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MALMAISON. 



KALTA. 



boroogfa. Mid Uta Mat of a Poor-Law Union, it lituated on the river 

 Bhokwatcr, in 52* 8' V. Ut, 8* 38' W. long. ; distant 1 9} miles K.X.W. 

 from Cork by railway, and 201 milea by roa'i ; 145 mUea aW. from 

 Dublin by railwaT, and ISOf miles by road. The borough retnms 

 one member to the Imperial Parliament The population in 1851 

 was 6480, beddea 2084 inmates of tite workbonsa. Hallow Poor-Law 

 Union oomprbsa 81 electoral dirisions, with an ana of 154,858 acres, 

 and a population in 1851 of 42,145. The suburb of Ballydaheen, on 

 the right bank of the river, is oonneoted with the town by a bridge of 

 IS ardiea. The principal part of the town lies on the left bank of the 

 Bladcwater, and consists of one leading street, with a number of 

 ■mailer streets on either side. Uany of the houses in the main street 

 are well built, and some of a inperior description stand at the west end. 

 The town is l^hted with gas and paTed. Besides the parish church, a 

 baodtome edifice built in 1820, there are chapels for Roman Catholics, 

 Indapeadenta, and Methodists; two National schools; a reading room, 

 a public library ; a nraC spa-house, court-house, barrack, bridewell, 

 infirmary, fever hospital, and Union workhouse. Saltworks, tanneries, 

 •nd a brewery are in the town. There is a considerable resort of 

 ▼iaiton to the mineral spring. Quarter- and petty-sessions are held 

 in the town. Fairs are hrld fire times a year. The market days are 

 Tuesday and Friday. The Circular Drive, a road 5 miles in length, 

 affords an agreeable view of the highly-improved environs on both 

 ■ides of the river. The beautiful demesne of Mallow Castle, extendin.,' 

 a mile below the town on the left bank of the river, contains besides 

 the modem mansion, the ruins of the old castle of Mallow, which was 

 erected by the Earl of Desmond. 

 HALUAISON. [Skike-et-Oise.] 



KAXiMESBURY, Wiltshire, a market-town, parliamentary borongh, 

 •nd the seat of a Poor-Law Union, in the parish of Malmesbury, is 

 ■ituated in 61' 86' N. lat, 2° 4' W. long., distant 20 miles N. by W. 

 from Deviies, and 96 miles W. by N. from London by road. The 

 population of the pariiamentary borough in 1851 was 6998. The 

 oorongb is governed by an aldermsn chosen annually by the 12 capital 

 bnrgeseea, and retunu one member to the Imperial Parliament. The 

 living is a vicarage in the archdeaconry of Bristol and dioceso of Olou- 

 eester and Bristol Malmesbury Pooi^Law Union contains 25 parishes 

 and townships, with an area of 69,343 acres, and a population in 1851 

 ofl4,»07. 



Msiinesbuty is a very ancient town. According to the ' Chronicles 

 of the Kings of England,' by William, a monk of Malmesbury in the 

 II th century, a monastery was founded here before 670. The abbey 

 suffered from the Danish invasions in the 9th and 1 0th centuries, when 

 the town was twice burnt ; but it recovered, and became one of the 

 most important monasteries in the west of England. The abbot was 

 mitred in the reign of Edward III. The borough appears to have had 

 B charter as early as the reign of Athelstan. Id the reign of Stephen 

 a castle was built here, and the town was walled by Koger, bishop of 

 Samm, who was however obliged to surrender the castle to the king. 

 In 1152, the town and castle were taken by Prince Henry, afterwards 

 Henry II. In the civil war of Charles I. the Royalists had a garrison 

 here, which was driven out by Sir William Waller, at the bosd of a 

 parliamentary army, March, 1643. The Royalists recovered the place, 

 but it was again taken by the Parliamentarians, who stormed it in 

 1045. The cloth-trade flourished in the middle agea, according to the 

 testimony of Leland, who says that 3000 'clothes' (pieces of cloth) 

 were made yearly. The abbey buildings were, at the dissolution, 

 converted into a cloth factory. 



The town stands on an eminence near the junction of the Avon with 

 • stream from Tetbuiy, and consists of some streets irregularly laid 

 out, but paved and lighted. Besides the Abbey church and St. Marv's, 

 there are the tower and some ruins of a third, old St. Paul's. 'The 

 abbey church was, at the dissolution, purchased by the inhabitants 

 of St Paul's parish, and made parochial Part of the nave and aisles, 

 the grand southern porch, and a wall belonging to the south transept, 

 are the only perfect remaius of this once magnificent structure. The 

 architecture is partly Norman, and partly of decorated English 

 character. In the interior, near the altar, is a screen inclosing a space 

 in which stands an altar tomb, with an eCBgy in royal robea. The 

 church of St Maty Westport is a mean-looking building, erected nearly 

 two centuries ago on the site of the old church, which was destroyed 

 by Sir William Waller. An ancient cross stands in the market-phuse; 

 •M wast of the abbey is a building called Chapel-house, supposed to 

 havs bMB originally the chapel of a nunnery. Some fragments of 

 tbs town-walls remain. The Independents, Baptists, and Moravians 

 hsTs piaaas of worship. Thsra are a Tree and an Bndowed school for 

 boys, and a savings bank. A new market-houM has bean erected. 

 There sra at Malmesbury four bridges— two over the Avon, and two 

 OTsr tba Mewtonwater. 



Malmeabury has now little trade or manufactures. A mill lately 

 MDplojad in the clothing manufaeturs is now a silk mill Tanning, 

 brnrinf, and laos-makiog are carried on. The market is on Saturday, 

 and on tba last Tueeday of each month there are greit cattle markeU 

 for borsaa, oatlla, and sbesp. Fairs are held on March 28th, April 28th, 

 June 6th, and Daoanbar l&th. 



