates de 

 Guimauve) are in use. It is said to be palatable 

 when boiled, and afterwards fried with onions and 

 butter. The Hollyhock (q.v.) is commonly referred 

 to this genus. 



Marsh-marigold (Caltha), a genus of plants 

 of the natural order lianunculacece, having about 

 five petal-like sepals, but no petals ; the fruit 

 consists of several spreading, compressed, many- 

 seeded follicles. C. palustris is a very common 



Common Marsh-mallow 



( Althfea ojficinaliii) : 



a, a flower ; b, fruit. 



Harsh-marigold ( Caltha paluttrii ). 



British plant, with kidney-shaped, shining leaves, 

 and large yellow flowers, a principal ornament of 

 wet meadows and the sides of streams in spring. 

 It partakes of the acridity common in the order ; 

 hut the flower-buds, preserved in vinegar and salt, 

 are said to be a good substitute for capers. It is 

 often called Cowslip in the United States. 



Marsillo. See FICINO. 



Marslvan', a town of Asia Minor, in the 

 vilayet of Sivas, 23 miles NW. of Amasia, with a 

 silver-mine and a pop. of 11,000. 



Mansion. JAMES WESTLAND, LL.D., dramatic 

 poet, was born at Boston, Lincolnshire, on 30th 

 January 1820. He was articled to his uncle, a 

 London solicitor, but soon gave up law for litera- 

 ture ; and in 1842 his Patrician's Daughter, a 



