632 



MAINLAND OF SHETLAND MAINTENON. 



sheen. It was visited by French navigators, as De ) 

 Moms and Champlain, a few years later, but the 

 first permanent settlements were made in 1630. The 

 government was at tirst proprietary, but in 1652, the 

 province of Massachusetts bay claimed this territory 

 as included within the limits of their charter. In 

 1820, it was separated from that state, and received 

 into ihf Union as an independent state. See Massa- 

 chusetts. 



MAINLAND OF SHETLAND. See Shetland 

 Isles. 



MAINOTS ; the inhabitants of the mountainous 

 district of the Morea, called Maina, is the ancient 

 Laconia. According to Leake, Maina is the Italian 

 corruption for the Greek name Mani, and the proper 

 name of the people is Maniati. They have been 

 supposed to be the descendants of the ancient Spar- 

 tans, but probably are composed of fugitives from all 

 parts of Greece, who found safety in this remote 

 corner, protected by the rocks and the sea. Their 

 number is about 60,000, of whom 15,000 are capable 

 of bearing arms. They are Christians of the Greek 

 church, and never submitted to the Turkish yoke. 

 They are hardy, brave, and skilful in the use of 

 arms, and, with the barbarous practice of robbery, 

 unite the virtue of hospitality. Their hatred against 

 the Turks is implacable, and they were among the 

 first to distinguish themselves in the Greek revolu- 

 tion. Previous to that period, Maina was divided 

 into a number of districts, each under a capitano, 

 over whom was a beg, or head chief, residing at 

 Kitriai. Public affairs were discussed in assemblies 

 called synods, in which every Mainot had a voice. 

 See Greece and Maina. 



MAINTENANCE ; an unlawful intermeddling in 

 a suit, by assisting either party with money, or other- 

 wise, to prosecute or defend it. This was prohibited 

 by the Roman as well as by the English law. A 

 man may, however, maintain the suit of his near 

 kinsman, servant, or poor neighbour with impunity. 

 See Barratry, Common. 



MAINTENON, FRANCOISE U'AUBIGNE, marchioness 

 of, descended of a noble Protestant family, was born in 

 1 635, in the prison of Niort, where her father was con- 

 fined. In 1639, M. d'Aubigne, having been released, 

 set sail for Martinique with his daughter. After 

 his death, in 1645, his widow returned to France, 

 totally destitute, and the young Frances was taken 

 into the house of her aunt, a Calvinist, whose creed 

 she soon after adopted. Every means was used by 

 her mother to reclaim her, and she finally yielded to 

 harsh treatment, and, after a long resistance, abjured 

 that creed. The death of her mother left her soli- 

 tary and dependent, and, although she was received 

 into the house of madame de Neuillant, her god- 

 mother, she was subjected to all kinds of humiliations, 

 and considered herself happy in becoming the wife 

 of the deformed, infirm, and impotent Scarron, who, 

 touched with her situation, offered to pay the sum 

 necessary to enable her to enter a convent, or to 

 marry her. Scarron was not rich, but his family was 

 respectable, and his house was frequented by the 

 most distinguished society of the court and the city. 

 His wife conciliated general respect and esteem and 

 affection by her social qualities, her talents, and her 

 modesty. On his death, in 1660, his widow, who 

 was again left destitute, was on the point of embark- 

 ing for Portugal as a governess, when madame de 

 Montespan, the mistress of Louis XIV., procured her 

 a pension, and afterwards had her appointed gover- 

 ness to the duke of Maine and the count of Toulouse, 

 her sons by Louis. In this post, she became better 

 known to the king, who was, at first, prejudiced 

 against her, but who learned to esteem her for her 

 good sense, and the care which she bestowed on the 



education of the duke of Maine. He made her a 

 present of 100,000 livres, with which, in 1(579, she 

 purchased the estate of Maintenon, and, becoming 

 tond of her society, gradually passed from intimacy to 

 love. Madame de Montespan herself contributed 

 much to the elevation of De Maintenon by her capri- 

 cious and arrogant temper,and, while the latter with- 

 drew the king from his connexion with the former, 

 she supplanted her in his affections. Louis XIV. 

 was then at an age when men wish for a wife in 

 whom they may confide their joys and sorrows, and 

 he longed to alleviate the weight of government by 

 the innocent pleasures of domestic life. The yield- 

 ing temper of madame de Maintenon, who, from 

 youth up, had learned to accommodate herself to 

 the wishes of others, promised him an agreeable 

 companion and a trusty friend. Besides this, she 

 had a leaning towards devotion, and the king had 

 himself manifested a similar inclination, as years 

 came on. Pere Lachaise, his father confessor, 

 advised him to sanction his wishes by a secret but 

 formal marriage, which was solemnized in 1685. 

 The archbishop of Paris, Harlay, married them, in 

 presence of the confessor and two witnesses. Louis 

 was then forty-eight, madame de Maintenon fifty 

 years of age. At court, the marriage always appeared 

 doubtful, although a thousand indications betrayed 

 it. Yet the happiness of De Maintenon was not 

 lasting : she herself says, " I was born ambitious : I 

 resisted this inclination. When the wish, which I 

 no longer indulged, was fulfilled, I thought myself 

 happy; but this intoxication lasted only three weeks." 

 After her elevation, she lived in a sort of retirement 

 from the world. Louis XIV. visited her several 

 times a day, and transacted business with his minis- 

 ters in her apartments, while she read or otherwise 

 employed herself. Although, in appearance, she 

 neither knew nor wished to know any thing of state 

 affairs, yet she often had a decisive influence on them. 

 Chamillart was made minister, and Marsin com- 

 mander of the army in Germany (1703), and Vendome 

 and Catinat were dismissed, by her influence. The 

 nation accused her of errors, and the excuse of good 

 intentions could not always exculpate her. In all 

 other respects entirely submissive to the will of the 

 king, she was wholly occupied with the means of 

 rendering herself agreeable to him, and this slavery 

 of her age made her more unhappy than the poverty 

 of her youth. "What a martyrdom," said she to 

 lady Bolingbroke, her niece, " to be obliged to amuse 

 a man who is incapable of being amused." The 

 king, who sometimes teased her with his ill-humour, 

 endeavoured to atone for this by proofs of esteem, 

 such as he had never shown to any other woman. 

 But these external forms could not console her 

 chagrin. She did nothing for her family, because 

 she feared to attract the notice of the nation : she 

 would receive nothing herself but the estate 'of 

 Maintenon, and a pension of 48,000 livres. Among 

 her benevolent plans, was the foundation of the 

 school at St Cyr, for the education of poor girls of 

 good family. Thither she retired, after the death of 

 the king, in 1715, taking part in the instruction and 

 amusements of the pupils, till her own death, in 

 1719. La Beaumelle published the Lettres de 

 Madame de Maintenon (Amsterdam, 1756, 9 vols., 

 12mo), but with many arbitrary changes. The edi- 

 tion of 1812 (6 vols., 12mo) is more complete. La 

 Beaumelle's Memoires sur Madame de Maintenon et 

 le Siecle passe contains many errors and fictions. La 

 Vie de Madame de Maintenon, by Caraccioli, con- 

 tains a full account of the institution at St Cyr. The 

 Entretiens de Louis XIP. et de Madame de Main- 

 tenon sur leur Mariage (Marseilles, 1701) is a scarce 

 book. In 1826, the Lettres inedites de Madame d 