The borongb has ratumed members to Parliament with little 

 Interruption since the time of Edward I. Previous to the passing of 

 the Beform Act, it retomed two members. 



Three writers of eminenoe in tbe'ir respeotive ages were connected 

 with Malmeabury : St Aldhelm, a Saxon writer of note in the 7th 

 and 6th centuries, was for a time abbot of Malmesbury, where he was 

 interred ; William of Malmesbury, one of the best English historians 

 of the middle ages, was, during the greater part of his life, a monk of 

 the abbey ; and Thomas Hobbu, sometimes designated the Philosopher 

 of Malmesbury, was a native of the parish of St Mary Westport 



MALMO, a sea-port town in Sweden, in the province of Skania, 

 gives name to the Malmo-liin. It is situated in about 55° 40' N. lat, 

 near 13° E. long., on the widest part of the Sound, neariy opposite 

 the town of Cupcuhagen, on level ground, and has a good and safe 

 harbour for small vessels, protected by the fortress of Malmobuus. 

 The town is well built, and has regular streets. In the middle is a 

 handsome and spacious square. It was formerly surrounded by strong 

 fortifications, but these have been demolished and the castle alone 

 remains, which is now used as barracks and a prison. The inhabit- 

 ants, about 9000 in number, carry on an active commerce in com, as 

 Malmb is the principal commercial town of the fertile and rich pro- 

 vince in which it is situated. It may also be counted among the 

 manufacturing towns of Sweden, as there are several manufactories 

 in which cloth, stockings, hats, gloves, carpets, soap, leather, stareh, 

 and looking-glasses are made. Some of these manufactories are rather 

 extensive. Steamers ply daily to Copenhagen, which is only two hours 

 distant to the north-west and is visible from Malmo in clear weather. 

 Malmo Liin, one of the most level and most fertile provinces of 

 Sweden, bos an area of 1774 square miles, with (in 1845) a population 

 of 234,207. Corn, potatoes, hemp, hops, tobaoco, and some fruits 

 are grown. Com and cattle are the chief exports. In 1849 there 

 arrived at the harbour of Malmo 621 vessels, and 596 deported. 



MALO, ST. [ILLE-Er-VILAINB.] 



MALPAS. [Cheshire.] 



MALTA (anciently Mditi and lidUa) is an island in the Mediter- 

 ranean Sea, and a British settlement The neighbouring island of 

 Qozo is included under the same government, as well as the small 

 island of Comino ; there are besides the uninhabited islets of Comin- 

 otto and FUfla. The entire group lies between 35° 43' and 36° 5' N. 

 lat, 14° 10' and 14° 85' E. long. Malta is 60 miles S.W. by S. from 

 Cape Pasaro, the most southern point of Sicily. The greatest length 

 of Malta is 18 miles, the greatest breadth is 10 miles, and the circuit, 

 as a boat would sail round it., is 50 miles. The area is 98 square miles. 

 The population in 1849 was 115,864. 



The Maltese Islands are masses of limestone rock. Monte Ben- 

 jemma, the highest port of Malta, has an elevation of £90 feet The 

 island slopes from the southern side towards the northern. The rocks 

 on the southern side rise perpendicularly from the sea to the height of 

 300 or 400 feet A ridge crosses the island and divides it into two 

 portions, of which the eastern contains all the towns and villages. 

 The western portion however, though it has very few inhabitants, 

 has much land under cultivation, and the wild thyme and other 

 odoriferous plants which abound in that part, are frequented by the 

 bees which produce the honey for which Malta has been long cele- 

 brated. About two-thirds of the surface of Malta is cultivated ; the 

 remainder is bare rock. There is much good soil in the valleys which 

 has been converted into fertile fields ; but a lari^e portion of the sur- 

 face has been rendered productive by the industry of the natives. 

 The earth has been carefully collected from interstices and crevices 

 of the limestone, and has been placed in layers on level spaces of 

 loose broken-up rock. Innumerable low stone walls prevent these 

 precious layers of soil from being washed away by the rains ; and so 

 favouAble has this process been found to vegetation uuder the climate 

 of the island, that the cultivator who is not sparing of manure raises 

 two crops o year, without ever being obliged to let his land lie fallow. 

 In summer the want of rain is supplied by a heavy dew which falls 

 at night 



The climate of Malta ranges from a maximum of 90° Fahr. to a 

 minimum of 46°, medium 68°. In the middle of summer the heat 

 is sometimes very oppressive, especially at night The sun remains 

 so long above the norizon, and the stone-walls and rock absorb so 

 much neat as to render the short nights as hot as the day. No regular 

 sea-breeses or land-breezes are felt at Malta. The only winds which 

 are deleterious are those between the south and east, which are called 

 the sciroeoo of the Mediterranean. They are moat prevalent at the 

 end of August and during the whole of September. The winter, that 

 is, from the beginning of October to the end of May, is very delightful, 

 and is eminoutly suited for English invalida For the greater part of 

 the year the atmosphere is so clear as to give brilliancy to every 

 object The summit of Mount Etna, 128 miles distant, may be distinctly 

 seen at suurise or sunset 



There are no forest-trees in Malta, and the whole group of islands 

 has a bare and naked appearance. There are no hedges, and the 

 verdure being partial in extent and duration, the glare of the hard 

 n^ed roads and rock, under a bright tropical sun, is very oppressive 

 and injurious to the eyes. The carob-tree however is always graen, 

 as well as the Indian fig, and these afford an oooasional relief to 

 the sight 



There are no streams in Malta, and the springs ara not numerous. 

 In general the rain-water is collected in tanks which are excavated 

 in the rock, and an lined with a cement of pozzuolana. In ordinate 



