692 



MARMORA MARONITES. 



in (mission into the college of Clermont, where he 

 grmliially acquired pupils ; and his father soon after 

 fiyinjj, lie showed the goodness of his heart, by tak- 

 ing iipoii himself the care of the family. He subse- 

 quently engaged as a teacher of philosophy, in a 

 seminary ot Bemardines, at Toulouse, and became a 

 distinguished candidate for the prizes at the Floral 

 games, which acquired him the notice of Voltaire, 

 who recommended him to try his fortune at Paris. 

 He accordingly arrived there in 1745, and, after 

 experiencing some vicissitudes, brought out a tragedy 

 in 1 748, which at once raised him into competence 

 and celebrity; and, having been recommended to 

 the king's mistress, madame Pompadour, he was 

 appointed secretary of the royal buildings, under her 

 brother, the marquis de Marigny. Having distin- 

 guished himself by writing some of his well-known 

 tales, to assist his friend Boissy, then intrusted with 

 the Mercure de France, on the death of the latter, it 

 was given to him, and resigning his post of secretary, 

 he took up his abode with madame Geoffrin. He 

 subsequently lost the Mercure de France, by merely 

 repeating, in company, a joke upon the duke d'Au- 

 mont, and was committed to the Bastile, because he 

 would not give up the real author. In 1763, after 

 much opposition, he succeeded Marivaux as a mem- 

 ber of the French academy. His next literary pro- 

 duction was Bclisaire, which, in consequence of its 

 liberal sentiments in favour of toleration, was 

 censured by the Sorbonne, and widely read in every 

 country in Europe. In order to benefit G retry, he 

 worked up several little stories into comic operas, 

 which were all acted with great success. On the 

 deatii of Duclos, he was appointed historiographer 

 of France. He took part in the celebrated musical 

 dispute between Gluck and Piccini, as a partisan of 

 the latter. In 1783, on the death of D'Alembert, he 

 was elected secretary to the French academy. On 

 the breaking out of the revolution, he retired to a 

 cottage in Normandy, where he passed his time in 

 the education of his children, and the composition of 

 a series of tales of a more serious cast than his for- 

 mer ones; together with his amusing Memoirs of 

 his own Life. In April, 1797, he was chosen mem- 

 ber of the council of elders ; but, his election being 

 subsequently declared null, lie again retired to his 

 cottage, where he died of an apoplexy, in December, 

 1799, in the seventy-seventh year of his age. Mar- 

 montel holds a high place among modern French 

 authors. Warm and eloquent on elevated subjects ; 

 easy, lively, inventive, and ingenious on light ones, 

 he addresses himself with equal success to the ima- 

 gination, the judgment, and the heart. His Contes 

 Moraux, in general, inculcate useful and valuable 

 lessons, but their morality is sometimes questionable. 

 Some of his didactic works in prose, continue to be 

 highly esteemed, and more especially his course of 

 literature inserted in the Encyclopedic. Since his 

 death, besides his own memoirs, there have appeared 

 Memoirs of the Regency of the Duke of Orleans 

 (printed from his MS., in 2 vols., 12mo). The works 

 of Marmontel have been collected into an edition of 

 thirty-two volumes, octavo. 



MARMORA, SEA OF, anciently the Propontis ; 

 a sea between Europe and Asia, about sixty leagues 

 in length, and twenty in its greatest breadth. It 

 communicates to the S. W. with the Archipelago, 

 by the Dardanelles, and with the Black sea to the 

 N. E. by the straits of Constantinople. Constantin- 

 ople iies on its western shore. The tides are hardly 

 perceptible, the navigation easy. A current sets 

 from the Black sea into the sea of Marmora, which, 

 in turn, runs into the Archipelago. 



MARMOT (arctoniys) ; a genus of small quadru- 

 peds, somewhat resembling the rat, with which they 



were classed by Linnaeus. They have two incisors 

 in each jaw, and ten grinders in the upper, and eight 

 in the low< r jaw ; four toes, and a tubercle in place 

 of a thumb, on the fore feet, and five on the hinder. 



There are several species, the most striking of 

 which are the Alpine marmot (A. Alpinus] about 

 the size of a rabbit, with a short tail ; of a gray- 

 ish-yellow colour, approaching to brown towards 

 the head. This species inhabits the mountains of 

 Europe, just below the region of perpetual snow, and 

 feeds on insects, roots, and vegetables. When these 

 animals (which live in societies) are eating, they post 

 a sentinel, who gives a shrill whistle on the approach 

 of any danger, when they all retire into their bur- 

 rows, which are formed in the shape of the letter Y, 

 and well lined with moss and liay. They remain in 

 these retreats, in a torpid state, from the autumn till 

 April. They are easily tamed. 



The Quebec marmot (A. empetra) inhabits the 

 northern part of the American continent. It appears 

 to be a solitary animal, dwells in burrows in the earth, 

 but has the faculty of ascending trees. Its burrows 

 are almost perpendicular, and situated in dry spots, 

 at some distance from the water. When fat, it is 

 sometimes eaten. Its fur is of no value. 



Woodchuck (A. monax). This species, which is 

 also known by the name of ground-hog, is common 

 in all the Middle States of America, living in socie- 

 ties, and making burrows in the sides of hills, which 

 extend a considerable distance, and terminate in 

 chambers lined with dry grass, leaves, &c. They 

 feed on vegetables, and are very fond of red clover. 

 They are capable of being tamed, and are very cleanly. 

 The female produces six young at a birth. 



There are many other marmots inhabiting North 

 America which have been considered as belonging to 

 the sub-genus spermophilus. The most celebrated of 

 these is the Prairie dog, or Wistonwish (A. ludovici- 

 anus.) It has received the name of prairie dog' from 

 a supposed similarity between its warning cry and 

 the barking of a small dog. They live in large com- 

 munities ; their villages, as they are termed by the 

 hunters, sometimes being many miles in extent. The 

 entrance to each burrow is at the summit of the 

 mound of earth thrown up, during the progress of 

 the excavation below. The hole descends vertically 

 to the depth of one or two feet, after which it con- 

 tinues in an oblique direction. This marmot, like 

 the rest of the species, becomes torpid during the 

 winter, and, to protect itself against the rigour of 

 the season, stops the mouth of its hole, and constructs 

 a neat globular cell at the bottom of it, of fine dry 

 grass, so compactly put together, that it might be 

 rolled along the ground almost without injury. Tlie 

 other American species of this sub-genus are, Parryi 

 guttatus, ftichardsoni, Franklini, Beecheyi, Dou- 

 glasi, lateralis, Hoodi. See Richardson, Faun. Am. 

 Bor. and Goodman's Nat. Hist. 



MARNE, a river of France, rises near Langres, 

 runs about 220 miles, and enters the Seine a few miles 

 above Paris. 



MAROCCO. See Morocco. 



MARONITES ; a sect of Eastern Christians, 

 whose origin was a consequence of the Monothelitic 

 controversy. In the seventh century, the opinion 

 tiiat Christ, though he united in himself the divine 

 and human nature, had but one will (Monothelitism), 

 arose among the Eastern nations, and was supported 

 by several emperors, particularly Heraclius. But 

 when their last patron, the emperor Philip Bardanes, 

 died, in 713, the Monothelites were condemned and 

 banished by his successor, Anastasius. The remnant 

 of this party survived in the Maronites, so named 

 from their founder Maroii a society of monks in 

 Syria, about mount Lebanon, which is mentioned aa 



