Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/275

Rh was placed in command of a battery at Annapolis, Md., and subsequently ordered to special ordnance duty as assistant to the chief of bureau. In Sep- tember, 1875, he took command of the " Alert," on board of which, in May, 1876, he sailed for China, by way of the Suez canal.

MASCARENE, Jean Paul, governor of Nova Scotia, b. in Languedoc. France, 18 Oct., 1685 ; d. in Boston, Mass., 22 Jan., 1760. He was of a Huguenot family, and at twelve years of age was expatriated, and went to Geneva, Switzerland, where he was educated. He subsequently removed to England, was naturalized in 1706, and entered the British army as a lieutenant. He came with his regiment to Nova Scotia in 1711, rose by de- grees to colonel, lieutenant-governor, and com- mander-in-chief, was appointed councillor in 1720, and for many years was senior member of the board. About this date he transmitted to the plantation-office a complete description of the province, with suggestions for its settlement and defence. With the governors of Massachusetts and New Hampshire he negotiated the treaty of 1725 with the Indians. He was acting governor of Nova Scotia in 1740-'9, and in 1744 beat off the French under l)u Vivier. Mascarene was commissioned major-general in 1758.

MASCARENHAS DE CASTELLO BRANCO, José Joaqaim (mas-eah-rain'-yas), Brazilian R. C. bishop, b. in Rio Janeiro, 23 Aug., 1731 ; d. there, 28 Jan., 1805. He was graduated at the University of Coimbra in 1754, ordained priest the same year, and became judge of the inquisition successively in Evora. Lisbon, and Rio Janeiro. In 1773 he was appointed assistant bishop of Rio Janeiro, and consecrated in Lisbon. Before he arrived in South America his bishop died, and he therefore took charge of the see at once, on 15 April, 1774. He forced the clergy of his diocese to pass examina- tion on moral theology, in spite of the refusal of many, particularly the Carmelite monks. He also established lectures for his clergy, and, unless they showed a certificate of attendance, they were not admitted to the exercise of their priestly functions. He established at his own expense in the seminary of the diocese classes of rhetoric, philosopiay, geog- raphy, cosmology, and natural history, and found- ed a school of music. In 1784 he was appointed by the pope general visitor of the Carmelite con- vents, and established strict discipline. Bishop Mascarenhas rendered eminent service to his coun- try in promoting the public wealth by introducing coffee-seed from Asia and distributing it in differ- ent parts of Brazil. He also gave great impulse to the cultivation of indigo.

MASERES, Francis, British author, b. in Lon- don, 15 Dec, 1731 : d. in Reigate, Surrey, 19 May, 1824. His father, a London physician, was the son of a French Huguenot, who "settled in London, Francis was educated at Kingston-upon-Thames and at Clare hall, Cambridge, where he was gradu- ated in 1752. He subsequently studied law, was admitted to the bar, and appointed attorney-gen- eral of Canada, which office he held till 1769, resid- ing in Quebec. On his return to fmgland he was appointed in August, 1773, to the sinecure place of cursitor baron of the exchequer, which he filled with great reputation till his death, and he was deputy recorder of London for about four years. He was commonly called Baron Maseres. After his return to London he recommended conciliatory measures in dealing with the American colonies. He was the author of " A Dissertation on the Nega- tive Sign in Algebra" (1758): "The Elements of Plane Trigonometry " (1760) ; " An Account of the Labors of the British and other Protestant Inhabi- tants of Quebec in order to obtain a House of As- sembly" (1775); "The Canadian Freeholder" (3 vols., 1779) : " Montesquieu's View of the English Constitution translated, with Notes" (1781) ; " The Doctrine of Life Annuities " (1783) ; numerous pa- pers in the " Philosophical Transactions " ; " Scrip- tores Logarithmici " (6 vols., 1791-1807); and "Scriptores Optici" (1823).

MASIAS, Beato Juan, Peruvian monk, b. in Ribera, Spain, in 1585 ; d. in Lima, 17 Sept.. 1645. He was born of poor parents, who died when he was five years old, and he spent the greater part of his youth as a shepherd. In 1619 he .sailed for Peru, and in 1622 entered the Dominican convent of Lima as a novice. He led a life of the most ascetic character, and was regarded by the people of Peru as a saint. He was appointed porter of his convent after his profession, and had charge of the distribution of alms to the poor and to strangers. His reputation spread over all Spanish America, and large sums were sent him from Quito, Potosi. and Mexico, for distribution among the poor. Miracles were believed to have been wrought by him, and when he fell sick of his last illness there was general consternation not only in Lima, but in Mexico. He was beatified by Gregory XVI.

MASON, Caroline Atherton, poet, b. in Marblehead, Mass., 27 July, 1823. Her father was Calvin Briggs, a physician. She was educated at the Bradford, Mass., academy, and began writing when quite young. One of her early poems, &ldquo;Do they miss me at Home?&rdquo; which first appeared in a Salem, Mass., newspaper, obtained immediate and widespread popularity, being set to music and sold in this country and in England. Several of her other poems have been similarly honored, notably &ldquo;The King's Quest.&rdquo; She has contributed largely to the hymnology of the Unitarian church, and her poetry generally is strong in the didactic element. She has published &ldquo;Utterance, a Collection of Home Poems&rdquo; (Boston, 1852), and a Sunday-school story, &ldquo;Rose Hamilton&rdquo; (1859). She resides at present (1888) in Fitchburg, Mass., and continues her contributions to the press.

MASON, Charles, astronomer, b. in England in 1730; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., in February, 1787. He served for several years as assistant to the astronomers royal at the Greenwich observatory, and was associated with Jeremiah Dixon in the observation of the transit of Venus on 6 June, 1761, at the Cape of Good Hope. In 1763 both gentlemen were commissioned to survey the boundary-line between Pennsylvania and Maryland by the respective proprietors of these colonies. They arrived in Philadelphia in November, 1763, and began their work, which was continued along the parallel of latitude 39° 43' 26-3" N.. 244 miles west from the Delaware river, beginning at the northeast corner of Maryland, until they reached a point within thirty-six miles of the entire distance to be determined, when they were compelled to suspend operations in consequence of opposition by the Indians. At the end of every fifth mile a stone was planted, graven with the arms of the Penn family on one side and those of Lord Baltimore on the other. The intermediate miles were marked with smaller stones having a P on one side and an M on the other. All of these stones were sent out from England. Mason and Dixon returned to Philadelphia and were discharged in December, 1767. This line, known as " Mason and Dixon's line," became famous in the history of the United States as marking the northern limit, with the exception of portions of Delaware and Virginia, of the