Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/811

 MlCONNAIS MACPHERSON 805 settled on a plantation on the bank of the Roanoke, in Warren co., and made this spot his home for the remainder of his life, finding his main occupation and enjoyment in the cul- tivation of his farm. When the constitution of the United States was first submitted to the vote of the people of North Carolina, he opposed it as conferring too much power on the new government. He was a member of congress from 1791 to 1815, and was the speak- er of the house from 1801 to 1806, when he declined renomination. He was transferred in 1816 to the senate, where he served till 1828, being president pro tern, in 1825-'7. Twice during Jefferson's administration he declined the office of postmaster general. At the general election in 1824 the state of Vir- ginia cast for him her 24 electoral votes for the vice presidency of the United States. In 1828 he resigned his seat in the senate and several local offices, having been a member of congress for 37 successive years. He presided over the convention called to revise the con- stitution of North Carolina in 1835, and was a member of the electoral college of that state in 1836. In congress Mr. Macon voted for the embargo, and for the declaration of war against Great Britain, but held that the war should be defensive only, and so refused to enlarge the naval force beyond what was needed to guard the coasts, voted against a system of fortifica- tions, against privateering, &c. He also voted against all schemes of internal improvement to be undertaken by congress, spoke in 1795 against a grant to the count de Grasse, and in 1824 against a grant of lands to Gen. Lafayette for revolutionary services. In the convention of North Carolina he spoke against giving to free negroes the right to vote ; against a land qualification of voters; against the state en- gaging in any works of internal improvement ; against all religious tests as a condition of hold- ing office ; and in favor of voting viva voce at all elections. He died after only a few hours' illness, but had already given directions to a neighbor to make for him a plain coffin, to be paid for before his interment, had selected for the place of his burial a barren ridge, where the plough could never come, and ordered the spot to be marked only by a pile of loose stones from the field. Mr. Macon was a student of few books besides the Bible, and was a member of the Baptist church. Mr. Jefferson called him "the- last of the Romans;" and Mr. Ran- dolph pronounced him "the wisest man he ever knew." A sketch of his life, by Edward R. Cotton, was published at Baltimore in 1840. MlCOMAIS, an ancient territory in Burgun- dy, now comprised in the department of Sa6ne- et-Loire. It was inhabited by the ^Edui, con- quered by Julius Caesar, and in the 5th century by the Burgundians. Afterward it was united to the empire of Charlemagne, and at the end of the 9th century to Cisjurane Burgundy. It became a hereditary county in the 10th cen- tury, and was purchased by Louis IX. in the early part of the 13th. The duke of Berry came into possession of it in the middle of the 14th century. It was restored to the crown in 1416 ; 19 years afterward Charles VII. gave it to Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy ; and it was finally reunited to the French crown in 1477. Capital, Macon. MACOUPIN, a S. W. county of Illinois, drain- ed by Macoupin, Otter, and Cahokia creeks; area, 864 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 32,726. It has a diversified surface and excellent soil. It is traversed by the Chicago and Alton, the In- dianapolis and St. Louis, and other railroads. The chief productions in 1870 were 861,558 bushels of wheat, 1,051,544 of Indian corn, 459,417 of oats, 60,964 of potatoes, 88,080 Ibs. of wool, 291,608 of butter, and 42,423 tons of hay. There were 12,926 horses, 2,007 mules and asses, 6,907 milch cows, 11,846 other cat- tle, 17,670 sheep, and 32,395 swine; 6 manu- factories of agricultural implements, 5 of brick, 17 of carriages, 7 of cooperage, 10 of saddlery and harness, 1 of woollen goods, and 14 flour mills. Capital, Carlinville. McPHERSON. I. A central county of Kan- sas, intersected by the Little Arkansas and Smoky Hill rivers; area, 1,080 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 738. The surface consists of rolling prairies, well adapted to stock raising. The chief productions in 1870 were 5,138 bushels of wheat, 40,540 of Indian corn, 3,458 of po- tatoes, and 1,444 tons of hay. There were 263 horses, 340 milch cows, 1,650 other cattle, and 260 swine. Capital, Lindborg. II. A central county of Dakota, recently formed, and not included in the census of 1870 ; area, about 1,050 sq. m. The E. part is drained by the Elm and Maple rivers, affluents of the Dakota. The surface is elevated, the W. portion being occupied by the Plateau du Coteau du Missouri. MACPHERSON, James, a Scottish author, born in Ruthven, Inverness-shire, in 1738, died at his seat of Belleville, Feb. 17, 1796. He com- pleted his education at King's college, Aber- deen, and is supposed to have studied for the ministry. At the university he gave evidences of a taste for poetry, and in his 20th year published a poem in six cantos entitled "The Highlander." Subsequently, while a private tutor in the family of Mr. Graham of Bal- gowan, he was encouraged to publish a small volume entitled " Fragments of Ancient Poe- try collected in the Highlands^ of Scotland," and purporting to be a translation of genuine remains of ancient Celtic poetry. The enthu- siasm with which these "Fragments" were received was universal; men of letters ex- pressed the highest opinion of their value ; and a subscription was immediately raised to en- able the author to undertake a mission to the highlands and secure such remaining specimens of Celtic poetry as might yet be recovered. Macpherson accordingly made an extensive tour through the mainland and islands inhab- ited by the Gaelic race, and published in 1762, as the first result of his explorations, "Fingal,