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MAK  of the provincial magistracies in the assessment of taxes, and renewed other ancient privileges of the provincial governments. He made laws for the encouragement of marriage, and enacted severe penalties against adultery. He put a stop to the demolition of public edifices at Rome, and did all in his power to preserve the monuments of its ancient splendour.—G.  MAKRIZI, a celebrated Arabian writer, known also as, and , was born between 1358 and 1368 at Cairo, where the greater part of his life was spent. The name of Makrizi was derived from the place where his family resided, a suburb of Baalbec. During the time of his grandfather, Mohi-Eddin Makrizi, he adhered to the opinions of Abou-Hanifa; but after his death he adopted the doctrines of Schafei. In the course of his life he held various civil and religions offices. In 1430 he made with his family a pilgrimage to Mecca, and for five or six years resided there entirely occupied with religious duties. His death took place in 1442. A complete list of his numerous writings may be found in the Chrestomathie of M. de Sacy. The following are the most important—"A Historical and Topographical Description of Egypt," a most valuable work, full of important details, but sometimes closely transcribed from other writers; "A History of Saladin and his successors," of which a translation into French has appeared; treatises on the moneys, weights, and measures of the Mussulmans; and a "History of the Coptic Christians." There are Latin versions of the three last works.—D. W. R.  MALACHI, an Irish prelate, born at Armagh in 1094; became principal of the abbey of Bangor, bishop of Connor, and from 1127 till 1135 occupied the archbishopric of Armagh. He died in the arms of St. Bernard at Clairvaux in 1148. Malachi was long famous as a prophet, but the predictions circulated in his name are now known to be spurious.  MALATESTA, the Italian family of, furnished Rimini with sovereigns, and Dante's great poem with an episode of incomparable tenderness and pathos. The first of the family who received the nickname of Malatesta (Wicked-head) is mentioned in the records of the early years of the twelfth century. His descendants joined the Guelph faction; and one of them, in the later years of the thirteenth century, died military chief of Rimini. Of his four sons, three were remarkable for ugliness or deformity; Paolo alone was handsome. Giovanni, the eldest, married Francesca, daughter of Guido Vecchio da Polenta, lord of Ravenna. The guilt of Francesca and Paolo, mutually fascinated and fascinating, was discovered by Giovanni, who slew them both with his own hand. In the fifth canto of the Inferno, the story is exquisitely told by Francesca herself to Dante, whose staunch friend, Guido Novello, was her brother's son. The sovereignty of the Malatesti, which had become and which remained hereditary, ceased in 1528, when Rimini fell again under the sway of the popes.—F. E.  MALCOLM; the name of four kings of Scotland:—

I., son of Donald IV., succeeded his cousin, Constantine III., in 944. He obtained from the Saxon king, Edmund, in the following year, a part of the province of Cumbria on condition that he would defend the northern parts of England from hostile invasions. Malcolm appears to have been a prince of great ability. He was assassinated in 953, by one of the Moray men, in revenge for the death of Cellach, the maormor of Moray, who had taken up arms against his sovereign, and was defeated and killed in battle.

II., was the son of Kenneth III., and laid claim to the throne on the death of his father, in opposition to his cousin, Kenneth IV. The latter, after a reign of eight years, fell in battle at Monivaird in 1003, and Malcolm was left in possession of the throne. He was an able prince, as well as a famous soldier; but his reign was distracted by successive invasions of Norsemen, whom he repeatedly defeated with great slaughter, and compelled them to enter into a convention to abstain from future aggressions. He was next involved in a contest with the Northumbrians, and ultimately obtained from them the cession of the rich district of Lothian, including Berwickshire, and the lower part of Teviotdale. Malcolm died in 1033, after an eventful reign of thirty years, and was buried at Iona. The story of his assassination at Glammis is a fiction.

