Maigrot, Charles, a French Jesuit and missioii- arjr, was born at Paris in 1652; entered the order and prepared for missionary labors in foreign parts. In 1681 he was sent to Siam, and in 1683 he was placed in charge of the missions of China. In 1698 pope Inno- cent XII created him, for his zeal in propagating Chris- tianity among the inhabitants of the " Middle King- dom," bishop in partibus of Conon. In 1G99 he was vis- ited with tlie displeasure of his order for his opposition to the peculiar manner in which the Jesuits sought to advance the interests of Christianity among the Chi- nese. He was even at one time in danger of his life. Supported by the Dominicans, he appealed to pope Cle- ment XI, who, June 20, 1702, gave his approval to the attitude of the bishop of Conon ; and, to make known his will, dispatched cardinal De Toumon to the emperor of China, who. as we have seen in the article on Cfiina, was greatly displeased with the conduct of the Chris- tian missionaries, and issued an edict ordering them all from his domains. Maigrot at first refused to obey the imperial command, and only quitted the country when his life was imperilled. He went to Rome by way of Ireland, and died in the Eternal City Feb. 18, 1730. He only wrote one work, and that is stiU in JIS. form ; it is entitled De Sinica Religione (4 vols. fol.). See Le Got bien. Hist, de VEdit de Vempereur de Chine en faveur de la religion Chritienne (Paris, 1698, 12mo); Berault-Ber- castel, Hist.de VEglise (Paris, 1698, 12mo) ; Mailla, Hist. Generale de la Chine, vol. ix ; Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Gene- rale, xxxii, 8G7.
Mail (rbi^^bi?, kaske'seth, a " scale,'' as of fish. Lev. xi, 9, etc.), spoken of as a cuirass composed of plates of
Ancient Egypiiau Cuiiass.
MAILDUFF
660
MAIMBOURG
metal attached to a bodice like scales, so as to be im- pervious to the sword (1 Sam. xvii, o). 'Another term, rendered "coat of mail," is "p^"!"^, shlryon', which sig- nifies the corselet or garment thus encased (1 Sam. xvii, 'd'S). At Other times metallic rings were employed in- stead of scales (see Kitto, Pict.Dict. note at 1 Sam. xvii). See Armor.
MaildufT, an Irish monk, who flourished about the middle of the 7th century, established a monaster}^ in Wiltshire, England, A.D. 650, long called Mailduff burgh, now known as jMalmesbury. It was riclily endowed by Athelstau and other kings of England, and became the alma mater of some of the first educated Saxons in England in either Church or State. Among them was Aldhelm, bishop of Sherbonie, who acknowledged "that MaildufF had thoroughly instructed him in Latin and Greek." Camden says that Aldhelm was the first Sax- on who WTOte in Latin, or who made Latin verses ; his style, however, was pedantic, and full of alliterations. "William of Malmesbury, the first Saxon historian, re- ceived his education in this school, the first one among the twelve which Montalembert says the Irish monks established in England {MouJcs of the West, 1864). The period from the 7th to the 10th centurj' was a verj- dark one in England. Alfred the Great, speakmg of his own times (A.D. 870), said, " There were few churchmen on this side of the Humber who could understand their dayly prayer in English, or who could translate a let- ter in Latin" (Turners Ilistori/ of the Anplo-Saxmis, book v). And William of Malmesbury said " that, a few years before the Norman invasion, a clergyman who understood grammar was considered a prodigy" (ibid.). During this dark period, a large number of Irish schol- ars, impelled by a devotion to literature, or, as some say, driven out by the Danes, went over to England and es- tablished a great many schools, and, among others, that also of Glastonbury. It was often called " Glaston- bury of St. Patrick" merely liecause the disciples of that saint had founded it and for a long time sustained it. In this school were educated many of the most distin- guished English divines, scholars, and statesmen of that period. The noted and eccentric Dunstan was educated in it. WilUam of Malmesburv", who wrote his life, says, "Under the discipline of these Hibernians, he [Dun- stan] partook of the very marrow of scriptural learning, as well as the knowledge of arithmetic, geometry, astron- omy, and music." JNIailduflf wrote, according to Bale, Be Paschcc Observationibns, Rer/ulus A rtium Diversanim,he- sides hymns, dialogues, and epistles. He died A.D. 67.5, and was interred in his own ■ monaster}-. See Ilhisti-i- ous Men of Ireland, i, 137: Moore! s History of Inland ; Pict. Hist', of Enf/land, i, 277 sq. (D. D.)
Maillard, Omvier, a celebrated French pulpit ora- tor, was born in Bretagne in the 1.5th century. His early history is somewhat obscure. He became a doc- tor of the Sorbonne. professor of theology in the order of the " Minor Brethren." and court preacher to Louis XI and to tiie duke of Burgundy. In 1501 he was in- trusted by the papal legate with the reform of the Paris convents of the order of " Gray Friars," and he dis- charged this task so energetically and indeiiendently that he incurred the displeasure of the " Gray Friars." His reputation, however, rests mainly on the wonderful power of oratorj^ and independence of thought he dis- ])layed in his pulpit utterances. In many respects he may be likened to Bossuet, but in one he even ex- celled him — in dealing out truth, in criticising the faults and failings of his hearers. It is related of liini that his royal master, Louis XI, having one day been sub- jected by him to unusual severity, sent word that if Olivier 3Iaillard would suffer himself to speak thus se- verely a second time, he should do it at the loss of his life. But Olivier was reaiTy to return a prompt reply even to the royal messenger. " Tell the king that I will thus only arrive sooner in Paradise, ami make I he way for the king so much the harder." Louis XI never again