Page:Imperialdictiona03eadi Brandeis Vol3a.pdf/358

MAR at Carlsbad, where his talent attracted the notice of Count Amadée, a Hungarian noble, who induced him to go to Vienna under the promise of his protection. He brought out there, in 1816, his first operetta, "Der Kiffhauser Berg," and he left this capital for Presburg, to fill an appointment which he obtained through the influence of his patron the count. He now wrote very sedulously for the theatre; and having finished a grand opera, "Heinrich IV.," he sent it to Weber at Dresden, through whose interest it was produced in 1817, while Marschner was engaged upon another work, for performance at Presburg. In 1821 he composed the overture and incidental music for Kleist's drama, Der Prinz von Homburg, which is esteemed one of his best productions, and is a standard work upon the German stage. He went in 1822 to reside at Dresden, where Weber obtained for him, in the following year, the appointment of under-kapellmeister, himself and Morlacchi being his superiors in office. Though the duties of this engagement were onerous, Marschner was not inactive in composition while he held it; but on the death of Weber in June, 1826, being refused promotion to the chief directorship, he resigned his post in the ensuing August. He had already married Mlle. Wohlbrück, a favourite singer; and with her he now made a tour through the principal cities of Germany. Her brother, an actor, suggested to Marschner the subject of Der Vampyr for an opera; charmed with which, he agreed with his brother-in-law to write the text, impatient to enter upon the composition of the music. This work, the best known of all he has written, was undertaken coincidently with that of Lindpaintner upon the same subject; but it was unknown to each composer that the other had selected the story on which he was engaged. Marschner's opera was finished at Leipsic in December, 1827, and produced there in the following March. Its success carried it into every theatre in Germany where Lindpaintner's work had not preceded it; and it was brought out in London at the English Opera House—then devoted to foreign adaptations—in the summer of 1829. Its reception here was such as to induce S. J. Arnold, the proprietor of the theatre, in conjunction with W. Hawes—his musical director, a music-seller, an indifferent singer, a worse composer, and a rigorous master of the boys of St. Paul's and the Chapel-royal—to offer Marschner an engagement of £500 to write an opera expressly for England, with an additional £100 to come and conduct its first performances. Marschner accepted the terms, and applied himself to the study of the English language to fit him for the task; but the destruction of the theatre by fire in February, 1830, cancelled the contract; and when the establishment was rebuilt in 1834, the fashion for German appropriations had died out, and the productions of Loder and Barnett then initiated the modern school of dramatic music in England. Another popular opera of Marschner is "Der Templar und die Judin"—founded on Scott's Ivanhoe—which he commenced in 1828 and produced in 1829; it was ineffectively performed in London by a German company in 1840. Marschner received the appointment of kapellmeister to the king of Hanover, in September, 1830, and entered upon its duties at the close of the year. The libretto of Hans Heiling, which was offered to him by Eduard Devrient, the actor, pleased him so greatly that he laid aside another opera, on which he was occupied at the time, to devote himself to its composition. It was brought out in 1833, and its reception justified the earnestness with which he had entered upon it. In 1834 this composer received the degree of Ph.D. from the university of Leipsic. "Des Falkner's Braut" and other operas which he has produced, are little esteemed in comparison with the three last named. Marschner visited London in 1854, when, except at a little chamber concert, he did not appear in public. In 1860 he went to Paris, where his presence created greater interest. Beside his dramatic and sacred music he has written many pianoforte works, some symphonies and other orchestral pieces, an immense number of songs, and some very popular four-part songs for male voices.—G. A. M.  MARSDEN,, was born in 1754 in Dublin, being the tenth child of a merchant in that city. His eldest brother having gone to occupy a situation in the Indian civil service at Bencoolen, William was sent thither at the age of sixteen, a similar appointment having been obtained for him. He rose to the office of principal secretary in the establishment, and in the meantime applied himself diligently to the study of the Malay language, in which he acquired great proficiency. After his return home in 1779 he gave himself to literary labours, became a fellow of the Royal Society, and published in 1782 his valuable "History of Sumatra." Having accepted in 1795 an appointment in the admiralty, he became eventually chief secretary of the board; but in 1807 the state of his health compelled him to retire on a pension, which he afterwards spontaneously resigned. He died at the age of eighty-two, having bequeathed his library to King's college, and his valuable collection of coins and medals to the British museum. Besides the "History of Sumatra," he published a translation of the Travels of Marco Polo; and the notes with which he enriched it were followed by other proofs of his great acquirements as an Orientalist. His "Numismata Orientalia," and his "Essays" are replete with the tokens of his learning and judgment. But his most remarkable work is the "Grammar and Dictionary of the Malay Language." It was published in 1812, and has won for its author a lasting reputation.—W. B.  MARSH,, D.D., was born in London in 1757, and was educated at Cambridge, where he obtained a fellowship in St. John's college. In 1783, after taking orders, he removed to Göttingen, where he resided for several years, and made himself master of the German language and literature. He was soon able to write German, and published several political tracts in that language in defence of the policy of Great Britain in reference to the continental wars of the French revolution. These tracts, which were very successful, brought him to the notice of Mr. Pitt, who rewarded the author with a pension and marked him for preferment in the church. When Germany was invaded by the French he returned to England, and was appointed in 1807 Lady Margaret professor of divinity in Cambridge, having been previously created D.D. by royal mandate. In his lectures, which aimed to answer the purpose of an introduction to all the branches of theology, he laid particular stress upon the critical and exegetical departments of the science. He had studied these branches deeply in Germany by the aid of Michaelis and other erudite critics; and he was the first English writer who imported the theological literature of Germany into this country. His translation of Michaelis' Introduction to the New Testament, with notes supplied by himself, was a work of great labour and merit. He departed from the custom of delivering the divinity lectures in Latin, and clothed them in an English style remarkable for perspicuity, purity, and point. In 1801 he published a "Dissertation on the Origin and Composition of the Three first Canonical Gospels," in which he sought to improve upon and complete the theories of Eichorn and other German critics, which was followed up by several pamphlets in which he maintained his views against the anonymous author of "Remarks upon Michaelis and his Commentator." In 1816 he was promoted to the see of Llandaff, and in 1819 to that of Peterborough, where he remained till his death in 1839. He was a strict churchman in his views, and stood equally opposed to Rome and Geneva. At the formation of the Bible Society he stood aloof from that institution and wrote against it; though, as a biblical scholar, it might have been expected that he would have interested himself in the great work of Bible translation and diffusion. But his strict church principles disapproved the diffusion of the Bible without the Prayer-book, and he wrote a pamphlet to maintain his point. In 1812 he published a "History of Translations of the Scriptures from the earliest times to the present day." His "Lectures on the Criticism and Interpretation of the Bible;" and "On the Authenticity and Credibility of the New Testament," of which the best editions appeared in 1838 and 1840 respectively, are entitled to the rank of classical productions, and are of eminent use in the business of theological instruction. His views upon every subject are always admirably clear and precise, his learning is varied and exact, and his knowledge of the literature of the critical department of theology extensive and profound. His political tracts were expanded into a "History of the Politics of Great Britain and France from the time of the conference at Pilnitz to the declaration of war against Great Britain," 2 vols. 8vo, 1800. He was also the author of numerous polemical tracts and single sermons. No collected edition of his works has yet been published.—P. L.  MARSH,, an English chemist, was born in London about the year 1795. Having studied chemistry and pharmacy, and taken a degree in Dublin, he obtained an appointment at the arsenal of Woolwich, where he remained till his death, devoting himself with success to chemical researches. He was 