MARTELLO TO \Vl.l:. 



MARTYRS, MARTYROLOOY. 



(M 



sands ol the M*. Farther north again the whole coast of French 

 Guyana U swamp. 



ThU enununtioo of the known marshes and swamps, though com- 

 nrahenuve, u however far from being oouipletr. Very large portion* 

 of the earth'* surface still remain unexplored, Nevertheless it u 

 oertaio that the extent of marshy grouuil u very great ; and probably 

 it was foruierly much greater, for a multitude of natural circum- 

 stsnrns hare greatly diminished marshes, and are still effacing! i 

 degree*. On the other hand colonisation, and the consequent increase 

 of population in the newly settled places, cause the clearing of forests 

 and the draining of marshes to go on rapidly. There in no doubt that 

 in proportion as the swamp* are dried up the source of many diseases 

 will begot rid of; but again, it maybe doubtful whether the increased 

 drought occasioned by so vast a reduction of evaporating surface may 

 not engender other diinsans equally fatal with those which now spring 

 from the superabundance of swampy ground ; and it U possible that 

 even absolute sterility may result, in some cases, from imprudent 

 drainage. 



MARTELLO TOWER, a circular building of masonry, generally 

 two stories high ; the lower story is divided into chambers for the 

 reception of stores, and the upper serves as a casemate for troops; the 

 roofs are vaulted, and that of the upper story is shell-proof. The wall 

 of the building terminates above in a parapet ; and, on the terreplein 

 of the roof are placed pieces of artillery, which rest on platforms of 

 timber traversing on pivots, so that the guns are capable of being fired 

 in any direction. The entrances are at a considerable height above the 

 ground, and over these are machicolations. The whole work is gene- 

 rally surrounded by a ditch and glacis. 



It is probable that the name of such works should be Mortella 

 . since it is supposed to have been derived from that of a fort 

 in Mortella (Myrtle) Bay, Corsica, which after a gallant resistance was 

 taken in 1764 by a British naval force. Many such towers were, 

 during the late revolutionary war and since, built on the coasts of 

 this country, in Ireland, in Jersey, and elsewhere. In England, after a 

 period of disuse, many of these towers have recently been supplied 

 with an improved armament. 



MARTIAL ETHIOI'S, the obsolete name for magnetic oxide of 

 iron. [METALS: /nm.1 



MARTIAL and MILITARY LAW do not mean the same tiling ; 

 and though they ore here joined for convenience, our observations 

 shall be made upon each severally, without confounding it with the 

 other. 



Martial law, better known to somo as drum-head law, is the arbi- 

 trary exercise of military power and authority for the purpose of 

 enforcing complete submission, and is exerted, in the way of war, to 

 whatever degree it be necessary, in quelling disturbance, dispersing 

 mobs, repressing all signs of resistance, and punishing summarily on 

 the spot any act of insubordination. It depends entirely on the will 

 of the officer in chief command ; who usually does, however, delegate this 

 arbitrary power to a court-martial, composed of officers on the spot to 

 judge of offences and to award punishment ; and this is sometimes called 

 a drum-Head court-martial. It is this bitter kind of government, the 

 most awful known in any state of civilised society, that the illustrious 

 Duke of Wellington, upon an occasion still remembered in th. 

 of Lords, when the present Earl Urey had made an inconsiderate 

 appeal to the example of the distinguished soldier, deprecated being 

 thought capable of ever applying to any civil community. 

 under modifications so extraordinary that one would scarcely have 

 deemed the illustrious warrior's regime correctly entitled martial 

 law. (Hans. Deb., 1 Apr. l.sil.) By the Hiot Act, the imperial par- 

 liament of this country has enabled the civil magistrate, when muni- 

 cipal authority is for the time set at defiance, and no longer avails 

 to preserve the peace, to call out the military, and to give the com- 

 manding officer authority to disperse the people by force. The unfor- 

 tunate condition of Ireland has frequently occasioned the 

 intervention of parliament to suppress insubordination by this kind of 

 authority ; and the lawless state of the people, evinced by agrarian 

 outrages, and the perpetration and subsequent concealment of murder, 

 under circumstances which demonstrated a cruel conspiracy of many 

 and a general approval of the deed, has too often required the enforce- 

 ment of a general Act, which enables the lord lieutenant to proclaim 

 any district stained by such crimes and to place it under the survoil- 

 laace of armed police, in greatly increased numbers, with greatly 

 increased powers. These, however, are very modified instances of the 

 application of martial Uw. 



Military law, sometimes confounded with the other, is now in this 

 country a well-known code of discipline applicable to her Majesty's 

 land forces and marines, both in tunes of peace and war. It emanates 

 necessarily from the authority of all laws in this country tin- civil 

 power. It is applicable only to the regular forces, unless by Act of 

 Parliament the militia and volunteer forces, when enrolled, are placed 

 under it. Civilians are amenable to the municipal law and no other, 

 tod any one who inflicts upon such a person in this country not in 

 lot* ptpiilari any puniabmeut whatsoever except by authority 

 law and the civil magistrate, is answerable for hi* conduct in a court 

 of justice,civilly to the sufferer for the wrong done him, and criminally 

 to the sovereign for the public offence. 

