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MARK

"73

MARLBOROUGH

precocious, writing poetry, reading ^ Swift, Fope, Gray, Newton On the Prophecies and Tom Jones, and reciting Shakespeare by the hour. She died on Dec. 19, 1811, when only eight. The beautiful story of her short life is now an English classic, and can be found in the second series of Spare Hours by Dr. John Brown.

Mark, called John, is held to be the author of the second Gospel. Of Mary his mother nothing is known, except that her house in Jerusalem was visited by Peter and the other disciples. By some Mark is thought to be the young man mentioned in Mark ociv: 51 and 52. Mark went with Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey from Antioch in Syria as far as Perga in Pamphylia; here he quitted them, why, we know not; but his leaving led Paul to refuse to take him along on his second journey, and this refusal caused Barnabas to part company with Paul. Paul seems afterward to have been his friend, and refers to him as a useful fellow-worker. Of the remainder of his life we know nothing certain. He is thought to have been Peter's companion at Babylon or at Rome. In the art of the middle ages Mark is represented by a lion. Mark's Gospel was written about 70 A. D., and is probably based on Peter's memory of his Master and of scenes he had himself passed through. It is pretty certain that the evangel of Mark was the first Gospel to be written.

Mark An'tony. See ANTONY, MARK.

Mark'ham, Edwin, a poet and lecturer born in Oregon City, Oregon, in 1852, passed his boyhood in farmwork, herding, shoeing horses and ploughing; and was a student afterwards at San Jose Normal School and Santa Rosa College. He became a teacher in California, and afterwards a school-superintendent. His poems and stories attracted attention, the best known perhaps being The Man With the Hoe. Among his other works may be mentioned Lincoln and Other Poems; Field Folk, Interpretations of Millet; The End of the Century; Lincoln the Great Commoner; The Muse of Brotherhood; The Mighty Hundred Years; and The Social Conscience.

Mark Twain. See CLEMENS, SAMUEL L.

Marl, a natural mixture of clay and carbonate of lime. The proportion of lime varies from 6 to 20 per cent. Marly soils usually are very rich, and marl has been used as a fertilizer from very early times. An English law of 1225 gave every man the right to sink a marl-pit on his own ground.

Marlboro (marlrbur-6), Mass., a city in western Middlesex County, 15 miles east of Worcester and 28 west of Boston. It is on the Fitchburg and New York, New Haven and Hartford railroads, and lies in a good fruit-growing region. It is largely engaged in the manufacture of automobiles,

automobile-tires, bicycles, carriages, wagons, woodenware, hose-pipe, machine-shop products, boxes, shoe-making machinery, and boots and shoes. It has an excellent city-, hall, soldiers' monument, public library banks, schools and churches. The town was settled in 1656, and incorporated in 1660. Population 14,579.

Marlborough (marl'bur-o), John Churchill, Duke of, the ablest general of his time, was born on June 24, 1650, at Ashe, Devonshire, England. His father had been made poor by his friendship for Charles I, and young Churchill had little schooling. As captain of a company of grenadiers he was sent to help Turenne to capture the fortresses on the Dutch frontier. Here his brilliant courage and ability gained him a colonelcy. His rise was further aided by his marriage with Sarah Jennings, a woman as remarkable for talent and strong will as for beauty. On the accession of James II Churchill was made a baron and general, and took a leading part in putting down Monmouth's rebellion. On the landing of the Prince of Orange he stole away to the side of the invader, and was rewarded for his treachery by being made Earl of Marl-borough. He was of great service to William III in conquering Ireland and as commander against the French in the Netherlands; but was not wholly trusted by the king. On an untrue suspicion of being concerned in a plot he was imprisoned in the Tower, and was not given any public office for five years. When Queen Anne came to the throne (1702), he was given command of the British army in the Netherlands. During the War of the Spanish Succession he showed his unrivaled generalship in carrying on some of the greatest campaigns of English history. Anne showered honors and offices on Marlborough and his wife. Marlborough, in fact, became regent in all but name. In 1702, as commander of the Dutch and English forces, he drove the French out of Spanish Guelders. In 1704, with Prince Eugene of Savoy, he routed the French and Bavarians at Donauworth, and on August i3th won the great victory of Blenheim. This battle stamped Marl-borough as the first general in Europe, and the queen and the emperor vied in honoring the conqueror. In 1706 the duke renewed that career of victory which broke the spell surrounding the great power of France under Louis XIV, who gloried in calling himself The Invincible. On May 23, 1706, the battle of Ramillies was fought, which obliged the French to leave the whole of Spanish Flanders. In 1708 their attempt to recover this lost ground led to the battle of Oudenarde, fought July nth, which resulted in utter defeat for the French. The surrender of Lille and Ghent ended the campaign. In 1709 was fought the battle of Malplaquet, as Marlborough himself said,