Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/274

 262 MASSENA koff at Zurich, Sept. 25, 1799, saved France from invasion. Directed by Bonaparte to de- fend Genoa, which was invested by an Austrian army and blockaded by a British fleet under Lord Keith, he sustained a memorable siege of more than three months, and only surrendered (June 3, 1800) when the inhabitants, reduced to desperation by hunger, threatened to rise against him. The concentration of a large Austrian force at this point, however, greatly aided Bonaparte in gaining the important bat- tle of Marengo, fought eleven days after the capitulation of Genoa. Attached from inter- ested motives to the republic, Massena op- posed the establishment of the empire; but his services were deemed by Napoleon too valuable to be dispensed with, and in 1804 he was created a marshal. During the cam- paign of 1805 he commanded an army of 50,- 000 men in Italy, where by skilful manoeuvres he occupied the attention of the archduke Charles until Napoleon had gained the decisive victory of Austerlitz; and in 1806 he com- pleted the conquest of Naples and established Joseph Bonaparte on the throne of that king- dom. In the campaign of 1809 he command- ed the fourth corps of the army. In the battles of Aspern and Essling his firmness saved the retreating French forces from de- struction; and the title of prince of Essling was bestowed on him by Napoleon. At the battle of Wagram, where he commanded the left wing, he was obliged, in consequence of a recent injury, to direct the movements of his troops from a carriage. Seeing his men waver at a critical moment, he caused himself to be placed on horseback, and had scarcely changed his position when a cannon ball struck the seat he had been occupying. In 1810 he was appointed chief in command of the army of Portugal, with orders to drive the British troops from the peninsula. Crossing the Mondego in the middle of September with 70,000 men, he followed Wellington to the neighborhood of Lisbon, where his progress was arrested by the famous lines of Torres Vedras. He accordingly fell back to Santa- rem on the Tagus, to await reinforcements from Soult, who could not spare them. After lingering at Santarem until his army was greatly weakened by sickness and scarcity of supplies, he commenced on March 5, 1811, his celebrated retreat into Spain, "in which," says Napier, "he displayed infinite ability, but withal a harsh and ruthless spirit." In the latter part of April he entered Salamanca, having lost 30,000 men within six months ; on May 5 he fought the bloody but indecisive battle of Fuentes de Onoro ; and soon after he was obliged on account of ill health to resign his command and return to France. During the whole campaign he had been a confirmed invalid, and to his inability to reconnoitre personally Napoleon ascribed the ill result of his operations. After the restoration of his health he held the comparatively inactive post MASSEY of commander of the eighth military division of the empire. He gave in his adherence to the Bourbons at the restoration, and during the hundred days took no part in public af- fairs. In military capacity Massena ranks with the first generals of the empire, although it was said that he never began to act with judgment until the battle was going against him. His private character was stained by imputations of meanness and rapacity, which took definite form in a series of accusations 'brought against him by the inhabitants of Mar- seilles. Napoleon called him a "robber," and offered him a present of 1,000,000 francs if he would discontinue his peculations. He paid little attention to discipline or to the comfort of his troops, by whom he was cordially disliked. MASSEY, Gerald, an English poet, born near Tring, Hertfordshire, May 29, 1828. He was the child of an illiterate couple, who lived in the most abject poverty ; and his whole educa- tion was confined to a few months at a penny school. At eight years of age he was sent to work in a neighboring silk mill, and was after- ward employed in straw plaiting. He read whatever books were accessible to him, and at the age of 15, when he went to London to seek employment as an errand boy, had made himself familiar with the Bible,* "Pilgrim's Progress," " Robinson Crusoe," and a few Wes- leyan tracts. At the age of 17 he fell in love, and at the same time began to write verses. Some of his early poems, dwelling upon the sufferings of the poor, and the "power of knowledge, virtue, and temperance to elevate them," appeared in a provincial journal ; and a collection of them was published in his na- tive town under the title of " Poems and Chan- sons." The French revolution of 1848 " had the greatest effect on him of any circumstances connected with his life." He started in con- junction with some fellow working men, in April, 1849, a cheap ultra-radical weekly news- paper called the "Spirit of Freedom." This brought him into some prominence among peo- ple of his class, and he aided the Rev. F. D, Maurice and the Rev. Charles Kingsley in their plans for cooperative labor by means of work- ingmen's associations. About the same time he married, and his poems, published occasion* ally in the London journals, began to attract notice. He has lectured extensively on spirit- ualism (in which he is a believer) and liter- ary topics in Great Britain, and in 1873 in the United States. In 1863 he received a pension on the civil list. He resides in a rustic cottage in his native county, presented to him by Lord Brownlow. He has published " The Bal- lad of Babe Christabel and other Poems" (1853); "Craigcrook Castle" (1856); " Rob- ert Burns, and other Lyrics" (1859) ; " Voices of Freedom and Lyrics of Love" (1859); " I Invclock's March, and other Poems " (1861) ; "Shakespeare's Sonnets never before Inter- preted " (1866) ; and " A Tale of Eternity, and other Poems" (1870).