MAJOR -MALACCA. 



635 



was one of the principal causes of the thirty years' 

 war, and of the intellectual debasement of that fair 

 country The Bohemians were converted by the 

 sabre to the Catholic faith, and the spirit and intellect 

 of the nation crushed, so that few beings are lower on 

 the scale of cultivation than a Bohemian peasant. 



MAJOR, in military language ; the lowest of the 

 staff-officers ; a degree higher than captain. There 

 appear to have been officers called majors as early as 

 1560, in the German and Spanish troops ; they were 

 then the assistants of the colonels. At present they are 

 generally tiie commanders of battalions. The French, 

 however, abolished this degree during the revolution; 

 they have chefs de bataillon. Their gros major is a 

 half-invalid officer, who commands the depot of the 

 regiment. 



MAJOR ; in music, an epithet applied to that of 

 the two modern modes in which the third is four 

 semitones above the tonic or key-note. Those inter- 

 vals which contain the greatest number of semitones 

 under the same denomination are also called major ; 

 as a third, consisting of four semitones, instead of 

 three only, is termed a major-third', a sixth, con- 

 taining nine semitones, instead of eight, is called a 

 major- sixth. 



MAJOR, in logic ; the first proposition of a regu- 

 lar syllogism containing the general premise ; as, 

 " All vicious acts are pernicious '' (the major) ; 

 "this act is vicious" (the minor); " therefore this 

 act is pernicious " (conclusion). 



MAJORANO GAETANO, known under the 

 name of Caffarelli, a celebrated soprano, was born 

 in the Neapolitan territory, 1703. A musician, who 

 had remarked the excellent voice of the boy, advised 

 his father, a peasant, to send him to school at Norcia, 

 afterwards took him into his own house, instructed 

 him, and presented him to Porpora at Naples, who 

 taught him for six years. At the end of that time, 

 Porpora told him that he could teach him nothing 

 more, and that he was now the first singer in Italy, 

 and in the world. In 1738, he went to England, 

 just after Farinelli's (q. v.) departure, but was not 

 in high favour there. After his return to Italy, he 

 sang in several theatres with extraordinary applause, 

 and contributed to extend the florid style of singing. 

 In 1740, he is said to have received 700 sequins for 

 a single night at Venice. He accumulated a large 

 fortune, and purchased the estate of Santo-Uorato, 

 from which he took the title of duke. He still, how- 

 ever, continued to sing in the monasteries and 

 churches, at a great price ; he also visited Paris. 

 On a sumptuous house, which he had built, was the 

 inscription, Amphion Thebas, Ego Domum. At his 

 death (1783), he left his nephew a fortune of 12,000 

 ducats a year, and his duchy. 



MAJOIIAT ; a term used on the European con- 

 tinent to denote, in its widest sense, the order of suc- 

 cession which is regulated by age, and the right of 

 preference which hence belongs to the oldest. It is 

 divided into three kinds : I. Primogeniture, or the 

 right of the first-born, by virtue of which the eldest 

 in the eldest line always succeeds to an inheritance. 

 This law regulates the succession to the throne in 

 almost all the European kingdoms of the present 

 day. 2. The majorat, in the narrower sense of the 

 word, gives the inheritance to the eldest of the rela- 

 tives of the same rank. 3. Seniority always secures 

 it to the eldest in the family, without regard to the 

 proximity of relationship. The majorats cannot law- 

 fully be alienated or mortgaged. The increase of 

 majorats in a state has hitherto been regarded as a 

 species of injustice. The more the wealth of the 

 country is concentrated in a few hands, the more liable 

 is the bulk of the population to be reduced to pov- 

 erty, and to experience the consequent evils of want, 



ignorance and crime. The example of Britain may 

 well deter other nations from that defective system of 

 laws, of which the natural consequence is, that more 

 than 150,000 Britons live on the continent, not to 

 grow wealthy, but to consume their wealth. See the 

 article Entailments. 



MAJORCA ; the largest of the Balearic islands, 

 lying between 39 16' and 39 57' N. latt, and 2 

 24' and 3 31' E. Ion., being about forty leagues from 

 the Spanish, and fifty from the African coast ; 

 1410 square miles, with a population of 181,805 

 inhabitants. The climate is temperate, the heat 

 being moderated by sea-breezes. The island yields 

 excellent grain, flax, figs, olives, grapes, almonds, 

 oranges, melons, &c. The principal articles of manu- 

 facture are tapestry, blankets, and sashes, linen, sail- 

 cloth, &c. The coral fishery, the making of wine and 

 brandy, also employ the inhabitants. The adminis- 

 tration is composed of a captain-general and a royal 

 audience, under whom is the government of the Ba- 

 leares. The capital is Palma, with 34,000 inhabitants. 

 Alcudia, on the north-eastern coast, is the only other 

 city. 



MAJOR DOMUS (maire dupalais); the title of 

 the highest officer of court and state in the monarchy 

 of the French, who was overseer of the household. 

 The dignity of first duke (i. e. commander of the 

 army) was soon connected with this office. The dig- 

 nity became hereditary, and at length Pepin, who 

 held this office, made himself emperor. See Pepin, 

 and France ; see also Geschichte der Merovingischen 

 Hausmeier von G. H. Pertz (Hanover, 1819.) 



MALABAR (from the Hindoo Malayvar, signify- 

 ing the mountain, enclosed region) is the appropriate 

 name of the narrow strip of land which lies between 

 the western Ghauts and the sea, on the western coast 

 of the peninsula of the Deccan. The whole western 

 coast, from cape Comorin to 15 N. lat., is sometimes 

 called the Malabar coast, in distinction from the Coro- 

 mandel coast, on the eastern side of the peninsula. 

 The province of Malabar is a small part of this 

 region, containing about 7249 square miles, with a 

 population of 907,575 persons. It was annexed to 

 the presidency of Madras in 1803. In 1817, the 

 revenue amounted to 225,682. The foreign trade 

 is almost exclusively confined to Bombay, Guzerat, 

 and the gulf of Persia. Calicut, Mahe (belonging 

 to the French), Tellicherry are the principal cities ; 

 except on the coast, there are no towns nor villages, 

 each land-holder living separately on his own estate. 

 Rice, cocoa-nuts, and pepper are the principal pro- 

 ductions. The majority of the inhabitants are Hin- 

 doos, and, on account of the remote and sheltered 

 situation, they have preserved their manners and 

 customs with greater purity than has been done else- 

 where, the Mohammedans never having entered their 

 territory as enemies till the irruption of Hyder AH in 

 17C6. There are also about 10,000 Nestorian Chris- 

 tians and 150,000 Roman Catholics. 



MALACCA, or MALAYA ; a country of India 

 beyond the Ganges, consisting of a large peninsula, 

 connected with Siam by the isthmus of Kraw, which 

 is about seventy-five miles broad. In all other places, 

 it is surrounded by the sea. It is about 775 miles 

 long, and 120, on an average, broad. It is traversed 

 throughout by a chain of lofty mountains, and is 

 covered with extensive forests and marshes, so that it 

 is difficult to penetrate into the interior. The fruits 

 are excellent and plentiful, but grain is not produced 

 in sufficient quantity to supply the inhabitants. Its 

 political condition alternates between a dependence 

 upon Siam and a division into a number of petty in- 

 dependent states. See Malays. 



MALACCA; a seaport of the above country, on 

 the western coast, and on the straits of Malacca; Ion. 



