Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/223

* MATTHIAS. 193 MATTISON. ccssfully to bring the latter, which was iiniier Bavarian leadership, under Austrian influence. In 1017 Matthias, who was without heirs, was compelled to have his cousin, Ferdinand of Styria, crowned King of Bohemia, and the next year King of Hungary. The Bohemians revolted against Ferdinand, enraged by the severity of his religious persecutions; the insurrection at Prague, in lOlS, gave the signal for the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War (q.v.), and the last days of JIatthias w:ere embittered by the failure of all his efl'orts to restore peace. He died March 20, Hi 19. See Austria-Hungary. MATTHIAS, Gospel of. See Apocrypha, heading .Ycir Tcstaiiif iit. MATTHIAS I., CORVrNUS (1443-90). King of Hungary from 1458 to 1490. He was the second son of .I;lnos Hunyady (q.v.), and was elected King of Hungary in 14o8, in spite of the opposition of some of the great nobles, who offered the crown to the Emperor Frederick III. The boy King fought successfully against the Emperor, who sold his claims to the crown in 1403. Matthias had in the meantime to contend against the Turks, at that time under the rule of Sultan Jlohammed II. In a war of several years' duration the Hungarian arms asserted themselves successfully against the forces of the conqueror of Constantinople. After some hostili- ties with Stephen. Waywode of Moldavia, Mat- thias engaged ( 1468) in a w^ar against his father- in-law, George Podiebrad, King of Bohemia, which occupied him for some years, and was followed by a war with Poland, after which he again turned his arms with success against the Turks. Matthias reached the height of his power when in 1485, in a war Avith the Emperor Freder- ick III., he made himself master of Vienna, the Hapsburg capital. There he died five years later. Matthias Corvinus was a great patron of arts and letters, and adorned his capital with the works of renowned sculptors, in addition to a library said to contain 50,000 volumes. He sent a large stafi' of literary men to Italy for the purpose of obtain- ing copies of valuable manuscripts. He also adorned his Court by the presence of the most eminent men of Italy and German}', and himself was an author of no mean ability. At the same time the affairs of the Government were not neg- lected. The finances were brought into a flour- ishing condition, industry and commerce were prninntcd by wise legislation, the army was reor- ganized, and justice was strictly administered. Consult Fischer, Konig Mathiiis Cori-inus uiul seine Ilihiiiitlicl- (Leipzig, 1878). MATTHISSON, miit'te-son, Friedrich vox (1701-1831). A German lyric poet, horn at Hohcndndeleben, .January 23, 1701 : he died at Wiirlitz, JIarch 12. 1831. Trained for the minis- try at Halle, he supported himself by teaching till appointed (1794) reader to the Princess of An- halt-Dessau. with whom he traveled in Switzer- land, Tyrol, and Italy. On her death (1811) he was attached to the Court of Wiirttcmberg, and resided for some time in Italy. His prose is mediocre, his verse meloilious and gracefil. espe- cially in rural description, but never strong. Matthisson's fichriften. as finally revised by the author, came out in 8 vols. (Zurich, 182.5-29). Vol. ix. (1833) contains a biography by Diiring. MATTING (from mat. AS. mraitn. from Lat. matta, mat). A general name for various coarse woven or plaited fibrous materials for covering the floors of rooms, passages, lobbies, etc., for door-mats, for hanging as screens, for packing furniture, or for packing heavj' merchandise. Matting is extensively manufactured from straw, bulrushes, grasses of several kinds, and the leaves of various palms, and forms an iuii)ortant article of commerce. Flocn-matting, now so ex- tensively employed as a cheap, cool, and cleanly substitute for carpeting, is woven from two en- tirely different materials: Straw, made from a species of reed, or grass having culms 6 feet high, and the fibrous husk of the eocoanut palm, called coi'r. (See Coir.) Most of the straw mat- ting comes from China or Japan; the Bungo matting is made from a coarse straw, and the Bingo matting from a finer material, which is easier to manipulate, but not so durable as the coarse straw. The loom employed is a most simple hand-machine, consisting mcre'ly of an upright bamboo framework, with cylindrical cross-pieces above and below, over which the warp runs, the woof being woven in without a shuttle. The warp threads are of hemp, oiled to make them smooth. The straw- is woven while still wet and is then dried in the sun or over slow fires. Matting is either made in sections of two to five yards, which are afterwards neatly Joined together into a roll of 40 yards, or the fabric is all woven in one piece, in which case it is likely to be loose in texture. To remedy this the matting is loos- ened and pulled down closer by coolies, while it is drying over a box containing a charcoal fire. The yarn from which cocoa matting is woven is sometimes spun by machinery, but it is said that the hand-spun yarn is both cheajier and better. The yarn is "twisted by being rolled in a peculiar manner in the hands, the work being done b}' natives during the rainy season. The yarn is first bleached and then sorted into colors. The process of weaving is an arduous one. and the looms are peculiarly constructed for the purpose and very strong. The value of the straw matting imported into the United States an- nually from China, Japan, and India for ten vears is as follows: 1891, $1,489,093: 1892, $1,037,473; 1893, $1,065,100: 1894, $1,874,977; 1895, $1638.038: 1890, $2,777,417: 1897. $3,922.- 003; 1898, $1,437,171; 1899, $2,051,690; 1900. $2,074,911. Consult History and Miiniifuclure of FJoor Coverings (New York, 1898). MATTIPI, miit-te'pe (South American name), or Frog-Sxake. A colubrine serpent ( Xenodon sevcrus) of Xortheastern South America, related to the hognose, and one of many similar species of the opisthoglyph subfamily Xenodontinie. The snakes of this group are poisonous, although the enlarged posterior teeth which serve as "fangs' are solid, and have no grooves for the transmis- sion of poison from distinct ventmi-glands. They are slow to bite, however, and little worse results in a healthy man than local and temporary pain, swelling, and soreuess. MAT'TISON, HiR.M (1811-08). A clergy- man of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was born at Norway, Herkimer County. N. Y. He filled pastorates at Watertown and Rome, N. Y., and in 1852 removed to New York City, wdiere he was pastor of John Street Church, and after- wards of Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church in Thirty-fourth Street, which he organized. He labored with great earnestness to persuade the