III., surnamed Canmore (Cean-mohr) or Greathead, was the eldest son of Duncan, and ascended the throne in 1057, shortly after the death of Macbeth. His reign forms an important era in the early history of Scotland. His dominions included the kingdom of Strathelyde and the province of Cumbria, as well as the ancient possessions of the Scots and Picts. During the time the Scottish throne was occupied by Macbeth, Malcolm resided at the court of Edward the Confessor, where he acquired a taste for English manners and customs, which he afterwards strove to introduce among his own subjects. After the Norman conquest, Edgar Atheling the heir of the Saxon line, with his mother and two sisters, and many of the friends of his dynasty, took refuge in Scotland, and were most hospitably received by Malcolm. Two years after the arrival of these illustrious strangers, the Scottish king married at Dunfermline, in 1070, Margaret, the elder of the two Saxon princesses; and in conjunction with the Danes and the Northumbrian barons hostile to William the Conqueror, he made an irruption into England, and wasted the northern counties with fire and sword. William, in retaliation for these outrages, invaded Scotland in 1072 both by sea and land, and overran the country as far as the Tay. In the end, the two kings met and concluded a peace at Abernethy. But hostilities were repeatedly renewed between Malcolm and the Conqueror and his son, William Rufus; and ultimately the Scottish king was killed, along with his eldest son, in one of his expeditions into Northumberland, while besieging Alnwick castle in 1093. He was a prince of great energy and valour, and of a noble and generous disposition, though somewhat fiery and turbulent. He resolutely and successfully maintained the independence of his kingdom against formidable antagonists with greatly superior resources.

IV., surnamed, on account of his effeminate countenance, succeeded his grandfather, David I., in the twelfth year of his age. His pretensions to the throne were disputed by the Boy of Egremont, grandson of Duncan, Malcolm Canmore's eldest son, who relied on the old law of succession, and was supported by no less than seven earls; but his attempt failed of success. The tranquillity of Scotland was twice disturbed during Malcolm's reign by the invasion of Somerland, chief of the isles; but in 1164 the islesmen were defeated near Renfrew, and their leader was killed. Malcolm was induced by the persuasions of Henry II. to surrender the territories held by the Scottish kings in England, and to accept in return the earldom of Huntingdon—a transaction which excited great discontent among his subjects. Formidable insurrections against his authority broke out in Galloway and in Moray, but were ultimately suppressed. Malcolm died in 1165 in the twenty-fifth year of his age.—J. T.  MALCOLM,, a distinguished soldier and diplomatist, was the son of a Scottish farmer, and was born at Burnfoot, near Langholm, in 1769. He was one of a family of seventeen children, of whom fifteen arrived at maturity, and three attained great eminence in life. After receiving the usual education of the parochial school, young Malcolm was admitted in 1782 as a cadet in the service of the East India Company. He landed at Madras in 1783, and having joined his regiment at Vellore, applied himself with great industry and zeal to acquire a knowledge of the languages of the East. His attainments in this branch of learning procured him an appointment to the staff in the capacity of Persian interpreter. Ill health compelled him to pay a visit to England in 1794. On his return to India in 1796 he was appointed secretary to Sir Alured Clarke, commander-in-chief at Madras. Two years later his knowledge of the languages and political state of India obtained for him from Lord Wellesley the appointment of assistant to the resident at Hyderabad. There he obtained great applause for the coolness and firmness which he displayed in the suppression of a mutiny among the French troops in the pay of the Nizam. In 1799 at the siege of Seringapatam he became acquainted with Sir Arthur Wellesley, who retained through life a warm friendship for Malcolm. In the same year he acted with Captain (afterwards Sir Thomas) Munro, as joint-secretary to the commissioners for settling the government of Mysore. He was shortly after sent by Lord Wellesley on an embassy to Persia, where he concluded two important treaties with the shah, one political, the other commercial. On his return to Bombay in 1801 he was appointed private secretary to the governor-general. He was employed by General Wellesley to negotiate with the conquered Mahrattas in 1804, and was then sent as ambassador to Persia (1807 and 1810). His liberality and imposing address made such a favourable impression both on the Persian monarch and his courtiers, that he was made a khan and sepahdar of the empire, and presented with a valuable sword and star. In 1812 