Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/18

* MANOMETER. 6 MANOR. form of inanoniftcr is tlic steam gauge, which may be either a piston actuated by the pressure to move an iiuiieator against the face of a spring, or more commonly a metal tube of elliptical cross- section bent into circular shape. One end of this tube is jiermanently fastened to the case of the instrument and through it the steam or gas en- ters, while the other end is closed but free to move. It is connected with a spring and a series of levers, so that its motion, which depcn<ls upon the pressure, is communicated to an indicator moving over a scale graduated usually in pounds in the United States and Kngland, and atmos- pheres in Europe. These steam gauges nuist of course be adjusted and calibrated by reference to some direct soiirce of pressure, such as would be furnislicd by a column of liquid in a vertical tube. MAN ON HORSEBACK, TiiEt A name given to the French General Houlanger (q.v.), who usually appeared in public riding a black horse. The name is used of one who gains ascendency in a period of lawlessness, and, by the exercise of despotic power, restrains violence and restores law and order. MANON LESCAXJT, ma'noN' le-skO'. A noted romance by the Abbe Prevost, published in Holland in 1731 under the title, Histoire du Chevalier ties Grieux et dc Maiton Lescaut. It was originally only an episode of his Meiiioires d'un homme dc (jualitc. The chevalier and Ma- non (a young girl about to enter a convent) fall in love at their first meeting, and fly to- gether to Paris. Here she deceives her lover and becomes the mistres.s of various rich admirers through her love of luxury. She is at last ar- rested and transported to New Orleans, accom- panied by the Chevalier des firieux, whose con- stancy remains unshaken by his knowledge of her character. At New Orleans the son of the Gov- ernor, who falls in love with Manon. is danger- ously wounded by the Chevalier des Grieu,x. and the lovers escape to the desert, where Manon dies of exhaustion. MANOR. The district of a lord and his non- noble feudal dependents. The term began to be used in Kngland after the Norman conr|uest. but the system existed in . glo-Sax(m times. A manor consisted of two parts: (1) The inland (demesne) or home-estate, which the lord hcM in his own hands, and ujion which his house was built. (2) The outland (geneatland), which was held by tenants for rent or for service performed for the lord on the island. The tenants were usually all villeins, who dwelt together in vil- lages and lived ordinarily by agriculture. It is held by writers like (Jneist. Stubbs, and Freeman that originally there were few manius, but that they gradually increased in number, until in the tenth century the prevailing system of society was that of manors with dependent peasants. In 18R.S a new theory was advanced. by Frederic See- bohm. namely, that during the whole Anglo-Sax- on period the mass of the population was servile, and that the invaders copied the manor system from (he Roman villa. Thus there arc two schools of historians at present, the one believing the economic development of Kngland to have proceeded from free village communities to man- ors, and the other holding that the process was the reverse. In the thirteenth century the lord of the manor often was removed tliree degrees, sometimes even live degrees, in the feudal scale from the king, since the creation of new manors by subinfeuda- tion was a recognized i)ractice. Jloreover, a lord might hold sevcial manors. Sir Edward Coke (1552-1C34) formulated the theory that a manor must have at least two freeliold tenants, so that a Court Baron (q.v.) could be held. The earlier practice, however, aceonling to JIaitland, knew no such distinction, ami many manors nuist have had only villeins occupying the land. Two important statutes put a check upon the development of the manorial system, which has since declined to a mere shadow. The Statute of JIarlborough, in 120!). had the cfl'ect of pre- venting the establishment of new Courts Baron, and the famous .statute of Westminster iii., in 12tlO, known as the statute Quia Einfitores, made it lawful for a freeludd tenant to sell his lands, and provided that the i)urchaser should hold of the chief lord of the manor, instead of his ven- dor, and thus prevented further subinfeudation. After this legislation it became customary to parcel the land out in individual holdings, and with the decay of the manorial system, the later conception, as linking the innnediate freehold ten.ant or 'tenant paravail' by a shortening feu- dal chain to the king, became predominant. Lands in a manor wen^ jiarcelcd out to freehold and leasehold tenants, and the freeholders might hold by any form of feudal tenure; as by 'Knigiit's service,' 'in free and common socage,' etc. The manors were the great reservoirs of customary law, and each manor modified the common law of land, and might modify the com- mon tenures to conform to its ancient customs. These customs, not being a part of the conunon law of the kingdom, were originally not cogniz- able by the common law courts, jiut were de- termined or 'found.' and administered, as the local law of each manor, by its own courts. The principal one of these, and the one which came in the course of time to be regarded as the prin- cipal characteristic, and (as Lord Coke called it) the "chief prop" of the manor, was the Court Baron. This court exercised the civil jurisdiction vested in the lord of the manor, and the Court Leet took cognizance of criminal causes. No new manors have been created in England since the legislation above referred to, Init many old man- ors still exist. They nuiy be extinguished by the lord purchasing the lands of his freehold tenants, so that there will be no one to hold the Court Baron without which a manor ceases to exist. The manorial system was introduced into New York, when under the English rule, and substan- tially the same peculiar customs, etc.. prevailed as in Kngland at that time. Manorial cinirls were estal)lished and the system was the basis of the land tenures. Some of these manors gave names to districts, which are preserved to the present day, as Pelham Manor, Van Cortlandt jianor, etc. As the manorial system was incon- sistent with the institutions of the T'nitcd States, it ceased to exist after the separation from Eng- land. The various views held by historical scholars will be found by consulting the following authori- ties: Stubbs. Con.ttiliilioiKil ffi.ilnni (if F.nrjlnnd, vol. i. (f.th ed.. Oxford, 18!I7): Maitland, '((elect Plenx in ManarinJ Pourix (London. ISSd) ; .An- drews. The Old Enfilish .Wfliior( Baltimore. lSfl2) ; .Seebobm, The English Village Community (4th