MARSEILLES 



3663 



MARSHAL 



Revolution. When a company of 600 volun- 

 teers were leaving Strassburg to join the army 

 in April, 1792, the mayor of the city, who had 

 planned a banquet in their honor, asked De 

 Lisle to 'compose a song for the occasion. Its 



FIRST STRAINS OF THE MARSEILLAISE 

 The words to the above music, translated, are : 

 "Ye sons of France, awake to glory ! 

 Hark ! hark ! What myriads bid you rise !" 



stirring music aroused such enthusiasm that 

 400 more joined the company before it marched 

 off to war. One general said that it was worth 

 as much in his army as the addition of a thou- 

 sand men. 



Although the song became very popular 

 among the soldiers, it was not heard in Paris 

 until the Marseilles battalion sang it as they 

 marched towards the city to storm the Tuil- 

 eries. From that time it was called' the Hymne 

 des Marseillais, or the Marseillaise. Louis 

 XVIII gave the composer a pension on account 

 of the song, while in the town of Choisy-le-Roi, 

 where he died in 1836, there stands a monument 

 erected to his memory. In July, 1915, at the 

 height of French enthusiasm inspired by the 

 War of the Nations, his body was removed 

 from its temporary resting place in that town 

 and taken to Paris, accompanied by a great 

 procession and military parade. The song was 

 suppressed by Napoleon, but in 1876 was 

 adopted as the national hymn. The thrilling 

 chorus is 



To arms, to arms, ye brave ! 

 Th' avenging sword unsheathe ! 

 March on, march on, all hearts resolved 

 On victory or death ! 



MARSEILLES, mahrsaylz', the principal 

 commercial port of France, if not of the entire 

 Mediterranean Sea, second only to Paris in 

 population among the cities of the republic. 

 It is the chief town of the department of 

 Bouches-du-Rhone, situated twenty-seven miles 

 east of the mouth of the Rhone. The city is 

 built in the form of an amphitheater, around a 

 natural harbor of moderate size, known as the 

 Old Harbor; a newer harbor, built about 1850, 

 has a water area of 414 acres and a depth suffi- 

 cient to accommodate the largest ocean vessels. 

 Under normal conditions about 4,500 ships 

 enter and clear the harbor each year. Despite 

 its antiquity, Marseilles has no ancient monu- 

 ments, but its population and commercial im- 



portance have rapidly increased. To-day it is 

 a great, bustling city, as modern as any other 

 metropolis. 



Marseilles is a nourishing manufacturing 

 center, working up the raw materials brought 

 in by sea from all parts of the world. The 

 principal manufactures include soap, steam 

 engines and automobiles, oil, candles, macaroni, 

 tiles and brick, and there are in addition sugar 

 and petroleum refineries, lead, tin and copper 

 plants, tanneries and flour mills. The city's 

 memorable buildings include the Byzantine 

 basilica, which serves as a cathedral ; the pil- 

 grimage church, Notre Dame de la Garde, with 

 an image of the Virgin greatly venerated by 

 sailors and fishermen; the museum of antiqui- 

 ties; and the Longchamp Palace, the latter a 

 magnificent example of Renaissance architec- 

 ture. The public institutions embrace a botan- 

 ical and a zoological garden, a marine and 

 astronomical observatory, libraries and schools 

 of music, fine arts and medicine. 



The first colony on the site of the city was 

 founded by Phoenicians. Later, in 600 B. c., a 

 party of Greeks from Asia Minor made a set- 

 tlement there which they called Massilia. It 

 was taken by Caesar in 49 B.C., and on the 

 decline of the Roman empire became a prey 

 to the Goths, Burgundians and Franks. During 

 the tenth century it came under the dominion 

 of the Counts of Provence, and for some cen- 

 turies after it followed the fortunes of that 

 house. During the French Revolution it was 

 the scene of many stirring events, and it has 

 given its name to that inspiring hymn of the 

 Revolutionary era The Marseillaise (which 

 see). Population, 1911, 550,600. 



MARSHAL, mahr'shal, a title of certain mili- 

 tary and civil officers used in most civilized 

 countries. The word, meaning commander of 

 the army, was employed in England as early 

 as the twelfth century. Marshals, or masters 

 of horse, were appointed by early Frankish 

 kings, and marichal de France eventually be- 

 came the highest title in the French ar-my; it 

 was last borne by Joffre, the French hero of 

 the War of the Nations. Camp marshals, from 

 which the modern title field-marshal is derived, 

 were introduced into the British army by 

 George II in 1737; these had certain duties to 

 perform, such as selecting camps and, with 

 assistants, preserving order. The provost-mar- 

 shal is still the highest military police officer. 

 At the German court the court-marshal is an 

 official of position and dignity, equivalent to 

 the English lord chamberlain. 