 This distinction between the two chutes of persons with respect to 



military Uw is clearly expressed in the " Mutiny Act," as it is called, 

 which was first passed in the reign of Williair III. After stating that 

 the lubjeoU of this realm cannot be punished in any other manner 

 than conformably to the common laws of the country, an except 

 immediately enacted in the case of military persons ; and then 

 several provisions for the purpose of bringing soldiers who shall mutiny, 

 excite sedition, or desert from the service, to a more exemplary and 

 speedy punishment than the usual forms of law will allow. 



Immediately after the Norman conquest of this country the military 

 law consisted in the obligation imposed on the vassals of the crown to 

 follow the king to the field, under ]>enalty of a pecuniary tine or the 

 .ml. But the first known record concerning the 

 regulation of the army i - > be that which was made in the 



reign of John ; and this relates chiefly to the purchase of pro- 

 visions at the sales held for supplying the army with necessaries. 

 The ordinances of Richard II. and of Henry V., and the statutes of 

 Henry VIII., contain many useful rules for the government and dis- 

 cipline of the army. They prescribe obedience to the king and tint 

 commanders ; they award punishments for gaming, theft, and 

 crimes ; for raising false alarms in the camp, and for the seizure of 

 religious persons. They also contain regulations concerning tl 

 posal of prisoners taken in battle, and concerning the stakes, fascines, 

 ladders, and other materials for military operations, with which the 

 soldiers were to provide themselves. (Qroae, ' Mil. Ant.' vol. ii.) 



The early kings of this country do not appear to have exercised, 

 generally, a discretionary power over the army ; for a statute of 

 Edward I. states that the king had power to punish soldier* only 

 according to the laws of the realm. The court of high constable and 

 high marshal of England had for many years an exclusive juii-.i 

 in all military affairs, and this was sometimes extended over th' 

 courts. But the power of that court was restrained bya statute in the 

 reign of Richard II. (1386) ; and the court itself, with the whole i 

 system on which it was engrafted, gradually fell into disuse, and was 

 displaced by on order of things with which it had little in common. 

 No one however can point to the time that exactly divides tl: 

 eras. An interval occurred when it would have been difficult to say 

 what was abiding. All was in a state of change : old things were 

 passing away, and all things were becoming new. Charles I. was so 

 unfortunate as not to discern the signs of the time. He placed himself 

 in the breach, and hoped alone to stem the tide of jirogress; and thcjf 

 was a romantic chivalry in men's hearts which induced many t 

 him. They were borne down, and the genius of a great military 

 system arose in Oliver Cromwell. The man himself was discipline ; 

 he made his soldiers, and they mode him. The I with 



the Restoration. The army of 5000 men which Charles II.. contrary 

 to the constitution, maintained constantly in this country, became 

 under his successor a body of 80,000 troops, arbitrarily levied, and 

 therefore with difficulty retained to their standards on II> 

 Heath. Desertions became rife : pettier acts of in> 

 of course committed. The <i\il law knew no authority which 

 retain a man in the ranks against his will ; and if he beat his officers, 

 they might indict him for assault and ! I the jury mi^ht 



refuse to convict. The celebrated Lord Holt, all 

 was then Recorder of London. He maintained the lav. 

 against the authority of James, who wished to enforce .-i < 1 . 

 rested entirely on his own sanction. Kven < 'hi.-i'.lti-i louml 



the demand of his sovereign too great for him, and he also ma it 

 the civil law. Readier instruments were i nnd for the In m-h 



>lon and at Westminster; arbitrary sentences foli 

 death penalties and severe punishment-' astounded all the c 

 although applied to the army. The revolution at length succeeded 

 this state of things, under the discernment of statesmen who knew the 

 times were altered, and provided for them in accordance with tl: 

 t itutional law of the country. 



Prendergast, Law of Officers of the Army ; <!roso, .!/ 



lia; Tytler's Essay on Militni lames; 



Samuel. "I 'of </" Hritiih Army ; Major Adye, Trtatiu 



on Military Law ; Majo, . J. Napier, Kcmarltt on Military 



See also COCKTH-MARTIAL.) 



MARTI. KT. [HniAi.miY.] 



MARTYRS, MAUTYKOLOGY, from the Greek Marlur or Mnrtui 

 (ftdprvp or ftdfrut), a irilncti. 



l!y the term martyr we now generally understand a person who 

 suffers death rather than renounce his religious opinions; and those 

 who have made a profession of their faith 

 Bufferings short of death, are called confetiori. These ten, 

 have been used in the same sense by some of the early (.'I. 

 writers; but others give the title of martyr to all who suffered tortures 

 on account of their faith, and < 'e who wei 



imprisoned for its avowal. Tcrtullian calls the latter " m 

 designati," martyr* tied. The annals of the early Christian church 

 contain the histories of many martyrs, whose astonishing fortitude 

 under the ino.t cruel tortures was doubtless one great eta w of tin; 

 rapid ditl'mion of ( . Among the earliest and most valml.h- 



documents relating to this subject ore the letter of the chu 

 Smyrna, giving an account of the m.utyrd:ii of I'olycarp (A.D. 167), 

 and that of the church at Lyon and Vicnne, (A.D. 177), eoneeming 

 the martyrs who suffered in the some reign, namely, that of Marcus 



